Surprise visit, Blockage, house #1, Mama’s appointment

Saturday was a very wet day, but it brought us a blessing in the afternoon. I was working at the computer when a vehicle we did not recognize pulled into the drive and parked in front of the house. The big dogs were not happy with the intrusion. With all the commotion they were raising, I stepped outside to greet our visitors. It was Chase and Makayla. They were attending a conference in Dallas and stepped out of the afternoon activities to bring Owen to see Mama. We have not seen him since he was a newborn. That was a very pleasant surprise. Victoria was off, so she got to participate in the visit. Owen is a very amiable baby. Very happy. He seemed immediately comfortable with all of us. That made Mama extremely happy. We visited at the house for a couple hours and then went to dinner before they headed back to Dallas. Sunday Chase and family came to meet us for lunch after church and went on to visit Grandma and Grandpa that afternoon on their way home. They even went to see Victoria at Walmart – she had to work Sunday - on their way out of town. That made Mama’s and Victoria’s weekend.

I took the day off yesterday, so Mama and I could go to the foreclosure auction in Lawton. It was a good thing I was still at home when Victoria left for work. She did into make it very far down the road. A large limb had fallen from across the road; too large for us to move by hand. It had been very windy all night and we had gotten over an inch of rain, but when I went out to see the deadfall the rain had slacked up significantly. That was a blessing. It was 38° F and the wind had not slacked up much. I went back to the house and got the tractor, so we could move the branch and the attached vines out of the roadway – at least enough for us to get our vehicles through. I was thoroughly chilled by the time I got the tractor parked. Had I not been off, I would have had to do the same thing a bit earlier in the morning, so everything worked out well. Mama and I left for Lawton after the road was clear.

We were both excited about the sale. We now have a process in place. We have an organization in place. We had researched the homes. We had coordinated with our real estate agent. We were ready. And it is a good thing we were. We got a house. Our first investment property. We will not be able to confirm the sale until the 26^th of November – at which time we will be in Honduras – but we are the recorded buyers. Our agent, Glenn, also bought a house. Our friend from Dallas bid on two houses but both went for far more than he was willing to pay. Oh well, he has bought three so far. All of which are in various stages of remodeling. His wife texted Mama wanting to know all about the house we were the winning bidders on. Surprisingly, neither Mama nor I were super excited. Maybe that will come as we actually take possession of the property. Meanwhile, Glenn will contact the person living in the house and let them know there is a new owner. That is something Mama and I have not developed the desire to handle yet. But we will get there. Glen will also serve as our liaison with the lawyers for the bank that owns the property. Our next auction is November 5^th. We are getting ready for that now – and there are some really great properties going up for bid at that auction. Mama and I may not have enough  money to get another property, but we will attend the auction none-the-less.

At Mama’s doctor’s appointment today, we will learn what the doctor has planned for Mama. The brace she is wearing is definitely helping although I am convinced that Mama is not wearing it as specifically intended. Although she is not able to get the 120° of bend the doctor is looking for, she is in far less pain and seems to have a greater range of motion than before she got the brace. It has only been two weeks since she started using the device, so it is difficult to tell for certain, but I can tell she is more comfortable. With the gentle constant pressure of the brace there is significantly less swelling in the joint. That is a blessing. If we are allowed to continue to use the brace through the time we leave for Honduras, perhaps Mama will get to the point that the doctor forgoes any further intervention.

If not, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.