Mission’s Conference, a long week of late nights

Last night was the last night of our Mission’s Conference. It has been a good one. There was a great attendance every night for both the dinners and the services. As Tommy Ashcraft was beginning to speak last night he did a few one liners about the differences between men and women. Most I had heard, but a few were new.

Married men, he said, will not remember their mistakes since there is no sense in two people remembering. Additionally, married men will live longer than single men although they are generally more willing to die. In talking about the meals we have had before each service he remarked that after he loses ten pounds he will be down to the weight he thought he would never reach. His humor was wonderful. His sermons powerful. It proved to be a delightful combination.

I did not lead the singing any this week because of the bronchitis that I am struggling with. The meds are starting to kick in and help with the coughing but I am still fighting to get enough oxygen into my lungs. Last night was especially difficult. I had to lie down several times at home after Mama and I went for a short walk to the garden and the coop. At the dinner at church I had to sit still for an extended time to get enough energy to go get a plate of food. I am feeling better this morning but not by much.

It has also been a long week for me and Mama. She has cooked each night, preparing two dishes for the table as well as two desserts just to make sure we had enough each night. We are overloaded with leftovers in both categories. Not that what she prepared did not get eaten, it did. But even a small portion of food brought home from each night has accumulated to a large inventory in our refrigerator. It is a good thing I like leftovers.

Mama and I are not done with our weeknights at church. Tonight we have FBI and tomorrow we have RU. Each of those generally keeps us out until after 10 pm. We will endure but we are getting pretty worn out. We are a little worried about the test we have to take this coming Monday night. We are not alone in that worry. Everyone in the class is pretty concerned about the study time we have used up in other ways this week. But God is good. It has all been done for Him.

I may get to sleep past 7 a.m. Saturday but Mama has a very full day planned –should I be up to it. We are going to till up a garden area for Kim Cantrell sometime that afternoon. Kim has a speaking engagement early that afternoon so Mama is planning for us to be at her home around the 3 pm mark. It should not take long to get a spot ready for planting; depending on how large a garden she wants.

Meanwhile our garden is doing very well. It needs to be weeded but compared to the garden we fought to maintain in Bowie, this one is a dream to care for. Everything we planted is doing very well and so far we have had very little damage from rabbits or other animals. There is something eating the nectarines growing on our little tree but other than that we look to be in very good shape.

It is nice to be on a property where we can actually grow things. Not one thing we have planted has struggled to thrive. That’s really encouraging for us.

Grandma’s fall, Victoria, taxes

Mama related to me yesterday that as Grandma had parked and was beginning her walk to the hospital to visit her brother Jack, who is having heart problems, she tripped over a slight buckle in the sidewalk and fell flat on her face. She was watching traffic and not her footing. A young black man named, Will Smith, probably not the actor, rushed to her aid and helped her get up; something she was not able to do no her own.

She was also aided by an elderly couple who drove her to the hospital entrance, bleeding and bruised, so she would not be in any further danger. She kept a handkerchief on her cut lower lip during the entire visit with Jack. When she asked a male nurse if he thought her cut would require stitches he advised her that it would be best to get stitches. Rather than stay at that hospital to get the work done she drove home – from Charleston to Point Pleasant – to get Grandpa’s take.

He thought stitches was a good idea so they drove to Spencer – because they like the hospital there – and sat in the emergency room until they grew too impatient and left. Three hours on the road. Two hours in the emergency waiting room. No stitches. They decided Grandma could heal up on her own and that is probably fine. It was just a long route to that decision. I am wondering if today or tomorrow they begin to regret the decision as the swelling and pain set in. Pray for her. It will not be a quick or painless recovery.

Mama and Victoria are going to Brookshire’s in Bridgeport this morning so Victoria can fill out an application to work in the pharmacy there. She is pretty unhappy with the new manager at Walmart – and with good reason. I do not know if it is time for a move but if she does not explore her options it will be a miserable few months going forward until this manager realizes she has the wrong attitude about Victoria or she moves on. No one seems to hold those positions for very long.

If Victoria does find a new job, she will be the last person from the group she has been working with in the pharmacy at Walmart in Bowie to do so. All her coworkers are either looking for or have found other employment. I would love to tell the new pharmacist, be careful what you ask for.

Mama and I received some bad tax news yesterday. In 2013 we failed to note a portion of our income – both the accountant and I missed it – and I will owe an additional $3300 for that tax year. As a consequence of that we looked over last year’s return and found we had repeated the mistake. So I will have to refile those taxes and probably owe about $3800 for that oversight. That’s discouraging but it only puts us back to where I thought we would be for taxes owed this year. Since I already developed a plan for that kind of financial constraint, I don’t have to wonder about how to manage it.

It is interesting that this all came to light at the same time we will be making this year’s Faith Promise.

Doctor’s visit, too wet to work, Mission’s Conference

I have not gotten better over the last few days so I had Mama schedule a doctor’s appointment for me yesterday. It was a worthwhile visit. The nurse did all the preliminary work and asked which of my symptoms were giving me the most difficulty. I responded that I was having trouble breathing and that was the most troubling part of what I was experiencing.

“So you’re short of breath?” she clarified. “No. I am having trouble breathing because more than a shallow breath causes me to cough.” She left the room and came back with an O2 monitor that attaches to the finger and we went for a walk. As I sat my O2 levels showed to be 96. After a few steps down the hall and back they sunk to 80. She asked me if I was having trouble breathing now and I responded that I was getting there. She walked me to the x-ray room.

The x-rays came back clear so the final diagnosis was – again – a severe bronchitis. I took the shot just to jumpstart the medications. Mama was more unnerved by it than I was. That’s why I generally do not watch but she could not help herself. I am not much better this morning but I am hoping for fairly rapid turn for the better. Time will tell.

It looks like, starting tomorrow, we have a four day break in the rain during which I hope to work on several small overdue items at the farm. It will still be far too wet to get the tractor off of the roadways on the property to do any brush hogging but it should be dry enough to work the garden. We are overdue on cleaning out the barn but if I am to get it done now it will have to be done by hand with the pitchfork and wheelbarrow. That would not be the first time.

 If it does in fact dry out, Mama and I are going to Kim Cantrell’s house on Saturday to till up a garden spot for her. We have been planning to do this for several weeks but things have been too wet. Maybe this will be the week we can get it done for her. If we wait much longer it will be too late to grow anything.

Missions Conference has been great. The speaker has been focusing on our often neglected responsibilities as “home church” supporters of our missionaries and their works abroad. It has been very challenging. It is what we needed as a church.

Last night he told of a young missionary to Thailand who challenged his church in Mexico by stating that there are almost two hundred sovereign countries in the world along with sixty designated areas of limited self-rule and the average citizen can name less than forty. He then asked, “If you do not know them by name how can you effectively pray for them? Can you possibly be burdened for them?” The same goes for our missionaries.

Mama and I will be praying more - and more specifically. We have both been burdened for a long time to take more responsibility in prayer. If we prayed for our country the way our missionaries pray for their countries of service we would not be in the shape we are in here at home.

Weekend report

Saturday was pretty uneventful. I stayed home the entire day even though Mama and Victoria went out twice. I took time in the morning to cut a little trench from the wettest part of the yard to the front yard in an attempt to drain the swamp. I met with limited success, but in this wet I will take what I can get. I also drained the koi reservoir and scooped out some of the sludge – three wheelbarrows worth. It was hard to tell I had done anything, but I did get to use the sludge to fill in some of the swamp by our septic tanks.

We planted some plants in the afternoon and set the whirligig I had bought for Mama in a semi-permanent spot in the front yard. We planted the Star Jasmin inside the base and put landscape fabric in the circle we made for it. It will be one more item Mama has to mow around but I do not think she will mind too much. It looks very mice where it now sits.

Sunday morning on the drive to church we broke down. We saw the church bus pass us as we were stopped but they did not see us. I had Mama call and get a message to the driver to come back for us and he did eventually. We were a little late for Sunday School but we got to enjoy church while the van sat and cooled off. It did not appear to be low on water but the temperature gauge pegged out on temperature. The thermostat is probably stuck but we will have the mechanic look it over and tell us definitively what the problem is.

Yesterday started our Mission’s Conference. Tommy Ashcraft, missionary to Monterrey, Mexico is the speaker for the conference. He is quite good. He is also quite a punster. His very serious sermons are peppered with humor which you have to listen closely to catch. In beginning his Sunday night sermon he told of a time he was preaching at a church and a man came up to him after the service and said, “You preach too long.”

After the next service the same man came and said in matter of fact way, “That sermon was really boring.” The next service the man came and said, “I was obvious that you did not study.” That was enough for him. He approached the pastor of the church and asked about the man who had been criticizing his messages. The pastor replied, “Oh, don’t worry about him. He just goes around repeating what everybody else says.”

After church we drove the van home. Between where we stopped on the way to church and the way home there is not a good place to stop so even though it got hot again a couple miles from home I drove the rest of the way home with the over temperature alarm ringing. It is sitting in the drive waiting on Mama to contact AAA an have them tow it to our mechanic in Bowie.

We had another heavy rain over the weekend. It was just over an inch. Other areas near us got over three inches. I am not sure what would happen at our farm if we got three or more inches right now so I am thankful for the lesser amounts we have gotten. We are expecting an additional inch or more this week. No complaints for me – other than the mess that follows.

It is easier to deal with an abundance of water than with a severe lack of it.

Our test, Mama’s day, Victoria

Well, we all took our test last night. Mama was actually very happy about the whole affair. She knew she did not know all the answers but she knew most of them and that more than pleased her. Victoria was typically non-committal about the whole affair, but overall it was a good experience for all of us. When we get the grades we will see if the same general attitude of confidence prevails but for now we can bask in the moment.

I did not stay with the class after the test. With the deep, unrelenting cough that I have I knew that it would be a huge distraction so I took the spare copy of the DVD and came to the office where I watched it on my computer. My cough was so loud that the cleaning lady who was working in the building for most of the time I was also there, stopped by to check on me a couple times.

We have two more tests to do – the first of those being in two weeks but I have expanded the study guided we were given so we can fill them out with the information we need to study for the test. I do not know if it helps Mama and Victoria but it certainly helps me. There was only one question that I did not recognize immediately from my study guide but when I asked Victoria about it she remembered studying that also. I am not sure where I missed it on the study guide but I got it correct on the test; at least, I’m pretty sure I did.

Mama had a grand day yesterday. She called me quite early and asked how to catch the little bird that had somehow gotten into the house. We quickly agreed that she should throw a sheet over it and get it back outside. It was beating itself up against the window glass in its vain attempts to escape the house. It must have been easily done since I did not hear back from her for several hours.

The next time she called it was to tell me that she had been out mowing one of the lots and had run over some barbed wire. It was wrapped around the shaft of her mower and she could not get it loose. Fortunately she had stopped the blades as soon as the sound of the blades changed. It was parked in the driveway when I got home.

We drove it up on ramps and I was able to cut and pull the wire to get all of it freed of the shaft but it took about an hour to get it done. As soon as it was cleaned Mama hopped on and ran it a couple laps around the yard just to satisfy herself that all was okay. She will probably get out pretty early this morning to finish what she started – hopefully without further incident.

She has to come to Decatur this afternoon to meet up with some ladies from the church so they can team up on cleaning the Mission’s House before the missionaries start arriving for the Mission’s Conference we are having next week. Everyone is praying I recover by then but it does not look good right now.

Victoria has been sending out resumes over the past few days. It has been a long time in coming. She has talked about changing jobs for quite a while but with the purchase of the house and all the financial records that that required she was very reluctant to make any change; ditto with me.

I guess now is the time.

Sick, testing tonight, busy weeks

I took off Friday and, as I promised Mama, I got out the weed eater and cut up the briars along the fence lines for as long as I could manage. I have never been able to run the weed eater for more than a couple hours. During the time I was doing that I must have stirred up some long dormant and moldy leaves because the very next day I ended up with a deep cough and sore throat.

Saturday I did not get much done other than help Mama get some pictures hung and help Lee as he fixed a leaking valves for us. The cough worsened through the day and by that evening I knew I would not be able to lead the singing at church on Sunday. As it turned out, I did not get to go to church at all because I was running a fever. I struggled out of bed this morning to get to work but even that might not have been a good idea. Next Sunday begins our Mission’s conference so I am certainly praying to be whole by then.

I am certainly not the only person struggling this year with upper respiratory issues. It has been a banner year for that type of health issue. Many of my coworkers have been in and out of the doctor’s offices getting medications to combat such illnesses. Several of the ladies on my staff have been sick with it – especially those with school-age children and I can glean from them what over the counter meds have worked and what have not. Like all such infirmities, this too shall pass.

Mama, Victoria and I have our test tonight. Mama has been studying as I have. I think Victoria has looked over the notes also but I have not seen her make a huge effort. It will be interesting to see how the test turns out. Mama is really unsure of taking the test. Victoria is dreading it also – although she will probably do better than either of me or Mama. I never enjoy being tested but I am not afraid to fail – nor am I afraid of failing this test. I do not think Mama or Victoria have anything to worry about either. This is the first of three tests for this semester.

I got word this morning from the hiring manager for the Licensing job that he is behind schedule and it will be another week or two before he gets back with folks that have applied for the position to give them word on their application. I expected as much so there is not a positive or a negative sense to the update other than the fact that he is keeping me informed of the progress – or lack thereof. That, in itself, is something.

We have a very busy week ahead as Mama will be caring for a toddler for a missionary couple who will be in the States for our mission’s conference (next week) as well as for preliminary meetings for an orphanage they are attempting to start in Mexico. I am not sure when the baby sitting service begins but it will be fun for Mama – I hope.

On Wednesday she is expecting visitors at the farm. As people get to know where we are we are getting more and more if that. It’s been fun.

Work, forced vacation, puppy issues

Things at work have been more than subdued lately; they have been eerily quiet. My boss has been out of the office this week working from the office in Dumas. His boss has been there with him in that location as she makes her rounds also. But here in my office it has been very, very quiet.

So when the announcement came over the email system yesterday morning that our boss has been temporarily promoted to his boss’s position while she takes on the responsibilities of finding $1 billion to cut from the company globally, I understood the quiet. It seems to precede such moments of change.

Shortly after that change was announced, another organizational restructuring announcement came out. It was a permanent change is hierarchy which eliminated a high level managerial position. These are interesting times. So far I have not heard anything related to the Licensing position I have applied for, but that is not a shocker. That information trickles out slowly.

Mama let me know after I had gotten the reservation notices via email that she booked our flights to Alaska. I had not planned to go because of the money required to do so but Mama found me a ticket for just over $400. Her ticket was just over $500. So, I guess I’m going to Alaska with her for the birth of Maggie and Aaron’s son. It will be a good thing – once I fully recover from the shock. In reality, that is not so bad since that is the price we paid for just one ticket when we went last year.

Mama and Victoria are having a hard time with this pup. They were adamant when she was purchased and brought home that she would be an outside dog. I could only say, “Uh-huh, I’ve heard that before.” But it seems that she is choosing that for herself since she potties almost as soon as Mama brings her into the house; whereupon she is hastily put back outside.

Outside, her puppy-ness is wearing me out also since her favorite areas to lie about and chew on things is where I have planted the blueberry bushes – both of which are doing fairly well at this time. Mama and I went to Lowe’s after church last night to buy some fencing for the flowerbeds and other planting areas to hopefully keep the dogs and chickens out of those areas. To her credit the pup is very laid back and seems fairly easy to work with.

This is now the third time that Mama and Victoria have jumped the gun on getting puppies with the intent of keeping them for breeding. I am feeling overrun by dogs at the moment since the population is based – in Mama and Victoria’s minds – on having two houses; which we do not yet have.

Mama is doing pretty well on her diet –as am I as I share it with her. But she has her moments of indignation with the restrictions. Last night I had to talk her out of going to Wendy’s after we got out of Lowe’s. It was 9 pm. I certainly was not going to eat anything but she was hungry. We went home instead but I am pretty certain that lunch at Wendy’s is on her radar for today.

I will be taking tomorrow off. Mama has scheduled us for doctor’s appointments. There is nothing urgent but we need to talk about some routine muscle aches and joint issues.