Getting to know you and seeing stars.

We were invited to a BBQ. It was at the home of a co-worker (manager) and friend. He and his wife have a lovely large acreage south of town.

Many co-workers were there also. It was good to meet the wives and the husbands and get to know them personally, so that when some of them walk into the office where I work, I can recognize them and call them by their first name.

It makes a difference I think.......to be able to call someone by their first name. It shows that you have taken an interest in them as people, to remember their name.

The host and hostess were gracious. A ton of food was served. Host took kids old and young on a hay ride around the back 40. There were cats and kittens to play with and husband and I took advantage of that special gift.

The yard was beautiful. The lit up pond sparkled in the night sky. Geese flew overhead. Sparks from the outdoor fire rose and danced their way upward, mingling with the noise of laughter.

I count it a gift from an awesome God to enjoy evenings like that..........fellowshipping with friends and gazing to the heavens where a trillion stars splash the velvet blackness of night.

Our God is an awesome God.
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power and love
Our God is an awesome God.

Excitement.

Yes, excitement is rising in our home. There are signs everywhere. Little and sometimes long conversations on the phone. I here him talking downstairs in "his room". Various articles of clothing begin to pile up. Maps are studied.....more phone calls. Getting presents ready to offer the hosts, some sausage, some wine..............

Yes. My fellow Canadians. It is hunting time in Saskatchewan.

Husband is beginning his yearly ritual. The hunt.

Look out all you antelope, elk, deer of every kind, moose and bear!

I find it quite amusing to watch grown men get giddy. They smile. They strut. They talk animal. Yes, that's what I said. A separate language altogether. They call one another up. They go on buying sprees for mmmmmmmmmmm.......let's see, bullets, targets, a new camouflage suit, with matching gloves and hat, face paint, skunk oil, long underwear and sturdy boots with laces. There is probably lots of other stuff but these are the articles I have noticed. All matching.

After he had returned from his spree, I had been downstairs ironing, like a dutiful wife........came upstairs and walked into the bedroom to find my dear husband...........you guess it, all dressed up in his new camouflage suit with the hood up, exclaiming, "Can you see me???? Can you see me?????" I darn near fell over laughing.

I mean, how many men would put on a "fashion show" just for their wives........ya, well THAT was a rhetorical question.

I have to go now and get on my teddy...............and I don't mean bear...............

Do I sleep or do I not sleep....that's the question.

Well, of course I would opt to sleep. Who wouldn't want to. So, in that sense of the question above, yes, most of us would take the opportunity to sleep..........especially at night.

But taking that question literally, do you actually "get to sleep"...... not "get to sleep" if you get the meaning there.........well, that was the question the doctor asked husband today for his sleep apnea appointment in Saskatoon. So I was there to answer the questions. I mean, who knows if they stop breathing when they're asleep, right? You need someone who is right there beside you in the room to take notes and do the counting, right?

Pick me.

For a long time now, if ever I do wake at night, perhaps to take a bathroom break, I end up counting. Not sheep either.

First, I count how many breaths husband takes compared to my breaths. He takes three and a half while I take two.

Then when his breaths become inaudible, in other words, when he stops breathing, I begin to count...1...2...3...4...5..6...7...8.....I move the sheets and he begins breathing again.

Breaths become inaudible I begin to count again...1 ...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10.....I pull at his pillow and he begins breathing again.

Breaths become inaudible I begin to count AGAIN...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9....I give him a little nudge and he begins breathing again.

Good thing I'm not a light sleeper. I have gotten so that I can get back to sleep in the midst of husband not breathing. I'm not a hardened old woman who doesn't care about her man. Oh, no.

But on many an occasion I have asked the Lord to do the breathing for him 'cause I need my sleep too. Hope I'm not being selfish in that request.

Truth be known, I'm kind of used to the routine but poor husband is just plain tuckered out by morning..............and that's mostly from not breathing..............heh heh heh

Doctor says there's a machine that will help him with his breathing at night.

Not sure if I can get used to a machine in bed with us. I'll keep y'all posted.

A day that's the pits....

Having a migraine is a pain............in more ways than one.

Living slows to a very awkward crawl.

After the several doses of Advil, comes the total exhaustion.

But you know, I just cannot possibly function when that constant pain is there.

It bothers me a lot..........to stay home from work..........for a headache. I feel like I let co-workers down and I simply don't like that. It's not the kind of person I want to be. But nevertheless, these huge surges of pain engulf me and I'm forced to stay home with an ice pack.

Days like this, I thank God for an understanding supervisor......and a dear husband who brings me tea and toast in bed.

Tomorrow shall be better.

A free ride.

Yesterday, being Labor Day and all, we went for a ride in the country.

Beautiful. Leaves putting on new duds of shimmering gold. Some have met their fate and fallen from their homes and will now become compost. They will all follow this ritual until the branches stand bare before the howling north wind. But while they still carry around their golden garments, they charm us into thinking all is well.

We outsmarted them. We knew they'd be changing their looks, so we figured we'd enjoy them while they were still pretty.

The fields showed off their long locks too. Swaying and blowing gently with the warm south wind, waiting for the swather to come along and lay them flat. They were ready. Their kernels were ripe for the cutting. We watched them perform their last hurrah!

We, husband and I and Aunt Connie, walked down the country road. Listening. Feeling. Hearing. Smelling. Seeing. The quietness was calming.....and deafening.

A marsh was just ahead. The coots flapped, and swam and scurried along the slough, hiding from us, the intruders, who would watch them in their private quarters. Frogs croaked. Bulrushes strutted their brown velvet coats. Green heads quacked and talked to the rest of their kin. I think they were telling their children of the trip they were all planning in the weeks ahead and how they had better eat their wheaties or they wouldn't make it.

We stopped at the ferry crossing waiting for the "ferry girl" to allow us to drive ahead. On we went....bump.....bump.......stop. I remember in the "olden days" when the current carried the ferry across the river and the only thing that could be heard was the rippling of the water and the cable ferrying us across. Not any more. Now it's "brrrrrruuuuummmmmm" and a big, noisy engine takes the ferry across and pretty fast too. I think I still enjoy the slow, quiet ferry of long, long ago.............

It was a memorable day. When the snow flies and the north wind takes over this part of the country, I will remember the ride in September when nature showed us her beauty, and all for free.

God does things like that. Gives us unexpected pleasures. Everything he offers us is free for the taking. Everything. No charge. A free ride.

But sometimes we don't even bother to get into the car.................

And they're off..........

Three guys in a white truck. Off to Winnipeg. Broken-down van awaits the surgeon's knife tomorrow..............and all shall await the dollar value of the surgery.

One fellow will stay in residence at Providence College and therefore, had to take with him the "necessities" of life. Watching the transfer of belongings from van to truck I found quite amusing.

Articles that were carefully packed into the back of the truck were guitars, speakers, amps, various electrical "things", green garbage bags with clothes and bedding, boxes and boxes of books, bike, suitcases filled with I'm not sure what, and backpacks also filled with I'm not sure what. There must have been food there somewhere too, I'd bet my left-over banana cream pie on it.

Girls have different priorities regarding what and how they pack. At least I know their clothes wouldn't be in green garbage bags!

Enjoy those classes fellows. God is ready to challenge you.

It's about these vehicles.....

Vehicles in general can be such a pain in the keester. (Oh, look, "keester" is underlined in red which means it's spelled wrong but I didn't want to say "pain in the a--", and well, "pain the butt" didn't sound quite harsh enough).

So, as I was saying, we depend so much on these gas-guzzling machines to get us to our destinations, don't we. Those fortunate enough to be able to buy a new one right off the lot, don't seem to live with the same kinds of dependencies as those of us who buy someone else's problematic mechanical left-overs.

Husband and I often purchase "government vehicles". Some have actually been pretty good. Others questionable. The brown Tauraus we had was handed down to son who drives now in Winnipeg. A month or so ago, while on a trip to Minneapolis, son and friends, on their way back home to Manitoba, had to literally push said Taurus over the bleedin' border. When I heard the story, it sounded like a movie out of the "Cold War" era. You know, where young university-aged men go fleeing to the border, but their car konks out just before they get there and the agents are hot on their trail. Out they get, pushing on all four corners, agents closing in with their mini machine guns all ready to blast the bad boys before they reach "the line". Anyway, back to reality, they got the vehicle across the border and had to have it towed to Winnipeg. There it sits awaiting the mechanic's touch along with the touch of a $1,000. bill!

Son comes home for a visit with friend Greg this past weekend. When they go to leave back to Winnipeg, getting as far as Melfort, an hour away, Greg's vehicle begins to make serious noises, serious enough to make them stop and call home. "What do you think we should do?" Away goes Greg's dad, picks them all up in Melfort and brings them back to Prince Albert, tow truck brings home vehicle (on a long weekend where no garage is open) and they sit and wait. Greg's brother, Mark, is supposed to begin classes Tuesday at Providence College, Greg and Matt have class registration on Wednesday...........and to make it all happen, it all depends on a vehicle to get them to their destination. Crikey!!

The truck husband and I bought to pull our new trailer and for husband to use hunting, hauling tools, and carrying various manly instruments, went in to the garage for a physical. It was making wretched noises on our trip to Regina a week ago, so much so, that it had me asking my Heavenly Father to keep the vehicle on the road and not to have the wheels fall off any time soon. While mechanic looked at this lovely truck on the hoist, he yelled over to husband to "come and look at this, man, I've never seen ball joints this bad, and you pulled a trailer with this?? and took it on the highway????!!!, wheels could have fallen off!!!" $1,300. later..........

I love vehicles. They get me from point A to point B. No more. No less.

When they start causing havoc in the trenches and the bank account, they are to be cursed..............

But, since God doesn't look too kindly on cursing, I will just say "thank you Lord, for the extra day(s) I have to spend with son." I am blessed indeed!