Tragedy averted, almost...

Last Sunday afternoon I let the chickens out to debug the yard as is my habit in the afternoons. About 5 pm I went out to round them up since we had a dinner invite at a ward member's home, when my attention was diverted to a movement just outside the garden; it was a hawk taking flight about 40 feet from the back door.  It was a rather impressive sight, until I saw the eight foot diameter of chicken feathers around what proved to be a now headless chicken. I disposed of the chicken, checked the coop. I only had a few minutes to search for any survivors, and although I called them, I  found only two living birds hiding in the coop. We had an enjoyable evening with the Drakes and returned home to find six more chickens in the coop.  By morning, the remaining three showed up.  Who knows where they were hanging out.  We are just happy the score ended up:  Hawk: 1, chickens: 11.

Monday morning we conducted an inspection of the sister missionary's apartment, something we do each transfer (every 6 weeks).  As always, they have a clean and respectable looking apartment. One of our sisters is returning home this week after serving 18 months.  Then I went off to the rent house to do more painting. That night we held FHE and reviewed the Come Follow Me curriculum for the week which focused on Mathew 6 and 7.

Tuesday I was back at painting. Of course there are always other little items to tackle as well that seem to take time, but are important to get done when there is no tenant in the house. Sandy had her port flushed and the house passed it termite inspection that afternoon. We attended the Family History Center's monthly dinner and program they present. The topic this night was the states that joined the Union in the month of February (MA, A, OR), and included food from those three states . The food was delayed and so we ate later than expected. But it was a fun and interesting evening.

Wednesday Sandy went off to her wound healing center appointment while I went back to, yes, more painting. But fear not, progress is being made! This time Sandy had a nurse that has not attached her bag before and needed more direction from Sandy than normal. There is an art to this process and I suspect each patient has their own idiosyncrasies to deal with.

Thursday morning Sandy went off for her weekly visit with Clifford.  That gave me time to get things organized for our trip and get the house ready for the forecasted inclement weather. Once she returned, we packed up the van and hit the road about 1 pm on the first leg of our trip that found us at Jonathan and Kristy's house that evening. We had a couple of planned stops on the way, to include one at Menard's to buy lights and a pedestal sink for the rent house I am painting; they had just what we needed and the price was reasonable. Then onto Lumber Liquidator in Springfield to purchase some flooring.  Unfortunately, they did not have sufficient flooring in stock of the pattern, and price, we liked.  Argh!! This was one reason we made this trip; we can't go home empty handed. So we assuaged our disappointment by stopping at Andy's Frozen Custard for treats.  It's 30 degrees outside and we are eating frozen custard?! It was most tasty!!

Then onto Jonathan's in time for a tasty home cooked meal. We enjoy our time with their family although much too short.

Friday we enjoyed the warmth of the Fox home before heading out into the cold prior to noon to the Kansas City Temple.  A young woman we have known for almost 10 years was to be sealed on Saturday and we wanted to be in attendance. Enroute, we stopped at a Home Depot (the joy of smart phones in finding places while on the road) and found some flooring we liked. But alas, they didn't have enough. They checked the Mountain Home store and discovered they had that pattern in an adequate quantity. So we ordered it and paid for it and will pick it up at our local store on Monday.

We had time to get to the Temple to do a session. Always a great spirit in the Temple.

Then off to Five Guys for a burger and fries before checking in at our motel for a quiet night.

Saturday we did not set an alarm but were up early anyway. Enjoyed our breakfast and then headed to the Temple for a session followed by the sealing.  I commented to the groom's father that his hair was shorter than the son's who is in the Army. His dad responded that he too was in the Army and chose to keep his hair shorter.  Turns out that following 9/11, with a wife and six children he left his job as an engineer and enlisted in the Army; two years later he became an officer. Only one of those six is still at home. The bride is MaKenzie Pennington and she had not previously been to the temple for her own endowment.  This was a special day for her parents because another of their daughters who had danced to the beat of her own drum decided it was time for her to go to the temple, and so at the last minute she was able to fly in and join her sister at the temple.  Mom was all smiles. Following the sealing, Sandy and I did not stay for pictures; the temperatures were in the mid 20's with strong winds. We headed home for the five hour drive, with stops for dinner and at Aldi's.

The weatherman had been calling for snow and freezing temperatures starting early Sunday morning.  We did receive some snow just before leaving for church, but it was ALL gone when we left the building. Sigh.

The flowers and trees seem confused by the non committal weather.