It Has Been a Great Day!
March 10, 2014
For many people, the first few days after the time change are really hard, and often in the past I have been one of them. This year is a little different in that I was pretty tired yesterday from the week of preparing for the Winter Texan Banquet. Then I had most of the family over for lunch Sunday (yesterday). Jeff stayed home with their youngest child who had a bad cold. Jeff has started working on his Master's Degree and this class is taking a lot of time, so I suspect he spent the time studying or getting some rest. Barbara and the rest of the children and my brother-in-law Jim came for lunch and Barb and the kids stayed for a nice long visit.
We had leftovers for lunch and used paper plates, so it was an easy meal and was just what I needed after a busy week. Attendance in Sunday school had been down a little. I am not sure if the time change or if the weather was the greater factor. A front had blown in late Saturday and it was 55 degrees, raining (not too heavy), and the wind was blowing from the north. We did have a great class as we started a study in Proverbs. Church was slow filling up, but there was a fairly good crowd for time change day. A work group was here and two of the men from that group spoke.
Here, I have to insert an explanation on the church service yesterday. Apparently they were having sound system problems. First thing, they had to change microphones. I never could understand one word that was said or sung from the front. All I got was a rumble. I had heard well in Sunday School, but church was a lost cause. On the way home, Ron filled me in on what the men from the group had shared and I am so sorry I could not hear them speak. I think it was outstanding from what Ron said. The man who sang at the banquet, sang in the service, but again, I could not get any of it. I did not hear others complain about the sound, so maybe it was just me, but it was very frustrating. The pastor is out of town, in Kenya, and Pastor Tracy preached. I have heard wonderful comments about his sermon, but again I could not understand what was said. It was not that there was no sound, it was just jumbled.
Once we got home and all the grandchildren were playing and talking, I knew my processor was working. It did get noisy. We had such a good time visiting and since there was not a mountain of dishes to do, Barb and I sat and talked. Oops. I better take that back. There was a mountain of dishes from the day before. I had been baking cookies until I walked out the door to go to finish the setup for the banquet and those dishes were waiting, but I had filled the dishwasher and it was running, so we visited.
While we had been out of town and for the first few days after we got back, there was not any bird food out for the birds. I had put some out Friday and Saturday. The Black-bellied Tree Ducks were back in full force. Our oldest grand daughter delights in chasing them. She got a workout trying to chase them, but it was so funny to watch because as she would chase one group out of the yard, another group would be on the fence, and a third group on the neighbor's roof watching her. There may have been a batch on our roof, but I couldn't see them. She would come in feeling victorious and look out there to see 10 or 15 more in the yard. One time she was chasing them and we were watching a chicken on the fence, mixed in with the ducks. She came in and looked out, surprised to see the chicken. We told her it had been watching her the whole time she had been out there, and off she went to chase it.
The kids used my Nerf dart gun and the foam disc shooter to try to scare the ducks, but they had no luck. The ducks ignored them. It was still cold and misty, but that didn't bother the kids, the ducks, or the sparrows. After all the company left I was tempted to take a nap, but knew if I did I would never get to sleep that night. Around 8:00 I feel asleep reading and woke about 10:00 and went to bed and slept until this morning. That is a big factor in why I had such a good day today!
When I got to the office I had plenty of work to do that had been set aside last week while I worked on banquet programs, plans, and menu. I was able to get a lot done. I did leave a sticky tag note on my computer with a priority list for tomorrow, because I did not get it all done. I did get my reports ready for the accountant and will send them to him tomorrow as soon as I balance the bank statement that came this afternoon. I got a couple of notes off in the mail and paid a couple of bills. Ron was out on some jobs this afternoon so I waited on customers.
Sometimes we just have to try not to laugh at the customers to their faces. Here is an example: Customer comes in for a copy of an unusual key and says, "I have been all over town to get this key made and no one has it." Ron walks over to the key board, picks up the blank, cuts the key and gives it to the customer. The customer says, "That is why I ALWAYS come here. You always have everything." (What happened to the, "I have been all over town"?) Oh, well. We do laugh when they go out the door.
Ron was busy with some rekeying and I locked things up and left to come home. It was still a little drizzly, but it was daylight. It was wonderful to have daylight time at home! I got home and spent about 30 minutes working in the backyard before ever even coming into the house. I had gotten a few new plants to use for banquet decorations including these lovely yellow one. I think the butterflies and hummingbirds will love them.
When I came in the house, I made a big bowl of chicken salad and got the kitchen cleaned. As I came in the house I started getting loud noises in my head like I did when I first lost my hearing. Working in the kitchen with that noise, the refrigerator, the dishwasher, and the garbage disposal being run off and on, I finally took off my sound processor. It was just too much noise. It is much better now and I have no idea why that happens sometimes, but at least it has been a while since it was that bad.
Tomorrow I need to open the office because Ron has an early appointment, so I better try for another good night's sleep.
Rachel's chasing the tree ducks brings back memories. When we lived out at Rancho and they were so bad, Drake would stand in the door and yell "shoo", then question why they paid no attention! Caitlyn would chase them out of the yard but, of course, they followed her right back in. The ducks destroyed a bird feeder until we put up a metal one!
ReplyDeleteThey do destroy the feeders, the grass, the plants, and I understand they can do damage to the roof and they are often on ours. The only solution is probably a dog, but I am not ready to do that yet - may have to.
DeleteIt is her older sister who is the chaser. Loves to go out there with the broom, a stick, a Nerf dart gun, anything that she thinks will help, but like you say, they follow her back.