And he's up, and at 'em. Dang it!

This is getting old. It is getting frustrating. I am becoming exhausted. At one point in my day I seem to have narcolepsy, at another juncture I suffer from insomnia. There is only a brief interlude separating the two. Last evening Krl and I grilled out. I removed the main entree from the grill brought it to the kitchen, went in the living room, sat down in my chair and ....... lights out. Next thing I knew Krl was asking me if I was going to wake up to eat. After supper I watched a little telly and went to bed. By the time Krl came to bed I was already awake. After a couple of fitful hours of tossing and turning, I am up. I don't want to be, but I am.

Maybe I can get a night job.

By the way, the back is much better. After suffering through a miserable day at the office I came home and got a list of errands to do. I ended up walking a good distance, did a little stretching, and administered my own self-help version of Dr. Summer's adjustment and I am much better this morning. Thanks for asking. I just hate it when I got "back".

Monday was just that. I have had better. I have had worse. Surprisingly things went pretty well considering the minimal discussion between the owners and I. We have made tremendous strides in this area. When you have one person doing dispatch, much of their plans are filed away in their brain. This makes it impossible for someone else to help. Earlier this summer we went to a dispatch board and that has helped some. The only problem with a board is that you must be disciplined enough to update it everyday. The easy part is the regular scheduling, the hard part is the add ons and "hot" loads that receive the ASAP distinction. It's not a perfect world but we are working toward it.

KO and DO had to have their oldest child at the day surgery facility at five-forty-five Monday morning. They had to get up at four to make all their preparations and the drive into town. The procedure went well, about eleven o'clock they made it back to their home. They got the boys settled and made a quick appearance in the office, then left to grab a nap. I do not know how they can sleep with phone ringing. (They have the office lines in their home also). During their brief appearance they told me to "run it, give them whatever they need to do the job". Just before I left the office, they came back. You can imagine KO's dismay when he looked at the dispatch board and I had him down for two am. cans. "Aah Nnoo. No. I don't think so", he replied. I told him there was no way I could run the thing if he wasn't going to cooperate. Of course TJ and DO were giggling because they knew I was just putting KO through the paces. Actually I had a driver who had worked through the front end of the weekend that I was allowing to rest up for the two am. cans. Heh, heh. Golly this is fun. Now I know the feeling of elation and power that Dumbya, I mean Dubya, must feel! I need a five week vacation too.

Over the weekend I faxed contracts for my core client to their fall customer. We had hashed out the deal, it was just getting the language right. By nine-thirty yesterday morning I had the signed copies back. That is a good feeling.

In closing that deal I was on the phone several times with the GM. He was telling me they had received nine inches of rain since Friday evening at six pm.. When I visited there in June many of the farmers gave me ideal timelines for rainfall. All these have been met. Things are looking good. When the GM says things are looking good you can count on it because he is a pessimist. On one phone call I spoke briefly with Kristi in the office. I work very closely with the Plant Superintendent Frankie, and Kristi and Becky in the office. It has to be a pretty monumental happening if we take it up the chain to the office manager or GM. Last year I had popped off and made the statement that if we busted 100,000 bales, my client would buy them bikinis and send the office girls to Mexico for a week of R & R after the season. We did 89, almost 90,000. Yesterday Kristi told me that she and Becky were going to start going and tanning for their trip. I told her that we would have to find them their new bikinis because we can't have tan lines! We had a good laugh. They are going to Ruidosa later this week for a training school. It's about that time. Right now the crops need sunshine and heat.

Krl had mobile veterinary come to the house yesterday. Nothing major, the hound boys and girls needed some shots and a petticure (to humans that would be a pedicure). The Vet and two assistants came. Krl said they did a health screening and checked all of the hounds out. They said the older hounds were pretty healthy for a bunch of geriatrics! They couldn't believe how well behaved the hounds were (even Maple Syrple). Anyhow, they are working things out to catch all the hounds up on their shots. That is one of the problems with having a litter, the expense hits all at one time, the money straggles in.

I talked briefly with Memama. She was telling me how well Meme and Dandy had done selecting Reid's gifts. One of them is his favorite! I hadn't talked with Memama in a week or two. Usually you have to go through Pepa and sometimes that is difficult. She sounded good. Kyle Patrick Henry was out there so I guess he and Pepa had some kind of project going. Memama filled me in on some health issues for her sister Bets. She had a biopsy and preliminary report was not malignancy but "suspicious" cells. They were going to remove the tumor as a precaution. Memama said Bets was doing pretty well but she was concerned. Memama asked me to add Bets to my blog capsule prayer.

I am concerned for Krl. She tells me she just doesn't "feel right". Her stamina is gone, she is constantly dizzy, and she hurts. She is always tired. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

I am constantly amazed at GOD's nature. How insects, plants, and animals "know" when and what to do. They put back for the winter. They begin to burrow. They reproduce to preserve life. They cycle. They die. And it all begins again. How do they know. What do we know. Are we freaks of nature? As an intelligent lineage do we work within nature or do we ignore it. Are we a learned species. Love seems to be a natural reaction. Is hate learned? Is bias? Is prejudice? I think back to our SS book, The Way of the Heart. Solitude. Silence. Prayer. Maybe we need to back off. Take some alone time. Shut up and listen. And talk, with the master designer who created this remarkable, beautiful, astounding, majestic place.

FATHER, thank YOU for a good start to the week. I thank YOU for the relief from my back pain. I ask for a blessed day today. May YOU reign in me. I continue to thank YOU for Krl and I pray for her healing and renewal. FATHER I thank YOU for YOUR wonderful gift of rain, here and across the area. I thank YOU for blessing my farming family and friends at Roscoe, St. Lawrence, and Coyonosa with such tremendous crop potential. I ask YOUR continued blessings upon their efforts that they might have a good harvest. Help them to be good stewards of YOUR earth. Help us to be ever mindful that YOU are good and it is through YOU that all blessings flow. FATHER, I pray for Addie, Memama, Pepa, Hag, Bets, B., Lillie, Aimee, Jennifer, Ashlyn Kate, Jess, Dr. Mackie, Jeanine, Verlin, S.T., and Karen. I ask YOUR gifts of healing for them. I pray for comfort for those who are hurting from loss. I pray for resolve for those of us who struggle to follow YOU. I pray for our spiritual family and our leaders. I pray for the efforts being made to expand YOUR kingdom. Oh to be like YOU!