Buck sighting, sleep troubles, growing up

In order to return one of the company trucks to the office I rode with a coworker to his house to get his personal vehicle. It was about a thirty minute drive by the route he took; he purposely took the longer, more scenic route.  At one point on one of the lesser traveled roads winding through the rolling hills of this area of Texas, we were paralleled by a trio of bucks.

Their racks were in velvet and the smallest one was an eight point. The larger two were well over that count. We slowed to let them cross the road in front of us on their way to the more wooded side of the road. One of the bucks miscalculated the jump a smacked into the fence with the full momentum of his run. After he bounced off of the roadway and scrambled for footing he ran a bit and got over the fence successfully. I have not seen a sight like that for many years. It made the entire trip worthwhile.

I have been having a good deal of trouble sleeping lately. As I lay in bed last night trying to get back to sleep it occurred to me that I had better check the meds I was taking. It turns out that one of the common side effects for Prednisone (I am taking it to help reduce the swelling in my lower back.) is insomnia.  A secondary, albeit noticeable effect I am dealing with, is mood changes.

That coupled with the stomach discomfort is enough to make me consider discontinuing the regimen but I have been warned that tapering down the dosage and slowly backing off the medicine is the best course of action. At least I have an idea what could be going on. I am more than half way through the prescribed regimen so I will follow through as directed but it is no fun to have medicines mess with my head, my sleep, my weight and my mood.

Neither Mama nor I wanted to go to church last night. Terrible isn’t it! In moments like those we do what we know we ought to do and we got dressed and went anyway. It has always been a behavior that pays rich dividends. Last night was no exception. We had a guest speaker who talked about serving God out of fear when we first come to Him. Later we serve Him because the rewards of doing so are obvious in the daily course of our lives. When we mature in our relationship with the Lord, we serve Him out of love.

He related it to childrearing. When our children are very young they obey out of fear; fear of punishment that could follow disobedience. As they grow and take on responsibilities of adolescent and teen years, they obey because we are able to reward their behavior with privileges and perks – staying over with friends, driving the car, etc. But later they obey out of love.

If my Dad were to call me today and request my help, I would drop everything and go. Not because I fear him or because I expect to get something out of it, but because I love him.  And so it should be. I hope my relationship with the Lord is maturing to that level.

It is hard to believe that today is the first of August.

Hard decisions, car issues, mowing issues

The big dogs are still with us. Mama is having a hard time coming to a decision concerning them. I am willing to go either way but we need to commit to one or the other; either we keep them or we do not. The latest stay of execution was triggered by the fact that Mama and I are going to be out of town most of next week and she did not want to leave Victoria any more isolated than necessary while we are away. I still have mixed feelings about it but I will go along with whatever is decided.

The ad to sell the car comes out in the Shopper today. Mama and Victoria have been working to clean the interior and they will take it to a car wash today and get the exterior looking clean. Where we live – on a gravel road – does little to help us keep a vehicle clean, but the effort will be a help to selling the car even if the effect is short lived.

I will have to cover a portion of the loan out of my own pocket but the bank has been gracious in helping us with that. In the long run we should come out ahead making the sacrifice early on but only time will tell. In order to get our finances back on the track I want them to be on it is a small setback overall.

Chase has called me several times lately. He and Makaila are buying a car for her.  Although I am not convinced it is the best idea, I have helped where I could. I suppose that if they are willing to make a four year financial commitment together they are really planning on making the matrimonial commitment as well. I have not heard back since late yesterday so I am not sure if they got the deal approved or what they actually decided on. I will know soon enough.

On the farm front, the little push mower we have been using (I am not sure where it came from) quit running the other day and I have not been able to get it started. It would not ordinarily be a problem but with the recent rains we have gotten the grass is getting pretty tall. Mama is fretting because we might have company coming over this weekend – helping with the apartment – and she wants things looking nice. I concur but I am not sure just what to do.

She has attempted to borrow a mover from our nearest neighbor but that has not worked out yet. Some of the cutting can be done with the brush hog but that will be limited by access. It is a rather large implement to be mowing lawns with. Some of it can be done with the weed eater but it is a bigger area than I would want to cover that way either. Besides, neither of those lawn tools leaves the yard looking like a mower does.

If I know Mama she will get it worked out somehow, but for now she is panicked.

Letting go

I have started driving the Ranger to work this week since Mama and I are selling the Flex. It is a little uncomfortable, especially since my back is still very tender from the recent spasmodic attack it launched against me. It is also a little warm in the afternoons. It does not have air conditioning and it would not be worth the money to have it repaired. Hopefully, it is a temporary arrangement. If not, Fall and Winter will soon be upon us. I can hold out until then. We are advertising the Flex at a little bit of a loss but in the long run we will be money ahead to let it go.  

Mama talked with several of the vets in Bowie yesterday and we have come to the conclusion that we need to put down Sam and Sasha. We have debated it in the past but it seems they are becoming more and more aggressive. It would be a shame to keep them and have to deal with them biting someone or killing more of the chickens or guineas. Something in their breeding seems off so we will have to solve the problem before it gets out of control.

Mama and Victoria are planning on going to a ladies function at the church tonight – if Victoria feels up to it. She has been pretty sick for the past three days. They went to the doctor yesterday and she began a regimen of meds to combat the cough and severe allergies she has been battling. Hopefully she will be on the mend soon. Anyway, while they are at that meeting I will dispense with Sam and Sasha. That’s life on the farm.

We how have some beautiful hay standing in the meadow but Grandpa will be in West Virginia until the end of August. It would not be worth having him come down early to cut it since it will not be more than a hundred bales or so. Whatever is standing when he does get back we will put up then and make due. I can work the mower and the rake but I have never run the baler and for fear of tearing it up I am not willing to experiment for the sake of a few bales of hay. So it will grow and wait on our real farmer.

Grandpa and Norman found a farm for sale just a short distance from where Norman is living. It is eighty acres of good laying ground, suitable for the hay meadows we are looking to develop in West Virginia. I do not know if we will be able to purchase it but we are praying about it. Right now it is pretty far out of reach with all we have going on, but it is nice to know there are possibilities out there when the time is right.

Mama and I have decided that we will not be able to get up to see our first grandchild from Maggie and Aaron be born. We do not have the money to get her there but while we were with Cori and Nate, Cori came up with an alternative plan that we are pursuing. We are praying to fly Maggie and the baby down to Texas so everyone in this area can have the opportunity to see them. It would also provide opportunity for two sets of great grandparents to  see the little one and Maggie.

Aaron is not fully on board with the idea yet but given time we will get the details worked out.

Back issues, difficult words, keeping the peace

I missed work on Friday. I could barely walk because my back was hurting so badly. I had been in some pain all day Thursday so Mama set me up an appointment for Friday afternoon. It was not until early Friday morning that I realized how bad a shape I was in. Fortunately, a steroid shot for the inflammation, a round of muscle relaxers and a bottle of pain pills (I have only used three so far) and I am almost back to normal; which is continual dull pain in the lower back. Rarely do both sides of my back spaz out at the same time, but this time they went together. All will be better soon.

In light of the pain I was in I did not get anything done on the apartment and it bothered me all weekend. I will see if I can do anything this evening when I get back home. There are plenty of little things that need to be done that I can attempt, but I will have to leave the more strenuous things alone for a few days more. I have help coming this weekend to get the kitchen cabinets assembled so it should really begin to take shape.

There is still a lot of sheetrock finishing to do before we are ready to texture and paint so I debated putting the cabinets in place but, as I explained to Mama, if we were doing a remodel we would not take the cabinets out to do the finish work unless we were replacing them. A little dust won’t hurt them. It just means a little more clean-up. Besides I need to measure for a countertop so we can investigate the cost of each route Mama is considering.

Since we were all feeling poorly Victoria decided to look up some movies on Netflix. One she stumbled across was about a father who had been absent for seven years suddenly returning to live with this two sons. It described one of the sons as recalcitrant while the other was obsequious. We had to look up the latter word – it means servile or fawning. But is reminded me of a conversation relayed to us by Cori.

One morning Grant and Mykenzie were trying to decide what the two of them could play together. One is all boy and the other is all girl. Grant offered to play with cars or “aminals” but Mykenzie was not interested at first. As they talked Mykenzie said, “Let’s go ahead and play the first thing you suggested.” Grants reply; “What does suggested mean?” “It means what we talked about before.” “Mykenzie, I don’t think you are big enough to use the word “suggested”. Obviously, we were not big enough to use the word obsequious.

When we were at Cori and Nate’s the kids discovered how much Dodger liked to chase lights. Blake has a little Toy Story gun that has a laser that illuminates wherever that gun is pointed. Dodger loved to chase it when it was shown on the large rug in Cori’s living room. Blake especially loved the game so Cori was not surprised when he shined the light on her face and challenged her to “get the light.”

We are discovering that our dogs do not like guineas. There was an episode last night where Dodger and the big dogs pinned down one of the young chickens and chased away the guineas from the coop as they were going in to roost for the night. Mama and I are not sure what the problem is but we will have to figure it out soon if we are going to keep the peace.

We have invested too much on the chickens and the guineas to watch them be picked off a third time.

Jake home safe, a second no, lower back pain

Home again and back to work. I had to drive to Elk City, OK on Tuesday morning so I could add my presence to a system we are implementing within our part of ConocoPhillips. It was a good thing I was there if for no other reason than to support my group of reports, but it did make for a long day. The same process began at my office in Decatur yesterday afternoon and continued into today.

Meanwhile, Mama saw Jake off at the airport yesterday. She and he both had a teary goodbye as he boarded the plane. He was a little more reserved than Mama was since the entire passenger contingent was waiting for the unaccompanied minors to get on the plane first. Jake was aware everyone was watching. Mama did not care. I have to smile at the bond there and realize it may hold that little fellow close to God when nothing else can.

He got home safely. He called Mama when he landed and his mom called later that evening to update the information that only the two of them are concerned about; does it look like he gained weight while he was with us, does he look any more tanned, does he seem taller to you? He did in fact seem taller to Melissa, but negative on the other numerous questions.

While we were on vacation I got the email from the Licensing group that they did not need my services. I was pretty disappointed. I was really disappointed that they did not interview me again. I realize we never get a second chance to make a first impression, but it would have been nice to be further interviewed on specific needs they have that I could have helped with. Oh, well.

At least one person’s mind is made up so I will abandon that initiative. I have been in the situation before where one person can stonewall any positive outcome for a particular situation. In Seadrift I told a supervisor who was opposing my move to the Licensing group there that I believed God wanted me to have that job and that if he would not change his mind in opposing me, God would have to remove him from my way. Three days later he was forced into another job. One week later I was moved into the Licensing group. He told me later that he had no idea what happened but it seemed a strange coincidence. Imagine that.

I do not feel as strongly about this job as I did about that one so I do not sense the same urgency to remove the opposition from my path, but it is disappointing to be told I am not wanted at a post I could very clearly do well in. Meanwhile back at the office, I am slowly catching up to the email traffic I got when I was out of the office. By the end of next week I should be there.

I bent over the sink to wash my face this morning at 5 a.m. and my back would not allow me to complete the task. I almost collapsed. The pain was pretty severe and has continued through the day. After the amount of time we spent in tense driving situations over the last ten to twelve days I was not shocked by the protest in my lower back.

But I am not at all happy with the revolt; there is too much to do.

Parties, travel

While in Florida with the grandkids we went to the beach and to birthday parties. I bowed out of one birthday party and one beach foray. I have never been one to just sit and stare which is what is needed to be on the bay side of the beach with the grandkids. I have never been one to sit and chat which is what is needed at a child’s birthday party so I bowed out of the first one to save my chat quota for Blake’s party. When it came down to sitting for several hours and watching the kids play at either event, I thought it better if I stayed home instead.

The first birthday party was held at the church since it rained almost every day. The other (Blake’s 3^rd birthday party) was held at a residence where the theme was centered around a pool at that residence. Mama even decorated a “pool” cake for the occasion and it turned out very well. We made raft floats out of soft chew candies rolled out and shaped appropriately and noodle floats out of Twizzlers. The diving board was a piece of gum. The kids enjoyed all the pool toys on the cake.

All the kids had fun and several of the fathers came dressed to be in the pool with the kids but only Nate actually got in. Jake was in the center of everything at every event. Since he practically lives in the pool, he was right at home at Blake’s party. It rained on that party also but everyone made the most of it since they were wet already. Nate loaded the car in a pouring rain.

We had elected by this time to leave on Sunday afternoon since I had to travel on Tuesday for business. We left Cori and Nate’s at about 1:30 pm and traveled in heavy traffic all the way to the split of I-10 and I-12 in eastern Louisiana. Jake was occupied as we traveled and was always a state or two behind as we made our way to Louisiana.

Sunset came as we were heading north on I-49 and we traveled the rest of the way home in the dark. It was a long trip home for everyone but Jake. He managed to sleep for several hours on the drive over. He even made himself a little “man cave” in the seat of the Flex. We rolled into the drive at the farm a little after 4 a.m. The big dogs were happy to see us.

 I was happy to see our bed.

More hard travel, monuments, a fun day

Travel to Florida on Saturday was even more painful that the trip to Brittany and Andrew the day before. We were expecting a six hour trip but it did not work out that way. We did okay traveling from Columbus, MS to just north of Mobile, AL. It was then that we hit such heavy rain that it was almost impossible to see the road or the car sharing it with us. We were also in unfamiliar territory trying to get to I-10 to head east to Florida.

Those of you who know Mama know she does not like traveling in the dark or in the rain – and this was a very hard rain. We finally drove out of it and got on the right road only to be stopped by traffic getting through the tunnel in Mobile. Through the tunnel and across the bridge to the far side of the bay took us over an hour - to cover twelve miles. Adding to the misery of dogs expecting to find and open door at any moment – and constantly checking all four of the car doors – was the urgency for Mama to get to a bathroom.

We did finally get off on the east side of the bay in Mobile and Mama, Victoria and Jake all rushed out to the Starbucks to relieve themselves – in the bathroom. (I specify because we had some issues with that while with the grandsons.) I stayed with the dogs and made my trip to the potty after they made it back to take care of the dogs.

We were still in traffic for another forty minutes or so before we got out of the area. It was still very heavy traffic all the way to Pensacola, FL. I felt like we were driving in afternoon traffic in Houston for seventy miles or so; it was a little nerve wracking. As we got into Pensacola we hit another traffic jam that held us up for almost an hour. This one was from a wreck. By that time I was getting tired. We finally got to Cori and Nate’s somewhere around 7 p.m.

Sunday morning was a special celebration at their church. It was a celebration of 40 years since the church had been organized. The pastor preached on the children of Israel crossing the Jordon River and taking stones out of the riverbed to be set up as a monument for future generations of the power of God to meet the needs of His people.

During a part of the service about twenty people got up to testify what the Lord had done for them – moments of great deliverance; monumental moments. Each person had a large stone that they carried up onto the stage to be placed in a heap as a monument. It was a very graphic representation of what the children of Israel had done so long ago.

I was reminded of Mary Poppins as the father laments his daily grind while admitting that every man desires to “carve his nitch in the edifice of time”. I have always longed to do something monumental but realized long ago that it is far better that God do something monumental through me. He has done some pretty great things for me and Mama – and continues to do so.

Dinner on the ground followed the morning service and a short service followed that in the early afternoon. It was a fun time and I am very glad we got to share it with family there. We were out of church so early that we went to the beach that evening.  It was a very enjoyable excursion to the beach.

It was a day well spent.