bummer day

(I wanted to title this "Tragedy" but didn't want to freak anybody out.)

This morning started out like any other. I didn't sleep well, and finally woke up about 6:30. I stumbled into the light only to realize the phone I'd taken to bed with me (so the post office could call when the chicks arrived) had gone dead. So I put it to charge, found the other phone (it had a half-charge) and sat down to read my Bible.

I was almost done with my chapter when the phone rang. I said, "Hello" and he said, "Hello, this is (insert name here) at the post office," and the phone went dead. At least I knew what he wanted. So I woke Bob up, and he agreed to make the trip into town to pick up the chicks. While he was gone, I read the weekly Psalm with the children and then we went out to set up the chick box. We'd just got finished when Bob came back.

One chick was dead upon arrival, and one has non-working legs and will be dead soon. The rest are lively and curious. Our breed list: 2 Buff Laced Polish, 3 Black Leghorn, 2 Black Polish, 2 Crevecoeur, 4 Fayoumi, 2 Exchequer Leghorn, 7 Lakenvelder, 2 White Jersey Giant, and 2 White La Fleche. So, quite an interesting mix! The Polish are the ones with frizzy "hair" on top instead of combs, and the Crevecoeur have mohawks. Jersey Giants look normal, but are more like the size of a turkey. Leghorns are very common, but the Exchequer color is rare (it's black and white). Oops, I lost track of the others, but they are all pretty and most of them are unusual.

Once the chicks were settled, I got Serenity and started on our walk. We had just past our property line when I saw a dead animal on the side of the road, and then it hit me: it was Tiger! I gave a yelp, and ran sobbing back home. Just hearing that he'd died might have elicited a few tears, but running into him like that all unexpectedly kinda hit me hard. Anyway, I managed to blurt out what was going on, and Bob went to collect the body while I cried with the children (mostly Riah).

Once Bob got back I went on with my walk, and we made it the full two miles! That's all the way to the highway and back. When I first started walking Serenity in the mornings, I was able to go 1.2 miles. To make it longer now, I will have to go the other direction. :-)

After breakfast we had a funeral - Bob even made a headstone - out under a big oak tree. We were spent by the time that was all over, and decided to go out for lunch.

McDonald's, and then some shopping just in Huntsville, and back home. We WERE planning to go to the Tulsa Zoo today, as it's a special deal for members, with free train rides and tours of the keepers' rooms, etc. But Bob was already hurting by the time we had lunch, and as emotionally drained as we were, we decided to just not.

Oh, also today our picture order came in, with portraits from our VBS, but the poster-size we'd ordered for our bedroom got mixed up in the lab, and instead of a sepia English village we had a color pic of a bride we'd never met! Bob emailed the company and they answered right away... they'll re-send our pic and said we could throw away the other.

So, now I guess it's time to fix supper. Comfort food, anyone? Funny, I don't care much for chicken casserole as a rule, but whenever I try to think of something comforting I always pull out Meemaw's chicken noodle casserole recipe.