Taking it All in Stride

Vanessa is calling it a weekend of disasters...


She and Steve were in an accident last night on our road. We have a very narrow, private road and we have some very young, interesting teenage neighbors who are testosterone driven... and their driving is irresponsible at the best of times.  I constantly worry because we have kind of a blind corner where their driveway comes down and they don't stop to look. Anyway, Vanessa was nearly taken out by one of them yesterday and she freaked out!!! She wouldn't go out and feed the animals she is taking care of until her dad could come home from work and drive her. Well, same reckless driver that nearly crashed into her earlier in the day crashed into them while her dad was driving. Steve was going SLOW. In fact he had come to a full stop anticipating a problem but the guy still managed to convince the police that Steve was 50% at fault. He'll fight it if he can. Vanessa is shaken... my suburban needs repair.

Okay, so Steve also realized last night that the registration on the car was over due. Not good. So, we didn't use it today to go to church, instead we used the Honda and made two trips all the way to the Abundant Life Church. The girls had special music there.

Buster and I were the last to get a ride. He was being slow which is for some reason a problem every Sabbath morning. Not sure how to solve that trouble. When Steve finally came for us I heard loud quacking coming from the barn yard and an investigation proved that the ducks were out and NINA was stuck between two strips of fencing. Her mate was LOUDLY calling for help and of course we obliged. She was easily taken care of, but HE was a real stinker. He refused to go into the barn. I have to tell you Steve LOVES these ducks and he's really worried after all they've been through something is going to happen to them, so while there is all this snow they have to be in the barn. He's a flying bird, for crying out loud! He'd let me get within inches of him and then he fly big wide circles around the yard.

Trying to catch a flying duck FEELS just like trying to make Buster and Missy behave. It leaves you with that same exact powerless awareness that I've become accustomed to of late.  There's NOTHING you can do without some sort of consent on his part. You can sweet talk and cajole, you can show the way, you can explain all you want how it's for his ultimate good, but unless he CHOOSES to comply there isn't a thing you can do to change the heart. We finally left the duck to his own will. (It's safe to give up when there are no eternal consequences at stake, :-) He was fine when we came home, though  and was finally ready to go and warm up under the heat lamp in the barn, but of course, he made us thoroughly late for church.

We were blessed with not one, but 3 dinner invitations for today. We took rain checks on two.

Steve again drove Vanessa to take care of the animals of two different families this evening and on one door there is a police summons on account of their barking dog annoying the whole neighborhood. The dog is smart. Don't even bother to try and kidnap her. If Steve wasn't a dog owner he would have never been able to get her in his vehicle. She's with  Holly and NOT happy about it. She's strong and not anything like our dog in disposition. I wonder how much sleep we'll get tonight.

Christina found whole can of white paint spilled on the tile downstairs. Not sure how long it's been drying there, but it had to be cleaned up. Unfortunately, I am of no use. A migraine hit me like a train and nothing I did eased the pounding until Steve doctored me up and I'm so dizzy I can hardly move my head.

Missy was concerned about me being sick...  she helped Vanessa prepare a bath for me and then she kind of fell apart and got naughty for no reason. I called her to me and she sat on my bed for awhile and finally realized that it was not unto death.

She asked, "You eat too much food for lunch? Not good eat too much for lunch!"

I assured her it had nothing to do with how much I had eaten... then she thought of something,

"You eat that gluten pie? You not eat that gluten pie it make you SICK!"

LOL! It was just pumpkin pie I wouldn't let her eat because it had a wheat crust and might have had dairy in it.  Dear child, you have so much to learn.