Above freezing, a new restaurant, a possibility

For the past several nights the temperatures have been above freezing. That is a welcome relief to me and Mama. I suppose it is welcome to our flocks and herds as well, but it is difficult to tell just how much the cold affects them. In simple terms, from our point of view, it is easier to provide drinking water to the chickens, pigs and goats when the water containers do not freeze overnight. Praise the Lord! 

Winter is not over by any means, but we will enjoy the non-freezing nights for as long as we can get them. I have hesitated to hook up the hoses, but I will probably do that tomorrow. I have hesitated because along with the warmer weather, we are getting a long stretch of rainy days. Hooking up the hoses then means dragging them through the wet, sometimes muddy, ground. When that happens, everything gets a little nasty, so I have continued to carry water from the yard hydrant to the chickens and pigs, leaving the coiled-up hoses on standby. 

Mama and I took Victoria out for her birthday dinner this afternoon. Victoria was sick on her birthday, so we waited until she was feeling better on her day off. For the next two weeks, she has only Monday’s off. Her heart was set on Thai food, but the restaurant she most favored is closed on Mondays. So, she had to find an alternative. Boy, did she find a great one! The tiny restaurant is located in Denton, almost on the campus of the University North Texas. It sits less than a block from the University cafeteria. 

The menu was not huge, but the selections offered a breadth of foods we were familiar with because of Andrew and his family and because of Mrs. Happy, a Korean woman in our church in New Jersey, who was a Thai food connoisseur.  Many of the foods overlap in those two cultures, but the Thai way of preparing those familiar dishes in slightly different. Each of us, Mama, Victoria and I, enjoyed what we selected, and what we sampled from each other’s selections. 

The portions were large enough to get each of us comfortably full, but the only part of the three meals we brought home was the broth from the Spicy Ramen Soup I ate. I had to eat a couple pieces of chicken from the dish Victoria ordered, but Mama, who ordered a “tray meal” from the menu was able to clean her plate on her own. Prices were good. My soup cost less than a meal at Braum’s, which is one of the cheapest places in Decatur to eat a burger right now. We will be going back, especially since it is so close and easy to get to. It may be our new favorite. Mama will let me know at some point if that is the case, and I will be ready to agree.

Saturday afternoon, Mama, Norman and I made the trip to Lewisville to look at an RV. We debated back and forth, but finally made the decision to make the drive. When we found the RV that Norman had found online, we were quickly ready to walk away. It was in poor condition for the price being asked. The seller was texting back and forth with Mama, so Mama let him know we were going to pass on the initial RV. When he responded, he let Mama know that in the same row of RVs for sale, there was a second RV of the same type (a toy-hauler) we should look at. That one was far better. The setup was exactly what Mama, and I are looking for. It was even equipped with a queen-sized bed in the garage part that was mounted on rails. The bed could be raised to the ceiling to open space in the garage then lowered back down when needed. That was a surprise bonus. 

Mama quickly made an offer. The seller made a counteroffer. His price is a little too high and we are not in a hurry to buy just yet. Mama told the seller we would contact him when we get back from Honduras – mid-February – to see if the RV was still waiting on a buyer. At that point, we may be in a better situation to negotiate and get a lower price if we are still interested. The seller wished us well but offered no further comment. 

I was contacted by Energy Worldnet today. They forwarded some forms to me for me to look over as well as to acquaint me with the process of working in a contracted capacity. I let them know that I will not be available until March, but the wheels are set in motion to begin working on some courses for my old employer. It is something we talked about before I left, but I was not sure if they really needed me to help. 

It would be fun to take on that role.