Dad, Can I Borrow the Car?

Mulletman, as most of you know already, is a tall, thin, athletic guy. He runs, he lifts weights, he eats moderately, and he takes his vitamins. He doesn't smoke and, other than some allergies and some struggles with muscle tension, he's extremely healthy. Nonetheless, his 17+ year job as a cardiac nurse has required 12-hour shifts (3x weekly) on his feet on a hard terrazo floor. Consequently, he had developed some nasty and painful vericose veins; Nasty enough that our insurance finally agreed to pay for him to have them surgically removed. After many fits and starts and delays, the surgery was finally scheduled for this past Monday.

Also scheduled for that day, rather inconveniently, was the biggest snowstorm of the season. The snow wouldn't have been a big deal (hey, we're Mainahs!) except that GrammaJ was supposed to babysit and she lives across town and has no car, necessitating a cross-town adventure to transport her, AND Mulletman's surgery was being performed at the Big Hospital where he works - an hour away in good weather.

But everything will be fine because we can borrow the folks' car. We own 2 vehicles: One is a minivan that doesn't perform all that well on slick roads and the other is a Subaru. The Sub is great in the snow, but it's a stick-shift and I am having hip and ankle problems that make clutching a miserable occupation. The plan? Park both of our cars and borrow Gram & Gramp's wonderful, spectacular 2008 Subaru Forrester with all wheel drive. It still has less than 10,000 miles on it and has heated leather seats. Oh yeah!

So we got up early and Mulletman started to snowblow and shovel our VERY long driveway. Keep in mind he had nothing to eat and only a sip of apple juice because he was scheduled for surgery. I got the girls up and rolling and made sure everything was ready for GrammaJ. As soon as he a path cleared, I borrowed the fabulous new Subaru and headed out across town to get my mom. The Sub handled beautifully. I had no trouble at all.

Unfortunately, someone else did. As I was cruising along admiring the ease with which I could pass all those cars in the snowbanks, a lady in a 4 wheel drive SUV came down a steeeeeeeeep side street and tried to stop. The good news is, she succeeded. The bad news is, it took the passenger side of the folks' vehicle to help her do so.

Yep...she crashed the Subaru. I was thankful for the slick road because it allowed my car to spin away from her and greatly lessened the impact and damage. If she had hit me that hard on a dry road I'd probably be dictating this from the hospital!

Neither of us were injured and the vehicles were still functional, so she called 911 and we did the police report, etc. All of which took time.

And once the police gave us leave to go I did what any sensible person woiuld do after an accident, I went on across town to pick up my mom. Which took MORE time, not to mention the fact that there were 3 distraught people back at home waiting to see what had happened to me and to the car. Mulletman called me on the cell phone (also the folks'; We don't have a cell phone) and reamed me out. It was LATE and why wasn't I HOME? and what did I think I was DOING? And we needed to go NOW if he was going to be on TIME!!!!

Remember that doghouse video? Well, there's a doghouse for wives too, just in case you didn't know. And I was SO in it! Not for getting in an accident, but for not coming home immediately thereafter. I might add here, that my in-laws were going to be home all day so we didn't NEED my mom to babysit.

I call it I-Was-In-An-Accident-Mush-Brain.

Anyhoo, I got Mom, we got home without further incident and Mulletman, all stormy and muttery jumped into the driver's seat. I ran in to pee (furthering his frustration, but saving me from some!) and then ran back out to sit behind him. We were afraid to open the passenger door lest it not close again!

It was a VERY quiet and VERY tense drive to the hospital!

And this is where I need to share something really special with you. While I was not exactly filled with joy sitting in the doghouse, I WAS filled with a measure of peace. Mm and I have been married for 26 years now. My marriage insecurities are gone. I KNEW that before we went into the hospital I would apologize for making a poor decision and he would forgive me. And I KNEW he would apologize for being an angry jerk and I would forgive him. And thus it came to pass! All was reasonably well before we got out of the car. And all good will was completely restored before his surgery.

However, it was a looooooong day. He had an ultrasound before the surgery and the surgery was scheduled later than we had thought and we were both tired and headachy from the stressful morning. And everything seemed to take FOR.EV.ER.

The care at the hospital was absolutely stellar - no complaints there, but oh-my-word does it get BORING!!! Watch CNN, pace, wander, visit the cafeteria, sit, wander, pace, read. I would have read a whole lot more, but there was a dearth of magazines in the vascular department! One Redbook, 2 Surfer (in Maine? In Winter?), one Prevention and one Time from the 90's.

Bored, bored, BORED!

And, the curse of "screwing up" seemed to be following me. My first hospital flub (I am so ashamed to admit this) was when I accidentally threw my trash into the cans/bottles recycling bin. I, the recycling queen, was mortified, especially since the opening was too small for me to fish the trash back out!

Then, the surgeon came to talk to me. Mulletman's surgery went perfectly. The nurses would come get me in a little while to hang with him while he recovered. Good, I'd use the extra few moments to call home and report in. I went to my coat pocket to retrieve the folks' cell phone.

No cell phone.

I checked the other pocket.

No cell phone.

I took a deep breath, sat down and methodically went through my coat and purse.

No cell phone.

More deep breaths. OK. I was NOT going to cry. The coats had fallen on the floor in the pre-op room. Maybe the phone was in there under the bed or chair. When the nurse came to get me I told her my dilemma. Soon she and I and 3 other concerned and helpful hospital staff were scouring the whole pre-op unit.

No cell phone.

That's alright. It could be in with Mulletman's stuff in his bag of clothes. The nurse scurried off to get his clothes for me.

No cell phone.

Now I was on the edge... Not only had I crashed their new car, but I had lost their cell phone too. Could somebody just shoot me and put them out of their misery??!!

Then one of the nurses got the idea to try to call the phone and see if we could hear it ring anywhere in the unit. It was sweet (and hilarious) to see all these nice people in scrubs scrambling all over trying to help me. While they were looking so diligently, I suddenly had a brain storm. I'd been in the cafeteria a dozen couple times. Maybe I had dropped it there.

Mulletman was still pretty well out of it, so I trotted down to the cafeteria to see if anyone had turned it in. The cashier gave me a weird look and asked, "Does it play When the Saints go Marching IN? Because I've heard that tune coming from somewhere ALOT in this past hour or so!"

Sure enough, that was the one. The cell phone had been recovered!

Sadly, Mulletman's recovery wasn't going as well. He had a really bad headache and he was nauseous. He spent a looooong (boring) time nibbling crackers and applying a cold washcloth and taking ibuprofen, etc.

I was feeling badly for him, of course, but in the back of mind I was wondering about something else - my keys. Not the keys to the folks' smashed up car, but my regular keys that were ALWAYS in my right hand coat pocket. Because they weren't there. Did I take them out and leave them at home? Or were they really missing?

Stress, obsess, worry, pray! Finally, he was taking so long getting up to speed, that I deserted him for another cafeteria run. Apparently I was famous at this point because several folks asked me if my day was going better. I responded by asking them if there had been any keys in the drawer where they'd stashed the cell phone.

No keys.

OK...I was just going to assume they were at home and let it go. (Hahahahahaha! Yeah, right.)

OH well, it's time to wind up this long tale of woe. Mulletman dressed and I got the car and - lo and behold -there were the missing keys on the passenger seat! Halleluiah! :-D

Big sigh of relief.

Now it was Mm's turn to sit in back. Good thing he brought an emesis bag with him because, well, Eeeeeeeeewwwww! But he felt better...

So...a long drive home in the dark. Happily, the storm was over and the roads were clear.

I took him in and got him settled, then took GrammaJ home, then called Funsocksgirl to report in and then did the accident report with the folks and then put the girls to bed and then collapsed!

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Epilogue: No one is angry with me and I'm enjoying life outside the doghouse very much. The other lady's insurance is paying for all the repairs on the car and for the folks to rent a car while theirs is in the shop. Mulletman is feeling great and doing great.

The stress aggravated my own joint problems and I've been laying low the last couple of days.

Somewhere in the midst of all this I developed a wonderful new story idea...

Stressed or Blessed?

I've been feeling pretty stressed this week: Too much to do, not enough time to do it, PMS, the unexpected death of a friend, pondering NaNoWriMo, that stupid extra 15 pounds, dealing with an on-going high maintainance issue with the hubby. You know, tough stuff.

But is it? No...it's nothing. Most of my "stress" is self-imposed through overbooking myself. Once this weekend is past (concert, rehearsal, women's conference, another BIG cake, accompanying party) 90% of my stressors will be removed.

So, SO many other folk have it no where as easy as that. My friend Em, having to face life without her husband of 28 years. Unbelievable. Two other dear women who are literally trapped in an ongoing tour through Hell as they try to go to college, raise children, and engage in endless legal battles with "difficult" (and potentially dangerous) exes, as well as constant fights with their respective states for financial help.

These three ladies are in my prayers right now, night and day. And as I am praying for them, God is reminding me to count my own blessings instead of dwelling on my "stressors".

The very first thing that comes to mind is the immense blessing and peace and joy that comes from knowing I am redeemed and knowing, because of what Christ has done for me, I can boldly appeal to and trust the King of all Kings to care for me and my family. The Lord is my strength and my song! He is my protector and shield! He is my provision and joy!

Following close after is an immense thankfulness for my husband's presence in my life. Mulletman does have his faults, he is a worrier (I call him "The Pitbull" because he has trouble letting go!), he can have a bad (very bad) temper - though his temper has been, well... tempered as he's grown in Christ and as he's matured in age and experience. He also can talk a topic (particularly one that's consuming his pitbullish brain cells) to DEATH.

BUT he has never been abusive to me or the kids (unless you count really long and repetetive lectures as abusive :D ). He has never threatened us nor ever threatened to leave us. Even his long lectures are a product of his loving concern for his family. And when he does blow his top or screw up he truly is repentive afterward, not just remorseful.

He doesn't drink, use drugs or spend more time with his buds or his job than he spends with us. He is a hard worker, but not a workaholic. He ALWAYS has time for us.

He has never demanded that I go to work so we can buy/afford more stuff. Nor has he ever demanded that I stay home with the kids. He has, however, encouraged me to stay home AND done all that he could to make that feasible. He's worked very hard to provide for us and been wise with our money. He has gone out of his manly way to lift MY burdens at home by doing laundry and dishes and by insisting that the children help bless me by keeping the chores done.

He is thoughtful and romantic and sweet. He can be funny and logical and creative. He is steadfast and faithful and true and painfully honest. I feel totally secure in his love. I feel completely safe leaving Girly-Girl and Silly-Head in his care - even if he doesn't do everything the way I do it.

He doesn't just think of his own goals and wants and concerns. Instead he tries to lead us as a family to walk in God's ways. He is stubbornly and persistantly steadfast in this even when the rest of us mutiny! :D (Fear not, we're coming around!)

He puts up with Groovy's many, not-so-groovy failings and inconsistancies, and does so kindly and graciously (most of the time). In spite of our occasional tussles and struggles, the word "divorce" has never even been considered. I can say with GREAT confidence that he and I are truly together until "death us do part".

He has encouraged me to spread my wings and use my talents. He has also risked my anger by wisely telling me "No" when I was ready to dive into too much or my priorities were askew. He is the love of my life. How I praise God for so blessing me!

Today is Mulletman's birthday. He is 45 - just tapping middle-aged on the shoulder. May God grant that we grow old together always mindful of how blessed we are!

The Top Ten Reasons Why Groovy is VERY STRESSED Right Now

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1. THE TREK IS IN 4 DAYS!

2. Groovy is seriously doubting her ability to go the whole 180 miles.

3. Wrist pain

4. Butt pain (stop laughing - it's a normal cycling hazard)

5. The house is dirty and Groovy won't have time to clean it before the Trek

6. Have I ever mentioned how far behind we are in school here?

7. GrammaJ genuinely needs help but she'll be alone all weekend.

8. Heat and humidity that hit very suddenly - and no time to acclimate. Let's not forget to add that we have no A/C and that Groovy's asthma is markedly worse in humid weather.

9. Bad hair and Groovy still feels fat, even after all that working out. (Yeah, I know that's 2, but they're both related to body image, so I figure I can get away with it.)

10. They're still sawing and burning and digging and hauling and chopping and making CONSTANT noise on the property next door; the property that used to be quiet, peaceful woods.

twitch*twitch*twitch





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The Effects of Stress and the Blessings of God

I can't believe that I forgot to mention a very important occurance when I related my previous tale of woe.

So, I flew into Charlotte, NC on a late evening flight. Mom had to pick me up and then we'd drive the 40 minutes back to Rock Hill where she lived. She had just had her van serviced. Her intent was just to have her oil change and the tires checked, but the kind and thoughtful men at CarMax who were just looking out for her best interest (of course), talked her into the extra special, your-car-will-run-happily-forever-$400-service-job-of-doom.

According to Mom, all the way to the airport, the car acted "funny". All the way back from the airport she and I were both frantically praying for NO RED LIGHTS! because the engine was threatening to die every time we had to stop.

We made it back to her home, but she really needed to take it back to CarMax in the morning because the work was guaranteed and because there ain't no CarMaxes in backwoods Maine.

She left at 6:30am the day we were supposed to load the truck - the truck which we had not yet picked up. She didn't get back until 11:30!

All that time I was cleaning and packing a sweating and praying that everything was OK and starting to get a bit frantic that we wouldn't be able to get the truck there before our loading help arrived at NOON.

Well, it turns out that CarMax (bless their hearts) didn't want to hold her up overly long on that initial visit, so when they didn't have the recommended spark plugs for her van, they substituted some others; Others that were misfiring and threatening to destroy the electrical system of the entire van and kill us all!!!

(I can say that authoritatively because A. No auto mechanics read my blog, so they can't correct my misstatements and B. it sounds wonderfully dramatic!)

BUT, we did get the truck on time, the car IS all fixed, planets did not collide, and all's well as ends well.

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The Physical effects of All This Stress

Just thought you might be interested to know how all this anticipation and planning and fun and excitement has impacted my health...Not that you're REALLY interested, but I want to remember this so I can tell my great grandchildren impressive stories of how I almost died whilst helping Gramma move up to Maine.

I do love drama...

Anorexia. Diarrhea. Canker sores. Chronic insomnia. Racing heart. Numb brain. Itchy scalp. TMJ/ headaches. Bronchitis. Nervous meltdowns where I, who rarely cry, cried and cried and cried and cried. 10 years worth of aging. Exhaustion.

Fortunately, now that the worst of the stress is over, my body is starting to settle down too. My appetite is returning (darn!), I'm sleeping WAY better, the sores in my mouth are almost completely gone, my heart is too tired to race, my brain is starting to defog, and my jaw is beginning to relax.

I'm still dealing with mild bronchitis and an itchy head (curse you, foul vermin!) and some digestive difficulties.

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And now, the best part of all: The Blessings of God. In spite of and in the midst of all the difficulties, God's Hand has been VERY evident!

1.) Mm and I received a financial boon that lifted any stress over all the money we were spending on traveling hither and yon.

2.) Mulletman and Scout had a wonderful trip together without any relational tension. Trust me, that's a BIG deal!

3.) My Mom can be overbearing, obnoxious and/or annoying. I can be callous and self-centered and easily irritated - especially when I have no privacy. In spite of these potential leanings, we got along beautifully. I truly enjoyed her company and we worked well together as a team. We had loads of stress, but none of it was from being with each other! :-)

4.) Notcon4med and JessieU. Nuff said!

5.) I DID find an apartment that was affordable and fairly large, in a safe and convenient part of town.

6.) The landlord fixed everything that I tearfully brought to his attention. (Whew!)

7.) The truck ran GREAT!

8.) The cats survived the trip and are now happy and well adjusted to their new home.

9.) My husband is being very kind and helpful and supportive in getting Mom settled.

10.) The weather was absolutely perfect for the trip - cool and sunny. If it had been hot out, the health of the kitties would have been a very serious concern!

11.) My church came through and so many people volunteered to help with the move that I had to turn people down!

12.) Dawna and family for their help, for supper, for the welcome basket and for the bed.

13.) Mr. Tom being willing to come to my rescue at 6am before a full day of work!

14.) Mom's van wasn't hurt by my unloading faux pas.

15.) The truck came readily out of the muddy yard.

16.) It wasn't Mom and I who were in the horrible accident. (and may God have mercy on the families of those who were...)

17.) The second hotel was SO nice, and Mom got a good deal on the room/breakfast.

18.) A very nice man (albeit a little "rough" looking) rescued us when I pulled the truck and trailer too close to the gas pump and couldn't figure out how to maneuver the rig away from disaster.

19.) Only one item got damaged in the move and it's repairable.

20.) Mom is almost completely unpacked now and will be able to look for a job in this next week.

21.) We were able to get the truck picked up in time after the CarMax fiasco.

22.) Budget DID hook up the trailer and load the van onto it even after they told they wouldn't due to insurance restrictions.

23.) The van never shifted on the trailer.

24.) Grampy didn't fall or get sick while we were gone. (He and Grammy were watching the girls.)

25.) Grammy didn't get lice from the girls!

26.) I cleaned my house before the trip, so it wasn't a pit when I came home.

27.) Mm hates being the center of attention, so he didn't mind having a birthday celebration that was less than stellar.

28.) The girls have suffered absolutely NO negative effects from all this insanity. In fact, they have flourished!

29.) With all the physical problems I've had, I have NOT lost my voice, so I can sing on the Worship Team at church and I can sing at the women's conference with Cherie Adams on November 3rd.

30.) I KNOW that many folks who couldn't physically help us were actively praying for us.

31.) Mom and I never got lost (even though we FELT lost looking for the hotel after the traffic jam) or missed a turn-off.

32.) Now that I'm back I can finally get my new glasses. Bifocals, here I come!

33.) My sneakers are finally broken in.

34.) Oh, oh, oh! I almost forgot. Notcon4med brought her laptop full of tunes with her when we loading the truck. I was grooving to "He took the shackles off my feet so I can dance..." while loading the truck. ;-) That praise music did much to keep our spirits lifted!

35.) I actually feel ready to start school today.


Speaking of school, I guess I'd better get going. The giries and I have some catching up to do!

Thanks to all of you for the hugs and huggles and kind words and prayers!

May He richly bless you all!

Crawling Out From Under...

OK, I'm still feeling pretty whipped, but I figured I'd better post today or ya'll will think I died under my rock.

Lesse...Why don't we start with...

The Stressers

1. lice, Lice, LICE. We've made tremendous progress. Our extremely thorough nitpicking is now netting only 1 or 2 nits a day on the girls, none on me, and only 1 or 2 on Mulletman. Nonetheless, my head itches constantly and I am on the verge of total paranoia. A simple piece of lint is enough to make me run for the mayonaise and the tea-tree oil! It is absolutely unbelievable how all consuming an infestation can be. As you read the following, keep in mind that through ALL of this I was nit picking my own hair twice a day and worrying whether MM was doing his own head as he traveled and whether Grammy was doing a good enough job on the girls' heads.

2. Scout is gone now - all alone in his new world at Ft. Hood. He and Mm had a good trip together, but we still worry about him. We're praying for him to be wise financially, to work things out one way or another with his wife and children, and for God to raise up Godly men and/or families to take him under their wings.

3. The Big Move. I never, EVER want to do that again!

First was (were?) all the semantics of where Mom would live - I had to find her an apartment. Could she afford it? Would she like the one I picked? Was the landlord reliable? Was the neighborhood safe?

I found an apartment and went in the day before I was flying out to clean it up a bit and put in some housewarming gifts. I ended up working there for over 6 hours and finding SEVERAL things wrong with the place. It was so much dirtier than it had appeared at first and many things were not working properly. I was SO upset!

Then there was some marital discord as Mulletman struggled with being "tied down" even more than before (He REALLY wants to sell our house and go somewhere and DO something...but now his folks AND my mom are here and all of them need assistance.)

Then there were the ever changing plans: Who was flying where and driving where and doing what with whom and when and how and no, let's reaarange it all and pay more money for tickets and...ugh!

Four different men volunteered to help my mom load her truck. Only one showed up and that was after it was 95% done. Notcon4med, JessieU and I did ALL the loading. The next morning there were still quite a few odds and ends to clean and pack up, so Mom and I didn't even get on the road until noon. We had a fully loaded 16' truck and a full trailer with a van on it.

The kitties were so upset and stressed that they were hyperventilating and foaming at the mouth. Naturally this had a rather negative effect on us as well!

We only managed 5 hours the first day because there were SO many hills. The truck could only go 40-45 mph up the hills and we had to brake alot going down the hills so the trailer didn't go caty-wampus on us. We ate supper at the coveted Cracker Barrel, but both of us had upset stomachs and couldn't really enjoy our food.

We stayed that first night at a very mediocre Days Inn. We SNUCK the kitties in and then neither of us could sleep because we felt so guilty and because we still had so far to go and because we were so strung out and because the cats were stressed and kept fighting with one another.

We woke up after our fitful night and I had a complete meltdown. I had been trying so hard to be strong for my mom, but I was at the end of my reserves. I cried and cried and cried and cried!

After lots of hugs and reassurances, we smuggled the cats back out to the car (they were riding in their carriers in the back of the van) and went back in for the hot breakfast buffet waiting for us in the hotel restaurant.

It. was. awful.

Lumpy, lukewarm grits, hard biscuits, cold eggy casseroles, greasy potato whatever-it-was. The only edible food was the mixed fruit - and that was all canned! All this bounty was ours - all we could choke down -for only $9.95 EACH!!

Mom drove the whole second day. Our plan was to get past Hartford so we'd be past cities and traffic jams before we got another hotel. We decided to let the kitties be and just get as far as we could before dark. (They only seemed to get more upset when we went back to check on them, and they wouldn't eat or drink or use the litter box. They just hissed and growled and cried.) It was a great plan.

Unfortunately, Nothing ever goes as planned!.

We were right on target and looking forward to finding a hotel in the next 30 minutes. My mom had been driving the whole day and she was doing great. Then we hit the traffic-jam-from-Hell between Danbury and Waterbury, CT.

3 hours on a Sunday evening of either barely moving or sitting completely still. Mom and I were both already exhausted, but we worked hard to encourage each other. We sang songs, we prayed together, we told jokes. We prayed again in case it was an accident - that God would minister to all those involved.

Finally, around 9:30 at night things started moving again. We tried one exit that promised a hotel. Nothing.

We tried the next exit and after more stress and difficulty than I could ever manage to relate (picture an overwhelmed, exhausted old lady with cataracts driving 15 mph up and down poorly lit roads with steep hills searching, searching, searching...), we finally ended up at an extremely nice Microtel around 11pm. This time Mom was up front about the cats and we got a great price and the FREE continental breakfast was among the best I've ever had.

We had both been extremely worried about the cats. They'd been in the back of the car without food, water, or a litter pan for 16 hours! I actually had visions of opening the back and finding one or both of them dead. But they were both just fine. In fact they seemed happy as could be! They explored and played and ate and drank and didn't fight at all. Mom and I just collapsed.

In the morning, Mom had a meltdown. She cried and cried and cried and cried. Now it was my turn to hug and reassure her!

We didn't get out until after 9am. We needed the extra rest and we figured there was no use in leaving until rush hour was past. We found out that one person had died and that two people were in critical condition from the horrific accident that had caused the traffic jam...

Now we were in MY territory, so I drove. The hills weren't as severe, so I picked up the pace and in some places I actually went the speed limit! While pulling a trailer! With crosswinds! While my mom held onto the truck dashboard with white knuckles!

I didn't want to stop at all. I just wanted to GET TO MAINE!! I could smell the pine trees, but Mom wanted to stop somewhere to eat. We had a lovely meal at Ninety-Nine's -although I couldn't eat much of it and then pressed on.

We finally made it into Mom's new town around 5:30pm. We unloaded just enough stuff so that she and the kitties could sleep and have some food and then headed over to my house.

Now we faced an interesting conundrum; Where could we park the truck and trailer? I had the brilliant idea to drive it across my lawn and then pull it facing outward in my driveway.

Nothing ever goes as planned!

It had rained quite a bit while I was gone and the truck sank in the mud in the yard.

We. were. stuck.

OooooooKaaaaaay.

Fine.

I can deal with this.

The van is heavy. If I just unload the van from the trailer, then the truck will rally and work its way out of the mud and everything will be dandy. After all, how hard could it be? I had watched the guy hook it up and load it...

Nothing ever goes as planned!

It was dark, I was beyond exhausted and I forgot one very necessary step for unloading the car ie. Jacking up the front of the trailer. Sooooooo, I got the car body STUCK on the frame of the trailer.

I cried and cried and cried and cried.

Then I called Mr. Tom, our very good friend and asked him to HELP ME PLEASE! because Mulletman wasn't back from his trip to Texas yet and I was a damsel in distress. Mr. Tom said he'd come frist thing in the morning.

In the meantime I took Mom back to her apartment and dumped her dropped her off. The I spent a sleepless night worrying about lice and really big tow trucks and ruining my mom's van and the fact that no one - not one single person - had contacted me to say they'd help unload the truck etc., etc., etc.

Mr. Tom was here before sunrise. I could see his flashlight bobbing in the front yard and I could here him laughing out loud.

Jerk.

He jacked up the trailer, unloaded the car (which, Praise God, was not damaged at all), and coached me as I rocked the truck out of the mud and up onto the driveway. We had it all taken care of in less than 15 minutes.

NICE jerk!

Then I put out a whiny, tearful plea on our church's prayer chain and within 2 hours time I had eight volunteers ready to meet us at Mom's at 3pm to unload. Mulletman returned from his visit to the holy land (ie. Texas) and helped too. I kissed him everytime he got to the top of the stairs :-) Those sweet folks had the truck completely empty in less than an hour!

My sweet friend, Dawna (http://blue-mysterious-crayon.blogspot.com/) brought my mom a sweet little welcome basket full of fruit and chocolate. She's expecting a new little bambino soon, so instead of hauling boxes, she stayed upstairs and chatted with Mom and put shelf paper on the shelves. Then, once the truck was empty, her husband, Matthew, "borrowed" the truck and came back with a surprise for my mom; A new bed! Mom's been sleeping on an air matress on the floor. The matress is comfy, but the floor is a tough place for someone who isn't as limber as she used to be. He carried all the pieces in and assembled the bed. We were especially touched when we learned that the bed had been Matt's late mother's.

Mom cried and cried and cried and cried!

After all the work and insanity, Matt and Dawna had all of us over to their house (just around the block!) for homemade pizza. It was a nice end to a rough trip and a tough day.

Now we're on the downside of all the stress. Mom's place is still a mess, but it's beginning to shape up and she's beginning to unwind a little.

Scout has been safely delivered to his new post and the lice are almost comletely irradicated.

We'll start school again on Monday...

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Speaking of Monday, check back then for my post: The Effects of Stress and the Blessings of God where I will wind up this tale of extreme insanity. Maybe by then I'll even be funny again...

AAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

:-) We're off to Boston tomorrow for the big 25th celebration. I just have to get 117 blankets shipped to Voice of the Martyrs so they can send them to the Sudan, clean the house, get groceries for Mom and the kids, get my haircut, pack, have some school time and collapse first!

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Edit
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I just got my hair cut for the big anniversary celebration. "Oh you look YEARS younger!" my hairdresser gushed.

My next stop was the bread store. I stocked up and checked out. When I exclaimed over the wonderfully low price the cashier cheerfully responded, "Well of course, dear. I gave you the SENIOR DISCOUNT."

Aaaaaaack! Aaaaaaaack! and MORE Aaaaaaaaack!