We had a wonderful evening last night.

We had dinner guests over. Ln and Christian. Ln has been helping her Meme this summer and last week she asked her Meme if they could come over and eat with us. She even chose the menu.

Meme's spaghetti! That has been one of her favorites since she was in a high chair.

On Monday I had begun gathering the parts of the meal. Meme is partial to one particular kind of spaghetti sauce, and I have been able to find it at only one store in town, even though I have made repeated requests for our regular store to stock it. For a while they did but during the makeover, they ran out and no longer stock it. Ragu Green Peppers and Mushrooms. I went to the store where I had bought the last several jars only to find they didn't have it either. However they had a "house" brand Green Peppers and Mushrooms. I bought three jars of it, hoping it was close.

Of course Meme adds a pound of ground beef and some more sliced mushrooms, seasons it with a little oregano. Ladle it over some angel hair pasta and grab a slice of garlic bread and you have a meal.

Magnifico!

Our scheduled meal was almost rescheduled. The little wild man truck driver had called me Monday, telling me his air conditioner was out. He was in Laredo, and the closest Volvo dealer was in Pharr. He found a line that had rubbed a hole in it and I figured the odds were against a dealer having that particular line in stock. I called the Volvo dealer in Abilene and had them order the line. I also set up an appointment for 10 Tuesday morning to have it put on. Krl did some re-arranging and got the little wild man a load to Early.

It appeared everything was going to fit.

Krl and I talked and decided we would pay for a motel room for the driver, opting to keep him as fresh and happy as we could.

As it turned out, the driver over slept and was late getting to his off load site, which made him wait in line. Long story short, he didn't make his repair appointment. He arrived at 11:30, an hour and a half late. Of course he didn't bother to call and tell anyone he was running late.

When I left the parts store to go to lunch I called Krl to see if she had heard from the little wild man. She hadn't, but decided to call him. She and I both were figuring time lines in our heads because the little wild man had a loading appointment at 3 in Lubbock.

I had gone to Memama's and was helping her, setting the table, icing glasses, and such when Krl called and told me, "They aren't going to get him out of the shop until after three!"

I rushed from Memama's house, got in my pickup and made a mad dash for Abilene. In an hour and forty-five minutes I made the round trip, loaded his personal items, plus his tarps and accessories, and put him and them into another truck which was at Roscoe.

On the drive back I began to suspect something was rotten in Denmark. He told me his daughter and grandsons had made a surprise visit to Lamesa yesterday morning. L know how much this man has been wanting to see his "boys".

Just before I left him, he called the loading facility to let them know he was running late. When he got off he told me they said he had to be there by three thirty.

I called Krl and she called the shipper and they said that was bunk, they would load him if he was there by four thirty.

I think the little wild man wanted to go by the house and spend the night with his boys. I told him, he had loads to pick up everyday of this week and through Tuesday of next week. If he missed this one, his whole week went down the tubes.

Reluctantly, the little wild man made a bee-line for Lubbock.

He did get to go by Lamesa to see his boys, his daughter and his wife, plus grab a shower and a meal before hitting the road to make his drop and pickup for today. He should be back through Lamesa again tomorrow.

What this dilemma did was make it necessary for me to make up the extra forty-five minutes I took in extended lunch hour, so I called Krl and asked her to back up the schedule, I wouldn't be leaving the parts store until just before six.

By the time I had run my daily errands when I returned to Abilene, I arrived home at 7:30. When I walked in, I found Ln, Christian, and an added bonus, Kat. By the time it was all said and done, we had nine guests for the evening.

Trc came over and brought their five puppies!

It was great. Good food and good company! We laughed and talked of Ln's spaghetti shirt when she was little!

By the way, Ln cooked and prepared the whole meal under her Meme's close supervision. Let me tell you, the girl can fix a salad too. Lettuce, grape tomatoes, and diced bell pepper.

Excellent.

I hadn't talked with Rian since Brownwood until late yesterday. His summer is compressed into the four days between Brownwood and departing for "Camp Following" on Thursday. This will be his second church camp of the summer. This camp their high school students serve as instructors and counselors for the younger campers from Greenlawn. The guys will go up on Thursday to near Las Vegas, Nm. where the camp is located. They will begin making ready for the campers, cleaning and preparing facilities and laying in groceries and supplies. This is the last year for this camp to be held at this location. Next year it will move to Pine Springs, where the other camp is held.

Rian had told me he had given $1200 in scholarships to youth who wanted to go to camp but couldn't afford to go. Some of these are the students Rian has been taking from Dunbar to Wednesday night church. After the money was gone for scholarships, Rian had three more kids express an interest. Two who usually attend camp but had not signed up. When he called them to ask why they weren't going, they told him money was tight with the economy the way it is and one of their sacrifices was camp.

Rian got on the phone and called the man who had collected the scholarship money and told him, "I need more scholarship funding!"

This man told him, "I gave you $1200 bucks, surely you haven't used it all!"

Rian assured him he had, but he needed three more scholarships. The man told Rian that was great! Two hours later they had funding for the final three to go to camp!

One thing I really like about what Rian is doing is that the kids on scholarships have to pay $10 of their camp fee. I think this is good because they fell like they have contributed and aren't just charity cases. The other thing is, this kids will always remember someone took the time and trouble to go the extra mile.

This morning Rian called me and he was at Sam's picking up the canteen items for next weeks camp. Friday Sysco Watson foods will deliver all the groceries for the week to the camp.

This morning I noticed that "Journey Church had signs up advertising services. I am very intrigued.

Well, have a day!

FATHER, thank YOU for days like yesterday that make me excited for today! You are good!