Maggie, the goats, Cori and Savanna

I have written several things about Maggie of late. She has had several ongoing health issues. Most of the pains have been associated with the abdomen in one fashion or another; sharp pains in different areas, digestive problems, female problems. She has had a good bit to deal with. Yesterday, after having seen several doctors over the past months, receiving several MRIs along with numerous other lab tests, she got a conclusive diagnosis. The issue appears to be two-fold. One, she has a cancerous growth on one of her kidneys. We are not sure at this point if the growth is benign or malignant, but we will soon find out. Secondly, she has some cysts on her ovaries which are the source of significant pain – along with the cancer on her kidney.

The greater question at this point is why the lymph nodes in that general area are so swollen? It could be an infection or something much worse. At this time, that is all we know. It is enough to begin to pray in earnest. Aaron was released from duty a month early to fly home to be with Maggie and the kids as further tests are run. He was deeply affected by the news. Quite understandable. On the positive side, a diagnosis of cancer is not a death sentence; especially with the medical advances made in treating cancer in its various forms. It is still however, quite frightening. So far, Maggie is handling it well.

Mama and I had to try and get out of church as quickly as possible last night. The buyer for the goats was at the farm waiting on us. The buyers seem like a delightful Christian couple. We only got to meet the husband. The wife was home tending to a sick bottle baby. They have 35 head of Nigerian Goats. The husband was in Graham to drop off ten goats that were bought by someone there. On the way home, he stopped at the farm to pick up the two Mama and his wife had arranged to rehome. It was our first real sale of goats. Not as much as we had wanted to get out of the two but enough to be an encouragement to us. We talked quite a while after the goats were loaded – even though he had a four-hour drive to get home to Big Springs, TX. He remarked that the goats were going to be shocked by the difference in paddock. Being taken from a tree covered, lush pasture to a sandy, barren enclosure. Mama and I can rest assured that the goats will be well cared for with this couple.

Rick is going to advertise one of the bred goats we had with him for a couple months. That will add to our sales if we find a buyer. If not, we will advertise the babies when they come in the fall. In other goat news, the Nigerians (I called them Nubians incorrectly) are all three showing signs of getting ready to kid. Since they are all bred to one of our Myotonic bucks, Mama is anxious to see how many each of them has and what they come out looking like. The buyer last night, who had 35 does like the ones we have, told Mama that they often have quadruplets and one time had quintuplets. That got her attention. Now she is not overly anxious to get rid of them. Although, Rick told Mama that to get the most money out of the Myotonic goats we need to keep only the Myotonic line on our farm. That way, breeders will not think there is any interbreeding with the Nigerians and we will avoid the possibility of losing our pure bloodlines.

We have not heard much from Cori, Nate and the kids, but have to assume that they are very busy getting things arranged in their new home. They did send a picture of Savanna the first day they were there. She was complaining of her hair being wet. The picture shows her kneeling at a table playing with toys. Her entire head is soaked with sweat; hair dripping wet. The temperature was 97° F with a het index of 105° F. Pretty warm. It will take some time to acclimate – especially for Cori and Savanna.

Fortunately, or not, depending on your perspective, the humidity here has been very low. There seems to be a constant breeze. So, the triple digit temperatures have been tolerable.

Safely home, Mama’s very busy day

The director of the home in Honduras posted a video on Facebook of Nate, Cori and the kids arriving safely at the airport in Honduras yesterday afternoon. They had five men with them to help Cori and Nate get all the luggage through customs and out into the waiting vans. It was reassuring to see the procession of carts (seven in total) loaded to the max with totes and suitcases carrying all their personal items being wheeled into the waiting area. Customs turned out to be a non-issue. They made it through without any problems at all – and much more quickly than they had thought they would. Seeing the event in “real-time” was one of the blessings of our electronic age. Now the work begins. Pray for them as they learn the language and adapt to the culture. Pray for their safety; especially of the children.

We spent some time at the office last night; at least I did. Mama came with me prepared to go to the ladies meeting at church and while she was there I sorted through all the information we had gathered on the houses in Lawton to rank them in order of potential gain to us. That way we can know how to bid at the auction in a couple weeks. We have five finalists. None of them are the deal-of-the-century, but all of them are have good profit potential. Mama will begin making calls on each of them to get the hidden costs identified before we make a bid on any of them. But not today. Mama has a very busy day today.

This morning, Mama is going to work at the farm watering our garden and trees. We have to do the watering in the early morning or in the late evening. Any other time of the day is too hot. The temperatures are forecast to be over 100°F for the next eight days. For the past several days they have been in the high nineties. That puts a strain on everything. Even though we put up a large shade cloth at the raised bed, the plants still struggle with the ambient temperature. By the time evening rolls around, most of the plants and trees are drooped over and sighing because of the heat. Later this morning, Mama is going to Bowie to watch Rick vaccinate his new arrivals and trim the hooves of the older goats. We really need to learn that process. Our poor goats are in bad need of trimming – especially the Nigerian Dwarfs.

After that, she is meeting Victoria for lunch. They like to go to a deli called Creative Cakes. I am told they have a very good salad bar. That is what Mama and Victoria keep insisting. But with a name like Creative Cakes, I imagine they have good desserts also. And what better way to enjoy a dessert than to eat a salad before eating cake. That should put Mama home at the farm just before Alex and the girls arrive. He is getting another cooking lesson.

Alex has been making all kinds of sweet breads, but they are not coming out as expected for him. Mostly they are too dry. He has found that If he adds more oil to compensate, they do not rise. So, he and Mama are going to make banana bread this afternoon to see what might be going on. Of course, I have a theory. First, Alex is trying to drastically cut the amount of sugar used in his breads. That will make the breads drier than expected. Second, he is using vegetable oil or shorting in his recipes. That drastically changes the flavor. Mama and I prefer real butter. It adds a richness to the texture and adds flavor to the final product. Whether or not he is trying to make the recipe as cheap as possible or as healthy as possible, I do not know, but good bread takes the right ingredients. There is not a good shortcut if you want a moist, sweet bread. Applesauce can be substituted for butter or shortening, but that is not a cheap solution. She and Alex will still be in the final stages of the baking when I get home.

Tonight, we have church. Tomorrow, a buyer is coming to get the goats in the morning and Mama is going for feed in the afternoon. My busy woman.

Travel, the big doctor truck

Mama and I left the farm about 7:30 am to drive the Lawton, OK. It was an easy drive. About two hours of road time but there was not a lot of traffic. When we got to Lawton, we did our best to locate all the houses on our list – about sixteen in all. We have never been to Lawton, so we had to rely extensively on the GPS on Mama’s phone and in doing so we backtracked several times to see houses we had already driven past while following directions to the one we had punched into the map. We looked at fourteen houses in all plus two lots we thought we might be interested in. It was fairly easy to do so Mama and I were done about 1:30 pm. We found a house on our quest that was not on any of our lists. A two-story home on a good location that appeared to be abandoned. We took pictures of the notices on the front door and front window. Mama is going to call on that house this morning to find out the story behind the current condition. Some of those on our list have been removed based on what we sat in situ. Others have moved up on the list of remaining candidates. Those we will drill down on to discover all that we can about the legal condition and financial liabilities of those properties. That may require a trip to the Comanche County Courthouse before the auction next month – we will see how much we can determine via the internet. It was exciting for both me and Mama to move forward in preparing for the auction. It was oddly reassuring that all this is for real. There really are houses out there that will be sold for taxes owed and we could be the bidder that gets that property.

On the way home, we got a call from a couple who were in class with us in February. They are not having any success acquiring tax liens, so Mama and I talked to them about what we were doing. They also live in the DFW area, so Lawton is accessible to them. We shared all the information we had so they can decide to investigate for themselves whether or not they want to change strategies to the more aggressive tax deed acquisitions. All in all, they were excited to discover a new approach that could work for them. It was fun for Mama and me to be on the mission we were on for our business and get to describe it to them as it was going on. Talk about perfect timing. The bottom line is that we may not get a house through the auction. We could very easily be outbid, but we are ready to participate, and as Edna Mole once wisely said, “Luck favors the prepared, darling.”

Victoria traveled home from Pensacola Monday morning. As she as being dropped off at the airport, Cori and Nate were finishing packing a trailer with the 38 totes and suitcases accumulated for their personal items so they could travel to Atlanta that same day. Friends from West Florida Baptist Church took them and the kids to Atlanta to catch a flight to Honduras. They are at the airport as I am writing this post and Mama just called to tell me that when they were checking in at the airport an agent helped them to get free passage of sixteen of their bags and while he was processing the other twenty-two, the computer printing the tags stopped adding fees at number ten, but processed tags for all the remaining bags. As much as he tried to correct the computer and restart the charging process, the computer would not comply. They ended up getting all their baggage through for $800. Praise the Lord! Pray for them as they will deal with all the belongings going through customs in Honduras early this afternoon. Once that obstacle is past, they will begin the process of getting all the necessary furnishings and appliances to set up their home in country. Another daunting task. Fortunately, we serve a very big God.

Over the weekend Maggie had a bad spell and had to be taken to the emergency room via ambulance. She said the paramedics were very gracious and allowed Katherine and Walter to sit in the two captain’s chairs in the back of the ambulance while she was on the stretcher and they were on benches beside her. Her two children loved the experience. Her, not so much. On the way Walter excitedly told her, “Mommy, I’m riding in a big doctor truck.” She and the paramedics got a laugh out of that. Her issue seems to have stemmed to a very bad reaction to a dye she was given to drink prior to taking an MRI. With the abdominal pain she has been experiencing, the original diagnosis was a problem with the appendix, but after further analysis, her doctor believes the problem is with her kidneys. X-rays show a mass on one kidney. That appears to be the source of her pain. We are awaiting further news as her diagnosis is formalized.

We will certainly be praying for her as we wait to hear more.

Tom Malone, blackberries, goats and pigs

After several days absence the cat was back last night. Such is the life of a tomcat. Since Mama named him, Tom, and was constantly fussing at the dogs to leave Tom alone, I just finished out the name to be more formal. Thus, he became Tom Malone. When he showed up last night, Mama was prepared. She had bought some canned cat food before he disappeared, so it was at the ready when he resituated himself on our property. We are well past the time when he could do any damage to the chicks – which are now almost as big as the mature chickens. Mama’s hope is that he will be a good mouser for us. I have little worry that he will become a nuisance at the house. There are three dogs in the back yard anxious to make his acquaintance. He has consciously avoided them. Victoria did tell me there was an encounter with the dogs. She had to call them off as Tom made a hasty exit. That is when he disappeared for a time. Mama is happy to see him back. Lord only knows why. I do know that he will be a draw for the local coyotes. Domestic cat is at the top of their list of delicacies. Hiding within Sam and Sasha’s circle of protection should work out well for him even though Sam and Sash have not specifically taken on his watch care.

 Mama harvested quite a few blackberries last night. She is more excited about them than anything else we have growing at the moment. Maybe that is because they are ready to be harvested. We are still nursing along our peaches, plums, apricots, figs, blueberries, and grapes, but they are a month away from ripening. We took the night off from our research, so I could work in the garden. It has been sorely neglected of late and was showing obvious signs of that neglect. I tilled between the rows of vegetable plants and ran soaker hoses to water those same rows. Two rows each of okra and butternut squash, and one row of potatoes. All the plants perked up quickly after a thorough soaking. The plants in the raised bed are doing very well but Mama has been more diligent about watering them. The long, hot afternoons are hard on the plants as they struggle to build the root system to survive. They will get there with a little help but the extreme hot – for this time of year – is continuing to challenge them. The peppers, tomatoes and onions are doing well in spite of the heat. The pumpkins, cantaloupe, zucchini and cucumbers are thriving despite the heat.

Mama and I will go to Bowie this evening to retrieve our two nanny goats that are now bred. (Another night off for us.) Rick called yesterday to let Mama know they could come home. We have not had any success selling the goats yet, but I am confident that that time is coming. We still have the two little bucklings to sell and Mama is willing to part with Kia and Yukie if we find an interested buyer. Also, the Nubian Dwarf goats are showing signs of being near the point of kidding. I did not know what to expect from them as far as how many kids we can expect from each one, but I believe twins are common. Zack and Alissa have expressed interest in getting one of them for their place, but I have not verified the interest with Zack. As far as a farm pet goes, they would make great pets. They eat significantly less than the Myotonic goats. They seem to relish the heat, and they prefer to be outside versus inside any shelter – except overnight. They sleep in the pig building through the night.

Although I have not spent any time on it lately, I still plan on putting the Nubians in the paddock by the shop. The cattle seem to like that area, but I need to get the pig building ready for the piglets Mama has already spoken for. One of the families at our church is raising pigs for the first time. He told me Sunday that two of his six sows are very close to having their litters of piglets. I think Mama has spoken for two. It will not take much effort to get the pig enclosure back in service for pigs but I still have a good deal of work to do on the paddock so I can move the goats.

At some point, all the effort we are putting into this business will pay off and I will have both the time and the money to finish the projects I have on the farm. I am looking forward to that day.

Inching closer, Victoria, Nate and Cori, Aaron

I squeezed out a few minutes through the workday yesterday to analyze a couple properties. Mama and the school kids went to a park in Alvord for lunch yesterday, so I was on my own for the lunch hour. That is when I did the property work. I did not take the time to print them out but let Mama know they were ready for her to look over. I suggested we stop by after church to do the printing. Mama had other ideas, so we hustled and got the feeding done. Ate a quick dinner. Showered and dressed for church and went to the office before church. It did not take long to print out the few pages of information I had complied, but it will be very helpful to do our drive-by research Saturday. I have a feeling we are going to end up with about six properties on the final list. Hopefully, that will be more than sufficient. We will get a better idea of what we are up against on the morning of the auction but at least we will be prepared to the best of our abilities at this time. The preparation process should get refined and improved as we mature in this business. At least, that is the expectation. I believe that expectation will be easily met because Mama is fired up about this business. This is not necessarily our first opportunity to work on a business together, but it is the first time she has actually been interested in doing so. It has been quite fun so far. If we really do start making money at it. It will be even more fun.

Victoria made it to Florida safely. After she got through security, she was not diligently checking her flight status for gate updates and almost missed her flight because she was waiting at the wrong gate. She only thought about it when the boarding time had arrived, and her flight was not the one listed to board at the gate where she was waiting. I am not sure if she asked for help or found the change on her phone, but she made the discovery in time. Fortunately, the gate she needed was in the same terminal; nearly at the opposite end of the terminal, but in the same terminal complex. She ended up getting to the gate in time to board, but she was near the very end of the line in getting on the flight.

She is enjoying the kids. Savanna will not leave her side – which is fine with Victoria. Savanna cried when Victoria and Cori went into the AT&T store to get Victoria switched over to the iPhone she bought two or three months ago. That is how possessive she has become. Cori, who was originally a bit stressed out at having the extra person to deal with as they packed for their move to Honduras, came pretty quickly to realize that Victoria was a God-send. Victoria can deal with the kids (especially Savanna) as she and Nate concentrate on getting everything packed up. This is not a vacation they are packing for. They are literally moving their home from one country to another. Everything they can pack to take in order to reestablish their home must be accounted for, safely stowed and arranged so that everything fits in the space they are allowing themselves. It is a daunting task on Nate and Cori. Victoria is there to help. They are flying out next Tuesday. If everything works out as it should, they will not be back in the United States for three or four years. Everything they have been doing for the past two years has led to this moment, and now, here they go.

Maggie forwarded to Mama a photo of Aaron. He is on the boat in New York Harbor. For a cell phone picture, I thought it was a particularly well-done image.

Coaching, training, flying

Monday evening, we had a coaching session with Theresa. We only spent forty minutes in the session because Mama and I did not have any other questions or new direction we wanted to head. We started off by getting the particulars and pathways to complete the research on the homes in Lawton that we are interested in bidding on. Mama and I will have to spend a lot of time on the computer getting all those particulars. It is not a straightforward process, but it can be done with persistence. The coaching sessions have been a big help to us. Because of those instructions and discussions, we feel excited and ready to go to the upcoming auction. That is a very big change in attitude for Mama. Originally, she was not even remotely interested in doing live auctions if it could be avoided. Now she is anxious to go; determined to get two properties out of the auction. Plus, we are doing a full profile on one house available on the leftover list from a county in Arkansas. That bid will be placed on the 17^th of next month.

Yesterday I was in class all day. I was not the instructor for this class. It was led by coworker whom I have coached in delivering the class. He had to be audited yesterday in order to be able to teach the class for us in the future. I am happy to say that he passed the audit without even the least concerns on the part of the lady who does all our audits; another coworker – who happens to be his boss. She even remarked that if we develop a Training Department, he should be in that department rather than where he now works. She is not one who is lavish with praise, so that was a very high recommendation. I will have him teach the class next month and travel to Conyers, Georgia for the class there that is scheduled the week of Mama’s surgery. Having the additional instructor will be great benefit to this company going forward – and I will feel better when Mama and I finally move to fulltime self-employment. There are two more individuals I am working to qualify as instructors, but they are still several months out at this point.

Mama and I cut short our time with Theresa last night mostly because we felt like we had enough information and direction to move forward but also because Mama needed to get to bed early. She was scheduled to get up this morning at 4 am to take Victoria to the airport to catch a flight to Florida. Victoria will be there until Memorial Day – saying a final stateside goodbye to Nate, Cori and the kids. (Mostly to the kids.) It seems thatit was a very short night for both Mama and Victoria. I got up at 1:30 to use the bathroom and Mama walked in just as I was exiting. She told me this morning that she did not go back to sleep. When she finally got up at 3 am, Victoria was already up and ready to go, so they left. I do not know what time her flight was scheduled to leave but I know she was there in plenty of time. Mama got back home before I left for the office at 6:20. Victoria had already called to let Mama know that she had gotten through security very quickly and was at her gate. There were only two people in the security line with her when she got there. I would have like that as opposed to some of the security lines I have been in lately.

Of course, Mama laid down for a bit right after I left this morning. We had a set time for me to give her a wakeup call, but she texted me before the alarm went off to let me know she was up and going. Church tonight might be a rough for her.

List work, church work, Mama

Since Mama and I shifted directions in our business we have been intently reviewing the list of properties in one county in Oklahoma. That has occupied our short evenings for the past week, but Saturday after our Youth Conference we were able to finally complete our initial review of the properties available; all 167 of them. In that review we identified fifty-three properties that we will now go back and do a deeper dive into. We have to narrow that list down to no more than ten that we will prepare to bid on in the coming auction. My real objective is to shrink those final candidates to three that we definitely want to acquire. Even though, of those three, we may only get one. One is all we need to get started.

We have a coaching session tonight. During that session we will be shown how to do all the final research to know any potential legal issues in a given property – liens attached, judgements attached, fees and notices at the state, county and city level, etc. The last thing we want is for our first property purchase to be encumbered with surprises that will cost us more than we had anticipated. On this first investment, we are on a pretty tight budget, so the fear of making an error in poor research is a very real threat to our potential gain. We are confident that Theresa can help guide us past those pitfalls prior to the auction. We area at 21 days and counting down to that auction.

Meanwhile, I and doing the same kind of research on three houses in Arkansas. The three are on the leftover list of two counties. Potential purchase dates on those properties are twenty-one and twenty-five days out. Al of that will happen by snail mail on the appointed dates. Mama and I are going to be busy. In fact, we had to let Brittany know that we would not be available this weekend for her and Andrew to come over with the twins. It is a bittersweet conflict. We want to see the twins and visit with Brittany and Andrew, but this Saturday we have planned a trip to the county where we are evaluating potential houses for the June auction. We are working on setting up the visit for another weekend – but we still hated to be the source of the conflict.

The majority of the weekend was spent in church activities. Saturday morning, I went bus calling with the pastor. That was from 10 am to 12 pm. We had a great morning. After that, I spent a short time at home doing a few very small tasks at the farm before getting dressed to lead the singing at the Youth Conference our church sponsored. That was from 3 pm to 6 pm. From there, Mama and I went to the office to finish going through the Oklahoma list. Sunday morning, I taught the Adult Sunday School Class and Sunday evening, I led the Men’s Meeting before service Sunday night. Needless to say, I did not get much done on the farm, but Mama worked to the point that she was in significant pain by the end of the of the weekend even though she was completing a steroid pack prescribed by the doctor.

The problem with limiting the sensation of pain is that the injury may not be corrected so the source of the pain is not eliminated. Once the analgesic wears off, the pain can often be more intense than it would have been had the medication dulling the pain not been used. That is because, we tend to do more than we should because the pain is not hindering us from tasks that would normally be accompanied by pain; however, what is causing the pain is still an active force in our body. It is only being masked. That is why I often say, pain is our friend. That is certainly the case for Mama this weekend. Hopefully a night of rest and an easy day at school will allow the pain to once again subside. Mama is scheduled for surgery on the 18^th of June. We will have to wait until her consult with the doctor on the 12^th to find out what surgery he is planning. Whether a total knee replacement or a repair of the joint.

Pray for her as she prepares for the surgery and the recovery afterward.