Forty Cents Left Over

I found myself in a government office not long ago taking care of some government business required of law abiding citizens.  Fortunately there were no pending deadlines that cause long lines so my wait was reasonable.

An tiny elderly black woman sat down beside me who had come in with a relative.  She was modestly dressed and prim at the same time and carried herself with dignity and grace. I was glad to share the wait with this sweet lady.

It was also payday for the employees of that office, and upon opening her check one employee exclaimed, "Thank you Jesus I have money left over after paying the bills!"  (For those from other parts of the US this kind of outburst is common and widely accepted in the south.)

This prompted my new friend to start talking, "That's right.  God makes sure there's always just enough.  I remember paying my bills and having forty cents left over and I was soooooo happy because I had something to put in the offering plate on Sunday. People made fun of me because I was so happy to have that forty cents left over, but I knew I was blessed because God was taking care of me.  There was always just enough!"

Today was bill paying day.  After more bills came in yesterday I knew it would be tough to cover everything, but you know what?  There was just enough.  In fact, there was  six dollars and thirty seven cents left over!

$6.37.  Wow.  Probably the exact same amount adjusted for inflation.  You know, I'm very thankful for it, also for a faithful God, and for a valuable reminder from a dear lady.  Betcha know where that money is going Sunday morning!

Christmas in January

I still have my tree up.

Yeah, I know that's lame.  I should have everything packed away and tidied up by now, but for some dumb reason, I can't.  Not just yet.

I can't put my finger on it, but it don't feel right, at least it hasn't so far.

Maybe it's because I was so insanely busy in December I didn't get the decorations up till late.

Maybe it's because it really didn't even seem like Christmas till Mom got here and we're still celebrating.  Seriously - every day she is here life is a party.  A sedate mature one of course, but we have fun.

Maybe it's because more family is coming as my inlaws move down the road from us next month.

Maybe it's because my best Christmas present isn't scheduled to arrive till July.  (I promise, the tree won't stay up THAT long!)

And lastly there's this aggravating naggy feeling that I'm missing something  . . . and that's the part that drives me nuts.

Whatever the case, I'll get to it when I get to it.  But if you see my lights in the meantime, it's because Christmas isn't quite ready to be over at the Horton house.

Schooled

Since my husband's heart surgery (triple bypass, July 2010) I have watched with happiness and moderate amusement as he's incorporated less stress and more enjoyment into his life.  I shouldn't have been surprised that his love of music played into it.  Now mind you, about all he can play is anything electronic, or mechanical in the case of his beloved Edison.  He did a little trumpet in high school, but that's really it as far as an actual instrument.

One of the results of this is an increasing collection of media.  At first it was lp's, also known as 78's.  That was ok.  We've had a traditional turntable for years.  Then one day I noticed a huge box on the front porch.  I started to take it in only to realize I needed a hand truck - the sucker was heavy!  Turns out it was a pristine condition TEAC reel to reel tape deck that once served a radio station.  He'd practically stole the thing on Ebay. 

"What are you going to play on that?" I asked.  He just grinned.  And proceeded to hook it up and whip out a couple of tapes.  The sound was phenomenal, Mancini probably didn't sound that good playing live.

"Ok, that's fine.  I can live with that - just please throw out those eight track tapes that came with the reels."  He only nodded that he'd heard me.

Now mind you, in redneck Alabama where I grew up eight tracks were a scourge. My only memories of them were of raunchy tears in your beer country music and piles of dirty ones laying in the floorboards of pickup trucks along with empty chewing tobacco pouches. This was NOT something I wanted in my house.

More boxes have come and gone since then. Knowing he won't buy anything unless old Abe Lincoln gets squeezed real hard I don't keep track of what he's doing.  Evey day I hear what I've come to consider "vintage music" - sounds from the past that shaped America, sounds that our children would only recognize from commercials with no understanding that what they are hearing shaped two, and in some cases three previous generations.  I'm hearing history - big band, 50's, 60's and 70's elevator music, a lot of classic gospel, a bit of jazz - the list goes on.

This morning I heard something that hit a nerve -  Summertime from Show Boat.  My dad used to sing it, and he did it great justice.  I've always loved that song, partly for the good memories it invokes, partly for the sheer haunting beauty of it.  I found my sweetheart and told him how much it meant to me only to be laughed out of the room.

"It's from a tape of great American music . . . . . and it's an eight track"

No Moss on this Rear

A few years ago I heard a snippet of a talk on the radio that really, really, caught my attention.  The speaker was recalling an old preacher man speaking to a him and his peers, a group of fresh faced college boys who had yet to experience life beyond a dorm room.  The talk went like this:

(Imagine a elderly voice with a couple of rocks thrown in for graininess)  "You know, most Christians sit on their rears year after year and say,  'God, show me an open door!', and they sit with moss growing on their rear.  But not me.  I say "God, if you don't want me going through that door you better close it!',  and there aint no moss growing on this rear"

My Becky and I loved it and adopted it as a motto which soon turned into a life principal.  She went on to a college in the far north, married a great guy and together they are looking and working toward of life of service to others as they complete their studies.  No moss there.

Here on the farm, you'd think things would ease up a little with all the kids gone, but that doesn't seem to be the case . . . you see, these wonderful doors keep opening up . . . and God keeps holding them open.  I love it and have seen some truly amazing things in 2011.

In May I fulfilled a life goal of ministering to the homeless with my Cindy through her church in Memphis.

I saw God start a new,  long prayed about chapter in her life. That was wayyy cool and there's more to come!

I've had opportunity to minister in other unexpected capacities.

My bee business has adopted a charity/ministry organization.

Wonderful, smart, talented and gifted people have come alongside me in learning and working with bees.

I've embarked on a dream of becoming a Master Beekeeper along with two friends.

I think I've taught more than I ever have.

My 16 year old sidekick is becoming a leader and a teacher too.

My grandmother heart is starting to awaken at the possibility of an adoption.

Amazing internet sales after a candle went viral.

More opportunities to fill in for my Extension Agent Mentor.

Blessed reunions with people from my past.

Meeting two favorite authors -  one a high school role model, the other a new found treasure.

I'm sure there are others and I may come back and add more later.  I mostly just wanted to get this written down while it was fresh on my mind so I don't forget 2011 as the "No Moss" year.  What's really ironic about that is that I've got TONS of moss left over around here from Becky's wedding!

Early Morning News

So it's about 4:30 am and I'm up. After a couple of hours of tossing and turning miserably after taking a double first dose antibiotic, here I am, trying to take my mind off my poor churning stomach, surfing the net, laughing over some, and getting sick over other things. I've never been one to stay on top of current events. My world is cluttered and messy enough - more than enough to keep me out of trouble. So I rarely take on the rest of the world's problems. But this morning I've ventured to find the late breaking news, and . . . .

1) The only thing keeping a cease-fire from happening is that Hamas refuses to stop sending missiles into Israel.

2)Add to that that some are putting pressure on our president-elect to initiate low level talks with these thugs . . . .

3) UFO's are being blamed for the destruction of a 66' windmill blade in the UK. Ok, E.T. wasn't really in the photo!

4) A doctor in NY is asking for the return of his kidney (or 1.5 million $) in a divorce.

5) Tom Cruise talks out of both sides of his mouth about health and scienteology. Read the commentary .

6) The Marvel/ Obama/ Spiderman comic coming out, while it may be a collectible, is not highly regarded by insiders . . . One writer refered to it as "depressingly crass."

7) Burger King is giving away Whoppers to Facebook users who will drop 10 friends.

8) Los Angeles was just hit with an earthquake and Yellowstone expereinced 252 small earthquakes the last 5 days of 2008.

9. Google is working on a new and improved search engine called Google Chrome.

10) Continental Airlines successfully demonstrated the use of algae as an aviation fuel yesterday.

11) A 42 state outbreak of salmonella is under investigation by the CDC.

12) Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio will be released in a "bleak drama" set in the 50's called Revolutionary Road. Sounds to me like a sinking ship.

I think that should do me for being savvy on current news for a few days. I have prayed for all the mentioned movie actors, the sick people from the outbreak, our president elect, the peace of Jerusalem and the situation in Israel. Also for everyone on the west coast that they won't disappear into the ocean.

I'm not really sure what I should pray for in connection to the UFO's or the Spidy Comic's. Some things are probably best left alone. While I hope none of my Facebook friends sacrifice for for flame broiled delights, I won't lose any sleep if they do. It's only Facebook.

Today is Memorial Day. This holiday has kind of expanded for me over the years because of all the war events I've learned of that have a direct bearing on myself and my family. Only this morning I received an email from my mother in law about one of her prison peers who witnessed brutality in a POW camp in China in WWII. Mom was fortunate. As an underage POW in that war God shielded her from that. Last night we talked to Dennis in Afghanistan. Seven thousand six hundred and eighty miles hasn't changed a thing between us. He still picks on Becky as bad as any biological brother. We heard from our Antoine who grew up on the coast of Normandy in view of the D-Day landings. His grandfather fought in the Resistance. My own dad is a veteran who served in post WWII Germany.

We have a lot to be thankful for that we still have freedom to openly worship in this country. It is not so in most of the world and who knows how much longer we may do so here. Most people think of freedom in terms of where to go and what to do, but true freedom means so much more - it has to do with what you think and believe and ultimately what kind of person you are. The secular world is ok with people being kind, compassionate and giving, but not ok with Jesus Christ who makes true freedom, freedom from sin, possible.

Our celebration is quiet this year. It's been a pivotal weekend for us with Beck's graduation. The service was precious. Cindy came with a huge surprise, their cousin Ryan from Phoenix. Our Jamie's shower for baby Olivia was yesterday and Rachael dropped by for a shower late in the day. Ya, that was odd but we were glad to see her. Hearing from Dennis and Antoine was icing on the cake. And today I painted for the first time in over 18 years. It felt good, and it felt right.

I'm glad for Memorial Day. While I know it's the official "grill out" beginning of summer, and we'll do that, it's also a time to pause, think about things past and thank God He's in control of the future.

What a busy week! I don't know about others, but I used to think you worked all week and spent the weekend doing "whatever" that included church on Sunday. Weekends are still time to break out of the routine for the most part, but as it adult it seems I work harder on weekends catching up on all the work I let go during the week! Last weekend was that way and this weekend coming will be little different. Saturday is the 13th annual Beekeeping Symposium at Auburn University, and while it will be great to catch up with all my beekeeping buddies and enjoy the classes, I'm also committed to helping with a huge meal and teaching a workshop. So it's won't be all play, but I'll enjoy it nonetheless.

Much of this week has been devoted to web work and product development. I found a graphics designer who is scheduled to have my new product logo ready mid February. We're excited about this - it's been a long time in the works. I've got a new candle design almost ready for the store and have made a few dozen more tubes of Fire Ant First Aid. As soon as I get confirmation I'll have shows lined up for March and April as well. Dates are to be announced!

It's hard to believe we've only got a week left of January 2008. Even with the cold there has been plenty to do keeping Norman's books, cutting out quilts for my mom, picking out pecans and running kids too and fro. I've a new bee helper, a boy from church who loves nothing better than to be outside catching chickens and the like. We spent a warm Saturday checking hives for food reserves. One was doing poorly and we took measures to keep them safe and fed. Hopefully they'll make it. We've had colder temperatures this year with temps dropping into the twenties several times. Montgomery even had snow!

So there has been a lot to do. Norman and Becky have seen to the cows. He's staying wrapped up with LocalHelpWanted and truck sales. Becky has been occupied with school, music, the school yearbook and friends as time allows. She had her senior portraits taken last night. She's going on a missions trip to Costa Rica this summer and is getting started on her fund raisers.

We found out yesterday that her cousin, Zack from Phoenix, is going too. What's that saying Cindy had . . . . "Horton, party of FUN." Yes, it's a missions trip and it will be serious, but where two or three Hortons are gathered together a party usually breaks out! I have no doubt the laughter will break down barriers so God can really speak to the kids. It will be good and I wish I were going!

I may not be going to Costa Rica but I am going to Auburn. Dr. Tew asked me to teach a workshop on Gardening at the 13th annual Beekeeping Symposium Feb. 2. I've been doing a lot of research for that. Earlier this week I scrapped my original outline and started from scratch with something that flows better. Phillip Carter reviewed it for me and gave it a thumbs up. Now I've just got to get the power point part of it done.

Workwise I'm happy to announce new packaging for Fire Ant First Aid. It took a bit of creativity to make it happen but it's now available in .15 ounce tubes. Westside Pharmacy has already switched their inventory to the new size and I've got to make more before I approach the other stores. I REALLY like it. The tube is small enough to keep in my pocket and I don't have to touch it to apply it. It always bothered me a bit that I seemed to waste a little when I wiped my fingers after applying it. The other plus is that it's much more affordable.

Another interesting thing with Fire Ant First Aid - I've used it with wonderful results on two spider bites this year. My friend Joe told me they were brown recluse bites but I can't confirm that as 1) I didn't see the spiders and 2) I didn't have the classic necrotic symptoms. But I did have small painful ulcers with huge red whelps around them. Both times I applied the cream, covered it with a bandage and repeated that step several times. The redness went away within a few hours and I discontinued treatment once the ulcer made a scab a couple of days later. They heal slow, but thank the Lord, they DID heal.

Thursday Blessings

While a lot of life is humdrum, just doing our daily thing with work, errands, responsibilities, etc, once in a while God sends a special day our way - sometimes for encouragement and sometimes to remind us what's really important to Him, people! Today was such a day for me. Without doing a blow by blow account, God arranged for me to talk to a couple of ladies that needed encouragement and also encouraged me. I got a call that one of my kids (one of the ones I didn't give birth to) went into labor with her first child. (I'm still praying for this wee slip of a girl and the baby!) I ran into another of my kids the next county down that we'd lost track of when God had me turn the car around and stop for lunch. And of all things the teacher at the seminar I had to attend in the afternoon was an old business associate, actually the head of a state agency who had helped me sort through all the oddball title transactions that landed on my desk over the years. We'd never met face to face, but he certainly remembered me.

So thats what when on today. You just never know what God will do with a day when you give it to Him. The main thing is give Him first place in the day. He's certainly capable of taking us and every situation where we're supposed to be!

It's Monday Again

And I can barely move. It's a good kind of soreness, the kind you experience at the end of a hard task, almost a sort of euphoria.

I spent the weekend extracting honey. This is the first time in all these years of beekeeping I've tackled the task by myself, and as things turned out, the largest extraction to date. I'm guesstimating that by the time I strain what's in the bottom of the big extractor and the cappings finish draining we'll have around 300 lb. The task itself is not that difficult, for me it was just a lot of lifting and repetitive motion. I'm feeling it mostly in my right shoulder from all the uncapping.

This was a good learning experience for me. I extracted on the screen porch with the cracks around the door sealed (with a towel) to keep curious bees out. It worked well. The weather was wonderful though I did have to shut it down earlier than planned Saturday. Once it got dark the bees that were trapped inside with me (the few that had come in with the supers) started buzzing around the light on the ceiling fan directly above me. That wasn't good. Also the honey practically refused to sling out because of the dropping temperature. So I had to finish Sunday afternoon when it was daylight and warm.

Another thing I learned was that the right equipment makes the task go much faster and smoother. I borrowed new uncapping knives and an uncapping tank this time in addition to the club's electric extractor. I couldn't believe how fast the uncapping went. I had several buckets of uncapped frames waiting on the extractor by the time it was all said and done.

Next time I'll cover my tables with plastic as removing melted wax wasn't fun. I'll enlist a vacuum cleaner for the bees that are trapped inside with me. They all congregated on the screen attempting escape and left yellow bee poop on the ledge under them. And I'll definitely cover the floor with paper.

Today all the curious bees that were trying to get in are feasting. I put the uncapping tank outside for them to clean before I tackle it with soap and hot water. No need letting all that honey go to waste when they will gladly remove all the sweet sticky stuff.

It's been a long time since I stayed up so late on a Friday night. One of the things about growing older is that I fancy my sleep. It's not a lazy thing, it's just that I function much better when I've had a good night's sleep, and I like functioning. I don't fancy ceasing to function.

It's been a tough but good week. Norman turned 51 without a lot of fanfare. We made him the coolest plaque ever . . . "When Chuck Norris goes into a sauna, the sauna sweats." It will go on the door of his new sauna.

Kammi and Naomi spent one morning with me. We had a great visit while designing and making two Indian dresses for Naomi. They're learning about native peoples right now. It blew me away when Naomi recognized and understood the purpose of Uncle Norman's "sweat house." She's so adorable and looks like a princess in her moleskin (white) and buckskin (brown) dresses. Her Mom did a good job on the designs.

As I write I just put about 5 quarts of honey in the oven to heat up. I'll cool, strain, mix and jar them tomorrow to make cinnamon creamed honey, a fall favorite around here. Its a big seller too. Last year I pestered every beekeeper I know trying to find light honey. This year I bought five gallons from Jeff Dayton in Tennessee. It's some fine tasting stuff. I'm experimenting with a couple of pints my mom dug up from somewhere as well. It don't have nearly the taste Jeff's has.

And I'm extracting tomorrow too. I've had 3 supers in the freezer a few weeks and robbed three more today. By the time I get the hives here on the farm robbed I should have in excess of 200 lb. I plan to extract on the screened porch. I think as long as I stuff rags under the door we should be ok as far as bees trying to get in. My bee room in the barn is currently a wreck in bad need of cleaning and organizing. And the weather's so beautiful the screened porch will be nice to work in. This time I'm using two extractors, the club's electric one for the bulk of the honey and the little hand crank job for the light honey

Workwise the week has been frustrating. We've wound up changing out both the modem and router at work. I liken working without internet to working with one arm and one leg tied behind you. It's worse than tough.

One bright spot is that Norman has got most of the 200 LocalHelpWanted.net sites up and running. It's the absolute most awesome job board ever. And we got our first check from a customer for the site. I'm tempted to frame it!

Our kids Dennis and Toni will be parents of an active little boy soon. Tony might be 100 lb. soaking wet so this has been quite an ordeal for her. And my friend Connie's oldest son and his girlfriend will be baptized Sunday - talk about an answer to prayer! He was very hostile to the gospel when he left for basic and God did a beautiful work in his heart.

And our professor friend made it back safe from Malaysia where he shared the Christian faith with ten accounting students who had "no religon." He's got a knack for making friends wherever he goes. One of the young ladies cried when he left.

I can't think of anything else. G'nite all!

Back to the Grind

I've not posted anything lately largely because of being absent and being swamped. Norman, Becky and I spent the last week of August at the time share in Tennessee trying to have a vacation. The change of weather and change of pace were much appreciated. We visited friends and familiar places, went to a play and the county fair, visited the Mennonites and messed around a lot. We also visited three Christian colleges in the area for Becky's benefit. On the way home we stopped by to see Mom and Dad and got a double treat as my sister and bil were there as well.

It's good to be home though. Labor day was spent in labor, working to put our poor house back in order. Everything was still covered in sheetrock dust from all the tornado repairs and the yard was horribly overgrown. We've still a ton of work, but the end is in sight. The floor and baseboards in the back have to be done before we can move furniture but at least there are no more huge messes on the horizon.

Work wise I'm slowly getting through the mountains of mail that piled up and trying to figure out how the bill situation stands. Norman spent the whole day yesterday returning phone calls. The only time we stop is to pass out at the end of the day. Then it starts over.

So that's whats going on these days. I've got a meeting for our upcoming Honey Festival this afternoon and WBA meeting tonight. Next week will start the annual honeybee workshops at Landmark. It will be an interesting fall, that's for sure!

I can't remember the last time my house was this much of a wreck. We're down to the home stretch on all this insurance repair work. Half of my living room is covered with a big plastic sheet where the guys have been mudding the skylights they replaced when they did the roof. There's a pile of sheetrock rubble at the end of the hall where they patched the hole Becky made with her foot when she couldn't stop (some years back). I knew the house had wear and tear from rearing and launching three of our four, but hadn't really paid attention to how bad it was till all this started. Now I see rooms and trim that need to be repainted, carpets that need replacing, etc. But mostly I just want to CLEAN!

Things will be better once all this is finished. No more drips during rainstorms, the barn repaired, fences will be mended. I'm looking forward to cleaning closets and having a huge yardsale.

For the moment I'm enjoying sitting across the table from Beck, listening to Sufjan Stevens and contemplating the shower I need to remove white paint splatters from my arms. (Had to paint the trim on the barn door!) She's struggling through chemistry and I'm enjoying my friend Rachael's new blog. Check it out, http://ccaschooldaze.blogspot.com/. Rach is one of our kids, an extraordinary young woman. We'd keep her but she's needed upstate to teach. Rachel is a recipient of our redbird special. We forgot to tell her about the insane cardinal that flys into the windowpane of the guest room every morning. I'm told she hit the floor standing when it happened.

I guess I better mosey back and get started on that shower before this paint gets any harder to scrub off.

I've nothing profound to say today. Some days are like that - full and rich but not necessarily profound. That's a good thing. I think if we had to deal with outstanding events, outstanding thoughts and outstanding people every day the profound would become mundane, hence the mundane is key to our appreciation of the profound.

Last night however was profound. Mr. Elmore Herman who is the current president of the Florida Beekeepers Association, spoke to WBA and it was a most excellent meeting. We hope he returns often. As close as he is (40 miles from Dothan) several times a year wouldn't be too much. The other profound bee item was that the amendment I proposed and lobbied for within WBA passed unanimously. It puts me out of office this December but will be good for the club in the long run.

The other profound things had to do with people - profound conversation with a friend, and a surprise visit by our Cindy. Good things!

I don't know it it's profound but I had an ionized foot detox yesterday. It was very painless and relaxing, till I saw the water. I'll spare you the disgusting details but suffice it to say that it was so effective I hope to do it again soon.

Today is business as usual, sort of. My friend Donna is finishing her first sandwiched quilt, that is, one with a top, lining and batting. It's been a delight to work with her. She has the capability to become a world class quilter.

And I'm back at my desk on the computer playing instead of balancing accounts (can you say "blech" !?) From the looks of my pile I'll be here a while. (Blech!) Another work related item is that Terri's dad went to hospice and they put him on morphine drip this week. We continue to hold them up in prayer. She told us some months back that he had made peace with God so we pray his homecoming will be as easy as possible for the whole family.

Mike will marry one week from tomorrow. What a blessing! We're getting another daughter!

And the work on the back part of the house is coming along very nicely. You can tell it's an actual room now. I think we've got a color picked out and will be looking for tile here soon, after the wedding no doubt. I've been making cheesecakes for the reception like crazy the last week - 8 made so far and I sacrificed one of them for last night's bee meeting. It was the new white chocolate raspberry flavor (my recipe) and there was none left. Not even a scrap. I've concluded that I like shortcake crusts better than graham, but will be doing graham for the New York ones I'm making tomorrow. Transporting these things frozen to Pensacola is going to be the biggest challenge.

No more rambling! All the talk about food has made me hungry and besides that, duty calls!

The sky fell and we're picking it back up again.

You think by now I'd know to pay attention to quiet little warnings, but on June 30 I was in such a hurry to get out of Dodge I thought, "ya, that's something we need to do," packed up and left. The following Monday I came to work and nothing worked. Nothing. No phones, no internet, the computer wouldn't turn on. I'd been told to disconnect everything and ignored it. And now we'd taken a serious lightening hit.

My dh has steadily been rerouting wires, connecting hubs since then and today after much frustration, my intenet cable came to life and I'm not able to access from work via an ethernet connection. Thank you Lord! It works as long as the poor worn plug connects, that is. Hmmm . . something else to fix!

We wound up going with a laptop and I'll be learning to FTP my data to a secure server from here on out. The biggest challenge has been getting my old software to work with Vista. Me no like Vista, but scraping it and going with XP is even riskier.

Anyway I give a hearty thanks to God who prevented my old hard drive from completely going up in smoke when everything else in my old computer was burnt toast. We were able to save the data and by His mercy, will install it tonite. He even help my DH get Peachtree 2003 installed on this thing. Amen for no small miracle!

Seeing how it's almost 1:am this will be short and sweet. This is the first entry on my new computer. The old one partially fried when the office took the brunt of a lightening storm that took out phones, internet, network cards, switches, etc on July 1. It was a major answer to prayer last week when Norman was able to retrieve my data off the hard drive, but the machine itself is toast. So we're slowly getting back up. I'm excited about having my own notebook.

Briefs on what's currently going on: Becky is in Raleigh with Bonnie and Brian enjoying time with them. They'll take her to the Wilds on Monday where she'll be CIT for two weeks.

Mike and Heather will come next weekend for their wedding shower. Interestingly enough I didn't get an invitation, lol. Bee picnic is the morning of the same day.

Found out tonite that ABA meeting is the same weekend as Honey Festival. How did that happen? So maybe I'll teach on Friday and be in Dothan on Saturday.

Amanda S. spent Friday evening and Saturday with us. We worked hard and had fun too. Military dinner is tomorrow. We're expecting 15-20 people.

That's it. Signing off.

It's close to 11:pm and I will be leaving the office pretty soon. It's been one loooooong day! It seems like it's been a very long month for that matter, but the calendar tells me that next Sunday is my turn at the jail, so I guess we're on approach for the end of the month.

Tomorrow will be a special day. I'm going to relax, relax, relax.

I'm nursing about 15 bee stings right now. We moved the porch hives last night, something I hope I never have to do again. The contractors started on the house and there was no way my porch would get screened in with those things there. (Sweet that my grandmother's wicker sofa became available the day they started!)

What I learned is as follows:
1. Wear the big suit. It's too easy to get stung in the tight suit.
2. Lighten the thing up as much as possible. If it means robbing honey a day ahead to return it later do it.
3. Make sure your entrance covers are the right size.
4. Make sure everything's tight - no escape holes or skewed top covers.
5. Make sure you can back the truck up to your load and unload spots.
6. Good help/good company make a tough job more enjoyable.

Naturally this is not an all inclusive list, but it will give you an idea of some things done right and some things done wrong. Live and learn!

We just got back from a weekend wedding trip and I'm so tired I could drop. Actually I will in a little bit.

One of our "kids" got married. Travis Smith spent many a weekend at our house during his high school and early college days. He was a groomsman in our son Brian's wedding last year and Brian returned the favor Saturday. It's always a joy to see the fine young men these boys turn into and we're happy that he's found the love of his life. Erin is a sweetie, that's for sure.

A side treat of this event was spending time with our two older children. Cindy came down as well, and as usual it was "Horton, party of Fun." I've observed that people don't always know what to make of the rowdy bunch who relish the joy of each other's company. And for the second time we've wound up in a huddle at someone's wedding reception. Odd. But it was good. We left the crowd and laid out under the stars at the edge of Pine Mountain at one of those little places on a ridge where you can see for miles for an hour or so after things died down. Good memories. The shooting stars weren't bad either.

And after all the goodbyes this morning Norman took me to Warm Springs and Calloway Gardens. Sweet, sweet man! I must say we need to have a word with the beekeeper there. Norman was pretty upset about the condition of their bee yard. I expected better.

So, we're home, Becky is in Memphis with Cindy, and if Brian's not back in Raleigh he will be soon. It was a good weekend. I've got a truckload to do getting my house and yard back in shape but when it's all said and done there's still no place like home.

Today will be a Random Monday, and since I've a truckload of work it will be much shorter.

Life goes so much smoother with extended quiet time.

I found out that a couple of our Prison Ministry students have been made trustees. They are actually assisting the secretary to the Director in the office with paperwork. I couldn't be more proud. Both these ladies have been outstanding students and it's wonderful to see the positive changes in their lives. I'm fully aware that earning the privilege of being a prison trustee isn't exactly what life goals are made of, but hey, it's where Joseph started.

I think the insane Cardinal that's been flying into our guest room window every day for the last five months is getting old and tired. He's not hitting the window nearly as hard or as many times. I suspect he's knocked a few brain cells loose somewhere along the line.

My great niece seems to be finally warming up. (Sigh) It's challenging to love someone so much and want to hold them close and not be able to. The point again - Don't do this to God!

It rained last night. It wasn't much, but everything was washed and the air smelled clean this morning. Maybe it was me but things looked greener too.

Mimosa is in bloom and the bees are all over it. It will probably be our last big nectar producer for this year, at least till fall.

I'm looking forward to Ladies Bible study again. The fellowship of studying with my peeps for the book of Ruth was sweet. I know from the outside it's just another church, but from the inside it's a family of people who love God and love each other. While only God can meet the deepest needs of the heart, it's sweet to have others to be there for us. RP and I have cried many a tear together in the back of Subway. Mrs. C's history here is longer than mine and she's the only regular left who knew me when I was 25. Nancy helped me make my daughter's wedding dress. Connie was a deep sister from the heart from the first month she visited. Yes, sometimes we bump elbows and get on each other's nerves, but that's what happens in families. But we make it right and keep going. The very best part is sharing that love and seeing the family grow. It's a God thing. I've no doubt heaven will be much better, but it is nice to enjoy a bit of it here.

It's Saturday and I'm taking a day off from thinking out things and am borrowing an idea to just post "whatever". So today is a whatever day. It's early, I've already been called upon to deliver the child for a car wash and make a big breakfast for dh so what follows is random. Very random.

Jimmy Dean should get some kind of award for making my husband happy via his Maple Sausage.

Its 73 degrees right now. And it's been dry for weeks. While I like the nice morning and evening temperatures my neighbor says we'll only have rain when it gets sticky hot again.

I've believed for years that in heaven we'll all find out that we were wrong about something. Exactly what is yet to be determined. This was driven home to me again this morning by my daughter. I've been put out with Reliant K since learning they performed at a dance club in Charlotte. Some testimony for a Christian band, right? So Beck has me listen to Deathbed off their newest CD (and no, we didn't buy, it was on YouTube). It was an exquisitely painful nine minute experience that left me crying. I cried because they got it right. They captured all the hopelessness of life without Christ and the joy of becoming His and being ushered into his presence. Plus it was the testimony of my dad who's on his deathbead with few variations from this ballad. Ouch! I will listen to it again, probably several times.

The thought comes to mind, "who am I to judge another man's servant?"

I really miss Ozark Cooperative Warehouse. Breadbeckers don't carry things like 5 lb. bags of dried cranberries. I grieve for the harm done to organic and whole food suppliers when Ozark went belly up.

Which reminds me, I need to make more vanilla flavoring. I don't relish the prospect of visiting the ABC store for the main ingredient.

I wish I could understand the cat when she talks to me. A kitty treat usually settles her down though. (ok, I know I'm missing something - let's just leave that alone)

Red bell peppers and mangos have to be near the top of God's creative agricultural wonders. That and Mrs. Evelyn's 5 gallon bucket porch pineapples.

Propolis doesn't spoil or lose any of its physical attributes if you accidently dump it in the grass and leave it a few days.

After many years of patient obedience God is working it out for our friend Mark to finally get the music that's been in his head and heart on paper and in actual tunes. It crossed my mind (while picking up the afore mentioned propolis) that I may be required to wait in such a manner before I'm given liberty to write the book that's been in my head and heart for how many years now(?).

We've enjoyed For Better or For Worse for years. The similarities between the growing Patterson family and our own have been uncanny at times. I'm glad to say though that our teen is light years ahead of the one in the comic strip in relation to maturity and morality. If nothing else the comic serves to remind us of how fortunate both we and our daughter are.