at wit's end

During Bobby's first hospital visit, Linus's collar was discovered in three pieces in the yard. I haven't had time to replace it, so they've both been in the pen. Tonight I go to feed them, and Lucy's collar is chewed in pieces with the plastic clasp totally missing. It was partially buried.

We have put in an electric fence. It quit working. We bailed them out of the pound. And again. We then called a professional company and had a new electric fence installed, and then had it repaired. Now the dogs refuse to wear their collars. I'm at my wit's end. Any suggestions for my vagabond wanderers?

YES!!!

After more than a few years, I have finally figured out how to make my scanner scan slides and negatives! So last night I scanned in a box of slides my parents had given me. About half of them were pics of my uncle when he was in Vietnam, and the rest were a hodgepodge of people and places my parents took. So now I just need to burn all the pics to a CD and get them in the mail, and that's one more thing I can check off my

"Not Urgent Nor Important but I Want to Get This Done Before I Die To Do List."

1. Organize the pink room!
2. Finish my China scrapbook.
3. Compile all of Bobby's mementos in a scrapbook.
4. Update our scrapbook.
5. Finish that frog drawing I started about 5 years ago.
6. Start and finish the gazillion quilt ideas I have.
7. Write a novel.
8. Finish at least two of my picture books.
9. Actually, just organize all my writing papers.
10. Create a cool family tree.
11. Travel.

so sad

We received a phone call tonight, telling us that the youngest son of Sam Ellis was killed in an accident this morning at 3:30am. Sam Ellis was in the NC House of Reps for a few years, and his boys attended WCA for parts of elementary school. Please keep this family in your prayers.

the nobody from nowhere who did something

Tonight the ladies at CBC started a very intriguing Bible study on the prophet Elijah. In all the studies I've sat through on the big E, this is the first one where we've ever started with his background. (I Kings 17:1 - you can dissect it yourself.) And the thing that impressed me more than anything, was that this nobody from nowhere dared to do something.

So many times I watch the homeless men at the intersection of 10-10 and 401, and I'm burdened by their plight, disturbed at their circumstances, aggravated by their litter, and ticked off by their signs and unwillingness to work. Yet when was the last time I personally volunteered at the Raleigh Rescue Mission?

I drive by Planned Parenthood in downtown Raleigh, and I think of all the girls who faced an unwanted pregnancy and considered or had an abortion (including sisters in Christ). When was the last time I donated either time or resources to the Christian Life Home in Raleigh (a home with counseling sessions for unwed Moms)? When was the last time I did anything for the House of Hope in Clayton, which helps troubled teenage girls struggling with rebellion, crime, drugs, and alcohol?

Too many times I wrap my little security blankets around my head so I don't see the world's problems surrounding us. Oh, I have a job, a home, a husband, a yard, a garden, a church, and hobbies....and so on. That keeps me busy and God doesn't expect me to do it all. And while he doesn't expect us to do it all, I do believe he expects us to take his word at face value and "redeem the time because our days our evil." Our local news at 5 o'clock aren't things that happen somewhere else; it's here in our own backyard.

So I don' t know the when, or the how, but I do know this little somebody better do something soon.

chemicals

In the old days, people used chemicals in their gardens without much thought. Even though many of the chemicals used in the past are now banned, there are still countless others that abound. When I hear people talk about organic foods, I can't help but wonder how they can truly be organic. I mean, look at them, there's not a spot, blemish, fungus, nor worm-hole anywhere on the product. To me, that means a chemical was used somewhere in the process. Maybe I'm just totally clueless as to the "proper" ways of farming, but every time I've ever had to shell peas from a farmer who doesn't use chemicals, we ended up throwing half of them out due to worms and other such pestilences.

Our pear tree, which has always done well, has 13 branches on it where all the blossoms have died. From what little I've been able to find, that means a disease/fungus is on the tree that can only be eliminated with -you guessed it: chemicals.

So while I don't want to fill my body full of poisons, I also don't want to spend an hour every day weeding my garden, or planting trees only to have them die or bear rotten fruit, nor have worm-infested peas or half-moldy apples. I guess that's why I think all this organic mess is a more than a little on the devious side. There's no way you can get truly healthy products without the use of some chemicals. At least not that I've ever observed.

Now that I've posted this, there may not be quite as many people willing to eat at my house, but provided everything continues to do well, I should save substantial time and money on our fruit and veggies. And for me, that's worth it.

home, sweet, home

We are home!!!!
Bobby is already better, I crashed with him this afternoon instead of doing laundry and cleaning house, and I'm starting to think the light at the end of this tunnel might not be a train after all!

early bird lessons

It's not quite 7am.
The geese go crazy.
I finish fixing breakfast.
The dogs are going crazy.
Bobby looks outside and frowns.
"The geese are paired off," he says.
It's nesting season, not mating season.
Perhaps the flux in weather has them mixed up.
The dogs go berserk.
A fox is staring them down, right outside their pen.
I run out on the back ramp, and yell at him like before.
He ignores me, and the goose chase begins.
I run inside, grab the gun, pull out the bullet box, sending wheelchair replacement parts everywhere.
I start trying to figure out how to load the thing, calling for Bobby.
He's outside watching the chase!
I am not a happy camper.
He comes in, giving instructions and a play-by-play account of what's happening.
Directional communications has never been our strong point.
It took 5 minutes to load one stupid bullet.
I can't see through the scope.
I point in the direction of the fox and shoot.
It scares him off and everything gets quiet.
We eat breakfast.
Bobby finishes getting ready for work.
I get a lecture on gun safety.
Our geese are safe.
I've shot a real gun for the first time ever - a .22 rifle, to be more specific.
My heart is still racing.
Sitting at a computer typing and drawing boxes seems a little lame at the moment.
Go GEESE!