Birthing issues, odd ideas, a small lift, travel

Monday evening Dolly gave birth to a little buckling. Both are doing fine. Millie was due to kid next. Yesterday morning Mama found Millie straining to deliver a partially formed kid. It was halfway out, requiring Mama to help her finish the delivery. She delivered one more in the same fashion. After consulting with Rick, Mama may have to reach into Millie and feel for another baby that needs to get expelled. We do not want to lose Millie and physically pulling the stillborn baby or babies out is the only way to get her womb emptied. Rick said this is not a common issue, but he has dealt with in in one of his favorite nanny goats – so he knew how to advise Mama. I advised Mama to go ahead with her appointment with the physical therapist and check back on Dolly when she got back home.

When she did get back home she called me to come and help her. Millie was trying to deliver a third kid One leg was fully exposed. Nothing else. After Mama struggled for some time, I donned a pair of the exam gloves and forced my hand into her backside until I could get hold of the other back leg, rotate the baby and pull it out. It was fully formed. A beautiful red buckling. A third stillborn kid. Very disheartening. Long after Mama and I had cleaned up the mess and disposed of the dead, the smell lingered with us. After church last night we went out and gave Millie the first of three doses of penicillin. Having only a small herd, the loss is devastating to us. We were expecting five to six little kids to be born. We got only one. A buckling which is no gain to us. Oh well. We will try again in the spring. It is the first complication we have had in birthing in many years.

Yesterday Maggie had a heartbreaking phone conversation with Grandma. Grandma had started her preaching by loosely quoting the verse Matthew 5:48 (KJV) “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Grandma’s contention was that if Maggie’s belief that we are all sinners saved by grace meant that she was not really saved. That Maggie was headed straight to Hell because of these beliefs. If she is not perfect, then she is not saved. Maggie was upset. More so because she was so shocked by what Grandma was saying that she could not immediately think of the many scriptures that refuted Grandma’s position. Grandma, according to what she told Maggie, believes that she is prefect – because she is saved. If she sins, it means she is not saved and has to get re-saved. That is a sad and frightening revelation. Maybe Grandma is just confused. Maybe not. Either way such a position creates an immediate controversy in any “spiritual” discussion. Not perfect equals not saved requires a very shallow definition of “perfect” to maintain the prospect of salvation. Thank God I know that I am saved to the uttermost according to Heb 7:25. How do I know that? Because God does the saving.

Mama and Victoria will be heading to Brittany’s tomorrow, Friday. Mama was a little hesitant to go but finally talked herself into it. In preparation for the trip, Mama has been in physical therapy Tuesday, yesterday and today. Meanwhile, at home I have been insisting that she wear a shorter shoe on her left foot than on the right. My thinking is that if the left leg is now, longer than her right leg, she needs a little lift to make her walk without having to compensate using her hip. Yesterday, she told the therapist about my theory and he gave her an insert to put in her right shoe. When she takes the time to use the insert or wear properly sized footwear, she is able to walk almost normally…and she can immediately tell the difference. If we do not get the other knee rebuilt, we will need to be able to maintain the external adjustment for many years to come. If Mama will be consistent, it will help her with the hip, knee and sciatica pain she has been experiencing. Time will tell.

For now, travel is still a strain for Mama, but she manages – especially for the grandchildren.

Small detours, short-term memory, sunrise on the farm

Saturday afternoon while Mama and I were looking at houses in Comanche County we saw a sign for the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. It indicated that we were only three miles from the refuge. When we looked at the house we were researching – which sold for far more than was indicated on the report sheet – we crossed over the Quanah Parker Highway and drove into the refuge. The first thing that caught our attention was the stacked rocks that formed the hill leading into the refuge. The formations stretched out for several miles. Those of you that know Mama know her fascination with rocks. The next thing that caught our attention was a sign warning travelers that artillery shells may be shot over the road. I found that interesting. I have no idea what that would be like but assume it would be hard to miss when it happens. At the entrance to the refuge there is a monument style sign that has a warning posted announcing that longhorns and buffalo are to be considered dangerous. The entire area is open range, so the warning was to let people know that there were no barriers of fences to contain any of the wildlife in the refuge. I told Mama as we drove past that sign that I would like to see some buffalo.

We did not have to go far. About a mile into the refuge there was a bull buffalo and a cow. They were huge. They were not hard to spot partly because of their size and dark hides against the green meadow. They were easy to spot because a couple of young guys were out in the field getting closeups of themselves with the bull. We stopped along with several other vehicles to get pictures also. We stayed in the vehicle. But we had to wail until the two interlopers made their way back to their car to get an unobstructed view. We did not go much farther into the refuge. We had to try and get home at a reasonable time, but it was a nice detour.

I got on my LinkedIn page last week and saw a note from a gentleman who had worked a brief time with me at the job I currently have. The message was over a month old. Just shows how hooked I am to social media. Anyway, I reached out to him through email and we eventually connected by phone. When he left this company, he easily found work. He is an upper management type – Vice President background, visionary. I knew when I met him that he would not be long with this company. The position he was in was not a good fit for him professionally. He relocated out of the country with the new company position. We did not have time to talk long. He was on another call when he took mine but hopefully, we will reconnect when both of us can spend some time catching up. He is a very interesting man. A year of so ago he sought my help with a project that he may still want to pursue. We will see.

Mama and I came to the office for a couple hours last night. I had a lot of research to get lined out and we needed access to a working printer. The one at the house is not working properly. I also needed to two-monitor set up I have at the office. What was funny was that the houses we were researching are the ones we just looked at Monday when we were finished with the auction and neither of us could keep them straight. We did not have the pages we used for notes when we were in Lawton and neither of us took any “as-is” pictures when we were there, so we were struggling to remember what we actually saw at each property.

After getting slightly agitated with the disagreements we were having as we tried to connect the dots of our collective memories, we finally had to laugh about it. We are learning as we go. One thing is obvious. We will require a lot more pictures to keep properties straight. We were trying to disconnect from the eight properties we looked at for the last auction and retain the memories of the seven we are looking at for the next auction. It would be nice if we could annotate pictures as they were being captured, but I am not sure such software is available.

Mama was out fairly early the other morning and got some nice images of the sunrise through the trees on the east side of the property.

Lawton, Maggie home, kids

Mama and I attended our first foreclosure auction yesterday. It was about what we expected having been to a tax deed sale in Lawton, but there were more people there than I expected. I am guessing there were eighteen to twenty bidders. Gill was there but Debbie had to work. He sat near me and Mama while the relator he has been working with sat in the back of the small room. The lawyers sat at a large table in the front of the room and announced the opening bid as their client’s properties came up. It was easy to follow. There was no rush. Unfortunately, the only property Mama and I were definitely interested in had been recalled from the list that morning. We started to bid on one property, but the realtor began to bid against two other bidders so, Mama and I sat it out.

What I found out after the bidding started was that the relator was bidding on our behalf. He rode the bid all the way up to our top dollar figure and was outbid. He told us as we sat around discussing the auction and sharing contact information that he believes the person who got the house will be disappointed by the amount of work required to fix it up. He advised us that we are probably better off not getting the house – but we are listed as the second-place bidder in case the winning bidder defaults. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. All in all, it was a good experience. Not personally profitable, but we accomplished a lot of good things in attending, meeting the realtor and taking the time to look at the houses coming up for foreclosure in the next auction. A list drastically shortened by the realtor who crossed off the properties we would not want to acquire if out intent was to resell them. It reinforced the desire to do this as a business and well as confirm for me and Mama that this is something we can do together for many years to come. Should the Lord tarry.

While we were on our way home, Maggie called to let us know she had been given clearance to go home. She was packing to leave the hotel as soon as possible. Later that evening she called to let Mama know they were back in their apartment – and very happy to be there. To Kathryn and Walter, it was a vacation filled with fun things to do and new exciting places to wake up every morning. Maggie really did get into the spirit of the adventure and allowed herself and the kids to enjoy the time away from home. As for their apartment, it never lost power. For those that do not have homes to return to yet, our prayers are with you.

As I went out to tend to the goats yesterday evening, I found that a kid had been born. Millie was standing over the tiny things in a protective stance, but it was obvious that the kid belonged to Dolly. We had the same issue when Lilly had her triplets. Millie stole them away from her and we had to move Millie out of the enclosure until the babies had been tended to by their real mommy. So, I took a panel from the garden and made an enclosure for Dolly and her kid. I checked several times before going to bed and no other babies had been born. She is certainly big enough to have more but it appears that is not the case. When I checked this morning before I left for work, there was still only the one offspring. If that is the case, it will be disappointing for me and Mama since these goats normally have twins and triplets.

I will get pictures tonight.

Bad review, birthday, business travel, Mama’s frustrations

Victoria and I watched – or rather tried to watch – a Jurassic Park movie last night. The newest one. It was so awful from the very beginning that I lost complete interest less than half way through. I am not a critic, but I do know what catches my attention and what does not. What I did manage to watch was a complete waste of time. I think Victoria saw it through to the conclusion. I could not endure the affront to my general sense of intellectual acumen. If it was billed as a comedy, it would have been more endurable. That was not the case. Lately, the movies available have fallen into the same grouping of poorly written and poorly produced content relying on cinematography and computer generated images to carry the interest versus taking time to write a . Fortunately, we do not try to watch a movie that often. Unfortunately, that was a sad fail as entertainment. The upside was that there was very little bad language and no nudity – or suggestive situations. At least to the point that I watched. Still, it was not time well spent.

Nate, Cori and the kids sang Happy Birthday to me in Spanish yesterday. The kids did so with gusto. Cori told me later that there is a customary second part to the chorus, but they did not know the words well enough to sing it to me. They are going to learn that part so when Mama’s birthday comes up in a few days they will be able to sing it for Mama. That should be fun. I heard from everyone but Joshua. He is distracted by the potential work coming his way as an insurance adjuster – heading to North Carolina – and a new family unit to integrate into. Brittany sent me a cute picture of the girls propped on the couch with a Happy Birthday Papi sign in front of them. Sophia (at least I think it is Sophia) looks unimpressed with the activity. But the effort produced a funny picture.

Today, Mama had physical therapy again. She is worried that over the weekend she will lose the gains she and the therapist fought for over the past two or three days. I believe that as the swelling in her knee and leg goes down over the weekend we will see steady improvement in her range of motion. Victoria and I will work with Mama to keep what she has gained – if she will allow. Victoria went with Mama to her physical therapy session today, so she could see what needed to be done and how to do the exercises we need to keep up. The only caveat is the time Mama and I will be on the road traveling to and from Lawton as well as the time we will be in town searching out properties.

Mama spent the time and money yesterday to get new tires put on the Sequoia. We waited about as long as we possibly could to replace the tires. From her report to me last night, she is not thrilled with the purchase. We went with a lower priced set of tires to get us by for a couple years. She said they ride pretty roughly so we may not have made the right decision. Time will tell. I will get good chance to evaluate them tomorrow as we drive to and from Lawton. It is only a two-hour trip to Lawton and we have just ten houses to evaluate. We should be able to get that done in about six hours total. I need to get the research done and get home as soon as possible to finish preparing to teach Sunday School Sunday morning. It is supposed to rain all night and all day, so the timing of the research trip is really good. The proof will come on Monday morning as we attend the auction.

Pray for us to have wisdom as we pray and prepare ourselves for that auction. The first step is often the most difficult one to take.

Mama, birthdays

Mama had a rough morning yesterday. When she woke up her leg was so stiff that she worried that she had actually lost ground with the manipulation. It took a call to her good friend Kim Cantrell to get he energized enough to get up and going. By the time she got done at the physical therapist she was back on track – and hopeful. She and Kim decided that Mama should wake several times through the night and do the exercises that will help keep her leg flexible. That sounded good to Mama that morning. She took a silicon spoon with her to physical therapy, so she had something to bite on as the therapist moved her knee into the painful area of the bend. The therapist liked the idea – it kept her from screaming as he was pushing the limits on her pain tolerance.

So far, she is at 85% and increasing a bit every therapy session. She has lost some of the straightness measurement of the knee, but she is not far off of 100%. By tomorrow, the additional swelling caused by the manipulation should begin to subside and her range of motion should begin to increase daily. For the moment, she is waking several times through the night and moving the leg. I was surprised by the determination she showed in adding that to her routine. She is fairly pain free and walking more normally than she has been able to do over the past several weeks. She will need an insert in her right shoe to make up the height difference from the corrected left knee, but that is a small price to pay until it is determined to replace that knee.

Those are all good things since today she will be running several errands for our business and getting new tires put on the Sequoia. That vehicle has a right front tire that has had a screw in it for a couple months now. Until very recently that did not cause us any problems. Lately however, the tire has not help pressure very long. I aired it up this morning before I left the farm, hoping Mama would get out early and get the tires replaced. If not, the tire should be good until mid-day today. She does need to get it replaced before taking off for the longer runs required for our business. Plus, we will be driving to Lawton this Saturday to look at houses to determine which ones we will bid on at the auction Monday morning. We are both excited about that.

This is our birthday month as a clan. We have seven birthdays this month; mine and Mama’s included. I may have missed one as I looked at the calendar, but I am pretty sure we are standing at that count for now. Kathryn’s birthday was on the 17^th. Cori’s birthday was on the 18^th. Mine is today. Rebecca’s in tomorrow. Nate’s the following day. Mama and Chase will be celebrating on the 29^th. When we had all the kids at home I had to plan for the birthday purchases and special dinner outings a month or more out. Then we only had five birthdays in the month. It as and always has been a fun month.

Mama and I will be busy this weekend – and through Monday.

Maggie and Florence, Mama

Maggie and the kids had to leave Wilmington, NC on Thursday of last week because of the hurricane that made landfall the next day. She was willing to stay but was strongly advised to leave by almost everyone. Finally, the Coast Guard ordered her to go.  Though she is not technically under their command she was told (according to Maggie) that headquarters would send a police escort to relocate her and the children to a designated shelter if she did not voluntarily leave. So, she left. She and the children went to Charlotte, NC. I assume that is far enough inland that it was an acceptable safe location to weather the storm. She and the kids spent a night or two in a hotel until Mama hooked her up with a family she and Victoria knew through Kira’s puppies. Seriously. This couple bought a pup about eight months ago and have stayed in touch through a couple moves that finally landed them in the Charlotte area of NC.

I am pretty sure relocating was the right thing to do since Wilmington has been hit hard by flooding. Those conditions will persist for a week or more until all the rain that dropped in the upstream areas makes its way to the sea as creeks and rivers return to normal levels. I am not sure where Maggie and Aaron’s apartment is located in Wilmington, but it is better for her and the kids not to be there until power and other services are restored. I will have to consult with Mama to see where she is now, but I know she had to leave the couple who was housing her, Katheryn and Walter because they had to attend a church function the end of last week.

By an unexpected turn of events, I ended up in Charlotte International Airport late Friday night on my way home from Huntsville, Al. My direct flight to DFW had been cancelled. There were only fourteen people onboard as we flew the 450 miles from Huntsville to Charlottte. I called Maggie from the airport as I was making my way across the entire length of the airport to catch my flight home. She and I were only about 30 minutes from each other. Sadly, my flight out was due to board within a few minutes. I ended getting to DFW a little after midnight. It was a long day concluding a long week.

I am way behind on the news having spent last week in Alabama. Saturday, I caught up to things on the farm. Sunday, I rested, and Monday I was swamped with the paperwork from the classes I had taught while in Alabama. All day yesterday was spent with Mama as the doctor helped her to bend her leg. Mama and I got to the hospital about 6:30 for the procedure. The expectation was that the entire procedure would not take more than twenty minutes. Getting to the point that they took Mama back to the OR as a patient was the long part. Although Mama was a willing patient, she did not cooperate when it came to giving the nurses a good place to insert an IV. One nurse stuck her twice before going for help. The second nurse chose a location that would not normally be an option but because the time Mama would need the IV was relatively short, they put the IV in the bend of her elbow on her left side arm. When it came to getting the blood for a procedure that required 60 ml – I am not sure what that was all about – they tried several times while Mama was awake and finally gave up. The doctor drew the blood from a vein on her ankle while Mama was anesthetized. She has bruises up and down both arms from the failed attempts to draw the blood and insert the IV.

As far as the procedure to bend her knee. That went as well as could be expected. The doctor told me she did fine but that she was “very stiff”. Much more so that he would have liked. He remarked that it took a while to get her anesthetized, again, more than he was expecting, but there should be no complications from that. He did fully bend the knee, so he accomplished what was required for her to enable her to finally use the joint properly. Recovery took quite a while. Mama does not react to anesthesia. When she was fully awake, we were discharged. Mama was so cold from the IV and the temperature in the hospital that her teeth were chattering as I helped her get dressed. Once outside it did not take long for her to warn up. The ambient temperature was 95° F. I had the a/c going full blast a few minutes after she was in the car.

We went to lunch. Drove to Decatur for physical therapy. Picked up some items from the school and headed home. I took a short nap. Mama took a long one. We finished the day doing research for an auction coming up on Monday of next week.

One we are planning to attend.

Work and sales, business updates, revelations

Well, the day is finally here. I will be out of the office all next week. Away from the farm. Away from Mama. I am not looking forward to it, but it is unavoidable. I will not be alone. There will be four of my office mates at the workshop with me. They will all be serving in various roles, but I will be doing the teaching. For me, it means hectic mornings. Monday and Wednesday especially. Tuesday and Thursday I am not teaching a class and on Thursday afternoon all the crew from EWN will be heading home. I will stay through Friday for one more class. I will fly home Saturday afternoon, have Sunday to recuperate and fly into the next week – which includes Mama’s surgery. Meanwhile, Victoria advertised our trailers on Facebook last night and got some immediate responses. One individual is desperate to get the stock trailer and another individual will be coming by to look at the flatbed trailer – possible this weekend. We will not count our dollars until they are in our hands, but it would be nice to change some stuff into cash. Again, we do not have to sell the trailers, but it would be good to be able to apply the asset value – in money – to other areas of our little operation.

Mama and I have done very little in our business lately. With the lack of opportunity to attend the final few auctions we are tracking, we have slowed down. With Mama’s surgeries and my work commitments it has been difficult to squeeze out the time required to travel this summer. This lull will be a normal occurrence year by year since the auctions typically happen between May and September throughout the continental United States. We are currently waiting on these auctions to conclude so we can sift through the left-overs. That has not been very profitable for us so far, but we keep looking just in case. One ongoing type of auction is in the area of foreclosures. Those happen on a regular basis throughout the year. We are particularly focused on one geographic area for those. That is the one reason we have moved our savings around. So we can use it to invest in those properties – which require significantly higher capital resources to compete. Mama and I did go over one list pretty thoroughly. That auction was on the 5^th. Obviously, we did not have access to the cash to make that one, but we should be ready for the next one; in about three weeks. We’ll see if that works out health wise and work wise, but we are hopeful.

Mama was recently rejected for another MRI. It is amazing how much control insurance companies exercise over the practice of medicine. The doctor requested the test to confirm his diagnosis on her right knee. If they insist the test be completed, Mama and I will have to pay for it out of pocket. If he is willing to go on his most recent diagnosis, based on x-rays takin in his office, Mama will have a far less invasive surgery. And thereby, a much quicker recovery. Unfortunately, we do not know which will happen. We area preparing for either but hoping for the repair. Since very little of the $20,000 already spent has been applied to our deductible, it makes little difference as far as the amount insurance will cover. We are only concerned that Mama be ready to travel at Thanksgiving.

As I talked with my young boss this morning, I finally got the answer to the question that has plagued me since I hired into this company. I will not express that thought in words because I am not sure who could read this posting, but it was a moment of relief in many ways. Just understanding this one nuance will help me steer clear of issues where I could be misled into false expectations. But I have begun a countdown to giving notice. The timer is set for November 1. Whether or not I make that deadline remains to be seen. Many things will have to happen to enable me to achieve that goal, but God is able should our prayers be in line with His goals for me and Mama.

If not, we will adjust and move forward.

The week ahead, Brittany’s scare

As I wind up this week I am trying to take the time to make sure things are in place for next week, especially at the farm. With work, I have a set order of things that need to happen to make next week go smoothly, while at the farm, things are too often not as predictable. I am confident there is plenty of feed set out to cover the week. Mama is not able to handle the fifty-pound bags on her own yet, so I try to make sure everything is where she and Victoria will need it when they need it. I still have not taken down the dead tree near the birthing center, but I hope to get that done before I leave Sunday morning. As far as things in the home, everything is functioning properly but that is always subject to change without notice. Should I stay in my current employ, I will have many more of these types of weeks ahead. Weeks where I spend the entire week away from home to teach various classes. As it stands now, there are two areas of trainings that would require that much time to cover the assignment. I am not looking forward to those weeks – should I be here when those types of assignments are required.

I spoke briefly to my broker at Edward Jones yesterday about moving my account. The paperwork I have for the move was inadequate, so I have to make some follow up calls with the bank to make that happen, but eventually we will get it done. That will allow me to invest in real estate within that account– something Edward Jones does not allow. The hard part for me is over. I do not know why I was hesitant to face my broker and tell him I was moving the account, but I was. He is a friend and has been a great support to me and Mama as we transitioned away from working for a big corporate company to working for a small, privately owned company. The move was a 55% cut in pay as well as a 75% cut in available vacation – all the while maintaining the farm, condensing our lifestyle and meeting large medical bills. But, business decisions are sometimes difficult on the personal level. And this was a necessary business decision. What I hope is ultimately a great business decision. A decision I should have made several months ago, but I hesitated to do so…until yesterday. He, my broker, was okay with the decision. Disappointed to lose my business but understanding that he could not compete with the potential gains provided by real estate investing. The account has grown 3% per year on average. I believe Mama and I can do better than that as the Lord directs us. My broker agreed…reluctantly.

Mama is taking the day off today. She is trading today for tomorrow. She and Kim Cantrell were supposed to travel to somewhere in Oklahoma today, but that trip got called off because of inclement weather. Not that either Mama or Kim was afraid to travel, but Kim Cantrell’s mom (who they were going to meet with for some banking purposes) was too worried for them to come because of the storms forecast for the area. Mama might actually be relieved. She stayed home from church last night because her head was hurting so badly she had to lie down in the dark to ease the pain. She was somewhat better when I got home from church, but still not fully functional. I have not talked to her this morning to find out how she is faring, but I suspect the overcast, rainy, dark day will be a blessing for her if she is still suffering. She typically does not care for the dark, but under the present circumstances, it is a relief. The rain is certainly a relief.

Brittany had a scare the other day. One of the twins, I do not remember which one seemed to be avoiding standing on one leg. Brittany monitored the discomfort and finally took the baby to the doctor for a diagnosis. She was given several potential issues – none of them good – and referred out for an MRI. The testing revealed nothing suspicious, so we are not sure where that stands. For now, all she can do is monitor the situation and pray nothing serious is happening beyond our ability to diagnose and treat it. I believe it will all turn out okay, but in this life, there are no guarantees of that. Only that if we are His, all things will work out for our good and His Glory.

For now, we watch and pray.

Do you listen?

Victoria and Mama talked with Savanna for a long time last night. Savanna thoroughly enjoys the video chatting. She likes being the center of attention; being the clown. She likes being seen and Mama likes the ability to see and her antics. Last night, as the conversation rambled, Cori had Savanna say her new word for Victoria. “Gobernadores”. Several days ago, Mykenzie was memorizing the Bible passage, Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” The word rulers is translated “gobernadores” and Mykenzie was having trouble getting the pronunciation correct -and she is quite concerned about speaking correctly. So, as her sister struggled and frustrated herself, Savanna piped up and said, “Mommy, I can say that word.” “Can you?” mommy asked. “Sure, go-ber-na-dor’-es” “Very good, Savanna.”

Of course, it was spoken with a three-year-old’s inflection and a deep South accent, but it was there. She has a very good ear. Because immersion in the language is key to training the ear, Cori and Nate are playing familiar songs and choruses in Spanish in the background as well as showing familiar movies in Spanish. It just goes to prove what I have believed, that learning a new language is not necessarily a speaking skill, it is more of a listening skill. Case in point: Think of someone you know that quickly picked up a second language and ask yourself, Is that person a good listener? The answer will probably be in the affirmative.

One of the things I see lacking in the world today is the desire to listen. It is not an American flaw exclusively. It is a human flaw – only exacerbated by a world-wide culture that relies on texting and twitter more than on any form of verbal communication – much less, face-to-face interaction. I am not a person who is quick to answer on average. I like to think about what I am going to say and how it is going to be heard. In the classes I teach, I have learned to give an answer to any question posed, but that relatively quick answer comes from experience answering questions relevant to the course material. They are practiced responses. In my current employ, there is an individual who I admire for his ability to listen intently and yet immediately give a thorough, intuitive response to the question asked or the thought shared. That is not me. I can easily walk away from a group conversation without feeling the need to add anything to the discussion. I generally hesitate to interrupt or interfere or interject unless required to do so. I am content to listen. I think of that as participating. Very few others do.

Most people join a conversation for the sole purpose on interjecting in some way. They come into the discussion ready to talk rather than ready to listen. They listen enough to hear key words or snippets of the conversation with the express intent of grabbing the first opportunity to talk. Sadly, most people are not good listeners. Me included. Even sadder, most people consider themselves good listeners as they spend their time in conversation planning what they will say when they take their turn to talk instead of hearing what is being said. Listening with a purely selfish intent. Missing the opportunity to touch the hearts and lifves of those they converse with. Such touchy-feely things are not important to them as long as they get the opportunity to voice what they want to say.

Conversations are more than an opportunity to speak. They are an opportunity to connect; to make eye contact, to read body language, the hear the tone and the emotion in which the thoughts are shared, to gauge the import of the topic, to catch the play on words or the humor of the moment. Even conversations over the phone can convey much of that same interaction. It has often been said, God gave us two ears and one mouth. We should take that as a clue and speak only half as much as we listen.

Long weekend, back to busy

It still amazes me that several days can pass with all the conversations, all the activities, all the meals together with those we love and when we sit down to make a record of the time, so little can be effectively recalled. Mama and I had Friday evening, all day Saturday, all day Sunday and all day Monday together. It was a good long weekend. Victoria used the weekend to travel to see Brittany and the girls. She had a wonderful time. It took over twelve hours on the road to enjoy a full day with Brittany and the twins, but those are the sacrifices we make to have those opportunities. I asked Mama if she was thinking of joining Victoria for the trip, but she did not feel that she was up to it physically.

Mama and I stayed home. We did not even go out for any food items or farm items over Saturday, and only went to Sam’s late on Monday. Mama got to spend a good bit of time on the phone with Maggie and Cori throughout the long weekend. Savanna loves the ability to show off for Grammy in real time and on Monday, Cori needed to distract her for a few minutes so the kids in school could get some work done. Of course, we went to church Sunday morning and evening. We had Aubrey, Cheyenne and Yilin for our normal Sunday morning but since Monday was a holiday and we were having a fellowship after church Sunday night, we got to bring them back to church that night. We had a great time. Aubrey was the center of attention throughout the evening. We got them home pretty late. It was a little before 9 pm before we dropped them off, but the girls were still wired up from the evening. I am sure it was difficult to get them settled and sleeping, but they had the next morning to sleep in. Mama and I slept in Monday morning also.

All weekend I worked on the addition for the shop. Mama was gracious and did not have me break away for any honey-do projects throughout the entire time. She worked on things inside the house Saturday and Monday and made several pitchers of green tea for me as I stayed soaking wet outside. I was able to finish the walls and the roof of the little addition to the shop. My primary goal for the addition is to store the gas cans and the gas-powered equipment outside of the shop. I am planning on putting a wood-burning heater in the shop, so I need the gas elsewhere. Plus, I did not like the shop always smelling of gas when I worked in it. Like always, there is still some more to do to get it complete to the point where I can lock it up, but it will keep things I have in there dry. Just in time. It is forecast to rain every day for the remainder of the week.

We will have to wait and see if we really get the predicted rain. We were supposed to get rain Sunday and Monday but that did not happen. It spit a little rain on me Monday afternoon, but not enough to wet the ground. Mama and I got to go through some rain as we went to Sam’s Monday evening, but by the time we got to Decatur from Denton (only thirty miles east), the skies were clear and sunny. With a tropical storm pushing moisture our direction from Florida, we may actually see some rain at our farm. It would be a welcome change.

Mama and I have a buy week this week; especially as I prepare to be gone all next week. I will meet with our accountant and make some changes to our accounts for business purposes. Those changes will allow us greater opportunity to invest in real estate through the end of the year. Mama will be making a lot of calls to get some of our medical bill paid down and hopefully schedule her MRI, so the doctor can determine what surgery he is going to do on her right knee. That surgery is still scheduled for the 18^th of this month. Mama is excited about the possibility of having only a repair done rather than a full replacement.

I have to admit, that would be a blessing as far as her recovery is concerned, but we will do whatever the doctor recommends.