The Next Chapter is Calling Me

#4

As the weekend draws to a close and the house becomes quiet, I'm sitting here gathering my thoughts and find that rather than being tired, I'm feeling energized. Here it is, one o'clock in the morning and I'm wide awake. Maybe it is due to those two graham crackers sandwiches with a thick layer of chocolate frosting I spread in the middle about an hour ago but I'll never admit to that, you know. (wink)

Tim got word that he won't be going to Utah for that Army class until January so he got on the phone right away and secured an interview with an agency that provides temporary staff for Intel. He will know in a couple of days whether they will send him for a temporary full time job assembling computers or installing and testing software at one of the sites about ten miles from here. He's been taking courses online with a focus on those skills and is hopeful he can gain some experience this way. I think he's pretty level headed to see that getting experience in that field before he earns a degree will give him an edge later on. The practical experience may also help him absorb the materials easier. I am amazed that he's receiving top marks in spite of the family situation and have gained even more respect for his approach to life. The good news in all that for us is he's going to be here to finish the Man Cave and other projects!

Lisa has been wearing her 'boot' more and it appears her leg is healing. At least, when she's taking the pain pills and wearing it, she can get around with the walker and is able to do more for herself. Between using the cold packs and the hot tub, she says it feels less stiff and is less tender. She gets down the stairs on her bottom and climbs up on her knees. That seems to be less irritating for her injured shoulder. Shoulder surgery is now scheduled for October 24 or somewhere around there.

Heidi and Chelsea went into the city to spend two nights with Destiny, a teen friend of theirs. The three went to visit Destiny's grandmother who rents an apartment at the complex where the kids used to live. The new manager confronted Chelsea soon after the three girls arrived and said she and Heidi weren't welcome there and insisted that they leave immediately. When he threatened to call the police, Chelsea replied that he should go ahead and do that. He insisted they were trespassing and that the police would come and they'd be in big trouble. Chelsea said she replied, "We aren't doing anything wrong. We were invited here by our friend who lives here!" It doesn't appear the manager made the call or perhaps he was informed that they weren't trespassing because the police didn't come and the girls were there for most of the evening. I find it sad that the new manager would feel threatened by two teenage girls. It's difficult to imagine what he thought they might do. Later on that night the girls all went to Destiny's home where they saw other friends and ended up staying up most of the night doing what girls that age do. I doubt they got very much sleep! I believe they had a good time and it sounds like Destiny will be coming out to spend a night or two with us before the end of October.

I made a pot roast with potatoes and baby carrots in the crock pot for dinner Friday night. I mixed four diced tomatoes up with a quart of small curd cottage cheese for a salad. With the gravy and some French bread with the rest, we were all quite contented and swore none of us could eat another bite. I do love my slow cooker! While we were eating Lisa got to talking about her daughter Autumn's figure skating lessons with Olympian Tonya Harding's skating coach a few years ago. It is easy to see in Lisa's face how much she enjoyed watching Autumn skate. She'd like to get Summer signed up for similar lessons before deploying next year (Summer will be two next week). During the conversation, she shared with us the difficulty she had during that time coming up with the $30 per hour for Autumn's lessons and then told us about the $1200 boots that had to be specially made to fit the special blades required and how they can only be made a half size larger to accommodate growing feet. For clarification she explained that new boots must be made whenever the child's feet outgrow the current ones and that an active skater in elementary school can go through three or four sizes in one year. Just thirty minutes later, she was telling me she really should be drinking the MonaVie because she knows it helps her feel better in so many ways but that she just can't afford the $36 a week for it. Would somebody please explain to me how one raises $30/lesson x 3 lessons a week + $200 for beginner skates + costumes + gas for more than 200 miles a week to get to and from those lessons and yet cannot purchase something they are convinced makes a difference for $36 a week? How does one justify being on food stamps, getting free lunches for 3 kids at school and skating lessons for the baby? If I keep scratching this spot above my right ear trying to figure this out, I'm going to have a bald spot!

Ray was invited to lead worship at Bethany Lutheran in Portland again and he'll go there again next Sunday. The congregation is very small there; usually fifteen people or less in worship each time he's been in their pulpit. He received a stipend for helping them out plus mileage which pretty well covers our utility bills. We're very glad to have it, that's for sure! Today the assigned scripture was the parable of the mustard seed and he came home feeling really good about the sermon he delivered. I sure wish he'd get a Call as he enjoys so much what he was trained to do. We've been told he's 'on the radar' in Wisconsin for a congregation that is used to having older pastors. I'm just so tired of this whole long wait. He's convinced he's going to get another church and I've tried to remain positive but I have reached the placed where I don't think he will. The longer we are together with no income, the more it feels like a prison here. I wish there was some indication that the Holy Spirit really was involved and working on our behalf but it just isn't obvious. I do not see having Tim & Lisa + family here as something God orchestrated. Scripture says that a good and loving parent doesn't give his child a serpent when they ask for food but Ray has certainly been handed a serpent where the church is concerned. I just hope I live long enough to look back at this mess and see that God wasn't just watching us struggle. My name is not JOB!

Tim cooked a wonderful breakfast for all of us in the later part of the morning. We enjoyed bacon and sausage, scrambled eggs, pancakes and blueberry muffins! He cooked a LOT of bacon so that we could have BLT sandwiches later on with these wonderful tomatoes. However, when Destiny and her mother brought the girls home, Heidi and Destiny ate several slices of the cold bacon before checking with anyone and there was only enough left to make three skimpy sandwiches for eight people. So we compromised and Tim ordered pizza from Dominoes. We adults will have BLTs tomorrow for lunch while the kids are in school. I've already frozen 34 tomatoes to use in making soup and such this winter and there are still 15 on the counter and at least thirty more already turning red on the vines out there. I'm hearing from others that their tomatoes either didn't ripen yet or their plants just didn't produce very well. Those five plants I put in the space next to the driveway grew up the chain link fence, spread out over the rails onto the concrete and the little green balls continue to grow. They've spread out so much they've enveloped the dahlias and nasturtiums! We've managed to drive over several green tomatoes the size of golf balls as we go in and out. Next year I need to have a better plan so fewer lay on the dirt and rot before I can get them picked. I'm certainly not complaining about this tomato crop; we've enjoyed at least sixty luscious red ones already! Every single one is a special treat that reminds me of summers on my grandparents' farm in central Nebraska.

Destiny's grandmother has been told that drapes and curtains aren't allowed in the apartments now since blinds are provided, nor are window air conditioners because they look tacky. The new 'rules' were handed out on Friday and residents have 30 days to comply or they'll receive a Notice to Vacate. I'm bewildered. A number of the residents are seniors on fixed income that consists mostly of Social Security. Portable air conditioners run $600 to $1000. The apartments get really hot inside without AC. Insulating drapes keep them a little cooler in summer and warmer in winter. These new rules don't make sense to me. Again I'm scratching my head!

And that reminds me of an experience when I was the same age as Heidi and Valerie. My parents took us on a vacation to California where Knott's Berry Farm was one of our stops. I stood on tiptoe to look into an old-fashioned jail cell next to the sheriff's office. Inside was a wooden man dressed as the town drunk. His head tilted up as I looked in and a voice said, "Well, my red-headed tomato has come to see me at last!" I remember vividly how I blushed about that red and wondered where the person was that said that. Everyone around me was laughing but I just wanted to shrink out of sight. Now why do you suppose I remember being called a tomato!!?? I didn't think it was funny back then at all but I laugh about it now.

Valerie has learned to knit and is working diligently on a scarf. I gave her some colorful chunky yarn and size 13 needles. She's got about 16" on the needles already and asked me today if there was yarn enough to make it really long. I told her that yes, there was yarn enough but she'd have to make it narrower than the 10" she's currently got going.

"How do I make it thinner?" she asked.

"You have to frog it and start over with fewer stitches," I replied.

"You want me to rip it out?" she gasped.

"That's the only way to make it thinner. You just begin again with fewer stitches. Perhaps twelve instead of twenty. That's the only way I know to have yarn enough to get the length you want unless you want to buy another ball of yarn for six dollars," I offered.

"Well, I'm not going to take it apart. I guess I'll just have a neck warmer."

She's looking ahead to learning the purl stitch so she can make a hat next. I hope she remembers she's working with wool or her doll might end up with a neck warmer after she washes it!

Peter, the cute boy next door, came over this afternoon to 'hang out' with Valerie. I think we're going to have to monitor closer when he's over here. There's no cable television at his house and it seems all he wants to do when he's here is play with the remote and watch snatches of programs. I finally said, "If you're not going to actually watch something, please find something else to do." We have a Boccie game and his family has a nice flat side yard that would be ideal for it so I'll work that in one afternoon this week. I think they'll enjoy that and the other neighbor Jake can play too if he comes around.

Chelsea and I are growing closer. We've starting exchanging favors. I did two loads of laundry for her that she wouldn't have time for due to spending the weekend with Destiny's family. She's going to dust and vacuum my bedroom. Poor girl thought I was going to be angry tonight when she dropped one of my old Corelware dinner plates and it shattered. Goodness, I've had those plates over 30 years! I think I got my money's worth out of it. Does anybody else have dishes from the 70's they're still using? I am SO glad it broke but just can't throw stuff like that away. You know?

Oh, and I forgot to tell you: the curler experiment failed. Chelsea's hair turned out really weird, not unlike Medusa hair, and would NOT cooperate so she put her head under the faucet and blow-dried it straight for school. She wants to try again though!

I appreciate the comments you've left, my friends, and appreciate even more the prayers on our behalf. Please keep them coming. With your continued support, we WILL make it to the next chapter. Now I'm going to bed with my Anne Rice book because I want to get to the next chapter there too!