Homecoming

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s,
Well, my Beloved is home. We brought him home on Veterans' Day. I will admit, I've never been prouder to be married to this man. Button-popping proud, I'd call it. Our reunion as a family has been seamless so far. We were told to expect difficulties in coming back together as a family, but it hasn't happened. Of course, The Ram is still greeted by the "Welcome Wagon" every time he emerges from the bathroom. LOL He is seldom out of our sight. Everywhere he goes, he has an entourage of little folks, still just soaking up being with Daddy. :-) He's been making us omelets--his specialty. We call him The Omelet King around here. YUM!
Today, he's planning on taking his daughters "geocaching." Have you heard of it? It's kind of like a high-tech scavenger hunt. Email me, if you'd like more info. It's a fun family hobby of ours.
We were reminded at church Sunday that, though The Ram is home, safe and sound, many soldiers are still deployed. We must continue to be faithful in praying for them. We saw many soldiers getting ready to leave at The Ram's demobilization station. My heart went out to them and their families.
There was something funny that happened the last time I drove on post to pick up The Ram. Every time you enter a military installation, you are greeted by a security guard. Some carefully inspect your military/dependant i.d., some barely glance at it, some are friendly and some are "all business." Each of them seems to ask you different questions..."Here to pick up someone?" "Do you know where you're going?" "Everyone buckled up?" Even the friendly ones are pretty "to the point." That last time I drove on post, the guard asked, "Picking someone up?" I replied, "Yes, my husband." He had a new question for me, "Does he have leave?" I answered, "Nope--he's DONE." Never before has a guard responded the way this one did--He let out an earsplitting WHOOOP!! and yelled, "GOING HOME!!!! YEAHHHH!!!" Hooah! :-) I couldn't help myself, so I hollered back, "YEAHHH!!!!" I couldn't stop smiling.
Well, I need to go...I'm wondering where The Ram is...haven't seen him in the past 15 minutes...hmmmm....
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe

Quote of the Day: "GOING HOME!!! YEAHH!!!!" --unknown security guard at Camp Atterbury, IN

Well, This is It...

Hi, Friends,
This is my last edition of The Ewe's Gnus as the wife of a deployed soldier. (The "deployed" part being what's about to change. ;-) We leave in a few hours to go stand watch over the demobilization station. I'm going up there to chain myself to a tree and chant, "Where's my hus-band?! Where's my hus-band?!" Not really, LOL. But we do expect his unit's return within a few days...don't know exactly when, but soon. (for security reasons, exact details are not shared)
The mood here is festive and nervous. The kids are festive and I'm nervous. LOL Not really...See, I'm in a joking mood. :-)
Actually, I'm feeling much like I did right before our wedding...except this is better--I'm not wondering, "Should I go through with this?" LOL Yes, I'm already married to a wonderful man, so any nervousness is not of the "bad" variety, just "Can't-wait-to-see-my-hubby" variety.
As you can probably tell, my thoughts are quite scattered. Do please keep The Ram in your prayers--he's going to be enduring a loooooong plane ride in the next few days.
Well, Friends...here goes...I'll let you know when the "Eagle has landed." :-)
Y'all keep your wool dry!
The Ewe


Quote of the Day: Musical--"Did that melt your heart, Mommy?" Her question regarding the unusual leaking around my eye area during a show we were watching. :-)

Single Digit Midgets

That's us! And I don't mean that we all cut off 9 fingers, LOL. The Ram gave us a "window" of dates when we can expect to pick him up. (He can't give exact times/dates--for security reasons.) So, though we don't know *exactly* when he'll be back, we do know it's soon!! The GrandRams came up last week and helped us clean out part of the garage and the "warehouse." (It's a big barn-ish outbuilding we use for storage.) Didn't get completely finished with it, but definitely got enough done to be an encouragement...and to make it seem "do-able."
We found some treasures that had been missing for years. We also found some "treasures" that made me wonder, "Why did we keep this????" LOL I realized I have enough clothes that are not being used that we could open a small Salvation Army. We are planning an indoor yard sale (the warehouse is BIG) in a few weeks. Fifteen years of clutter...sigh...
Well, I'm not sure how often I'll blog before we go to get the Ram. (Why are you laughing, L.A.?) We'll be spending several days away while the Ram does the necessary paperwork to get to come home.
We are all very excited about Daddy coming home. I think everyone has her list of Things to Do with Dad. :-)
Gotta run...got a V.I.P. coming soon... ;-)
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe

Update to Breaking Gnus

Uhh...for those who know me well...very well (hi, Honey!) I wanted to assure you that The Ewe's use of the word "snot" in the previous post in no way indicates a general change of policy at The Fold. It is still a four letter word, however, in this case, The Ewe judged the phrase "double barrel *mucus* gun" to not have quite the same ring to it...
Carry on...

Breaking Gnus

...Tater Tot has discovered that his nose has two parking spaces--one per thumb. We're calling it the "Double Barrel Snot Gun." Stay tuned...

Just the Quote, Ma'am

Quote of the Day:
(Overheard at The Fold): Musical and Lovable were playing...
Musical: "I'm not going to talk like a stylish teenager; I'm going to talk like a nice one."

:-)

God's "It's-No-Problem" Laboratory

Hello F.O.T.E.s!
You know, Our Lord is so good about providing opportunities for us to "work out" the things He's teaching us.
For instance...Sunday, I wrote the "No Prob, Bob" blog. Sounded fine, but God wanted to be sure I had a chance to test that concept. So....Monday...on our way to Town, the van began making a terrible sound--like a flat tire, but under the hood. I pulled off the road and started to feel panicky. Then, just as I'd rehearsed, I began telling myself, "It's no problem! Just an opportunity." I'll admit, I needed to rinse and repeat that several times as I drove my wounded craft to our pastor's house for an emergency landing. Pastor's Family graciously welcomed us to stay in their home while Pastor's Mechanic worked on our van. My children are now forming an alternate reality about mechanical probl...uh...opportunities. The last two times we had van issues, we landed at friends' houses to regroup. The children look forward to vehicles mishaps, as that's when we are forced to make time to do some visiting. LOL We will endeavor to "spread the love" and land at different friends' houses, so as not to overburden any one bloodline. ;-) Not that I'm planning on any more breakdowns. In fact, I'm planning on not doing that again. For a really, really long time. Though I imagine my children get a little thrill whenever the van starts making funny noises. :-)
Well...gotta run...got work to catch up on from all our recent "visiting." :-)
Y'all keep your wool dry!
The Ewe

No Prob, Bob

Hello F.O.T.E.s! (Friends of The Ewe ;-)
Something has been stirring around in my head this week. I thought I'd better share it with you...
Talking with The Ram this past week, I stated, "I have no problems." We were discussing how that your attitude determines whether your life is "full of problems" or you can say "I have no problems, only opportunities for growth." Now, I haven't always been able to state, "I have no problems." It's not that the circumstances were any worse--it's that my attitude was. In the New Testament, when Peter stepped out on the water to walk out to Jesus, he did fine for a short time. He was saying, "I have no problems!" But soon, those waves caught his eye and he doubted. His former "opportunity for growth" quickly became A Problem. Once his faith shrunk away, he began to sink. (glug)
I have so much to be thankful for. I reflect on the prob...umm..."Opportunities" others have, and I realize what a life of ease Our Lord has graciously granted us. I am so grateful to Him for his loving care for us. There have been situations in our life that, during the heat of it, it seemed like A Problem. I thank God that He has oftentimes allowed me to look back later and see that that Problem was, alas, just an Opportunity!
I'm praying that The Lord will help me to discipline my mind and continuously declare, "I have no problems!!!" I realize I cannot do that on my own. The faith to trust in God is not something any of us can conjure up. I am always tickled by the verse in the Bible found in the Book of Ephesians, the 2nd chapter and 8th verse: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, *and that not of yourselves* [emphasis mine] it is the gift of God..." I love that! I can almost picture the writer getting excited, explaining how we can never work up God's good favor toward us. He reminds us that we didn't do *anything* to earn God's gift of salvation...Yes, we did have faith to believe, but doggone! Even THAT came from God. So...do I have faith at all times to confidently state, "I have no problems!!"? NO! I don't have enough faith for that. But, praise the LORD! I can ASK for it! Wow. It is such a relief to know that I don't have work myself into a frenzy to "have faith." If my faith is waning, I can ask God to grant it to me. So, with that in mind, I will say, *by God's grace* I will declare my "problems," OPPORTUNITIES and trust the Lord to work it out. Besides, 27 years ago, I told God I accepted His free gift of salvation. If I can trust Him with my eternal soul, shouldn't I be able to trust Him with all the piddly little details in the here and now? I want to confidently declare, as Paul did, "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain!" In other words, what do I have to lose? If I live, I can serve my Savior. If I die, I get to go live with Him. Where's the unfavorable choice? LOL If the worst thing that can happen to me is death, it's All Good. :-)
Now, Dear Friend, you might be saying, "Yeah, sure...but you don't have my problems..." You're right. I don't. I cannot even imagine the pain some of you live with. Please know, I do not want to sound harsh or lacking in compassion! Far from it! I just want you to know that life doesn't have to be filled with fear and worry. If our Lord truly is in control (and I believe He is!) we can relax in Him. We can stop trying to wrestle the steering wheel out of His grip. It's awfully tiring to fight against Him! Oh, Friend. I pray God's rest for you. :-)
Many blessings,
The Ewe

My Garage...

...grows pink bicycles.

Hello, F.O.T.E.s!
Ahhh...this is my FAVE time of year!!! I tend to "reverse hibernate"--I only come outside when it gets cool enough. LOL And, Sister, it's cool enough!!! The last few days have been downright fall-ish. Which is fine, it being Fall and all. :-) The trees around our house are sending down more confetti every day. Yup. Life is good...
Tonight after dinner, I went outside to enjoy a bike show. My children delight in putting on fine shows of the two-wheel variety. This evening it was a bit nippy out there, so I made myself a "spot of tea" to fend off the chill. While I was snuggled down in the lawn chair, sipping my peppermint tea, my eye fell on a pink bicycle (c'mon now...enough jokes...you know it didn't *fall* on the bike ;-). I thought, "Hmmm...I forgot we had that bike." Then, all of a sudden, it was as if my viewpoint zoomed out, and I saw the whole driveway--with countless pink bicycles, and one pink trike strewn about like an explosion at the Schwinn plant. How did this happen? How did we accumulate (what?) 4 pink bicycles?! That's not even including the black one I donated to Carnival when she outgrew her (you guessed it) pink one. I wondered how I'd not noticed the abundance of pink bikes through the years. It wasn't as if we were constantly buying pink bicycles. We did buy a couple of them--usually for Carnival, as she outgrew the others. One of them Lovable won at a restaurant give-away. One was given to Musical. I guess we were predestined to have a plethora of pink two-wheelers. Well...that's ok...I think the Pink Bike Owners are pretty neat folks.
Might not be a bad idea, though, to begin some sort of registration program for the bikes. I think they're colonizing in the garage and I want to be sure they do not become too powerful.
Must run...getting oh-so sleepy ...
Y'all keep your wool dry!
The Ewe

Quote of the Day: "YoujusSOfunny!" Tater Tot

Happy Birthday to......

Lovable!!!
Hello, F.O.T.E.s! Actually, tomorrow, Oct. 8 is Lovable's birthday, but we'll be celebrating today. We'll be meeting her buddies at the park to enjoy a picnic and cake and ice cream. It's hard to believe this girl is 8 years old! She asked me yesterday if I remembered when *I* was 8. I told her I remember my 8th birthday, because I got a swingset. I hung upside down on the bar and thought, "Wow. I'm 8 now. I've got to start acting my age." LOL I remember feeling very old and mature. Yes, turning 8 was a very serious event for The Ewe. LOL
In other news, we rolled the trash dumpster out to the curb last night. Another trash day down...we have tantalizingly few more "roll outs" left before The Ram returns home to us. I'm getting awfully nervous--to the point of frantic, truth be told, LOL. I keep thinking of things I wanted to have done before he got back...Frankly, I fear some of those just aren't going to happen at this point. I think he'll still want to come home, though, even though the garage has yet to be cleaned out. ;-) Surely all the "wags and licks" he'll be assaulted with will distract him from the clutter in the garage. Don't you think? :-)
Well, I'm going to sign off for today. Many Big Doings to get ready for.
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe

Quote of the Day: "Carnival, I'm going to the bathroom...TAIL your brother." (The Ewe)
"Ok [turns to baby]...Tater Tot, Mom's going to the bathroom." (Carnival)

Volunteer State Festivals

Hello, F.O.T.E.s,
I don't know what it's like where you live, but down in TN, they know how to have a community festival. This past month, I've spent a good bit of time down there, trying to get the house sold. In our spare time, we attended a few community festivals. One of them celebrated the soybean. We ran into several dear friends there--it was great. We enjoyed funnel cakes.
After that was Doodle Soup Days. We sampled doodle soup (kinda like bbq chicken with a dipping sauce) and had Dippin' Dots. Carnival scaled a climbing wall, sponsored by the National Guard.
A week later, we visited the Dulcimer Festival. Strangely missing was food...? They were, evidently, very serious musicians. The powdered sugar might be bad for the instruments.
Months earlier, we attended the Fiddlesticks Festival. Fiddlesticks are basically ice cream on a stick, covered with chocolate. Not a bad way to spend several hundred calories. ;-) This one was crowned King of the Festivals by my flock. Their reasons: all the rides were free, the crowd was small, ICE CREAM, and Wimpy's. Wimpy's is a restaurant in that town that makes the best burgers. And huge! The regular Wimpy is a 1 pound, hand pressed patty! The Jr. Wimpy is a half pound and the "Baby Wimpy" is a quarter pound. EEK! That's one big baby! The fries come in a huge basket. One order fed my whole flock. So, what was the price for this gut-wrenching, artery clogging amount of food? Less than a trip to McDonald's. ! Yeah...the Lambies have discovered "haute cuisine!" :-)
You know, after analyzing all our data on the Great TN Festival Road Trip, it appears that Tennesseans, 1) know how to party and 2) love food!
Gotta run...
Y'all keep your wool dry!
The Ewe


Quote of the Day: "Those other girls got the music...YOU got the musician." :-)
A dear friend's husband, defending himself of his wife's accusations that he wrote his other high school girlfriends love songs, but never wrote her one.

Ewe Ever Dance?

...This Ewe did yesterday. Mr. FedEx man brought me a check. From the sale of our house! Sweet success! It's been 4 years in the making. Whew!
Yup. I did the Happy Dance right there on the driveway.
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe

Quote of the Day:
"WE'RE DEBT FREEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!"

The GrandRams...

...Are home. Continue to pray for them as they decompress.

The Ewe


Quote of the Day: Lovable, had just asked me what that 'funny looking underwear in the catalog' was. I explained that it's special underwear that helps a lady look more trim. Understanding brightened her face and she replied, "OH! So, it's a griddle!" (that's no typo) :-)

My Heroes Have Always Been...

...normal folks. Nita, Tanisha and Ernestine, you rate. :-)


This is from Foxsnews.com:

"At the convention center, people stumbled toward the helicopters, dehydrated and nearly passing out from exhaustion. Many had to be carried by National Guard troops and police on stretchers. Some were being pushed up the street on office chairs and on dollies.

Nita LaGarde, 105, was pushed down the street in her wheelchair as her nurse's 5-year-old granddaughter, Tanisha Blevin, held her hand. The pair spent two days in an attic, two days on an interstate island and the last four days on the pavement in front of the convention center.

"They're good to see," LaGarde said, with remarkable gusto as she waited to be loaded onto a gray Marine helicopter. She said they were sent by God. "Whatever He has for you, He'll take care of you. He'll sure take care of you."

LaGarde's nurse, Ernestine Dangerfield, 60, said LaGarde had not had a clean adult diaper in more than two days.

"I just want to get somewhere where I can get her nice and clean," she said. "


Faithful nurses, doctors, soldiers, and elderly folks...Those are the heroes.

Keeping my wool dry and keeping the faith,
The Ewe

What Can *I* Do?

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s,
As pictures and stories come to us from the Gulf States, some of you have probably had the thought *I* did yesterday--"...but what can *I* do?" My in-laws are actually down there, helping provide food and comfort. (Also, my husband is 7,000 miles away, doing his part to promote Democracy.) And I'm here, making peanut butter sandwiches. :-)
Now, I do plan to collect items to send (check out the website below), and I do plan to send a monetary gift, but we all like to feel we had a personal impact on situations like this. A friend encouraged me yesterday, "You've got family off doing these big things and you're left behind. But you keep being positive--keep on keeping on." Oh, how that made me smile. I thought a lot about that. I realized that it's all a matter of *knowing* what your job is. My calling is to raise up these little ones and hold down the fort while The Ram is gone. Now, we will incorporate our "relief efforts" into our life here--collecting items, etc--but, since I know where I'm supposed to be, I can keep my priorities straight. Yes, there is something attractive about doing the dramatic things. But I'm called to be faithful to my mission. Our soldiers overseas can't rush home to help our Gulf Coast brothers and sisters. They have a mission there, as *I* have mine here.
Thinking about this last night, I heard a little whisper in my heart, "Ewe, you could be feeding those peanut butter sandwiches to the future engineer that will solve New Orleans' problem once and for all. You could be feeding those sandwiches to a future Coast Guardman who will pluck people from danger. You could be feeding those sandwiches to the scientist who will discover a cure for cancer. You could be feeding those sandwiches to the mother or father of the person who God uses to usher in the next Great Awakening." OH, isn't that exciting? But what if I'm feeding those sandwiches to a future restaurant manager? Or truck driver?
Remember the movie "It's a Wonderful Life?" I love how it points out that we *all* impact our world. We may never know the extent of it, but that doesn't matter. In the big picture, we're all just "a vapor." But we're vapors who can mean the difference to some other "vapors." :-)
So, what can *I* do? First off, I can pray. I can ask The Commander daily what He has for me to do in that day. I can remain faithful and steadfast in my calling. In that context, we will also reach out to the people in such desperate conditions.
Well, gotta run...I've got some peanut butter sandwiches to make...
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe

For information on giving monetary gifts and in-kind donations:

http://www.tnbaptist.org/

Katrina

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s,
Oh, my heart is heavy for the people of our Gulf states. It seems the worst was just beginning in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina blew through yesterday. She had mushroomed into a monster Category 5 hurricane the day before, but weakened before barreling ashore. Still, a Cat. 4 is nothing to sneeze at. Though she veered slightly east and did not strike New Orleans squarely, the devastation is incredible. I had thought that, with the advance notice and mandatory evacuations, the death toll would be low. No one is expecting that anymore. My understanding is that many of the city's pumps (which it needs in order to stay dry even without flooding)have stopped working. There have been levee breaks, letting Lake Pontchartrain run into the city. A water main is broken. The mayor estimates that up to 80% of the city is under water--up to 20 feet deep in some places.
I've just read, too, that the mayor has issued another mandatory evacuation order. This one requires citizens to leave the city, including the "refuge of last resort"-- the Louisiana Superdome. Up to 10,000 people, mainly elderly, frail or poor, had lined up for hours to get inside before Katrina hit. Even there, portions of the roof peeled off, letting in torrents of rain. The mayor, concerned about the deteriorating conditions in the city, has now ordered even those refugees moved.
Amidst all this, The GrandRams are on their way to New Orleans. They are going as part of the Disaster Relief Team from the Southern Baptist Convention. You would be surprised at the training that you must take to be part of those teams. They do a great job. Please pray for the Teams...and pray for The GrandRams, too, as they go.
As for us here, we're soaked. Many surrounding counties have some flooded roadways and most closed the schools today.
Well, I'm going to sign off now. I'll keep you updated.
Today, I *really* mean it--"Y'all keep your wool dry!"
The Ewe

Check out the info about the TN Baptist Disaster Relief Teams:

http://www.tnbaptist.org/page.asp?cat=news&subcat=disaster

Time Speeds By...and a Prayer Request

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s!
I am truly astounded that another week has passed. I've said from the beginning of this deployment that once we made it to Aug., time would fly. So far, I've been right. Aug. has flown by. Seems like Trash Day rolls around every other day, LOL. I'm certainly not complaining. We can't wait to have The Ram back in our grasp.
Let's see...oh, yes... the prayer request. Well, our landlord called last week and told me that they are planning on selling this house. And that they'd *like* to sell it to *us.* LOL Hmmm....One catch was that our TN house hasn't sold yet. Well, a couple days after Landlord called, our Tenant (in TN) called to say they'd gotten financing to buy our old house. WAhoo!!! We're supposed to close on that next week. (Lord willing.) So, about *our* living arrangements...I told The Ram the time has come that we either have to marry this house, or set it free for someone else to love. LOL I am rather attached to the house, but we're nearly positive that we could never afford the mortgage. So...what do we do? We have our eyes on a beeeee-autiful piece of property not far from here, but there is no house on it. So, do we buy a trailer to live in there while we build a house? Just don't know. Would you join us in prayer that God will show us clearly His will for us? Thanks.
Oh, I have to tell you what happened tonight. File this under "Appliances and Plumbing Know When the Man is Gone." I went to flush The Ram's toilet (i.e. the toilet in his bathroom here. ;-) and it wouldn't flush. Not uncommon around here. Usually, we just dump extra water in and "viola!" it flushes. Not tonight. So, I lift the lid to the tank. Hmmm..."Wonder what would happen if I pullll...this?" NIAGARA FALLS!!! EWWWW dirty potty water came gushing out of the toilet, soaking the rug in there, flowing out the door into the laundry room AND kitchen...EEK! It's as if the Pacific were backwashing into my bathroom! Anyway, somehow I got the river to stop "running through it," then mopped, soaked, and toweled until the water was gone. Dumped the rug/towels/etc. into the washer. Filled the utility sink (in the laundry room) with bleach water, and began cleaning/disinfecting the floor where the toxic spill occurred. Mop, mop...sweat, sweat...strain, strain. Whew. Got that done. Washed out the mop head...nice and tidy. Pulled the plug on the utility sink...and...NIAGARA REVISITED!!!! The "exit pipe" had pulled apart at a joint and dumped bleach water everywhere (of course, bleach water is better than potty water...but I had some laundry in the floor, waiting its turn to be washed. I had to scoop up the non-colorfast stuff really quick, while the sink released its contents onto my floor.) GRRRR...but then, LOL!!! I decided I was too tired to get mad...might as well laugh. LOL Yes, finally, I got the laundry room cleaned out. Now, The Ram's bathroom and the laundry room look really good! :-)
Well, must run. Tomorrow is Sunday--always a busy time around here. Y'all keep your wool dry!
The Ewe

Quote of the Day: "Mommy! You forgot to press 'play!'" Musical--standing at the silent microwave.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s!
Well, I've got such a ton of gnus for you, but I wanted to just pop on here for a minute and let you know about what we did today...
I've been needing new contact lenses for *some* time now, but with The Ram gone, plus being an hour+ from the optometrist, I had put off taking my lil "von Trapp" entourage in get them. ("The hills are ali-i-i-i-i-ve...")
Well, I decided last weekend that MONDAY (today) was The Day. So, I bit the bullet and loaded up my troops. The drive gave me opportunity to instruct the children about the behavior I expected from them. Words such as "duty, family honor, courage" were involved in that conversation, along with words like "punishment, serious, silence, immediate, obedience, and 'small reward' IF..."
The Ram has always purported that if you take all the children into a place of business, you get more prompt (if not altogether friendly) service. I was about to test his hypothesis...
By the time I had filled out the requisite paperwork, the pre-examination person was ready to puff air into my eyes, test for colorblindness and see if I could tell "which bullseye pops out at you." (That last one was new to me. I'm not sure that I passed. :-) I had escorted the children to the toy box and they had settled in.
The first thing Pre-Exam Girl did was take my blood pressure. Lest I frighten you, I won't tell you the numbers--just that they were high for me. The Girl didn't flinch, so I imagine she understood my high level of anxiety. I explained that we'd never tried this before--with me being incapacitated during the exam and Carnival in charge of keeping the peace. Well, a few puffs, colors and bullseyes later, the Girl stood up and asked me to go take out the lenses I'd worn in. Uh...OK...
I went and took those out then sat in a chair near the toy box and listened for clues that those blurry spots were, indeed, my children. Before my chair cushion had time to warm up, the Dr. was leading me into The Big, Blue Chair. Horror of horrors, he shut the door behind him--my progeny on the other side. I felt my blood pressure click up another point.
I have always had a hard time keeping a straight face when the eye doctor examines my eyes with his penlight, right up close. When I was a kid, the optometrist we went to was a smoker. When he turned off all the lights and walked right into my face with his light shining and his breath coming in hoarse rasps like an obscene phonecaller, I always suffered from a fit of giggles. Now as a grown up, I always try to psyche myself up before a visit. I tell myself that it's really NOT funny. It's a very serious eye exam and I will NOT giggle this time. For the past several years, I have managed to get through the inspection with only a grin. Today, with the distraction of the children in the other room, I thought surely I would not be attacked by The Humor Monster. Evidently, the Humor Monster is superior in strength to the Fear of Being Embarrassed by My Toddler, and I caught myself about to snicker. Again, I forced myself to act dignified, and made it through the exam with only the hint of a smile. I've always wanted to ask the Dr. (I see a different one now than the Smoking Eye Doc) if anyone else laughs in his face. But I never have.
I'll admit that I was hoping the doctor might have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding the length of time a patient has worn the same pair of disposable contacts. I will also admit that I carefully phrased my answer. His question was, "How often do you change your contacts?" My scientifically formulated answer was, "GENERALLY every 6-8 weeks." (Notice, he did *not* ask how long I'd been wearing *that particular* pair of contacts...and notice further that I said *generally*.) Two things I'm not likely to share with you: my weight and the length of time I wore those last contacts. ;-) Anyway, the dreaded question/answer was over and the Dr. was writing out my prescription. Before I knew it, the assistant was bringing me a brand, spanking new pair of lenses.
I know you're wondering about the children's behavior during my heart-pounding exam. I am very happy to report that the conversation in the van after the visit was replete with "proud, cooperative, quiet, good job, and small reward." (please, cut me some slack--we almost never do material rewards for good behavior, but this was a momentous, not to mention stressful, occasion, LOL)
As for The Ram's Hypothesis: I'll summarize this way. Time upon entering said optometrist office: 3:15 p.m. Time upon leaving said optometrist office: 4:00 p.m.
Time I spent last time we went and took only one child: 90 minutes. Hmmmm..."The hills are al-i-i-i-i-i-ve with the sound of mu-u-u-u-sic...." :-)
Well, must run put the flock to bed...y'all keep your wool dry...
The Ewe

.

Here at the Flock...

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s!
Well, my, my...it's HOT! Our county is under a heat advisory for the next several days. ICK. I've thought for a long time that the best time to hibernate is in the summer...In the winter, you can always *add* clothes, but in the summer, well, there's just "so much" you can take off! ;-) On the other hand, the produce is yummy. We were blessed with some peaches yesterday and they are some of the ssssweeetest I've ever eaten. So, as in everything, there are always trade offs.
A sad occurrence: an agitated pack of neighborhood dogs caught, killed and dragged off one of our sweet little kittens a couple days ago. :-( We have a neighbor who keeps between 3-6 pit bulls, who, along with our other neighbors' dogs, wander around out here. They have carried off countless toys, bike helmets, etc...from our yard and now this. The Ewe is *not* a happy camper. Anyway, that was an awful thing to witness. And, yes, I did see it--thank goodness the children did not. Of course, my mind kept thinking, "That could be my baby!" So, I am looking into what back-up we can get from the county animal control officer. Meanwhile, we've put up the remaining kittens and I don't let the children play out unsupervised. I'll keep you updated...
On a happier note, we visited with our pastor's family yesterday...The girls got to help in the kitchen while Pastor's Family canned some of their homegrown produce. The children love to help out like that. We all got a short tutorial on home canning, as that is something I've never really done. Of course, my thumb is brown, so I've got to learn how to actually grow something! Anyway, we all had a great time.
Monday, I visited a new doctor. I wanted him to look at my wrist--I've had a ganglion cyst there for several months...Also, Musical's leg has hurt her off and on for a long time, too. The visit came off as I expected..."Yup, Mrs. Ewe...that's a ganglion cyst." "Yup, Mrs. Ewe, Musical has a strained muscle." So, also as I expected, there wasn't really anything he could do for us. He did stick a needle into my cyst (OUCH!) and puff air into it to try to pop it. Didn't work, but it did help me know not to complain about little things. The cyst is worse now than before. ;-) Ah, well...at least we know what we have.
Well, I need to run...we've got a trip to the grocery store on the docket...BUT, before I go...
As a "trained journalist," I understand about the public's "Need to know." So, in light of that: If you ever truly need to read someone The Riot Act, see the link below:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/rtact10h.htm

Y'all keep your wool dry!!!
The Ewe

Quote of the Day:
"I make milk...What's *your* superpower?" Overheard on an internet message board. :-)

Another Day at The Fold

Hello, F.O.T.E.s!
Well, another day under our belt here at The Fold. The Ram's deployment is over halfway done. I'll admit, though, that since we topped the hill, the roller coaster has slowed down. I mean, time seems to be creeping along for us now. The Ram, on the other hand, is really busy right now. That's good for him--makes time pass faster. And when the temperature is 122 degrees outside, it's good for time to pass fast!!! LOL He told me he hasn't gotten sunburned because you can't stay in the heat long enough for the sun to burn your skin. OUCH! What a harsh place.
We're surrounded by green here. It has rained for 2 solid weeks here. Thanks, in part, to Hurricane Dennis. Now, Hurricane Emily is churning out in the Gulf. Don't' expect we'll see any effect from her. She's aimed more toward TX, from what I heard last.
Oh, Friends. I miss my hubby. Sometimes I just wear down. I must remember, though, that we are so blessed. We have very regular contact with The Ram...not all soldiers have that luxury. Golly, though...a year is a long time.
Let's see...on the menu today was chicken, broccoli and cheese casserole--very yummy. We also made pumpkin bars--a recipe I made up. They're very good!!!! And, outside the 18 pounds of sugar, good for you! LOL Ok, so it's really just a cup of sugar...I guess that's not bad, spread out over the whole pan. May have to tweak the recipe and see what I can do to reduce the sugar content. Why didn't anyone ever tell me how nutritious pumpkin is?!? A whole lot of vitamin A and fiber. Beta carotene...it's good stuff. You oughta go buy a can and make muffins or something. LOL
Well, I'm a tired ol' ewe. I'm gonna go lay my carcass down and catch a few winks...y'all keep your wool dry!
The Ewe

Quote of the Day:
Horse sense is the thing a horse has
that keeps it from betting on people.

~W.C. Fields~