I Probably Won't Have Time to Post Tomorrow, SOOOoooooooo

I'm posting tonight. Not because I have anything much to say. I don't. Well except maybe for a nursing home report:



Earlybird (my good friend and fellow 4-H champion of goatiness and fun, NOT Mr. Nutty who is also an early bird. He woke me up at 5:30am again today. CURSE YOU, MR. NUTTY!)

What was I saying? Oh yeah...

Earlybird called me just as I was grabbing my keys and heading for the car on my way to meet her and all the cute little girlies at the nursing home. Earlybird was SICK! UNTHINKABLE!!! Earlybird has an extraordinary immune system and never, ever gets sick. But this morning she had a sore throat. And ya don't want to visit a nursing home full of frail, elderly people when you have a sore throat.

So we went without her and her 8 year-old Peanut.

We went without Joss and Liv and Li-li.

It was just me and my girlies and, for the first time, GrammaJ.

We picked her up and she was ready for action with her head scarf (in case the wind blew) and her rain bonnet (in case it sprinkled) and her 87 pound large-print Bible (in case anybody needed to go down the Romans' Road on first meeting).

Usually we get to the nursing home a little after 11am. That gives us 30-60 minutes to visit or sing or whatever before the folks are lured away by lunch. Most of the time there are 3-5 folks sitting out in the front 2 rooms on either side of the entrance. There are 2-3 more in the tv/piano room and half a dozen in the lunchroom with more trickling in as our time progresses.

This time there was no one. No one. Zip. Nada. Zero. Not one resident was out of their room!

It was EERIE! I almost wondered if God had decided to to prerapture all the octogenarians (my mom is just a septagenarian, so she was still with us). But then I saw my good buddy, Bill. Last week he was feeling poorly, so he and I had alot to catch up on - and GrammaJ and the girlies just kinda watched us talk. Bill didn't mind, but I felt rather odd. I would have shooed them off to visit someone else, but THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE!

So after about 15 minutes of Bill telling us about everything from his Chinese granddaughter who is very skinny to his engineer son to the time when he fell off a roof to his new meds to his candy stash...we decided to move on to see if anyone new had appeared.

There was one new guy; Bob. He was literally new, as in, just moved in. He met us politely and then said, "Are you a witness?" I guess I looked a little blank, because he added, "You know, a jehovah's witness?"

I assured him we were not (though he kept looking suspiciously at GrammaJ's honkin' Bible!). Turns out he's quite hard of hearing, but is very articulate and is a musician. Maybe we can jam together next Tuesday! He moved into the facility with his wife. Isn't that sweet?

Well, just as we were leaving I FINALLY spotted Earlybird's best nursing home friend, Ginn. I let her know that Earlybird was sick and missed her, etc.

And that was pretty much it. We saw NO other residents, even though it was lunch time.

Did ya'll hear some trumpet blast that I didn't hear?

Wandering Brain Drivel *scratch*scratch*scratch*

*scratch*scratch*scratch*

Well, Mulletman and I are training in earnest now for the Trek Across Maine. It's a challenge to ride in 40ºF (4.4ºC) weather with road sand/salt blowing in your face and ice/puddles in the roadway, but we've been doing it. We've also both been lifting weights and walking/running.

However, I DO think there is a conspiracy against me. For a while I had to suspend training due to some hip/ankle problems. I got those resolved and started ramping up my workouts again. Then I came down with gastroenteritis - weakness, chills, diarrhea, fatigue. I recovered from that and started back to the grind when I developed a severe allergic reaction to pool chlorine. I have a horrible itchy rash with welts all over my body. The only parts of my anatomy that are exempt are my hands and the central part of my face. Having experienced both chiggers and wide-spread poison ivy infections - I'd rate this rash as at least as awful as the two combined!!!

*scratch*scratch*scratch*

At any rate, the rash is slowing my workouts because if I get hot and sweaty, the itching increases exponentially!

*scratch*scratch*scratch*

On top of all that, my asthma has been uncharacteristically awful. When I'm running or riding, you can hear me wheezing 3 blocks away! Oy!

The past 2 years I have single-handedly done ALL the fundraising for both Mulletman and myself. This year he is FINALLY coming out of his I-just-don't-feel-comfortable-asking-for-money funk and has raised a whole $15 (thus far) all by his lonesome.

I am so proud. *sniff*

We'd love to take the girls with us one of these soon approaching years, but we both loathe the thought of raising the required funds for 4 of us!

*scratch*scratch*scratch*

Oh well, if you'd like to help Mulletman or myself toward our fundraising goals for the American Lung Association of Maine, you can donate with your credit card via the links in the top of my sidebar.

And many thanks to Jen and to Anne for your donations! I really appreciate the way you two have gotten the ball rolling!

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God's been doing some "housecleaning" in my spirit of late. It's not comfortable, but it's good.

Speaking of "comfortable", we've been visiting a local nursing home with some fellow homeschoolers the past few weeks. Mercy is truly NOT my gift, so the whole idea only appeals to me in an altruistic way. i.e. It seems like a good idea - a nice practice to expose my kids to, but I don't look forward to it. At all.

But there was real shift in my mind and feelings this past Tuesday as I got to talk with more of the inmates residents. I actually A. enjoyed myself and B. felt genuine compassion for a couple of the folks there.

And my friend EarlyBird learned a lesson too. She was pretty stressed when she got there to sing and visit because she had dented her new car AND hit a big, tough looking prison inmate who was working at the dump, in his back with a frisbee. (Don't ask...)

*scratch*scratch*scratch*

She was having trouble settling down and focusing until Harriet came in all decked out to hear us sing. Harriet had even worn make-up. Oh yes, she had. We all lined up to sing and EarlyBird started to giggle. And giggle and giggle. I shot her a questioning look. "Well," she whispered to me as she glanced toward Harriet, "God just reminded me that I don't have it that bad. At least I don't wear lipstick on my eyebrows!"

God is good. :-D

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I routinely get emails from a popular women's magazine announcing all their latest giveaway contests. I saw one for free ice cream and immediately filled it out without really reading the fine print. Then I looked more closely and saw that I had signed up for a chance to win 6 pints of Tahoe Creamery ice cream which retails for.....................................EIGHTY STINKING DOLLARS!

6 pints. $80.

12 cups. $80.

96 ounces. $80.

3/4 of a gallon. $80.

That. does. not. compute.

If I win it, I'm not sure I'd be able to eat it. Instead, we'll save it up so we can sell it if we get into financial straights.

*scratch*scratch*scratch*

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Last week was a busy one:

-We took GrammaJ (and ourselves) grocery shopping.

-We bought fabric for Easter skirts and scored some great deals on clothing for the girls at TJ Maxx.

-We visited the nursing home.

-We had friends over for supper.

-We got haircuts.

-We went to EarlyBird's farm and got to witness the birth of three baby does.

Girly-Girl and Silly-Head and a couple of 4-H friends watched the birth from over the wall of the stall.


Here's Emma with her firstborn. The kid was breech and EarlyBird had to intervene. Fortunately all three kids were just fine.


-We went to another friend's house to work on quilts for orphans in Swaziland.

-We swam at the Boys & GirlsClub. (Moral of the story? Never, EVER swim in a chlorinated pool without showering afterwards. stupid! Stupid! STUPID!!!)

*scratch*scratch*scratch*dig*dig*

-We went to yet another friend's farm to start learning about horses - how to understand them, how to handle them, how to act around them.

Here are the girls with Jillian - a 44 year-old Welsh pony. (She's over 100 in people years!) Jillian has trained many, many a child in the equestrian arts.


*scratch*scratch*scratch*dig*dig*

Ok...I'm starting to really squirm here.

*scratch*scratch*scratch*dig*dig*dig*dig*DIIIIIGGGGGGGG*

AAAAaaaaaaaack!!!!!

Time for a bath in Aveeno!!!