Cookout, sleepover, hurting

Friday night Trace called to see if we were still on schedule to get together for lunch or dinner Saturday. I had completely forgotten that he had asked when he and I talked on Tuesday night. At that time, he had asked if we could get together one weekend when he was home – which is not very often right now. Of course, I thought that was a good idea. Then I forgot about it. I am never sure when he will be home, so I did not put anything on the calendar. It is a good thing he called to remind us. Even though it took her by surprise, Mama was in favor of the idea since we have not had a cookout all summer. So, we got meat out of the freezer and set things in motion to get macaroni salad, potato salad and baked beans on the menu as well. Adding to the excitement of the weekend, Yilin and Cheyenne were scheduled to come over and spend the night with us Saturday night.

Saturday morning almost upset all the plans we laid out Friday night. Mama and I had set our sights on going bus calling Saturday morning, but when we got up neither of us were in any shape to go. I was hurting from a flare up of diverticulitis. Mama was hurting from a flare up of sciatica. We did not want to call off the evening events for the sake of Trace and Krystal and the kids. So, we pressed on. Mama took long rests between activities. I spent a lot of time in the bathroom between activities. I fired up the grill about 3 pm. A little later that we had originally planned because Trace had to take the family car for repairs Saturday morning and did not get home as early as he had thought he would. It all worked out. They came over about 5 pm. By that time all the food was ready. I fixed chicken breasts, boudin, sausage links (from our steer), hamburgers and hot dogs. Mama fixed all the sides. We had plenty to eat. Trace even asked if we were expecting another family or two. More than half of the leftovers were sent home with Trace and Krystal. Hopefully, Krystal and the boys will eat them. Trace heads back out this morning to continue the job they are working on somewhere in Kansas.

Yilin and Cheyenne came over about 7 pm. Alex dropped them off showered and ready for bed. Mama had started them working on diamond dot bracelets the last time they were at the house. They immediately went to work trying to complete their own bracelets as well as finishing one for Aubrey. That took an hour or so, after which we found things for them to do ranging from watching a movie to playing with a color by number app on my phone. When we put them to bed is when the interesting part of the night started. Cheyenne had spent the night with us before. She was ready to settle in and go to sleep. Yilin had not. Since my back was hurting, I was on the couch to start off my night. I heard the two of them talking, giggling and generally trying to stay awake until about 11:45. I fell asleep thinking we were good for the night, Not so. About the time I fell asleep, Yilin got up crying. Wanting to go home. She woke Victoria who told her to go back to bed, close her eyes and go to sleep. In what I can only assume was Victoria’s gently nurturing way. Yilin must have obeyed. We did not hear anything out of them for the remainder of the night. However, she and Cheyenne were up before 7 am. Mama and I slept in. Me for the first time in many days.

Both of us were still hurting Sunday morning but we struggled through church and lunch. After that Mama was done. Victoria and I went back to church that evening and stayed through the Vacation Bible School meeting following the evening service. VBS will start tonight. We will take Yilin, Cheyenne and Aubrey to all four nights. This will be one of those weeks where nothing will get done at the farm. Our focus will be VBS. But, when we put the Lord first, everything seems to work out.

The only pressing thing is the arrival of chicks Mama ordered. They should arrive Thursday. I will need to have one side of the coop prepared for them. In doing so, we have all the mature hens on the other side of the coop. It is very crowded, and I need to add more roosts to accommodate the greater number of birds.

How I will get that done and still make all four nights of VBS remains to be seen.