Tuesday, June 22, 2010

"We Don't Always Get What We Want."

It was the end of the day, right before dinner and I had been playing with the little children for several hours. I was crawling around giving the four year old a horsey ride and just about ready to quit, and I told her that I was tired and hungry and I wanted dinner. Well, she tells me, "we don't always get what we want."

They really are the cutest little kids, spunky, but well behaved. I enjoy them very much and get such a kick out of playing with them. And besides, their father was very kindly helping us with the electric on the Blue Castle, so I'm not complaining.

I've certainly been put in mind of Miss Ruthie's words though a few times lately. We certainly don't always get what we want. I think our response though is what is important. At least that is my story, and I'm stuck with it.

Especially with this building project, it is required that I be flexible with my expectations, because the plans change frequently. Especially with the girls room, I've tried not to have expectations that could be disappointed, but to just wait and see what we get and then have fun doing the best I can with it. But still, I've especially realized recently, that I did have some hopes that have had to be adjusted. And will probably have to be adjusted again.

When I'm tired, it can be a bit depressing, but most of the time it remains exciting because I get more chance to be creative with every little "obstacle" in the room I'm given to arrange and decorate.

And then I ponder what life has in store for me that I am having to experience this particular phase in life. And then reality hits me that it could just be life. Aha!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

We got one.....

And this morning we caught a second of the ferocious rats making a house in our home. I'm not sure ferocious is quite the right word, becuase they have run from us so far, but still a rodent that big is not something you contemplate messing around with, at least I don't.

One of our friends that came over and helped yesterday afternoon saw the one the first one we trapped and said it was the biggest rodent he had ever seen - and he would have screamed if he had seen it while it was alive. I assured him that I had seen it while it was alive and I hadn't screamed. I like to boost guys ego, make them feel tough and manly. It's my specialty. No, actually I did allow as how if I had been startled by it, I might have screamed. And since he hadn't seen it while it was alive, we'll never know if he would have screamed will we?

I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of them for you. You all really wanted to see them didn't you?

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

That's Life

I hopped out of the truck and entered The Blue Castle through the front French door, pausing with the handle still in my hand I peeked round at the sound coming from my left. "Hello?" Nobody answered. I didn't expect an answer. All was quiet, and perhaps it was just something shifting, adjusting in its new surroundings. I like to think positive.

So the rest of the small party followed me inside and we set to work sorting and organizing, trying to clear off and dismantle the center work bench. Mother and I were alone when I saw him, his nose peaking around between cabinets. I acknowledged his presence with a dry comment and then mother saw him and acknowledged him with a small scream. He disappeared. The dirty rat. Really. Well, actually, I don't know how dirty he actually is, but he sure has been making a mess and I stand by my statement.

We went for weapons, I found a piece of PVC pipe, quite long, which was quite to my liking and we summoned the assistance of Little Brother and his dog. We had quite the chase after an illusive shadow of a rat, but no luck.

He was big. Just so you know. Twelve inches not including his tail, or at least very close to that long. Shudder.

I was already thinking that even though we had moved our mattresses we would camp out on the living room floor of my older brother and his wife's new place. That quite decided mother into joining us, not matter how anxious she is to establish residence in the new place. Some things just simply cannot be rushed.

Call me chicken, but I treasure my nights sleep and the thought of even the possibility of a rat climbing across me is too much. And if I heard anything in the middle of the, so long to anymore sleep. It was bad enough in the cabin when the Chihuahua walked across my bed. She's too close to the size of a rat and I had a moment of serious alarm.It was a cruel trick on her part. Even if she was just going to find mother. It was not funny. Very, very not funny.

I really don't think at any time in my life I have pictured myself in this situation. I'm just warning you, life has some curious bends in it. I do wonder where I'll be in a year?

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Mad Mac's Merry Mountain Movers

I have to say, though I felt a bit of a deserter for heading off to the coast for a weekend with my sister and a very special friend, I was looking forward to a break from The Rodents. And in an effort to salve my conscious (actually, between us, it wasn’t really bothering me) I did my best to leave food ready to go for the family staying home. Desserts too, it’s the kind of person I am. I believe in dessert therapy.

Really, I didn’t get around to telling you about the Last Traumatic Mouse episode before I left. In short, to sum it up, when you’d like to be sleeping, a mouse trap goes off and then starts thumping around your room, sleep is not going to happen, no matter how much you hope the mouse will just die! Thank goodness for a most wonderful brother that didn’t tell me to get lost when I woke him up from what I’m sure was a very peaceful slumber and had him come kill the mouse that had one foot stuck in the trap. I had even gone so far as to retrieve the broom, but I couldn’t bring myself to do anything with it.

They tell me that after my Oldest Brother spread lots and lots of mouse poison and set traps targeting their trails there hasn’t been a mouse in the house since. And I left the day he did all this, so I didn’t get to experience this blessing. That’s life. I’ll get used to it. And I won’t be bitter about it. I won’t.

Honestly I haven’t had to deal with mice since then, so either way I should be happy. I’m really not hard to please. At least, most of the time.

Being at the coast was a wonderful break in more ways than one, just before I left we had also been doing serious packing and starting to move, and then visiting my Oldest Brother and his family on the way to the beach, I experienced their house in the middle of packing and moving. Major trauma for a girl who likes things perfectly orderly at all times. The adorable little beach house was an oasis of order and peace in a boxed up chaotic world. Actually, I’ve been doing pretty well with the disorder, I understand that there are times and seasons in life and I’ve just steeled myself for this temporary upheaval.

Rather than returning home after our weekend I detoured a few days to help my sister-in-law and got to spend some wonderful time helping them get ready to move and just being able to spend time with my very adorable nephew and nieces. And seeing my other brother and his wife. Really, I’m fond of them too, completely and totally aside from their adorable daughter. Honest. Honest truly. Really. We’re quite good friends actually.

And then it was time to come home. Except, I don’t really have a home anymore. I have to say it’s very interesting. Our new place isn’t quite ready for occupation, but we are almost completely moved out of our old house and have been sleeping on mattresses in the guest cabin on the property, only another brother and his wife our moving there in another few days. Or maybe tomorrow.

Mad Mac’s Merry Mountain Mover’s how may I help you? I wonder what would happen if I answered the telephone that way? It truly is slightly insane on our mountain right now with most of the family all ending up having to rearrange and move at the same time.

That is my life right now, stacks of boxes, disarranged furniture….and no place to go. I really like my sister-in- law’s idea of putting a chocolate candy on every box, so no matter where you look there is hope. That is just the kind of hope I need.

There has been the adventurous and fun aspect to all this madness; working together as a family, eating dinner settled wherever there is space, laughing together over our nephew while he entertains us, all the siblings still at home settling down for the night in the cabin with the warm freshness of a late spring night settling around us, the laugh, the teasing, the exhaustion……. Memories in the making.

The good news is that the plumbing that needed to be installed before the slab was poured is done and they did the concrete yesterday. Come Monday we should be able to move ahead with the building and fairly soon have the temporary living quarters built to obtain the occupancy permit.

By Monday we also might be camping down there with the packrats. And you thought I had issues with mice. Sleeping with a six shooters seems a sound idea to me at this point.