I have an addition to my list of questions to ask God when I get to Heaven. #434 is, "Okay, Viruses. Please explain."
I know my God is in no way sadistic, but sometimes the mere existence of cold and flu bugs make me wonder. This is one of those times. Really, what purpose can they possibly serve other than to maim humanity and cause life as we know it to come to a complete stand-still? Maybe they're tools of Satan.
In early October Nathan got a cold. We only go to church and Walmart, so he had to get it at one of those two places. I think. When we go to Walmart I always wipe down the shopping cart and when we get home I wash my hands profusely... Anyway, he shared his cold with me. While his cold got better, mine became a sinus infection. Now he has yet another cold, and yes, he has again shared his virus with his mother. I'm thinking I should buy some stock in the company that makes the Z-pack.
Perhaps these tools of the devil serve purposes we as yet cannot see and may never see. Maybe they help keep nastier viruses and germs in check. Maybe they are designed to help you appreciate your senses of taste and smell. Really, I don't know, but I do plan to ask. On the bright side, I have lost 2 lbs. so maybe they're not ENTIRELY evil. When I hear from God I'll let you know.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
I never should have gotten up...
I should have known better than to allow the annoying beeping to get me out of bed Friday morning. It was 4:30am when Clinton and I began hearing a beep. It was only once every three minutes, and we couldn't decide whether or not it was worth worrying about. Finally at 4:50 we decided we were getting annoyed and better figure out what was going on. It wasn't the smoke detectors, CO2 alarm, house alarm system, it was...my cell phone. At 11:41pm someone whose number I don't recognize called and I missed it. We'll never know what happened there, but by this time it was 5am. I decided I was too wound up to try getting back to sleep, so Clinton joined me in watching the tail end of a movie I'd started watching 3 weeks ago.
Fast forward to lunchtime. I needed to go to town to deliver some frozen pretzels I had been storing (don't ask), so I volunteered to run to the bank for Clinton so he could go farm. This particular bank is a 25 minute drive from the house, and it would be a good idea to be there before 2:00. I packed up Nathan and 3 huge boxes of pretzels and prepared to deliver them to the freezer in Carrie's garage. First of all, I couldn't figure out how to get into Carrie's garage (don't ask). I called Carrie and we were good to go. I parked on the street and carried the boxes to the back of her property, down some stairs, around the usual stuff people have in their garages, and located the freezer. After rearranging the freezer I realized I could only get 2 boxes in. By now it was almost 1:30. What was I going to do about the third box of pretzels, and in the next five minutes? I had a brilliant idea. I called Stephanie. She is part of the same organization as Carrie and I, AND she has a restaurant closeby. Phone call to Stephanie. She could take the other box! But I couldn't find the backdoor to the restaurant among the 6 other backdoors. Finally she steped out of the one back door I could swear it couldn't be. I finally got rid of the partially-thawed pretzels and I was on my way to the bank. I would make it right before 2:00! Yeah!
Clinton has assured me I could make these transactions through the drive up. I believed him. Unfortunately the teller let me know I had to go inside to complete one of the transactions, but she did take care of the other one for me. I parked across the street, gathered my to-this-point-well-behaved 14 month old, and we went into the bank. We finished our business and left. On the way home Nathan became not-so-well-behaved, and I got behind a slow moving armored car. For nearly the entire way home. Nathan finally gave up and fell asleep. This did not bode well for him taking a nap later in the afternoon, which meant he would be very cranky this evening.
When I got home, there was a stray dog in the yard. Lucy was barking profusely and the cats were nowhere to be found. The stray followed my car into the garage and I shooed it out the walk-in door. This poor bird dog was very, very thin, and I felt sorry for it. Although not sorry enough to feed it or keep it. I brought Lucy into the house with much difficulty. I placed Nathan on the floor with his toy four-wheeler and dialed the humane society. No answer. Not even an answering machine. I tried again later. And again. And again. On the 5th try I got an answer. Unfortunately the guy who does the "collecting" was working his other job today. He MIGHT get finished in time to come out, he might not. Lucy wanted to go out and do who-knows-what to this dog, my cats were traumatized, no one could come into our out of the house without being snuggled to death by this dog, and it's a 3 day weekend.
By now it was time for Matthew to be home from school. While I was waiting at the door to let him in, I saw a wasp. And another wasp. And two more. I watched them for a minute. I could tell that these, and several of their friends, probably are building a nest in the ceiling of the porch. At this point it is only 4pm. I'm wondering what the evening holds.
I guess it could always be worse, right? At least no one is sick, dying or on their way to the ER. The house is neither on fire nor being flooded. No tornadoes are baring down on us. I just need to go back to bed and stay there until tomorrow, before anything else happens...
Nothing terrible, just many minor annoyances that build up, and up, and up. Have you ever had a day like that?
Fast forward to lunchtime. I needed to go to town to deliver some frozen pretzels I had been storing (don't ask), so I volunteered to run to the bank for Clinton so he could go farm. This particular bank is a 25 minute drive from the house, and it would be a good idea to be there before 2:00. I packed up Nathan and 3 huge boxes of pretzels and prepared to deliver them to the freezer in Carrie's garage. First of all, I couldn't figure out how to get into Carrie's garage (don't ask). I called Carrie and we were good to go. I parked on the street and carried the boxes to the back of her property, down some stairs, around the usual stuff people have in their garages, and located the freezer. After rearranging the freezer I realized I could only get 2 boxes in. By now it was almost 1:30. What was I going to do about the third box of pretzels, and in the next five minutes? I had a brilliant idea. I called Stephanie. She is part of the same organization as Carrie and I, AND she has a restaurant closeby. Phone call to Stephanie. She could take the other box! But I couldn't find the backdoor to the restaurant among the 6 other backdoors. Finally she steped out of the one back door I could swear it couldn't be. I finally got rid of the partially-thawed pretzels and I was on my way to the bank. I would make it right before 2:00! Yeah!
Clinton has assured me I could make these transactions through the drive up. I believed him. Unfortunately the teller let me know I had to go inside to complete one of the transactions, but she did take care of the other one for me. I parked across the street, gathered my to-this-point-well-behaved 14 month old, and we went into the bank. We finished our business and left. On the way home Nathan became not-so-well-behaved, and I got behind a slow moving armored car. For nearly the entire way home. Nathan finally gave up and fell asleep. This did not bode well for him taking a nap later in the afternoon, which meant he would be very cranky this evening.
When I got home, there was a stray dog in the yard. Lucy was barking profusely and the cats were nowhere to be found. The stray followed my car into the garage and I shooed it out the walk-in door. This poor bird dog was very, very thin, and I felt sorry for it. Although not sorry enough to feed it or keep it. I brought Lucy into the house with much difficulty. I placed Nathan on the floor with his toy four-wheeler and dialed the humane society. No answer. Not even an answering machine. I tried again later. And again. And again. On the 5th try I got an answer. Unfortunately the guy who does the "collecting" was working his other job today. He MIGHT get finished in time to come out, he might not. Lucy wanted to go out and do who-knows-what to this dog, my cats were traumatized, no one could come into our out of the house without being snuggled to death by this dog, and it's a 3 day weekend.
By now it was time for Matthew to be home from school. While I was waiting at the door to let him in, I saw a wasp. And another wasp. And two more. I watched them for a minute. I could tell that these, and several of their friends, probably are building a nest in the ceiling of the porch. At this point it is only 4pm. I'm wondering what the evening holds.
I guess it could always be worse, right? At least no one is sick, dying or on their way to the ER. The house is neither on fire nor being flooded. No tornadoes are baring down on us. I just need to go back to bed and stay there until tomorrow, before anything else happens...
Nothing terrible, just many minor annoyances that build up, and up, and up. Have you ever had a day like that?
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
What do you do when it rains?
It's raining today. Not a storm, just a medium rain with a couple of thunder claps on occasion. Our dog, Lucy, is scared of storms, and as such is following me around so much that I'm thinking of changing her name to "Shoelaces." Bad enough to trip over toys, Tupperware, snack foods and all the rest that Nathan drags out, but Lucy is by far the largest road hazard we have right now. It's getting old and I'm starting to get aggravated. I keep telling her, "It's okay. It's not a storm, just some rain. I'm here, I'll protect you. We are fine." And yet she looks up at me with those sweet brown eyes saying, "Protect me, Mom, it's bad out there." If only I spoke Dog... No matter what I do to reassure her, she's still afraid, and will be until the rain stops.
I am so much like Lucy. God tells me, "I'ts okay. It's not a storm. I'm here with you, I'll protect you. I have it all under control, so trust me, okay?" And even though He speaks Debbie and I understand His words, too often I find myself cowering in the corner. Like Lucy, I believe that what I see and hear is more real than the reassurance of the one who loves me. I need to "get real," and remember that He has my circumstances under control. My vision and information are limited, while His vision and information are infinite. I must no longer fear the storms. I must move out in faith and dance in the rain.
I am so much like Lucy. God tells me, "I'ts okay. It's not a storm. I'm here with you, I'll protect you. I have it all under control, so trust me, okay?" And even though He speaks Debbie and I understand His words, too often I find myself cowering in the corner. Like Lucy, I believe that what I see and hear is more real than the reassurance of the one who loves me. I need to "get real," and remember that He has my circumstances under control. My vision and information are limited, while His vision and information are infinite. I must no longer fear the storms. I must move out in faith and dance in the rain.
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