This is the day that the LORD has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Out here in the bad lands our days go from seven in the morning to seven in the morning. None of that midnight stuff for us. This is going to be a glorious day! This is going to be a day when all expectations come to be. This is going to be a day that is filled with joy, fringed with sadness and topped with contentment. This is the day we have looked to for quite some time. Today we will complete our work. Sometime just after midnight we will quiet this big monster until next season. It will be a done deal! Stick a fork in it (it should be well done by now). Through the dedication and hard work of many, forged by the help of GOD, it will be finished!

We are well over eighty-five thousand bales. Needless to say, a record for here! This is the longest season since the building of the new plant in 1994. The plant has performed very admirably. At times the weather even cooperated. Over a period of time we developed our teams and endured rough patches to finally arrive at the end. For this I am thankful.

At times this little operation boggles my mind. Until it is time to do quarterly or yearly summaries you don't realize how many people it takes to pull this job off. One contractor has had fourteen people here this year, the gin has had forty-six in the plant, two in the supply store, thirteen in module trucks, four in their office, and under my supervision I have had fifty-one people through the season. Not numbers that will alter the federal or state unemployment numbers but surprising to say the least.

Krl and I have worked pretty hard getting our reporting done. We are about three quarters through. A good day today and it will be in the books. Two of the girls in the office with their spouses, along with the plant superintendent and his wife, are meeting Krl and I in Midland Sunday evening to enjoy a meal at Abuello's. This is kind of our core group. I help them, they help me, whatever needs to be done it is a team effort. Initially they had invited Krl and I to a Super Bowl party Sunday week but hopefully we will be long gone! I guess this outing will be closure for the season but it also may mark the last time this particular group is in tact. Due to some problems with their supervisor, the girls in the office are certainly open to new employment opportunities. While I hope they are successful in whatever they choose to do it would be sad to lose them.

Krl and I are battling with ourselves. We have a parenting issue that we don't quite know how to address. What do you do when you can see what is going on but your child can't or is not willing to admit it and the child is not a child but a young adult (above legal age). I had hoped we were beyond all this but apparently we are not.

FATHER, I am filled with emotion, relief, joy, elation, and yet other issues make my heart heavy. Thank YOU for allowing me to give it all to YOU to fix. Thank YOU for the tremendous work we have had here. We can see the end and I ask YOUR blessings to get us there. FATHER be with Krl and I as we try to figure out what we need to do as parents. Guide us, direct us. We ask YOUR intervention in this matter. I pray for those needing YOUR healing. Physically, emotionally, spiritually. Surround us, fill us, lift us. I will rejoice in YOUR day!