7 Random Things

Maybe the title of this post should be: 7 SCATTERBRAINED THOUGHTS FROM A SLIGHTLY OVERWHELMED MOTHER WHO CAN'T SIT AT THE COMPUTER LONG ENOUGH TO TYPE OUT A COMPLETE SENTENCE BEFORE HER CHILDREN NEED SOMETHING FROM HER

(That would be more accurate.)


1. When we moved into our rental home, I lost an entire wall of kitchen cabinets, and had no room for a microwave on the counter.  I desperately needed more storage and counter space, but didn't have the money to buy a microwave stand/ kitchen island. So I did what any girl would do.... rummaged through the scrap wood pile and had my husband build me a farm-style one with some Pinterest inspiration.  Then I sanded, stained, and sealed it for the low, low price of FREE!

My husband is going to weld me an old, antique looking towel holder to put on it as well.

For now, it will hold the microwave, but if we buy a house with a bigger kitchen, I envision the grain grinder going on top of it in the future.

2. My husband and I just celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary, and I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible because we did absolutely nothing to actually "celebrate" our sacred vows. But I did get him a gift! I bought him a soft-shelled jacket for the fall and spring months and had our brand embroidered on it. My man is a tall fella and normal jackets look like 3/4 sleeves on him, so I always have to special-order his jackets in the "tall" sizes. For once, I was on the ball and ordered him a jacket while they were still in stock, and before the season was half over.

Oh ya...and I bought myself one, too. Happy Anniversary to me!  ;)

3. Our mouse eradicator, also known as "Miss Kitty", has been having a hard time adjusting to the rental property. For 8 years (her whole life) , she hunted in the fields around our old house, and she just doesn't have her bearings at the new house.  Last week, in the middle of the night, she got into a horrible cat fight with a stray cat that has been hanging around the barn.  After that, she disappeared.  That's not like her, at all.  We fretted and worried that something terrible happened to her.  We checked the local pound to see if someone had turned her in, and we checked the ditches along our road.  We were concerned that someone may have trapped her, and either shot her or drowned her...something that happens frequently in our area.

The girls cried every night and we all prayed that God would protect her, and bring her back home to us. After 4 full days, she showed up at the back door, hungry, beat up, and really sore.  We were so excited that God answered our prayers and brought her back to us!  Immediately, I could tell that she wasn't her normal self because she couldn't climb up the ladder to sleep on my daughter's bed, her normal sleeping spot. Then I went to lift her and she cried in pain. I felt a huge lump on her chest and knew right away that I needed to take her to the vet.

The next morning, I took her right in and she was running a fever of 104.5 degrees.  As soon as they shaved the lump, puss started pouring out of it. It was an abscess, just as I had suspected.  They had to shave quite a bit to expose and clean out 5 other bites on her, and I just had them shave her whole body while she was knocked out because she had a lot of matted fur on her back.  She has scratches all over the place. The vet put several stitches in her, and put a drain in the abscess to help it heal.

Poor Kitty.  She looks ridiculously naked right now. She started waking up before the tech could finish the shaving, so her back right hindquarter is still furry. It looks like a real hack job, but at least she doesn't have any more mats. And like all bad haircuts, it will eventually grow out.

I'm hoping she pulls through and will be back to herself, soon. She still sleeps most of the day. Oh wait, she's always been like that. HA!  She's pretty scrappy, and we haven't seen the stray cat since the incident. I wonder how it fared in the fight.

4. I once took a parasitology course in college, and I've never been the same.  Being inundated with parasite information and laboratory study for a full 6 months was enough to gross out anyone. While I was in the vet's office, I had to stare at this poster across the room for a full 20 minutes. It just brought back all of the vivid flashbacks of parasite slides, and life cycles I memorized in college. If you know me in real life, I've probably warned you of traveling in 3rd world countries, and the parasites you might encounter...thanks to that class. Good times, good times.

5. It's been raining hard nearly every day this month, and there's a definite chill in the air in the mornings.  For mountain folks, this is the universal call to start cutting firewood for winter.  It's a tradition that my husband has done since birth. And yet, for the first time ever, we find ourselves in a house with  NO WOODSTOVE!  AHHHHHHH! We're panicking about the thought of not cutting any wood this fall. We are panicking about the thought of the heating bill this winter if we have to heat with propane. And we're panicking that we may not find a house to buy before winter sets in.

That's a lot of panicking, which translates into not trusting God.

Shame on us for worrying.

We've even considered stepping out in faith and cutting the firewood just in case we move this winter. Once the snow flies, woodcutting comes to a grinding halt. If you don't have any wood piled up, it could be a very long winter.

6. Our oldest daughter has worn the heels completely off of her boots, and I discovered that she is one  boot size away from moving out of the girls section and into the ladies section. AHHHHHH!

Translation: $60 kids boots < $200 ladies boots.  I'm dying at the thought of spending that kind of money on boots that she'll outgrow in a year.

Kids are expensive.

7. Our old horse, Jake,  loves to have a daily roll in the mud this time of year, and often looks like some type of indian horse covered in brown paint.  Without constant hosing off, he wears dirt clod dreads in his mane, and I'm tired of giving him a bath every day so we can ride him.  I live in constant fear that some stupid city person is going to drive by, look at the pathetic horse covered in mud out in the pasture, and call the animal control officer saying we neglected him.  That horse loves mud more than a pig in a wallow.

That's enough rambling for one week. 

We're off to the arena with the horses for an evening of riding practice.

Nell