Always catch up time

9/21/08 Sunday
It’s always catch-up time with this journal lately. I’m not sure what that means. Is it because I’m working more? Right now I can’t put my finger on it but I’m not too sharp at the moment. We took a bunch of bell peppers and stuff that didn’t sell at the farmer’s market to church. I told everyone in our Sunday school that we didn’t want any money for the vegetables, just want to give it to them. That worked, it all disappeared and that’s a lot better than having it spoil. Besides they have been so good to us it’s nice to do anything, no matter how small, in return.

After church we went to the Cotton Patch for lunch. It’s so nice to be able to afford to do that now. When we first got to Texas we lived on mostly peanut butter and jelly along with beans and cornbread. Buying a hamburger was a luxury then. Things have improved greatly since then and continue to look up. We are blessed.

While at the restaurant I began to fade. Cherie looked at me and said “You’re wearing out fast”. I guess it was pretty easy to see. It’s so strange to me. I can have a great energy level and then in a matter of minutes drop to where I just want to lay my head on the table and go to sleep. I almost had Cherie drive me home but don’t make a good passenger. When we got here I took a pain pill, all that sitting and standing in church can bring out the pain, and went to bed. After two hours I got up and am writing this now. I’m a little slow, running a six on the bob scale.

Yesterday Don called to ask if he could come over and help with things. He reads the blog regular so knows some of the challenges I have. He asked what I wanted his help with and I wasn’t sure what to answer. Don has spent a year trying to recover from an infection in his foot and leg along with a lot of complications. He’s diabetic and on dialysis so that makes any kind of infection a serious matter. So after a year of being on crutches and for a period confined to using a wheelchair he is finally able to get out and about. As you might expect, this freedom, this release from being constrained to home unless accompanied is like being released from prison so Don is getting busy. He helped me put up the kennel, pick up fence panels out of the weeds, and mowed some. He outworked me or at least outlasted me. It’s frustrating to not be able to keep going for me. I had to come in the house, take a pain pill, and lay down for a second. Out the window I could see Don pushing the lawn mower through the heavy weeds and just couldn’t stay in. It doesn’t feel right to have someone helping me without me being there. He worked a little longer and had to head home. Rascal and Trixie were both aggressive towards Don, barking and barking despite me yelling “NO”. We really need to work on them about that.

So now that I’m up I need to get to work. It’s 4:43 and I’ve not done much other than go to church and lunch though I did pick up the garbage the dogs got into last night. I think I’ll put the sunscreen cloth on top of the kennel and get back to mowing weeds. I was showing the garden to Don and was surprised to see some melons that weren’t broken open though they all show scars from where the dogs (Probably Gretchen) pawed at them in an attempt to break them open. Hopefully putting them in the kennel will stop or reduce that. Regardless I’ll need to put fences up for there are coyotes and lots of other creatures out in this desert to keep out of the garden. Gophers are a little harder because they tunnel at around eighteen inches deep and are small enough to slip through most wire fencing.
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I wrote all of that and went online to post it, but forgot to. Typical.