Mama’s Birthday (Chase’s too), Peggy’s Graduation

Today is Mama’s birthday. The thirty fourth birthday the Lord has allowed us to share. I was not able to buy her a home or a farm as has often happened around her birthday in the past but we at least decided that we should keep this one. That counts for something. Looking back I wish I had started to log - or blog - the events of our lives together many years ago but I was not farsighted enough to do so, and from this vantage point I have forgotten far more than I can remember about those 12,410 days that have led to this one; especially the first 7,300 or so.

I spent the day at the church again today so I was able to eat lunch with Mama and Grandma who came to give her a small birthday gift. I was also able to get her some fruit for the school’s 10:30 fruit break. We have very little fruit at the house so I took the opportunity to get some of the prepackaged cups of fruit that Walmart sells. It was the only gift I had for her this birthday. It was at least a surprise. Maybe next year will be better in the gift department. For that matter, maybe Christmas will be better. Time will tell.

Chase’s birthday was today also. I remember when we were starting to get all the adoption papers together for our children that I noticed his birthday. Mama was so excited about it. That and the fact that Chase is also left handed - like Mama - has been a fond similarity between the two of them over the years. Chase will tell you that only left handed people are in their right brain. There the similarities between mother and son end…but, that is as it should be. I have not heard about what kind of birthday he had.

Tonight was Peggy Calvert’s visitation service. She died early Tuesday morning but the visitation and funeral were delayed a bit in order to give family time to get to Decatur, TX to pay their final respects; and there was a lot of family. From Idaho and California and Colorado to far-flung parts of Texas and New Mexico. It was a big gathering. Far more memories passing over many more years than we had with Peggy. But if any of them were as deeply affected by her as we have been in the few years we have known her then it is safe to assume that she profoundly affected a lot of lives. Soon we will hear that account given in Heaven. She will have nothing to be ashamed of.

Tomorrow the old shell she left here will be laid to rest. She has no further need of it now. There will be a big crowd for the service tomorrow. School at the church school has been cancelled tomorrow so Bro Zach and Mama can attend the service. I have been asked to be a pall bearer for the service and at the graveside. It has been many years since I have done that so it will be interesting to have that role to play in her final farewell. So much life lived, so few words to recount it.

Joe Walker told me Heaven will never be the same. I have a feeling he is spot on.

Job interview, a good evening, leaving, coaching

I got a call as Nate and I worked at the church yesterday from a company I have been referred to several times by our financial planner. It is an education/training provider officed here is Decatur. The first referral was shortly after I was laid off - almost a year ago. Thought Mama and I were quite excited about the prospect nothing came of it at that time. However, yesterday they called me to set up a phone interview for a job that I had not applied for; a far better one than I had applied for. 

The interview is set up for Monday morning. It is a phone interview only so I am assuming I will have to score pretty high marks on that interview to progress to a face to face interview - should that happen. It is interesting that almost a year later, I have a chance at a job with a company I would really like to work for and a position that I would really love to have. I told the secretary, when she called, that I would love to opportunity to interview for the job but it would be very helpful if she could send me the job posting so I could better prepare for the conversation with the hiring manager. She laughed and sent it over before we finished talking.

Last night was such a pleasant evening that we kindled a nice sized fire and made smores. It did not work out well for me because something I ate really worked me over for the next several hours. Maybe I should have spit out the 85% cocoa Mama gave me to try. She did but I did not think it manly to show any disgust. I chewed it and swallowed it; disgusting or not. The kids all played ladder ball in the back yard but they had a hard time keeping Savanna from climbing the “ladders” and interrupting their game. The dogs,on the other hand, were pretty quick to learn that the two balls attached by a string were not being tossed back and forth for their pleasure. We kept the fire going well into the evening because it was just cool enough to make it a good warmth and just smokey enough to keep the bugs at bay.

Nate, Cori and the kids left this morning. Mama called the school and asked to come in a little later than normal so she could see them off. It was not necessarily a slow, lazy morning, but it was not a mad rush either. They were in no hurry to get on the road. The kids were in no hurry to get back into the vehicle and leave the farm and Mama and I were not going to rush them at all. So, it turned into a steady morning of loading their vehicle, double checking the house for forgotten items and getting everyone into the proper attire for the trip ahead. We prayed with them, said our long goodbyes and Mama and I headed to the church; her to work at the school and me to work on the internet at the church. (I blew through my monthly allowance trying to download a program on my Mac.) They arrived safely at their destination a couple hours later and were excited about the mission’s house they will be staying in for the remainder of the week.

I had another coaching session this morning - another reason to have good internet access. It went well. I got a few more needed insights to further fine tune my business. Little by little I feel I am gaining a grounded understanding of what exactly I need to be doing to make this work. And little by little I actually see it working. Now if I could conquer the autoresponder program I will have all the basics working in tandem. 

It is one of those ready-fire-aim ventures.

More contacts, still getting things set up, nice weather

I have gone from little to no activity in my internet business over the past few weeks to having eight sales meetings on the calendar for this week. Likewise, I have gone from no interest on the part of any employer to having been asked to put in applications at two separate jobs the last two weeks. It is an interesting turn of events that can only be attributed to the Lord. It also puts me in one of those situations where I will carefully and prayerfully move forward with my heart tuned to the leading of the Lord. I have been praying for direction and an income, not necessarily for a full time job, but I will not turn down a good job should one be offered. I will also not turn down any contacts generated by the video I have set up to generate those sales meetings. Things may be looking up but it is too early to tell. There is at least a glimmer of hope and the evidence of divine leading.

I am still struggling to get my auto responder set up. I understand what is being asked of me but I have no idea where to go to get the task done. It has to do with inserting code into the Java script of a web page but I do not know how to find the script for a particular web page to get the code properly inserted. I am waiting for help now but I cannot move forward until I get the proper directions. I have a feeling it will be a very simple task once I understand the process. The providers of the service seem to think it is simple based on the instructions they have given to accomplish it, but you cannot know what you do not know; so I wait in more information. It is a small thing.

Mama had to go to work today. The assistant pastor who normally heads up the school is off to take time to visit with his parents who are here from Illinois. There is a lady who used to help in the school filling the administrative spot, but Mama is needed for backup. Having a second person in authority is a good rule to follow - especially in our day and age. So Mama went in today even though it was hard for her to leave the house this morning with Savanna wanting her attention. Don’t get me wrong, Mykenzie, Grant and Blake are still a draw to her but the baby trumps  everyone (me included) when it comes to grabbing her attention.

She, Savanna, finally rested after a week of being passed around from person to person at non-stop meetings for the conference. Nate and Cori put her to bed a little after 7 pm and she did not get up until nearly 8 a.m. this morning. We had said out goodbyes last night before going to our Bible class so Mama did not get a lot of Grammy time last night or this morning. That is one of the hardships of working a job. Although, I must admit it still feels weird that it is her going to work rather than me. But I am getting used to it - maybe a little too used to it.

It was such a pleasant evening yesterday that we ate dinner outside. In a strange turn of events the dogs were put inside the house so that we could eat on the patio; at least, that certainly seemed strange to them. I had made soup so there were some challenges to the picnic style meal but we all managed - and it was a pleasant time. 

Tonight, if nothing changes, we will have a small fire in the pit we have on the patio and roast hot dogs and marshmallows - while the dogs are made to stay inside.

If you did not see my link to Hope Coffee yesterday I am sharing it again.

hopecoffee.com

It is worth checking out.

Good friends, false starts, good coffee recommendation

I met with three of my friends (my old work buddies) from ConocoPhillips for lunch this afternoon. After the most recent layoff - the second of two in twelve months - one of the three is going to be relocated to another COP location and since the four of us were pretty close when we worked in the some office it was good to get together so I could have a chance to say goodbye and good luck. We used to spend time every day visiting with each other; encouraging each other when we had a boss that was very difficult to understand. I was the sounding board for many of the interesting decisions we were all having to make to keep up with the flow of work as it changed to accommodate a new leadership style. It was interesting times. I really miss those conversations.

We visited for a couple of hours and I got caught up on all the office gossip. All of the ladies that used to report to me are still at the jobs I lined up for them before my job was eliminated. That was good news. Now, since the disbandment of my group the offices are less networked than before but some of the functions still overlap enough that people stay in touch across the geographical divide. I used to daydream about being rehired by COP - in a different capacity - but I have given up that far fetched hope. Still, it is always good to stay close to old friends. Which reminds me, I need to call my friend in the Ukraine. It ha been too long since the two of us have talked.

I had an appointment this afternoon to talk to someone about my little internet business but it turned out to be a false alarm. The number I got was for the brother of the man whose name I had, so it was a difficult discussion to begin with and probably did not generate a sale on my part, but it was good practice in handling an unexpected situation and making the best of it. I do expect that there will be those times but I am praying that they will be few and far between. As I looked at my calendar this evening I had gotten four more requests for contact. That’s encouraging. The profits are in the numbers of exposure and I am finally getting a chance at generating those numbers. 

While Cori and Nate and the kids were at the Mission’s Conference last week they were hosted by a family, the matron of which had grown up in Honduras to missionary parents. It proved to be a wonderful opportunity for her to share some of her life experiences with Cori and Nate. One of the things that was learned is that there is a coffee import company headed by an architect who was called to Honduras some years ago to help local families build houses, shops, etc. with profits provided by the sale of locally grown coffee. That company uses all profits to build homes and shelters in Honduras among the poor and needy. The company is called Hope Coffee Company.

They have a website; hopecoffee.com 

If you are a coffee enthusiast you can purchase Honduran  grown coffee and know that the purchase will actually go for a good cause.

Sounds like a win-win to me. 

There and back

Brittany and I left pretty early yesterday morning to go see Dad. It is a four hour trip in good traffic and we made pretty good time. We started out by going to Victoria’s house and tending to the chickens then headed to Decatur for fuel for the truck and for Brittany. She had to make a Starbuck’s stop to get her caffeine intake for the morning. She was not exactly hopped up for the next four hours but she was not still either. We really had a pleasant time during the drive, after all, when you have four hours of windshield time there is little else to do but either converse or sleep; And she as not going to sleep. I did not mind, I have always found it a good practice to get time alone with my kids just to talk and to really have a good talk takes a fair amount of time. We had plenty.

Just as we were getting onto 820 out of Saginaw, I got a call from a company I had applied to months ago. I had a good conversation with the HR man on their end of the line. It was instantly obvious that he was not the usual person through which they made employment contacts but he asked the right questions and gave me a chance to give more expansive answers than I normally would have. I felt like that was needed because I can certainly fill the job role they need a person for but it would not necessarily be something he would be able to see in my resume. When it came to the issue of money I assured him that I was very flexible and what they were offering more than adequate to interest me. I am supposed to call him if I do not hear from him by next Friday. We will see how that turns out.

Before we headed to see Dad I stopped off in Chappell Hill to visit with Martha. She had texted and said she was working from home that morning. Brittany got meet her daughter-in-law Ashely and her two children (Martha’s grandchildren). It was one of those face to face encounters with someone each of them had connected with on Facebook. So they each got to put a name with a face - literally. 

While we were there Martha showed me some of the updated they had done to the big house to get it ready to market. All the updates were subtle and tastefully done. Both Mom and Dad would be pleased. Brittany got to pick out a few books that were still on bookshelves in the front hall and I found her a very small mantle clock she can take home with her. She was very excited about all her finds in the house. It is a part of her heritage and Martha we happy to share it with her.

Our visit with Dad lasted about 45 minutes. I would always like to stay longer but that is about all he can handle before it wears him out too much; mentally and physically. Brittany noticed the same thing that the nurses and Mama noticed; that Dad responds to me better than he does to most people. He said a couple of very funny that I will not relate because they were more personal family humor, but Brittany picked up on all the fun that had been poked at by Dad. Those will be good memories for her.

It was close to 3 pm when we left Dad. So we stopped and got a bite to eat before heading home. Since traffic was a little heavier going home. We made it back to the farm at about 8:45 but not before stopping at a Starbucks on the way through Ft Wort. All in all, we were gone almost exactly twelve hours.

When I got onto my computer and opened up the back office website for my little internet business I discovered that I had made my first sale. What a wonderful end to the day!

New learning curve, lunch with Mama - again, Mission’s Conference, visiting

I spent the entire morning trying to learn a new program; again. It is an automated email responder program. I was on a webinar for almost two hours and tried to meet the “buy by the end of the webinar” deadline to collect the freebies that went along with enrollment at that time but I got stumped by the first piece of information requested on the  enrollment form. Not a good beginning. I sent off two requests for help. Which really expose my ignorance, but it would be far more ignorant not to ask. I hope to get the answers in the next day or two so I can get things integrated into the system I am learning. Someday I may even be moderately successful.

To interrupt the morning Brittany and I met Mama for lunch - again. She is getting pretty spoiled to having someone visit her during the lunch hour; and bring her lunch to boot. It will have to stop at some point but while the kids are here (through next Tuesday) it will more than likely continue. Today we had Moa’s Kitchen Thai food. That has become one of our personal favorites. Something I have an easy time getting through my digestive system. Unlike what was offered for dinner at the Mission’s conference.

We met Cori and Nate at the house they are staying in for the conference and headed to the church from there. It took a little over an hour to get to the house but only about fifteen minutes to get to the church from there. (We took some of the forgotten items to the home with us and brought a huge amount of gifts given to Cori and Nate and the kids back to the farm with us.)

At the church the men separated from the women; or vice versa depending on your perspective, and the men ate pizza while the women ate soup and salad. I wanted to switch sides but did not have the courage to ask. I did not eat any pizza. It would have ruined my night. But I sure could have could have gone for the soup and salad. Anyway, each of the missionaries gave their testimony within a six minute time slot - since there were nine total attending the conference. It was a good way to get the ice broken for each missionary and a chance for them to be heard all at once rather than spread out over several services where the first to present is forgotten by the time the last one has presented.

Cori and Nate were extremely excited by the exuberant giving of this church and they have three more days to go. They have been extremely blessed.

Brittany and I will be going to Brenham tomorrow to see my Dad. We will make it a day trip so we will be on the road all day, or at least ten hours of it. It is one of those trips that are not exciting to make but once the effort is made, it proves to have been worth it. Since I do not know how much longer we will have Dad, it is always worth the effort to keep as close as possible and since Brittany, who has come all the way from England, is willing to make the trip there is good reason to put forth the additional effort. It is an eight hour round trip for a two hour visit, but it is an effort we will not regret making.

Besides, I am about two weeks overdue to see Dad - so the timing is perfect.

Aubrey, Lunch with Mama, partial packing

Victoria was off today so Mama volunteered her to watch Aubrey; the six month old daughter to Cheyenne’s parents. The grandmother is visiting family somewhere this month so the parents are having a hard time finding someone to watch her during the busiest parts of the business day - when they first open the restaurant. She is the quietist baby I have ever been around. She certainly makes Savanna seem unusually vocal, but even a little jabber from an infant would have the same result since Savanna is very, very vocal. We only had Aubrey a few hours but it was enough to get her used to each of us. She is one of those babies that smiles with her whole face. She is a prime example of what Mama really loves in these little ones; a perfect chunky baby.

Everyone but Nate and I went to town today to have lunch with Mama at the school this afternoon. They were supposed to have pizza but the flour they used to make the dough for the pizzas had some kind of little bugs in it. In any other country that would have been no problem but it is still an issue here in the US; possibly always will be with Cori and Mama. So they went to Wendy’s instead. Mama enjoyed that. 

Nate worked on his laptop and I worked on mine for the several hours everyone was gone. I did not feel like I got a lot done but Nate made some pretty good headway booking meetings well into November. Since we have strong ties with several churches we have belonged to over the years it works out well for Cori and Nate as they seek opportunities to present their work. We also have close friendships with pastors far and wide throughout the US. That also helps.

During the last hour I was working on the computer Nate began to pack for the week ahead for their family. They will be in a Mission’s Conference at a church nearby and all had to be ready to go by 2 pm. They were expected at the church by 4 pm so they could set up their display and visit with the pastor and main speaker at the conference. I am pretty sure they made it but we have been busy in their absence. Many of the sleeping pallets we set up for the kids will remain in place, as well as the extra dining room seating,  since they will be back Sunday night and staying through Wednesday morning. Not our normal arrangement of the house, but it is a welcome disruption of our normal.

Brittany went to the church and practiced for several hours this afternoon so she would be ready to play for the service tonight. Both my usual musicians are out this week but we had a backup pianist ready for tonight until her young son came down with pneumonia. Enter Brittany. She took the service tonight. I had to change all the selections but we settled on some good hymns that she knew well enough to play confidently. She did really well and everyone appreciated it. I am not sure what we will need this Sunday but we will manage somehow.

For now, the house seem strangely quiet.

The oil change, changes, constants

Nate and I had decided the other day that we would help each other change the oil in our respective vehicles. We set out to do that this morning. His went without a hitch. For the Sequoia we had to resort to Google twice. It was not what you would call a direct application of anything either of us had done before. It involved pulling off the skid plate to expose the filter housing and once we were there and had the filter housing pulled off of the engine we could not disassemble the housing to replace an inner gasket. We tried a couple ways and were met with failure. 

After about an hour of attempting to refit the innards of the filter housing we put in the new filter and it’s gasket and put everything back together. It was not at all what we had thought it was and I have a feeling it was not the first time the filter housing was not fully rebuilt. Of the five bolts that should have been holding the skid plate in place, only three had been replaced the last time the oil had been changed.

Grandma came over pretty early to visit for an hour or so (this evening was supposed to be our birthday celebration for September birthdays) and then went back to Bowie. She is not feeling well and Grandpa was not feeling up to a visit at all. I am not completely sure what is wrong exactly but we need to continue to pray for them. Norman is talking seriously about moving down to the farm the two of them are leasing at the moment, so they are trying to gear up for him and Seth to take up residence there with them. All that should happen in a few months.

Nate and Cori are planning on putting their house on the market next month and whether or not it sells they are going to spend November and December here with us as they set meetings in churches of North Texas and Oklahoma. So far they have filled October with meetings. They will be leaving tomorrow afternoon to participate in a Mission’s Conference at a church in Ft. Worth. They will finish out the week there and come back Monday morning to spend that day and Tuesday with us then head back to Florida. While they have the house there it is still home - as it should be. We have had a great time with them being here but there is always the longing for more time together.

I got a call from one of my friends at ConocoPhillips this afternoon. He was alerting me to some of the changes at the company. They just went through another round of layoffs and lost a good many individuals in my old devision. Some of the best ones made it through but several others were let go. I do not know if the company was a generous with this batch of severed workers as they were with my group, but I certainly hope so. I have to admit that I miss my old job. That has not changed.

While everyone napped this afternoon I drove to Muenster, TX to buy feed. We were almost out of feed for the goats and pigs and I did not want to wait until tomorrow to make the trip. It is about a two hour round trip but still saves us enough money on the feed to make it worthwhile and we get a much higher quality feed to boot. I have a feeling that trip will be a regular monthly excursion for us as long as we own the farm. I don’t mind. It is a good time alone to pray. Since I do not have a regular drive like I used to have for work, it is nice to have somewhere to go so I can get the time alone for a drive.

There are still no job prospects on the horizon but that will change in good time.

The hike, boot shopping, birthday prep, Brittany, out of water

Mama and I went out early to take care of the animals and had plenty of help from the grandkids so it took us a little longer than usual but we still managed to get it all done - including taking care of the chickens at Victoria’s house - before 9 a.m. All the animals were ready for some new feed. We did not get to them yesterday evening since we went out to Braum’s after church and rushed to church early to get the table set up for Cori and Nate. Braum’s is Mykenzie’s favorite place to eat because the kids meals come with a small shake. We had to split meals among the adults because none of us could eat a full burger at that time of night. But it was fun; especially Savana’s constant prattle with me throughout the entire evening.

So after we finished with the animals we headed out to Eagle Mountain Park to do some hiking. The park has a couple miles of trails that follow along the lake there. It was pretty when we got to the lake but by the time we had hiked the mile  and a half there we were all a sweaty mess. Savanna was in the carrier strapped to Nate for most of the trek so he was especially soaked. I think we were only on the trails for a couple of hours but we were all pretty worn out by the time we finally got back to the area where we set up our picnic lunch. The kids got to see a few lizards and a road runner but for the most part the walk was uneventful in the wildlife category. All the animals had the good sense to stay put in the near one hundred degree heat.

When we ate a bite and cooled down a little we headed to Southlake, TX to find a Rita’s Cori and Victoria had discovered online. It was about a forty minutes away from the park but honestly it seemed longer. But we did finally get there. All the girls, Mama, Cori, Victoria and Mykenzie, were very excited. I suppose Blake and Grant were somewhat excited also. I was not. Rita has never been my thing. And much to their delight all the large servings were $1 off. So, of course, everyone over fifteen had to get a large in order to capitalize on the savings. I got a small custard cone but I did try a taste of Cori’s mango gelato and got an immediate headache that lasted about fifteen minutes; the reason I don’t get excited about Rita’s.

On from there to boot shopping for Nate and Grant. It took some time to figure out that Nate needed a  boot about a size smaller than he is used to shopping for. Once we got that sorted out he started to find a few pairs of boots that his fashionista wife approved of, finally settling on a very light colored pair that will go with everything he owns at the moment. Grant, meanwhile sorted through a dozen pairs of boots to finally settle on a pair with bright blue uppers. 

After that we separated and Mama and I went to Costco to get the cake I had ordered Friday. It turned out pretty nice. I am hoping to include a picture of it tomorrow. It is too late at the moment to get that done tonight. We will be celebrating birthdays for Mama, me, Cori and Nate. If Becky and Chase could be here we would have included their names also. Grandma and Grandpa are supposed to come over also.

Brittany is on her way here now. After not being able to fly out last Wednesday she was able to get a flight out this morning. Andrew, I believe may have helped arrange the affair since the issue Wednesday was that the pilots were unwilling to take on passengers. Somehow, today she got around that. It was a good surprise.

On the not so good surprise side, when Mama, Victoria and I were in class tonight Cori called to tell me the well had quit working. I left class to go home so I could troubleshoot that problem and Nate and I settled on it being a controller issue. Fortunately, Lowe’s carries the replacement part so it as pretty easy to to get. Once I bought it I headed back at the church to get Mama and Victoria from class and head home since I did not want to make a third trip to town to get them after I took the part home. 

It turned out to be the right move. The replacement was almost a plug and play temporary repair. I will make the full repair on Thursday when I am the only one at home. For now, we have water and can flush the toilet and take showers.

Mama I relieved. Brittany is greatly relieved.

The appointment that wasn’t, the one that won’t be, getting close

I arrived at the Amazon recruiting office on time this morning only to find that the email was yet another note to get me to sign up for the application process. After I explained myself to the attendants there and showed them the email I had gotten, they understood the confusion but there was nothing any of us could do about it. The next email I will be looking for is a specific invitation to attend and orientation class. So, I headed to Costco which turned out to be only about three miles down the road from the airport area where the fulfillment center is located. I had to order a Costco cake for the birthdays we are going to jointly celebrate next week. It has been a very long time since we have done the Costco cake for a birthday.

When I got back to the farm I got on the tractor for an hour and mowed some more of the barn lot pasture. We are anticipating getting the cows back late this month or early into October. While they are over there we are not having to feed them and they are getting fat and happy on just pasture grass. So I am in no particular hurry to have them back. Mama, however, is afraid that only Daisy will recognize her when we get them back and she will have to start the familiarization process from scratch. Such are the hardships of the farm.

When I got back inside and began to work on emails I noticed I had received three from Amazon. Sure enough, one of the three was the orientation invite, but the two others were notifications of a shift change. I had originally selected a day shift that went from Wednesday to Saturday; five ten hour shifts. No problem. The new shift assignment was for the same days of the week but for 6:30 pm to 5:00 a.m. I am afraid I will have to pass on that. I have too many years experience working nights and the truth is that when a person is on the night shift there is little to nothing else they are able to do daily - except survive. Added to that is the turnaround to a normal schedule on days off only to go back on nights again; round and round and round. Been there. I withdrew my application.

Does he really want a job? you may be asking. The answer is yes. I do want a job but I am not willing to sell my life to am employer on an hourly basis to the exclusion of all the things that make my life worthwhile. I will willing commit to selling my time to an employer if that employment fits with what I need to be doing with my life right now. There needs to be a balance between who I am, what I am committed to doing and what hours, days, months and years of my life I am willing to surrender to someone for a paycheck. I can only pray that the Lord has something better in mind than for me to forgo my commitments simply to spend my life in pursuit of a check that does not even meet our budget.

Our weary travelers should be here by early evening; projected time is 6 pm. We will be ready when they do get here. Cori asked of we would have something ready for dinner - nothing fried - when they do get in so I have some rotisserie chickens in the crock pot and Mama is picking up sweet potatoes to go with that. Hopefully that will do. We will have to get together on a meal schedule as soon as possible. I would do one but I have no idea what the grandchildren will eat.

Mama has agonized over sleeping arrangements. The grandchildren like to have someone nearby when they sleep and the adults after need the living room after the young ones are put to bed. I think they sort of finalized it all last night but it si an evolving situation. We will adapt as needed when our little plan falls through.

Tomorrow should be quite a day.

Work, plans, cleaning for the travelers

I worked on the internet at the church for most of the morning today so I could get more responsive connectivity to run a program that I have had trouble loading here at the house. It worked well there and I got to work the bugs out of the first page I created so now I have a better understanding of how the program should operate. I believe it will help me move forward in my little business; which has proven more difficult than I originally thought it would be. I am at the point on the learning curve that I can look at the work involved and say, “It’s not that bad.” That is a long way from’ “I have no idea what they are talking about.” That is encouraging.

Before I went to the church I went to see Randy Bowker, our financial planner. I needed his help in getting my thoughts together concerning the next eighteen months. We only met for about twenty minutes but it was a very helpful meeting. He agreed with me that selling the farm at this point would not benefit us enough to make the sacrifice and that I can make up the shortfall in income through taking money out of our 401k. That will allow me to keep the payments current through next year. If a better job does not show up within the next twelve months, we will regroup and set a new plan. But he also let me know that he has forwarded my resume to a couple interested individuals in the past week. That too, is encouraging.

When I got back to the house after spending the day at the church I had gotten an email from Amazon requesting that I set up an interview for tomorrow. I did not know if this was an orientation or an actual interview. I had to go over the last couple of days to sort out the emails from Amazon to determine if the one I got today was actually asking for an appointment tomorrow or if I was getting confused about the other “come join our team” emails I have been inundated with. It turns out that the request is to meet them tomorrow to interview. I even got to present my resume after a fashion; also encouraging.

Mama got her first paycheck today. She enjoyed that. It is the first money either of us has earned since I left Big Lee’s in March. She was also excited that she had gotten all the folders used for the progress reports for each of the subjects for each of the students sorted, filled out and categorized. Bro Burns, the associate pastor in charge of the school, was relieved to have it all set up for the year.

We are slowly cleaning and decorating the house expecting the kids to arrive tomorrow. Mama got a scare this morning when she was told that the car Cori and Nate are driving here was having problems, but it seems that the problem worked itself out. Perhaps when they are here either Grandpa or Norman can evaluate the issue and correct it - if that still needs to be done. Meanwhile, we are doing bits and pieces to get ready for the fun ahead. This will be the first meeting that Nate and Cori have traveled overnight to attend since coming back from their time at BIMI. The first of many.

Pray for Maggie she has some ongoing physical problems that are affecting her ability to keep up with the kids. It is putting a strain on both her and Aaron.

Pray it is not serious and being overlooked.

Museum, visitors

We spent most of the day today traveling to and from the Creation Evidence Museum in Genrose, TX with a four hour tour of the museum when we got there from the chief curator. It is by no means a large museum but the fossil displays are centered on the theme of proving creation - specifically from the postulate that man and dinosaurs coexisted from the dawn of creation. I do not know if the evidence of human footprints within dinosaur footprints originated in Dinosaur Valley State Park, jut down the road, but it is the site of many of the overlaid footprints preserved in the limestone bed of the river that runs through the area. That in itself was interesting but what really captured my attention was the scale replica of the ark.

By admission of the curator it took forty years to discover how Noah had built the ark, four years to put the plans in draft form and many months work by three master craftsmen to assemble the model. It seems that “gopher wood” is not a species but rather a process for laminating wood and that “pitch” was a glue made from the resin extracted from the bark of the birch tree. This resin, when heated to a very specific temperature in an anaerobic condition produces a binding agent so strong it is a natural superglue.  If you consider that the “pitch” we know today as asphalt did not exist until after the flood, it makes sense.

In the several pictures I show the water reservoirs that the ark contained. They were massive, egg-shaped structures with internal baffles. Two were located at the ends of the ark and two in the center. If you consider the turbulence of the flood, it would have been necessary for the ark to have had some kind of ballast system. These huge reservoirs, in just such a shape, would have been the perfect answer to the problem. It was fascinating to see the detail and understand that it had all been worked out by referencing portions of the actual ark ruins. It was worth the trip.

Our conference ended tonight and Mama and I are glad to have a couple evenings off to prepare for Nate, Cori and the kids to arrive very late Friday. Norman and Seth are here and will be staying with Grandma and Grandpa for about a week. I think there are plans to work on Victoria’s house and things could move along quickly since the electric is hooked up to the house now. There are trailers and motorcycles to sell and there are jobs to get while they are here but I think helping Grandpa on the house is still part of the package deal. I just hope the forecast is off for this week - rain every day through Sunday.

Victoria is getting worn out by the constant tugging at her but she is handling it fairly well emotionally. Where Mama and I see the toll on her is physically. She is more of the steady-as-she-goes person. The blow-in, blow-up and blow-out style of Norman is a bit much for her at times. We just hope it works to her and Grandpa’s advantage this trip.

Time will tell.

The Interview? Weather, the museum

I had my “interview” with Amazon this morning. It was more like being run through a cattle chute than an interview, but it was an impressive process to watch. I was seated with about thirty candidates and when our turn came we were lined up and processed through a quick registration of sorts to allow us to get logged into the hiring program Amazon uses. Once we got those papers we were seated at a computer and put through three or four batteries of questions that were all personality evaluations of one sort or another. If those three or four queries were completed to the satisfaction of the programming each candidate was either sent to the next section or told to have a great day and processed out.

If the assessments allowed you to move forward you were offered a job at that time (via a note on the screen) and moved to the next part of the process; getting an employee number assigned, a badge ID photo taken and seated at yet another computer to fill out a 1099 form - for tax accounting purposes. Each of us had to make a shift selection from four possible schedules all of which included at least one weekend day. I chose Tuesday through Saturday 7:30 to 5:30. Then we were lined up once more and taken to a training room and shown a video about the fulfillment center while we held a cotton swab in our mouths for ten minutes. That swab was then packaged and sent off for drug testing. The results of which we will know in one to two weeks. At that time successful candidates will be scheduled for an orientation and formally offered a position. The whole process took about two hours.

The pay was not outstanding but the company seems to have a focus on accommodating those who are willing to adapt and become productive. They have a great compensation plan outside of the base pay and some of the best immediate benefits I have ever seen offered. Should that be the only option I have when they call I will go to work for them. I am not sure how the finances will work out if that is all the income I am able to generate, but we will manage. In my career I have done some pretty disgusting jobs for less money - and no benefits.

That took all my morning. By the time I got back to the farm the clouds were gathering pretty heavily and even though Mama had assured me there was only a small chance of rain it rained anyway. That started a little bit after I got home and continued for a couple hours on and off until we had gotten about an inch total before it cleared off. I am not sure just where else it rained because it was dry at Victoria’s house when we went there to take care of the chickens and Decatur never got a drop. I know that because when I called Mama she must have thought I did not know what I was talking about when I said it was raining. Fortunately, I had plenty of verifiable proof.

Tomorrow we will go to the small Creation Museum nearby. It will be an all day affair with services to follow that evening that will finalize our conference. It has been fun so far.

Conference, interview, what’s new

Right now we are in a conference at our church. It is a little different than most because it really is a conference, not a revival or a set of evangelistic services; a conference. Our speaker is from the Creation Science Museum and he is taking us through time from the beginning to the end, Genesis to Revelation. It is quite interesting as he matches up science (including complex chemical equations), archeology and ancient writings across several cultures with scripture. The real benefit to Mama, Victoria and I is that much of what we are hearing is a repeat of some of the material we have covered in FBI (Faith Bible Institute).

It is fascinating to see the thread of the gospel woven through the entire Bible. Beginning with the “seed of the woman”  who will “bruise” the head of the serpent. Genesis Chapter 3. Book after book references the coming of the Messiah and yet so few were prepared when that day arrived. It took the religious leaders of that time only three years of Jesus earthly ministry to figure out how to turn the world against Him and kill Him. That only started what turned the world right side up in the next generation and has shaped the events of world history since that time - and will continue to do so, all the way to the end. It is great to hear it recounted again.

I have my rescheduled interview with Amazon tomorrow morning. I have no idea what to expect but I hope for a good outcome overall. At the very least, it will eliminate another avenue for providing an income should I come away without an offer. The unfortunate truth is that I have to be very careful what commitment I make because it could affect all the commitments I have already promised to keep. I used to say, “I remember a time when life was easier.” Now, I am not sure if that statement was ever true. 

Permanently distracted. That’s how I am starting to feel. I realize it is a temporary state but it is disconcerting to say the least. I have to rely on what has worked well in past practice. Never let circumstances alone determine your actions. God has never made a mistake in my life and I do not want to start a chain of them myself that will have to be corrected at a higher cost than just waiting on a clear direction. I am meeting with my financial advisor Thursday to formulate an 18 month plan to evaluate whether or not we can keep the farm long term. It will be good to have his advice and guidance. 

RU may be disbanding after two years up and running since my friend, the man who headed it up, has resigned all his ministries at the church. There is no one available in the short term to take it over. That too, is an occasion we will have to let play out according to the will of God. The ministry was withering in the last six months and it could be time to regroup, evaluate the purpose and see if it is something we need to pick back up in the future. Too many times we do what we have always done simply because someone who loved it started doing it and we don’t know why we are doing it or how we could stop doing it. It is not always a bad thing to stop, prove the value in what we are doing and move to recommit to it or drop it. It is often healthy.

Chase and Makaila were here Saturday. They could only stay a few hours but it was good to spend the time with them; always is. They will be on a cruise when the Nate, Cori and the kids  are here; actually leaving the same day the kids arrive - Saturday. And Brittany will be here some time Thursday. She has not finalized her plans yet that I have been told.

It is not looking like I will get much internet work done either this week or next. Oh, well.

Sick, Mama, the house

I missed my appointment with Amazon this morning because I was very sick. I finally got a good shot of the bug Mama, Victoria and Jake had fought last week into this week and was up most of the night at the toilet. On the positive side, Amazon is very gracious about rescheduling the interviews so I will set one up for Monday or Wednesday next week. They even put this message in their correspondences, “We know life happens. If you need to reschedule your interview please use the enclosed link to contact us and make the new appointment.” My larger concern is the people I had contact with at church last night. I had no idea I was going to spend the night as I did so I can only pray that no one was affected or infected by me.

I’m feeling better now. Some strength is coming back but I still struggle just getting around the house. I move from the bed to the couch to the recliner to the bed. Mostly I stay still in the bed waiting on those moments when my bowels or stomach activate the panic system. That I can do pretty quickly. At one point, late last night, I was getting up from the couch with just such a rude awakening and had to stumble to the bathroom with one sandal on. I could not get the other one on quickly enough and there was no waiting; I barely made that appointment. Such events have continued throughout the day. Hopefully, tonight will be better.

When I was taking to Maggie earlier about my second bout with this bug, Dr. Mama inserted into the conversation that she thinks the last bout was only nerves and that only this latest sickness is in the true virus. Dr. Daddy does not concur with said diagnosis since she had vomiting, diarrhea and a fever while at the same time I had vomiting, diarrhea and a fever; just to a lesser extent. It really makes no difference, but it will be something to tease about over the next few days. What I do know is that it is an interesting rapid weight loss program. Not one I would casually recommend.

The children at the school really enjoy having Mama there. Every day she is getting notes from one of them for the help she is giving with spelling, Bible memorization and other little chores. Her happy personality and her exuberant love for children is easy to discern. It has always been easy for a child to latch onto her for love and support. This is no different - even thought she still gets weirded out by any question related to math.

She and Victoria are making biscuits and gravy for dinner tonight; not something I will eat for several more days. Victoria seems to have recovered sufficiently to carry on in her happy mode. It is pleasant to overhear the conversation as they work together in the kitchen.

With some of the kids and grandkids coming to visit next week Mama is stressing over the condition of the house.I cannot get too alarmed at that. I keep telling her that if the cleaning she is fretting over was not worth doing over the last month as we lived here day to day why should we stress about getting all of it done in  one week? But is has always been that way.  At one point years ago I suggested we have someone over every week so we would keep up with all the requisite house chores.

The suggestion did not go over well then either.

Mama’s new routine, old parts, interview tomorrow

Mama is enjoying her days at the school. I have gotten to check on her for the past two days since I have either needed to be in town or needed to take her something she has forgotten. Today she forgot her purse and her phone. She remembered her lunch, her morning snack, her Bible she will leave there for their Bible Study time and her FBI book so she can study in her off hours, but I had to bring the rest. She has made fun of me for years because I had made it a habit to collect all the things I would need to take to work with me in one place the evening before. That was so that I did not have to remember everything in the morning as I quietly left for work. Now all that actually makes sense to her.

I do know that the school kids really enjoy having her there. Our associate pastor is not the overly expressive sort so the kids are fixated on getting Mama’s attention when they are doing something they want feedback on - which is very often. It is not a strenuous job and I am welcome to have lunch with her whenever I would like. Plus, I think the school kids are among those who will be going to the Creation Museum in Glenrose, TX next week with the speaker who will be taking us through the Bible in his presentations starting Sunday morning. I also plan on going since we will be given a special guided tour by the museum curator, a good friend of our speaker.

After Mama left this morning I took over her feeding chores and then worked with the tractor moving some rocks onto the goats little hill so it would have less open spots of dirt. There is still more to do but I did not want to risk my back by overdoing rearranging large stones. Then I hooked up the little brush hog we bought about five years ago. It is well used - translate that “old but still workable”. 

Since I sold the large brush hog I have reverted to the smaller one which is more maneuverable in the trees. And the tractor seems to handle it better. The hookup took me almost an hour because the PTO shaft was rusted in place. I had to use a large hammer and a lot of oil and grease to get it to move forward enough to get it mated to the tractor. Once I did, it worked very well. I only mowed for about an hour since I also have a lot of items to take care of through my day - all of which were interrupted to get Mama’s purse and phone to her. A delightful interruption.

Once Mama gets back we will go to the dairy for feed and milk. I would do it by myself but it takes two to operate the silo from which we get our feed. We are about out so it has to be done today or tomorrow and tomorrow has a strong chance of rain in the forecast. One of the blessing of having the truck back is that we do not have to set the bags of feed in the back of the Sequoia. Mama really dislikes the dusty smell on the drive home.

I have an interview with Amazon in Ft Worth tomorrow morning, 10 a.m. Their literature and instructions say that there will be a job offer made on the spot if they are interested. I am prepared for that, but still have to be careful what type of job I take and will avoid one that keeps me from fulfilling my obligations at church. Nights is one of the better options for me if days are not available, but that will prove a hardship on Mama. It is times like these that I miss my old day job.

Victoria is home today still recovering from the same bug Mama and Jake had. I guess I got a much more mild form of the illness. No complaints there.

Mama’s first day, in service, patience and persistence

Mama started working at the church school today. It is a new thing for her. I do not think she has had a job outside of the home since Cori was being potty trained. The Lord has always blessed me with a good income to provide for her and the children - at least, until recently. So for the both of us this adds a new dimension to our lives; one we have not seen in almost thirty years. it will be fun to see how it plays out.

Now, you have to realize that the amount she is earning is not much but it will help buy our groceries and the fuel for her transportation to and from the church on a daily basis. It is being done out of love, not of absolute necessity or selfishness to have anything of her own. It is a sacrifice on her part; giving up her daily routine here on the farm while I struggle to either find work or make my online business work. I appreciate it. God is not done with us yet but He is certainly bringing us into new territory.

I had to go ahead and spend the money to get two new batteries for the truck today. A diesel requires two batteries versus the one needed for most cars. That is all it lacked to get it fully operational but it was painful to do when added to the money already spent to repair it. I jumped it off yesterday and left it running for several hours in case the batteries could be charged, but it would not crank this morning; hence, the need for the new batteries. It just did not make sense to leave it idle waiting on $200 worth of batteries. I must confess that it is good to have it back on the road. It will alleviate our overuse of the Sequoia for towing the trailer to pick up what is needed. Although, it was good to have that option for the month the truck was gone.

It will probable make it’s first long trip next week when Brittany comes to visit. She has talked about going to see Dad when she comes. and I need to make another trip down.  He will thoroughly enjoy her visit. It will be a help to have her there to assist with some of the things that still need to be done to the house Mom and Dad lived in assist is prepared for sale. And the truck will be needed to haul some of the shop items I need to bring back with me.Those items have been waiting on the truck to be available to get them moved out of Martha’s way.

I continue to work at my online business as I put in applications to every reasonable sounding job. So far I am averaging one to two per day but going onto the last quarter of the year can either be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the hiring company’s view. 

I am praying we are close to a long term solution but if not we will find a way through.