When puppies attack

6/23/07 Saturday
It’s a typical morning in that the puppies had us up as soon as the horizon started to brighten up. We both struggled out of bed and Cherie made coffee as I went out with the critters. Leaps and bounds would be an accurate description. The picture I’m putting on is from yesterday when I put the little poopers on the bed to help motivate Cherie.

Cherie’s back is in pretty bad shape. She had a hard time just getting comfortable last night and this morning was like the last. She was able to go to the bathroom by herself. There was a small scorpion in there so she recounted how she killed it. First she plastered it to the floor with hairspray. Next she beat it repeatedly with an Oil of Olay box. After nudging it repeatedly to make sure it was dead she wrapped it in toilette paper and sent it swimming to the septic system. Seems that when she lived in Phoenix her roommate told her that scorpions could sting through sneakers. I cleared that concept up after I asked why she didn’t just step on it.

After that I helped Cherie wash her hair. I poured the water she had heated for this slowly as she shampooed and then rinsed. Then I had to help her stand up. Getting a new mattress will be our next major investment. The one we have now is the one that came with the house. No telling how old it is but it is for sure not in good shape.

I let Cherie have one of my pain pills to help and needed to take one for myself. Because I am so careful with them there are plenty left. From now on Cherie will take me anytime she buys something that has weight to it, like the big bags of puppy chow.

Today I plan on digging new beds to plant more corn in. Doesn’t look like I will get much if any out of the hundred and fifty or so that are already there. All part of the learning how to garden.

So that’s the start of our day.
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It’s 10:15 PM now. Turned into a busy day so I will try to reconstruct it. I don’t know if I called Janie or she called me but she let me know that their neighbor was taking down a cedar fence and asked if they knew anyone who could use the wood. I quickly volunteered to take it off their hands. Wood of any kind I can find a use for on this old farm and I wanted to build a fence to keep the dogs secure.

Cherie was planning on going in to Midland to do some shopping so I suggested she follow me to Steve and Janie’s to say hi and then go shopping. We were warmly greeted and enjoyed an hour or three of fellowship where we talked of guitars, music, dogs, and fixing up houses. Then Steve walked me over to the neighbors and introduced me. They were an older couple and their kids and grandkids were visiting I think. I apologize for not remembering their names. Always feel bad about being unable to do that but they understand. He has a relative or someone they know who was also in a coma and is a traumatic brain injury survivor so understands well my problems.

So he showed me the fencing they are removing along with metal posts that are at least seven feet tall. There is plenty there and, while the bottom inch or two may be a bit rotted, it’s good cedar and will be a blessing to have. Because Steve and Janie had someone coming over or something I planned on loading the wood by myself. It wouldn’t have been hard to do taking just a couple or three boards at a time but…(I wish I could remember his name) wouldn’t have it and called his whole family in. Next thing I know there is Mike, his son I think, and maybe his wife, a young lady, and a kid who looked about thirteen all there helping along with the owner.

The wife asked if I could get some help unloading the wood in Stanton and I had to tell her I really didn’t. “Do you attend a church there?” she asked in response so I sadly told her that we had for six months but never got a visitor. We had pastor come by and talk for a while when we first arrived but the two others who came by dropped stuff off and left without really talking. “That’s not right” she said and invited us to her church. I told her we were going to First Baptist of Midland and she said “That’s our church”. Finding out they do computer I gave her my card with the blog address on it. Then Mike and the nice old guy who’s name I can’t recall (this is beginning to irk me) offered to follow me back to the farm and help me unload. I’m just some stranger picking up their old wood and here they are not just willing but wanting to go out of their way to help. Steve and Janie had their son go help unload also so I just had Mike join us instead of the whole clan. They followed me back to the farm and had the truck emptied out in no time at all.

Somewhere in all this Steve, Janie, their son Tyrell (I think that’s his name) took Cherie and I to Fudruckers. Never been there before. Now this is a hamburger joint deluxe. Haven’t seen anything like it in Toledo or all of Ohio and Michigan. Still not used to seeing beer sold at this kind of establishment but that’s part of the Texas culture I suppose. I am sure that if I took them to Toledo where you have a small bar on every other block in the old neighborhoods they would find that unusual.

So after all was said and done I was worn out, as I often am, and crawled into bed, taking a two or three hour nap. I woke up close to five and called Cherie, who had gone back to shopping. She was just getting on the highway heading home. Her back is still messed up pretty bad. She found a used mattress set for a hundred bucks but Steve let us know that it’s against the law to sell used mattresses. We’ll figure something out and whenever we have a need it seems to get met, either we run into a deal or something.

It’s after eleven now so I’m gonna call it a night. See y’all tomorrow. I never did dig those beds for the corn.