Didn't I Just Blog???

How in the world has it been 5 days already??? I think I'm going to just give up on trying to blog regularly and pick one day of the week that will be Blog Day. Maybe I can at least be faithful to THAT!

Things are going well here and we've been plenty busy since we got home. We made it in on Thursday night and spent the whole of Friday and Saturday getting everything unpacked and put in it's proper place, getting all of the laundry and (yes, believe it or not) even all of the ironing done. We're trying to keep the house decently clean at all times in case we get a call saying that somebody wants to come look at it. That hasn't happened yet, but we want to be ready!

The Clarksons were in Colorado on Sunday with Sister Shanda's grandmother who had just had a massive stroke. James moderated the morning service, Sister Galaviz taught Sunday School (which is where she declared, "We don't need the Hornes anymore!" Ha! --Maybe I'll tell the rest of the story later. Maybe not. I like leaving it like that--it sounds so great!), we sang a few songs, then Brother Juan shared a few scriptures and preached a bit. It was a good service and we really felt the Lord. I managed a glorious and much needed Sunday afternoon nap, then we had a prayer meeting that night. Sister Bailey had offered to be in charge and she did a great job--I was truly blessed.

Monday we were able to go into town and help the Clarksons for a few hours. They had made it back from Colorado at 4:00 that morning (!) and had to get moved out of their house that day. Crazy! I feel soooooo bad for them--they've got SO MUCH on them right now! They had already gotten a whole lot of stuff moved on Saturday, so we were able to help get most everything that was left while we were there. We had a good time and enjoyed the wonderful fellowship, as always. We're going to miss them so much!

We had to be home by 5:00 that evening because we had a guy scheduled to give us an estimate on taming the jungle. When we got home from the trip we were astounded at the weeds at our place! (No wonder nobody wants to come and tour the house! Ha!) It's NEVER been this bad before. It must have rained a ton while we were away--it looks horrible. James went and bought a mower on Saturday, but it gave out after about 3 minutes (for real!), so he returned it -- and they didn't have any others. So we're having to pay somebody to come and take care of it for us this time. Crazy. Anyway, the guy was very, very nice and the estimate looked good to us (we would have been willing to pay about anything to be able to find our house again), so he booked us for Friday morning. We can't wait.

Yesterday was library day, which thrilled the kids to no end. Of course, Katie told the lady at the desk that this will be one of our last times there because we're moving to Alabama and who knows what else. I just know that when I went up to help Sam check out his books the lady told us how sorry she was to hear that we were leaving. "It's going to be hard to find another family to replace you guys and the number of items you check out!" Ha! The gentleman who works with her came over and said, "Yes, it's very rare to find children as studious and pleasant as yours." HA! I didn't laugh out loud--I just thanked him and held it in until we made it outside. ;-)

We started into computer school for Katie and Joe on Monday. Katie is loving it and whizzing through her work every day, always wanting to work ahead but I won't let her. Joe... well, it's been a struggle with Joe. It has nothing to do with the computer vs. a book; it's just his OCD. I don't usually grab on to medical terms and conditions and claim them for my children, but it's just the most accurate way of describing the child--he has serious obsessive compulsive tendencies! I can't get him to READ THE LESSONS. He just keeps re-reading the same part over and over and over and over again--because he's not SURE that he read it all. What if he skipped something? What if he missed a word? What if...? And it goes on and on and on. I get soooooo aggravated with him and I don't know what to do! The boy cannot FUNCTION. He totally freezes up and just sits there with tears streaming down his face, refusing to read on because he's not SURE he read the first part. It's not just in school (though that's where we have the greatest difficultly with him)--he just can't give you a straight answer on anything. On Mondays when he's supposed to gather trash from all the trash cans all over the house and take the dumpster down to the street, James will ask him if he got all the trash. "I think I got most of it, Dad." James always wants a definitive answer--either you did or you didn't, you know?! "Well, there might have been something stuck to the bottom of the trash can that I didn't get, or maybe..." and here comes the list of if's that will go on for an hour. In fact, if James says, "Joe, go get the trash," things are okay. If he says, "Joe, go get all the trash," (notice the "all" this time), Joe will immediately burst into tears because he knows there is no possible way he can get ALL of the trash. Somewhere in this house there will be a tiny scrap of paper under a couch that he doesn't know about, or a Kleenex that's out of sight, or... ~sigh~ I would SOOOOO appreciate any suggestions. I've tried everything I can think of and have even considered Googling "children with OCD" or something! I'm at my end with him. I just don't know how to get him through this and help him be able to FUNCTION in life without freezing up and totally freaking out about stupid stuff! Anyway... Joe actually did a little better with school today, but we've got a long, long way to go!

I've begun weeding here in the house and it already feels so good. We've been talking about what furniture and whatnot we're going to sell before we move and have been planning on having a big garage sale when the time is right. I know how that goes though when you're trying to pack things up and move and have a sale at the same time--you will fail to find sooooo many things that really should have gone into the sale until after the sale is over with! So I starting going through and sorting things, beginning in our bedroom--just finished it up tonight. I've sorted through my desk drawers and my dresser, under the bed, both closets and just looked around the room itself to see what, if anything, needs to "go" from the walls. I've got two suitcases (that will also be sold--they've sat unused for years) full of clothes and odds and ends that we can get rid of, along with a few stacks of other things. Everything is collected, but put pack into place since we can't start making piles of stuff all over the house--it has to be show worthy around here. :-) I also have a list of things to remember to put in the sale. "Monitor in closet, old VCR, bag from top of closet, desk and chair..." I don't want to forget anything! I think I'll go through Katie's room and closet tomorrow. It feels good to sort of get a head start and know what we're going to be getting rid of. It makes me feel more together or something. Or maybe it just feels good to have something to DO while we're waiting for the house to sell so we can actually start packing!

Today was the big day. James is no longer the regional overseer of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico & West Texas. He is now the state overseer of Alabama. Crazy. I was really doing well (hadn't cried in several days) until Emilee called last night. I thought I was fine, but I just couldn't hold myself together at all while we were on the phone--just cried and cried! ~sigh~ I hate this part! Had calls from Brother Dustin last night and Sam & Tammy, too. Today we got our first call from Alabama: Richard Barnes. I said, "Oh, great! You're calling so you can be our very first 'problem,' right?!" Ha! It was kind of him to call and welcome us. Then a pastor of one of the churches there called to discuss some pertinent matters right off the bat. I answered the phone and he was so kind and sounded so chipper--and the deep, southern accent just sounded so friendly and welcoming! It was nice and somehow made me feel more excited. I've always enjoyed a good accent and southerners can just sound so nice and neighborly. So I enjoyed the good, animated welcome... then passed the phone of to James to hear about the problems. Ha!

This evening we grilled some ribs and made corn on the cob to go with it (two items from the freezer we're endeavoring to empty) and I patched up the holes in the pond. We had given up on trying to keep the pond going, but it adds soooooo much to the look and feel of the house when you walk over the little bridge with the waterfall and little stream running down to the pond... maybe it will help somebody fall in love with this place and want to buy it. :-) So I did some patch work today. After the yard people get things cleaned up on Friday we'll fill it up and see if it will hold water. We're hoping to have everything looking great because Jason has scheduled an Open House for Sunday. We're still hoping and praying that God will send the right person to buy the house very soon so we can work on getting moved to where God wants us to be. If the house doesn't sell soon... well, we're trying to stick to Plan A for now and we'll look at Plan B if we have to in a couple of weeks! But right now our prayers are that we'll start getting some interest in the next week or so. God knows best and He has a perfect time for everything. I'm hoping it's very soon, but am really just praying that He'll direct our steps and let everything fall into place as HE sees fit, not according to my plans.

That's about it! Tomorrow is another day. Oh, do pray for the Clarksons. They got moved out of their house and took care of the necessary things yesterday, then headed back to Colorado today to be with Sister Shanda's grandma. They're not expecting her to live and Brother Chris has been asked to do the funeral. It's really a waiting game right now--waiting for God to either miraculously heal Wilma, or take her home. I know they would appreciate your prayers for her and for all of the family--and Brother Chris has already requested prayer for the funeral, that God would anoint him and help him.