Start of another week

3/23/09 Monday
Ah…the start of another week. I wonder how it will go but am relieved to find that my sense of optimism, my renewed hope for the future of this farm is still there despite the kick in the teeth of losing Ginger. Of course there are still reminders such as the cinderblocks I put next to the big water bucket that she could stand on to reach the water but I focus on the joys she brought during her short stay and move on.

Well, I just had a moment of panic. As I wrote the above paragraph I remembered that I’ve not called Tonya, the lady with the tractor for sale, like I planned. That’s just another case of forgetting and I’ve learned (actually was taught at the Brain Institute) to “Do it now” while the thought is in my mind. So I went to find her phone number and it was nowhere in sight. Next step was to take everything off the dresser one at a time, examining them in case I wrote it on some corner of paper, but had no luck. Not, not good. If we can’t find her number we can’t buy her tractor for that was the only way we had to get ahold of her. In desperation I started going through all the phone numbers I’ve called before that are stored on the phone. It only stores just so many numbers so I started at the back knowing it’s been a week or two since I called her. The next to the last number was one of the few that had another area code so I called it hoping she would answer. She did. Hallelujah!!! If I’d received two more calls it would not have been there. The tractor is still there and she said she wouldn’t do anything with it till she heard from us. I let her know that “The checks in the mail” and we are still very much interested. If I hadn’t found the number she would have been waiting forever to hear from us and it could have been a dead deal. Fortunately she does visit the blog so I’m sure I could have reached her through that. What a powerful means of communicating the blog is.
Here you can see the rye coming up. It's good to see some fruit from your labors. eventually it should get about waist high.

Yesterday Tommie and Jamie came and picked up Cherie’s car. As they thanked us again and again for making it available without any payment at all I realized how Steve must of felt as I did the same thing with him. It’s hard not to be effusive when you’ve been blessed at a time of need. I told Tommie that we’ve received so much from those who love us that we were passing it on. Actually we would do it anyway, if you read back in the blog you can see our hearts are such that we help anyone we can, but the truck we received made her car much more available. Helping others is what gives life value. Oh don’t get me wrong, other things give life value with raising children at the top of the list in my mind but like it reads on my plaque “Money and things can vanish in a flash. What has real lasting value is the lives we touch”.


Thought y'all from other parts of the world would find it interesting to see how much sand blows in around here. You can see how deep it built up where I removed a pot and around the one next to it. Once a month or so I sweep and scoop up a wheelbarrow full of sand just from the veranda where our kitchen door is.

In our bible life group (Sunday school) yesterday the lesson was on Hezekiah, who had been told he was going to die in just a few days. First Baptist is going to embark on a six week program titled “one month to live” or something like that. In class we discussed how knowing we would die shortly would change how we lived and looked at life. At the end I told the class that I’ve had the “privilege of dieing” and had gone from owning multiple companies to being homeless, and how this had changed my outlook on life and reevaluated what was important and not. This experience is what led me to develop this philosophy or creed that I carved on the plaque. It is the creed I live by now and truly how I view life. And we are the recipients of others who also feel this way and have shown us such mercy and compassion. They honor the God who gave His Son, the ultimate gift, in order to give us life. It’s a hard example to follow regarding the level of sacrifice but such a good way to live. Giving brings great rewards, not monetary ones but deeper more valuable ones that reach the soul.
Yesterday (or a day or so before) I tilled and leveled this area and then planted buffalo grass seed. It didn't take long for the birds to find the seeds.

Today will be busy, as all days are now. I plan on tilling and leveling the other half of what we plan on being a yard so I can plant more buffalo grass. I’ll have to fence it in with the plastic temporary stuff because it’s an area the dogs play and lay on a lot. It’s also where I set up rock lined flower beds but the dogs pretty much trashed all that so with the fencing up I’ll be able to plant there again with a chance of it surviving. I know there’s lots to do with getting the farm producing but I also want to make our home look good. I’ll focus on that today as well but figured taking an hour or so out to prepare the yard won’t hurt. Our church family is planning on having a get together out here early next month where they will once again help us do things around and in the house. We might work on painting the outside as part of that.
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It’s almost 1:00 so I suppose I should eat. Maybe I’ll have one of those burrito’s in the freezer that Cherie calls “Junk burritos”. I guess my return of the sense of taste and smell was short lived. Last night I went to get a glass of milk in the kitchen. It was dark but I didn’t turn on the light. I thought it sounded funny when I poured the milk, kind of a kerplunking noise, so I sniffed the glass. Didn’t smell anything bad so I took a big couple of gulps of it. Tastes a little strange, maybe, can’t tell” I thought as I held it up to some light to see. Nuts! Lots of little cottage cheese pieces of milk coated the glass. I had a big bowl of cereal to try and counteract any ill effects. Didn’t seem to bother me at all so that was good.

So the “Junk Burritos” will probably taste just fine no matter what. Speaking of food, I just remembered that Cherie wants me to cook dinner tonight. I showed her the last bag of bean stuff I found that my sister sent us for Christmas or something last year. It’s part of a recipe that has all kinds of stuff in it so I’ll have to run to the store. I don’t want to take the time to go to Midland so I’ll run into Stanton to get it. Maybe I’ll just get something in town to eat.