Sometimes you have to just back off.

Earlier in the week, Krl and I were gathering things for the seasonal jobsite. She has spent a great deal of time filing and purging files. It is unbelievable how much paper this little company can generate. I'll bet we have sacrificed several trees. If it is any indication, we do not buy individual three ring binders, we buy them by the case.

I told Krl that we needed to register some equipment that had been purchased and we would need the titles to do so. She promptly got up and went out of the room. In a few moments she returned, handing me a folder titled vehicle information. I opened it and inside were registrations, sales affidavits, and titles. I quickly went through and began pulling items. When I reached the back of the folder, I began looking through it again. There was one very important title that I had not found. It was for a trailer Krl had purchased. It was also a title that had not been transferred. And to make a bad situation much even worse, it was a Wisconsin title. We literally tore the office apart. No title. We began looking through other possibilities. No title. Krl would ask me, "Didn't you take that title to ............. ". to which I would reply "No".

We went through this self torture for two days. I began checking e-mails to see if I still had the information and the contact we used when Krl bought the trailer. Much to my dismay, I had deleted the info. On the third day, I had been out and about, and when I got home for the evening I sat down in my chair and told Krl, "I located the green slip (an inspection required for application of Texas title), so we have the make, model, and vehicle identification number, but I no longer have the e-mails or contact numbers from the purchase." I continued, "The only thing I remember is the title came Fed-Ex." Immediately she got up and returned to the office, reached into one of the tub files and extracted a Fed-Ex envelope. She handed it to me and I quickly opened it. Viola! The lost title was found!

And we rejoiced!

We had been bearing down too hard. We both had been in that tub file. We both had glided right over the file with the Fed-Ex envelope. For whatever reason, the envelope had been opened, and filed instead of being opened, the contents extracted, and filed with all the other vehicle info.

We were so close to the forest we couldn't swing our axe, we had just been flailing.

Yesterday morning I waked, did a quick check of e-mail and faxes, and returned to loading the trailer. I was disconnecting the power cord from the travel trailer when I realized it was not registered, the truck was only an hour away, so I made a break for the tax office. In a quick dash in and out of the tax office, I returned home in plenty of time to get the tag on before the big truck got there.

We hooked up and Alberto left. I followed in short order. I had several stops to make enroute. I was closing some bank accounts, or drawing them down as I went. The threat and past actions from my nemesis have made me grown very apprehensive and I know from past experience he has and will use his influence on either side of the legal and ethical line if it helps him meet his goal. I don't have a whole lot, but I would like to keep what I have.

I continued to the seasonal jobsite, just catching up with Alberto as he arrived. I picked him up and we went down the road to the produce shed and just as we were turning in, Billy was driving up with a load of forklifts. We helped him to the docks and unloaded and I drove one forklift back to the jobsite to use to put the trailer in place.

I kept Alberto and Billy there until we placed and leveled the trailer then I sent them on their way. I put the porch in place and did a makeshift fence. It was a busy day. It was getting to be near dusk when I put my pickup in the wind and headed for Abilene. I had forgotten my fuel card for the jobsite, so I decided to stop at Wal-Mart to get fuel. I got in the shortest line, took my turn, and it turned out that pump was out of order. Further down the road I stopped again. The second stop yielded enough fuel to get home.

I was a spent puppy when I walked in. I had begun to wonder from Trent on, if I was going to make it home before I had to stop and take a nap. Of course I wasn't overly smart. Instead of ingesting a carbonated drink with caffeine, I downed two bottles of Gatorade on the way in.

So, today we are planning on returning to the jobsite. Today is prep day for the festival. Actually preparations have been going on all week. Today they will make ten thousand pounds of sausage complete with the parish's secret spices, the women and children will make preparations in the gymnasium, the two halls, and on the parish grounds for tomorrows festivities. This afternoon, they will gather around barbecue pits and eat ribs and sausage and imbibe in a few donated kegs of spirits. Today is their festival because tomorrow they will all be working.

Krl and I have found we enjoy the day before the festival more than we enjoy the festival. Today everyone can socialize and visit. Tomorrow, they are busy and we are just two of the three thousand people who will attend. So mark your calendar for Sunday October 5, the 52nd St. Lawrence Fall Festival, sausage, barbecue, baked goods, raffles, games and auction. All to benefit the parish.

Krl and I will be returning home either tonight or tomorrow.

And I see a couple more trips out next week before we make the move.

Memama had another fall Thursday night. Pepa said before they went to bed she was in the same place in the house and fell backward. I told him maybe it is a little uphill right there. She didn't suffer injury although this time she did turn over a couple of chairs trying to catch her balance. Yesterday morning they made the trek to Brownwood to see Dr. Tindol's assistant. They did a battery of test and made some medication changes. They scheduled her a return visit for the 17th.

Memama and Pepa stayed in town to watch the Lions play last night. Funny how that worked out!

At my stop at the bank in Roscoe I got to see K.J., one of the employees from the defunct family business. It had been about a year since I had last seen her. It got me to thinking, it has been over a year since I last saw my "little bulldog employee" from the business, K.A..

Hope your week was a good one!

Have a weekend!

FATHER, forgive us when we fizz. Grant us YOUR patience, YOUR peace. We lift up Memama to YOU, that the changes they made in her meds will be good. Peace, perfect Peace!