Weather woes, a blow out, Maggie and Aaron are home, finishing some things

Mama has been anticipating and dreading storms for the past few days. None of them have materialized. I would not mind if they had, we need the moisture they have the potential to bring. What has been a little frustrating is Mama limiting what she will or will not do day by day based on the weather reports – specifically if it requires any driving. On several occasions I have talked her into following through with things that needed to get done rather than wait on me to get home to do the errand. So far everything has worked out well for her, but poorly for the landscape – and our garden.


Last night was a case in point. The height of the predicted severe weather was to come between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Last night was a church night. We were going to go regardless of the weather- barring a blizzard, which was unlikely. As usual, the weather was beautiful, so much so, in fact, that I got to change a tire that blew out (due to something in the road I did not see) in the dry, pleasant night air. Another proof that Grandpa’s weather reporting system – going to the window and looking at the sky – is the most practical and predictable, accurate, up to date weather report.

The tire is toast. I am not sure what I hit but it did not take but a few seconds to flatten the tire. Fortunately we were not yet on the busy thoroughfare so I was able to pull over and make the change with very little traffic. There was enough light to get the entire job done without a flashlight either. We were on our way home in less than half an hour, but I had to drive more slowly due to the mini-spare I was forced to use. The purchase of a new tire was not in the budget for this month, but we will have to adjust accordingly.

One of the men in our church will be taking a survey trip to Mexico this weekend through next week. He and his wife will go with a local missionary to Vera Cruz to look into the possibility of starting a church in a certain area of that city. Their teenage kids will stay behind with family. I am not certain how all in the family feel about the interest of the father to go to the mission field, but they certainly need our prayers.

Maggie and Aaron are moved into the townhouse they will be renting for the next year or so. She described it as very nice with a storage building and a garage outside. It is a two story three bedroom unit so the baby will have its own room with an additional bedroom to be set up for craft making and occasional visitors. She sounded excited about it. She also loves Juneau. The proximity of everything suits her quite well. It may get old, but for now the new is nice.

As I called her yesterday the movers and Aaron were wiggling the queen size box springs up the narrow stairs and into their bedroom. She was questioning whether or not they would get it to fit but Aaron figured it out. I assured her the mattress would be no problem because they are flexible as opposed to the very rigid box springs. That is why I prefer a king size bed. The box springs are in two pieces.

I am hoping to take tomorrow off. There are some pressing matters at work but none so pressing as those at home. We are not expecting any rain over the next several days (but I will do a daily check to verify that) and the temperatures are supposed to be cool so it would be a good time to finish the outside items I have left. Then I can concentrate on the inside of the apartment. Aside from running the wire, everything else should go very quickly – relatively speaking.

At the current pace, I should get done about the time they call me to Licensing.