Class party, chickens, cantata, Mama’s surgery

Mama, Victoria and I went to our Sunday School class party Friday night. I was not feeling the greatest, but I endured. We ate Mexican food and visited for about an hour before we started the gift exchange. Poor Mr. Plumley got his gift taken several times, but in most of the instances it was to ensure that he finally ended up with a gift he could actually use. His first gift was a set of pocket knives. He cannot have those in his assisted living setting. I was planning on taking them if he still had them when it was my turn. Secondly, he got a set of screw drivers – which he really liked. Someone took those from him. I had hoped he would be able to keep them. Most of us can afford a set of screwdrivers more easily than he can. On he third time choosing a gift he opened a box with three cases of soft drinks in it. One of the other assisted living participants took those. Finally, he got a gift card to Subway. He was delighted about that even thought he had to go through four successive boxes to get to the gift card. I forgot what Mama got but Victoria got a “Drinking Bird”. A balanced toy roughly resembling an ostrich that will keep tipping down to dip its beak in water once you get it started. Strange. I remember them being a big thing when I was a kid. When my turn came, I stole a pair of Bluetooth earbuds. I gave them to Victoria. We got home about 10pm.

While closing up the chickens Friday night, I found a dead chicken inside the coop. It had not died of natural causes. It had been killed and partially eaten. Not a good sign. My coming out to close the coop doors must have disturbed the predator. I found a second partially eaten chicken Saturday morning. Having discovered those kills, I decided to look around carefully and found a third chicken under the coop. Fortunately, Mama did not have to see any of them. I disposed of them as I typically do in such instances. Both Saturday and Sunday night, none of the chickens would roost on the side where the predator entered. A wise move. I set traps but did not catch anything. I baited them for coons. Tonight, I will bait them for opossum. Since Friday evening, Mama and I have been diligent about closing the doors that the chickens use to enter and exit at the back of the coop at dark rather than waiting until we turn off the lights for the night. There is about a four-hour lag between those times and we want to deny our predator access to the coop during that time.

I was given a Christmas bonus at work. Praise the Lord! So, Saturday morning, after I cleaned up the aftermath of our predator’s rampage in the coop, Mama and I went to Northern Tool and Equipment in Denton and got a couple items that I had on a wish list. We were planning on going to Academy and Sam’s, but we spent too long at the tool store. Mama really enjoyed it. We will have to go back to Academy because Mama really needed to get some items at Sam’s in preparation for the cooking we will be doing this coming weekend and into Christmas. We were up against a deadline because I had cantata practice at the church that afternoon. I still was not feeling well but I was not feeling horrible. We had a three-hour practice during which I had to sit a lot – and keep myself from singing too much. It was well worth the time we put into it.

Sunday morning, I asked a young man who is attending BBTI this year to lead the music for me, so I could save my voice for the cantata that evening. He and his wife – a very sweet couple – are attending our church during their time at the special training. Sunday evening, I had the choir meet for a final run through. Again, it was time well spent. We ironed out the last few rough patches. At the actual performance, the play and cantata went very well. Probably the best we have ever done as a choir. I was very pleased. So was everyone in the choir. On the last song, one of our favorites, the choir sang with such confidence and power that the praise reflected in the song came through with its full power. The only regret every year is that for all that work and preparation, we only get to present the cantata once.

Mama did not go to either service yesterday. She was feeling too badly. We are praying that she recovers quickly so that her surgery, scheduled for tomorrow evening, is not postponed.