Cancelled class, cancelled trip, one lamb, research

The class I was scheduled to attend today and tomorrow got rearranged to the point that most of the original attendees were disinvited. Me among them. I believe that was a good decision since this is a true pilot class. No one at our company has been through the class. We only began to review the material late last week – and it was a huge amount of content. It is difficult to imagine the contents as we see them now will fit into the twelve-hour time slot, but our leadership team will get to see that play out this morning. Regardless, I was excluded from this run through. With all the items the instructor brought with her, I am not sure if it is a class I will enjoy teaching.

Mama, Victoria and I were slated to travel to Amarillo tomorrow afternoon, but it looks like that is not going to happen. Mama is not feeling well. She has a cough that is lingering and the general malaise that accompanies such maladies. No chills or fevers. Just a yukky feeling in general. With that upon her, we are hesitant to travel to see Chase, Makaila and Owen. Especially Owen. We will see if we are feeling better enough next weekend to make the trip. Mama worries that next week I will come down with the symptoms she is now suffering. It is difficult to predict those things. We will just have to wait it out and do what we can to combat the illness as we endure it. But, as of last night, we had decided to stay home this weekend. At least, that was my impression.

Mama has been keeping a close eye on our struggling lamb. He seems to be getting by on the left overs in the utter of his mommy. His bigger brothers are butting him off the teats and emptying the contents before he gets a chance to latch on. For that reason, he is smaller, thinner and starting to show signs of failing. Yesterday evening, Mama made him a bottle before we went out to feed. She made only four ounces because on Monday evening he took very little of the bottle we tried to feed him. However, yesterday he was hungry enough to take the entire four ounces in record time. Mama told me after we were done that, she had intended to video the feeding but forgot once she got hold of the lamb – who remains unnamed for the time being. I have a feeling that this morning, he will empty whatever amount she tries to give him. Whether or not we can save him (and name him) remains to be seen, but we will give it a good effort. If we do manage to nurse him to the point that he is self-sufficient, I am certain he will not be one of the lambs taken to the market for processing. In other words, I will not be allowed to eat him.

I finally got my bearings on starting up the research Mama and I had been trained to do for the tax deed sale lists posted for each county in Arkansas. It took me a few minutes to remember how to navigate the websites required to ferret out the information Mama and I need in order to find properties worth the time to further investigate. I did finally remember and was able to figure out a way to capture all the information electronically. I want to print as little as possible going forward. It is so much more convenient to have everything in digital format; especially when we are talking about a thousand files of three to five pages each. I have not gotten the file question all figured out, but I will get there. The caveat is that I need to keep things simple enough that Mama can use the information also. I do regret having only one screen to work from at the house. I am also troubled that I need to upgrade my Office programs in order to keep up with the upgrades Apple is requiring. I like my MacBook, but I may have to purchase a PC for Mama. She is more used to that operating system and they are cheaper – both to buy and to upgrade. But, for the moment, we have what we have, and I will learn to use it more proficiently. Who knows, maybe Mama will adapt as well.

I was not feeling well last night as I slugged through the measly amount of research that I did get done. Several times Mama admonished me to “take a break”. My response to her each time was that I am trying to build a business that will support us for years to come. We can “take a break” when we have successfully built the business. Right now, I need to work hard at it whether I feel like it or not.

Other things can wait…for now.