I've always heard that bad things come in threes. One bad news item I have to report is that Aunt Mar fell and broke her left hip yesterday afternoon. I think I've mentioned before that Jenna catches the school bus at her house and sometimes we'll let Jenna stay there in the afternoon until I get home from work. Aunt Mar really looks forward to that and yesterday afternoon she was on the front porch watching for the bus. When Jenna got off the bus Aunt Mar turned to go inside, lost her balance and fell.
She is at NorthCrest in Springfield and had surgery today. They put three screws in her hip. The doctor said her bones seemed very solid and she came through fine.
We are all just devastated that this has happened. We were ready to celebrate her 90th birthday this weekend but we'll just have to change the plan a little bit. (The other two bad things are below but they don't stack up to this.)
I think winter, such as it was, is pretty much over. I mentioned in the last news letter that we had a chance of snow and we did see two quick flurries on Friday but the temperature was way too high to even think about sticking. The only white we have seen is the crust on the roads where they sprayed brine to be prepared for the snow that never came.
OVERHEARD. The kids and I were in the yard walking to Pauline's house and Ben grabbed Nate's hand and said, "Come on Nate, let's run!...That's when you move your legs really fast."
TRAIN ON THE BRAIN. I mentioned the Thomas the Tank Engine train set a few weeks ago. Nate is OBSESSED with it. And he was such a docile boy. Getting him to come eat or get ready to go somewhere or go to bed is a very unpleasant experience. Now if you leave him alone he is perfectly happy to sit in his room and watch Thomas and Percy make their rounds for hours on end. But if you come pick him up--well, the ear plugs I use when running the weedeater have crossed my mind. One night I had to give him one of the train engines to hold so he would go to sleep. (Nate's intense excitement lasted 3-4 days. He has mellowed out a lot now.)
BAD STORY, GOOD ENDING. Nate and I came home from church Wednesday night--we come home before everyone else since there is no nursery--and when we got here we found the back door ajar. I could tell the door had been jimmied.
That afternoon I had brought home two iMacs that I had repaired. My plan was to return these units to East High School and Krisle Elementary first thing in the morning rather than report to the office. I had brought them into the house and left them at the back door so they wouldn't spend the night in the truck. I looked in the open door and saw the two computers sitting where I had left them I came in. The alarm keypad was flashing. Nothing else in the house was amiss. A deputy did come by in response to the alarm. He did a thorough search of the house and found nothing wrong except for the damage to the back door. All I can figure is that someone popped the door open with a crow bar, they heard the alarm keypad start whining and left. We were very fortunate.
Later, as Vicki and I were talking about it, we got to thinking about what we had in the house that is of value for someone looking for quick cash. Her billfold was sitting on the kitchen table. It had $6 in it and except for the change in the kids' banks that was the only cash here. Vicki was wearing just about all of her jewelry of value and as far as our entertainment center goes, well, it leaves a lot to be desired. We figured any thief who came in and saw what all we have would probably leave a donation.
SISTERS IN FAITH. That's the name of the women's conference Vicki attended this weekend and she really enjoyed it. This conference was organized by women from local churches and featured Selma Wilson of Home Life magazine as the main speaker and Stormie Sheldon for the music.
THE JOY OF COUNTRY LIVING. While Vicki was at the conference Saturday morning I stayed home and dealt with a stopped up septic system. When I got to the bottom of the problem the tank was full and the line was stopped up. When I got the septic service out here they ran their snake to unclog the line but would not drive out to the tank to pump it out for fear of miring up in the wet ground. That did not stop the man from charging me full price for his 15 minute service call though. I won't be calling him back to pump my tank again either. The only humor I found in this situation was the "We haul milk on weekends" sign painted on the back of his truck.
POOR BEN. Ben was complaining about a sore throat on Saturday. I looked inside and it did look a bit inflamed but we just had him rest. By Sunday after church (Vicki kept Ben at home) we looked and were convinced that he should see the doctor immediately. Turns out he has a case of strep throat. He is feeling much better now but unfortunately he missed the church Easter egg hunt.
PLEASE PRAY. I have not mentioned this before but a close friend of Vicki's from Camden and in college is going through a difficult divorce. Vicki is flying out to visit her this coming weekend. Please keep our friend in your prayers and Vicki as she travels to be supportive through this time.
Joe
