Last Saturday I had to make an emergency 4-hour round trip to pick up Sarah’s college books. Although she had ordered them on time, there had been a snafu somewhere along the College Book Pipeline and instead of them being happily en route to us (as we had thought), they were instead lolling and languishing in a languid fashion on a college bookstore shelf two hours from Manteo.
Which meant they were not going to arrive in time for her first class.
Which meant that our new college student was a wee bit distressed.
So. Mom to the rescue!
I got up extra early Saturday morning so that I could get everything crossed off my lengthy Saturday List. I made up a large pan of baked beans for a Fish Fry Fundraiser we were doing that day for a teen in our church. I put some chicken-y type ingredients together in the crock pot for our dinner, sent the beans out the door with Steve who was headed out to the fundraiser to volunteer all day. (After having already spent 2 hours at the church working on his sermon.) I then headed out to the church myself to wrestle a computer issue to the ground that needed to be fixed before the Sunday service.
I knew I had a limited amount of time to spend on the computer since the college bookstore closed early so I was feeling just a wee bit frantic right off the bat. Things didn’t get much better when I got on the phone with the Computer Guy. He told me to look at the back of the computer and then he let loose with a barrage of mysterious instructional verbiage which included non-comprehensible terms like HDMI, VGA, splitters, media cards, CPU’s, peripheral devices, internal drives, and external devices.
But you would have been so proud of me.
I listened carefully to everything he had to say. I gazed intently at the back of the computer and nodded thoughtfully as he talked. I then marshalled my massive intellectual abilities into the following cogent, intelligent, and impressive response.
“Huh?”
Yep. That’s all I managed to come up with.
Fortunately, he was a Computer Guy of the patient variety and he spent the next hour exhibiting said qualities of patience while he talked me through the various steps that finally yielded a solution.
By that point I was almost running late to get to the bookstore so I had a semi-frantic journey, maneuvering my mini van through all the tourists who were leaving and who were vying for road space with all the tourists who were coming. (Saturday is turn around day on the Outer Banks.)
I managed to make it to the bookstore with a few minutes to spare and nabbed Sarah’s (lolling and languid) books just before closing time. Here’s her first semester stash.
I got home in time to ingest the chicken-y, crock potted ingredients and then headed back to the church to finish the bulletin, the music and . . . wait for it . . . make my way through yet another hour of computer work with yet another Computer Guy.
Fortunately this guy did not require me to look at that scary mass of cables on the back of the computer; he kept everything out front and spoke in a language that I was a little more fluent in.
God bless our Computer Guys!
In other traveling news, I had my Orencia infusion on Tuesday. At the end of the day, as I got near Manteo, I pulled into a gas station and saw . . . wait for it (again) . . . a goat.
Yes. A goat.
Sir Goat was strolling sedately around the gas station parking lot and no one was paying him a whole lot of attention.
I got the feeling that The Strolling Goat was not such an unusual sight in these here parts.
I do have to say though, that the whole time I was pumping my gas, I was keeping out a wary eye for Mr. Goat. I wasn’t at all confident that my Goat Interaction Skills were up to par since I have not interacted personally with any goats in over fifty-two years.
And also?
I saw this sign. Loved it. Had to share it.
And finally, today is Sarah’s second day of college. (She had yesterday off.)
Today she is back to studying Ancient Civilizations before heading off to work.
On Friday, she will have a four-hour class in . . . wait for it (yet again) . . . . kayaking.
Goats and kayaking.
Fun times!
Happy Birthday, Sarah!
Wow Sarah’s books look so interesting, I bet she has a really fascinating semester ahead of her with lots of brain stretching, interesting learning.
Love the goat! Sometimes it is the absurd things that make life so fun. A few minutes ago my husband and I discovered a porcupine in our yard! First time I have ever seen a porcupine in person, although the fella was not nearly as glad to see me as I was to see him. He sort of indignantly waddled away in a huff over to the neighbor’s yard. (Who knew that porcupines move in such a funny way? !)
Tonight I am not feeling very well and my pain is high and I felt discouraged. And then I remembered I hadn’t read your latest blog post and that brightened my spirits. And reading the post and seeing the goat was good medicine! I am sure that I am just one of many whose lives are brightened a bit by your blog. Thank you for writing it and all the effort you put into it. I love reading about your family and stories!
Jenna,
A porcupine? That would be a fun experience. It was obviously our day for interesting animals to appear in our lives. 🙂
Your words about my writing and the sharing of my stories meant so much. Sometimes I wonder if it’s crazy for me to write all that stuff and if it matters to anyone. You are a great encouragement.
Be gentle with yourself and feel much better very soon!
Hugs,
Becky
Very amusing gas station stop, indeed! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Whitney,
Well, it’s not something one sees at just any ol’ gas station, that’s for sure! 🙂
Hey Becky! You Smith’s sure lead a very interesting life. Personally, I’d have had a nervous breakdown if I had a Saturday like yours. My BP and HR would be off the charts and quite frankly had I seen the goat I’d think I was seeing things due to the immense amount of stress the day would’ve caused me. :0)
Speaking of your infusion of Orencia, are you receiving any benefits from the new drug? I recall you mentioning @ first you weren’t and there was talk about stopping it? Or I’m I not remembering that correctly? What about your blood work? How are those platelets?
Sarah, it sounds like you’re off to a great start as a College Gal. Your Professors are lucky to have you in their classes. Kayaking, though? What fun! I believe I mentioned that I kayaked in Antigua many, many years ago and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had (well that and being dumped on the middle of the ocean w/sea turtles the size of 10 y/o’s). Is your kayaking class scheduled four hours once a week? Seriously, I’d have loved to get credit for kayaking when I was in college. I would just have to get passed having to pay to kayak to get said college credits! :0)
It sounds like you are doing great, but all that work @ the Grocery Store AND your classes…it’s a good thing you’re so young.
Have a great weekend!
Love,
Jodi
Jodi,
Thanks for thinking to ask about the Orencia infusions. I have received help from it; I at least feel like the disease is not progressing, which is a good thing, and my pain levels are pretty low on the meds I’m using. My platelets are still low but not continuing to drop so the doctor is just looking at them as my “normal” for the time being and will continue to keep an eye on them.
Sarah’s first kayak class is today so that will be interesting to hear what she reports! 🙂 It’s a four class because it only meets four times–once a week for a month.
She is also doubling up on her work hours over the next few days because they’re in a crunch and need her. She is going to be one (happily) tired gal by the end of next week!
Love the goat just strutting along………. Sounds like sweet Sarah is going to have an interesting year
Becky,
Yes, that ol’ goat was acting like he owned the place! 🙂
wow! I am always in awe of how folks can talk through problems over the phone. I’ve been on the receiving end several times, but now I just rely on Hudson (Mrs. Guthrie’s husband.) I’ve had problems with my tv and remote.. use to be one remote was all I needed, now 2. soooooooooo.. once I spent an hour plus talking to the “expert” who finally told me I would need to spend big bucks to solve the problem. Hudson came over, and SIMPLY pressed the POWER button. good grief!!!!!!
loved the goat, and am glad Sarah got her books, am definitely not envious of her courses… don’t think my brain could handle any of it, including kayaking
Mrs. Pam,
TV remotes and me do NOT get along. My family always laughs at me because I usually need assistance in turning the TV on and/or getting the movie started. Glad you have Hudson in your life!
Wow–I’m very proud of you and impressed that you could wade through all that computer jargon and actually come to a solution. Plus dash off and save the day by procuring the languishing college books–Super Woman lives! In Manteo! 🙂
love deb
Thanks, Deb. I got a tad overwhelmed at times but since I love that kind of stuff it’s interesting to work with a pro on it since I always learn a lot in the process.
If I see Super Woman anywhere in Manteo I’ll tell her hi–because it sure ain’t me!