Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[goatgurl]

dang girl thank God you heard him and knew what to do. that is to scary. and tell him to take the job that will make him happy. there comes a point when it's not all about the money.
you had better watch that squash, if you see the vine trying to grow up over the house bring out the chain saw. i bet it will be tasty if it ever gets ripe.

 

[Mini Horses]

WOW -- waaaay too low. Hope that doesn't happen often at night. At least if he's awake he can normally feel it coming on and act. It's a bad disease and often hard to control, not to mention all the other issues it creates.

 

[Denim Deb]

Glad you were there for him!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Thanks ya'll. I've been with this man since 2000, when he was a budding new diabetic. It's been a journey for sure...You can go to classes and read books and listen to dr's only so much. What it comes down to is knowing your own body (or your DH's body) and how it reacts in certain circumstances. And I guarantee you - just as soon as you think you know what's going on - something will change.

Unfortunately, he has given me plenty of opportunities to get really good at helping him. And, it's a really good thing that he moans when he gets that low...it's what wakes me up. When his BS is really low he doesn't think right and often times will wake up, but because he feels bad he tries to go back to sleep without understanding that he needs help.

I put the live trap out the other night because something (probably a possum) got a chick the other night. This critter is obviously smarter than the last one we trapped because the trap was moved around, but the critter didn't get into it and get caught. Guess I'll try again after some creative rearranging so it can't be moved.

TGIF!

 

[Denim Deb]

We had a mouse that was too smart for it's own good. As much as I hated putting out poison for it, it was the only way we were finally able to trap it.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Crazy busy weekend...ugh.

I worked yesterday and when I say it was the day from _eLL I MEAN it was the day from _eLL!

A co-worker and I took a group of students to an open house at a semi-local University. The university is about 2 hours from here. Well, for starters our bus driver was 30 minutes late. Then we hit construction on the toll road....then about 5 miles further north, the toll road closed completely! WHAT? That' why we take the toll road - to avoid all of that. After that we ended up in ANOTHER construction zone - and when I say we were IN the construction zone - we were IN the construction zone. Like... um... the sign said.,. do not enter - this is the CONSTRUCTION ZONE! I had asked our driver to make a detour through a neighborhood, but did she listen to me - oh heck no - she said that neighborhoods don't like buses cutting through them. So, the alternative is to drive THROUGH THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE?????? OH MY GOODNESS.

We arrived at our destination a mere 45 minutes late. Totally missed the opening ceremony and ended up at a break-out session that was full so we had to stand. Crazy day... we finally made it to lunch which was supposed to be our last stop on campus. We started calling the bus driver at that time to come have lunch and also so she could pick us up at that location which would save us a LOT of walking. Do you think she answered her phone? NOPE! For an HOUR she didn't answer her phone. We finally called the police dept on campus and asked them to go check on her. I guess they did - but do you think they called us back and let us know what they found out? OH heck no! We had no choice but to leave the campus café and start walking. And, we walked and we walked and we walked... up hills and down...listening to complaining teenagers all the way. I finally told them if this old, fat woman could walk up the hills without complaining that they needed to just shut the heck up, lol! And - they did!

We got to the parking lot where our bus was SUPPOSED to be - and guess what? It wasn't. So, we walked some more. We finally spotted our bus on top of a hill...way off in the distance. While walking through a parking lot a car starts backing out - not paying the slightest bit of attention to the 23 students behind his car. And, he wouldn't stop. He nearly hit a couple of my kids.

When I tell you I came unglued on this driver - you better believe that I came UNGLUED on this driver. By that point I was tired and cranky and had no patience with this guy. I (not so quietly) informed him that the pedestrian ALWAYS has the right of way and that he was putting my students in danger. He actually wanted to argue with me... oh such a bad decision, lol. I tried to stay calm, but I did threaten to call 911 and report him for reckless driving and quite possibly DUI. Every one of my 23 students had their cameras on video and he knew it. This 'oh so foolish' man got smart real quick - apologized and got back in his car.

I go out of my way to set a good example for my students - but this was a situation that required that I push back. The best thing that came of it was that I gained some "street cred" with a student that I've been trying to win over for a long time. He was like "ya'll..... look at Ms. M - she was 'bout to kick that guy's A$$" Then I had to correct him for language, lol! But - I told them all that I could yell at them, I could correct them, and I could even put them in a time out for bad behavior - but that NOBODY else better mess with 'em!

We hit lots more traffic on the way home, cuz I didn't keep my eyes open and tell the driver to stay off the freeways. SIGH.... but we got home. We were over an hour late - but by golly we got there. I went to bed at 7:30 last night, lol. Too much excitement for this old gal.

Today was just a general farm clean-up/miscellaneous repair day. DH repaired a hose that was leaking, and set up an auto waterer in a pen that I'm about to put some Barred Hollands in. I want to put them under lights and see if I can get them laying.

Gracie is in heat so I have to keep an eye out on the little ankle-biter from next door. He's half mini-yorkie and half mini-schnauzer and is the cutest little dog ever. But- I still don't want him over here messing with my Gracie-girl. I may try to find her a mate next year - but not now. She's only 10 months old and soooo not ready to be a mom.

Oh geeze, it's 7:45 - almost past my bedtime!

Hope everybody has had a wonderful Sunday.

 

[Denim Deb]

I hope you complained to the bus company about the driver. Her attitude and behavior are unacceptable and inexcusable.

 

[goatgurl]

glad you survived your crazy day. and I'm with Deb, i hope you reported that bus driver. no excuse for her actions

 

[frustratedearthmother]

She is a contract employee of ours and we have used her before - but highly likely that we won't be using her again!

On another thread we've been discussing composting toilets and septic systems. My system won't work without electricity so awhile back I bought a bunch of marine batteries and an inverter for my son to hook up a battery back-up system for me. It's the same kind of battery set-up that you could use with a solar system; I just don't have the solar panels. However, you can charge the batteries with a charger and still have them available when the power goes out. I have enough batteries to run my fridge/freezer/fans/lights for a couple days...and maybe longer if we're careful. In a major emergency - even without solar panels I could use the generator to keep the batteries charged. We would use much less gasoline and less wear and tear on the generator too.

Unfortunately, the inverter that we bought was a dud and we're waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the company to send us a mailing label so we can ship back the dud. As soon as they get it back they'll send us a new one.

My plan is to eventually start getting some solar panels and transition over to having that for emergency backup. I don't think I'll ever get totally off grid, but having a system that can supplement what we have and can use when there's an outage would be nice. In a perfect world - I'd at least like to have my water well set up on a back-up system so I would never be without water.

In other news... thankfully, nothing exciting going on with my parents. I need to call them and see what they want to do about Thanksgiving. My plan, which might change after talking to them, would be to cook a simple meal and take to their house on Turkey day. I had thought about bringing them to my house for a day or so, but they're not comfortable away from home. So, DH and I, and possibly his mom (if she comes in to visit with us) would visit with them for a while and then come home. Then - on Friday I'd have another dinner at my house for me, DH, his mom, my son and his wife and whoever else might show up. Nothing is set in stone at this point - so whatever happens will happen.
My poor clumsy DH. He takes a lot of meds and several of them affect his balance. He fell in the mud on Sunday. His boot got stuck so instead of pulling his foot out and stepping into the mud - he just sat down, lol. That one was funny. However, the next day he was leading a goat out of a pen when Gracie ran up behind the goat to "help". That's her job, right? Well, the goat wasn't happy about it, darted in front of DH and he tumbled over her landing on his right side and shoulder. Fairly probable that he broke a couple of ribs again. He is sooooo fragile. He's a big ol' strappin' guy, but he's easily breakable.

When he had his bypass surgery the surgeon even remarked that his sternum was very thin and that he needed to be very careful in his recovery. He's broken ribs three times since I've known him... beginning to wonder that he has some 'condition' that is undiagnosed at this point. Poor guy - life throws him so many challenges.

Speaking of DH and his work woes. He found out that as soon as he 'resigned' from his previous position that the state lifted the suspension against his company and all lawsuits were dropped. That certainly confirmed that he was the sacrificial lamb.
He had a phone interview with a major insurance company yesterday and the job sounds like what he wants to do. And, it's a work from home position. Significant pay cut - but who cares! I'd take a pay cut too if I could work from home! Of course, he hasn't been offered the job yet,

but he did make it to the next round and will have another interview coming up. He also has an interview at a hospital on Friday for the Risk Manager position. Things are rocking and rolling - but still no guarantees so we're not getting complacent.

Goats are goating, chickens are chickening and everything is chugging along. I've got some fall veggies in the ground that look good. Hopefully I can get a few more things planted while I'm OFF ALL NEXT WEEK!!!!! Praying that there's not a ton of rain - but the forecasters are already predicting some fairly high probabilities. UGH! That might mean I'd have to clean house instead of working outside and who wants to do that? Oh well...
Happy Wednesday ya'll!

 

[Mini Horses]

Has DH considered, in light of the suspension drop, etc., to look into state unemployment ins (does TX have this? VA does).

He could have a bone condition that actually causes excessive & easy breakage. Check it out.

A little time off is no good if he keeps getting injured.

Maybe put him in charge of the chickens, they are smaller....and leave Gracie inside. My little minpin thinks she's helping when I move horses from pasture to pasture. Issue is, I'm behind them shooing and she gets in FRONT of them barking --- they aren't sure where to go.
Good luck with Thanksgiving plans. Sounds good.