Country Chatter

I love my hubby and I miss him terribly when he is gone but once in a while it is fun when he packs his bags and leaves!  It is amazing how fast I can fill up my social calendar.  Wednesday night we had church, Thursday night I babysat my grandson and tonight I had “girlfriend night”.   I just don’t do that when he is home.   This evening two of my special friends, Donna and Sheila, and I went to a Mexican restaurant.  We sat and talked and laughed until we felt guilty for taking up table space when there was a line of people waiting to eat.  Tomorrow night these gals are coming over for soup and game night.  I have a new recipe I want to try and then we are going to try to remember how to play “golf”, a card game.  My hubby is not a “game” person and only on rare occasion can I convince him to play with me.  I love to play games.

It is funny how different it feels when hubby is gone. The house is quiet, I don’t cook, and everything stays in its place.  There is a different pace and it almost feels  like a vacation to me-as long as things go well. I have had more than one crisis when he was gone.  But, I also know he is coming back home in a few days. It wouldn’t feel so good if it was permanent; the quiet house would be lonely, it wouldn’t be fun to eat by myself and I probably would cherish the thought of being able to pick up a little annoying clutter.

There is also extra work to do when Gene is gone. In fact, it takes several people to fill his shoes. I have to fill the wood furnaces, do the banking, take care of his dog and manage the business all by myself. I do have good helpers and they chip in like good troopers. Sam has had his plate extra full and has had to pull some extra hours  doing his regular jobs plus feeding the cows hay and whatever else pops up that needs to be done.

When hubby is gone he always calls and it is reminiscent of dating days to curl up on the sofa and chat on the phone, catching up on our day.

When hubby is gone I always anticipate his coming home.  It is good to be together again and  settle back into our normal routine.  It always makes me appreciate what he does, who he is and what he means to me.

Occasionally I like when hubby is gone, but what I really love is when hubby is home.  That my friends, is when life is good.

Marriage is the unique blending of two people to compliment each others strengths and weaknesses.  My husband and I have been married over 41  wonderful years.   We have a good marriage but there are some differences between us.

Gene is an early riser,  I am a night-owl.  By the time my head hits the pillow, I am asleep for the night.  He counts sheep in the middle of the night. He is up prowling around, drinking coffee and doing office work during the best sleeping hours of the morning.   But it doesn’t take long after supper for him to crash on the sofa, snuggled in his blanket.  Of course he is not sleeping, he is watching TV!

I on the other hand enjoy my morning snooze.  I hit the floor running and allow just enough time to make my bed, get ready for the day and grab a bite to eat before heading out the door.  The best part of the day for me is after supper.  That is when I kick into second gear and can accomplish a day’s worth of work!

I like  Ranch & Italian dressing, butter,  Pepper Jack cheese, water, leafy green lettuce and anything sweet.  Gene likes French & Thousand Island dressing, margarine, American Cheese, tea, Iceberg lettuce and salty snacks.  My favorite vegetables are edamames, fried okra, and raw vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, radishes, turnips, etc.  He prefers snaps, corn, peas and limas.

I think the biggest conflict of our marriage occurred over “time”.  I like to be early and it did not seem to bother him at all to be late. We have managed through the years to settle into a comfortable routine. I have relaxed and he has improved!

I can go, go go and he prefers to chill, chill, chill.

I do not care for cats or dogs. In fact,  I made him promise before we got married that we would not have an animal in the house. He loves his dog.

He has to have noise when he sleeps such as a fan, TV or air-conditioner. I prefer it dark and quiet.  He likes to  “pile” and I am an organizer. Somehow this “piling” thing has rubbed off on me more than I like.

I am a people person and enjoy teaching, speaking and being involved in many things all at once.  He is at his best with one-on-one relationships and is very content to sit back out of the spotlight.

I tend to say what I think and he thinks what he says. I tend to have good first-impressions of  people but you can “lose” my favor.  With Gene, he holds you on reserve until you earn his approval.

Sometimes we take each other for granted but I wouldn’t trade our marriage for the world.  Our home is a comfortable place for us to be.

How do I begin to write about this intriguing, complicated story!  This afternoon FedEx delivered a box from Husqvarna to us with our computer inside!  At first this was mind boggling beyond description. I had shipped the computer by UPS in a Purina egg basket display box and it is returned by FedEx in a Husqvarna box???!!!

Now we wanted some answers. UPS had told us several hours earlier that Integra (our computer software company) kept the box. Not true. They rejected the package because it was damaged and had been retaped shut and the box was empty–you could tell by lifting it. A search of UPS’s online tracking of our package showed it was being returned to shipper (us).  The vibes from UPS did not feel good. No good answers, conflicting information, and not a feeling of “we really care about your problem and are doing all we can do for you”.  They were very eager to compensate us for their evaluation of our lost…$100!

Our UPS driver told us that all “lost and found” items  immediately go to a big warehouse in Atlanta.  That raised big flags for us. We could visualize miles of rows of discarded items in never, never land. I wanted to fly to Atlanta and look for myself but of course that would probably never be allowed. UPS never asked us for a description of our computer or backup tape.  So how could they search for what was missing?  It gave me zero confidence in their system and their ability to search for or find our computer.

Suddenly today without  warning our computer arrives, bent and somewhat damaged but in one peice.  The big question was how in the world did a computer without our name on it make it back to us by FedEx? We still do not know all the answers. But this is what we do know…..

When I originally packaged the computer, I wrapped it in bubble wrap (the original box was long gone) and taped it securely around the computer.  We had a box we had received parts from Husqvarna in that was a good fit so while Tim, an employee, held the box I attempted to put the computer in it. The box split wide open. We found another slightly larger box-Purina box- and put everything in that box-including the split box as extra packing and filler for the larger box. Then we stuffed more packing around the computer and sealed it with packing tape.  And no, I did not put our name on the computer or insure it for extra. And yes, I put the backup tape in the same box as the computer. And yes, I have learned a few valuable lessons!

Whatever happened along the way we may never know but somehow our package became damaged.  Someone salvaged the computer and the split Husqvarna box with a still in tack FedEx shipping label to us from Husqvarna several weeks earlier.  They retaped the split box shut and shipped it to us with the already used label.

This afternoon we repackage the computer.  This time our name is on the computer and yes, it is insured.  The words “fragile, handle with care” are written all over the package.

With a prayer for safety, our computer is once again on it’s way to Integra.  Now, I have to pray that they can fix the computer and retrieve our information.  The backup tape has not been found.

And now I want to thank God for answering my prayer and for all of you who joined me in praying.  It seems to be only a “God-thing” that our computer made it’s way so quickly back to us.  It was not a twisted fate of luck. God had His hand on our computer. Right now I am not too worried about the next step. I really think they will be able to retrieve our information. After all, God already did what seemed like the impossible!

Sometimes I have this almost irresistible urge when I go shopping to…….

• Throw my trash on the floor.
• Remove labels from the potting plants and throw them on the ground or mix them up-just for fun.
• Set plants on top of other plants or lay them on their side to see if they are hardy enough to survive.
• Remove one plant out of a 4- pack to replace the one I lost at home.  The owners will be happy to share with me.
• Push products around on the shelf  to reorganize the stock or better yet, knock them over.  The “stockers” need something to do.
• Run full speed around the store, play hide-in-seek with or climb on the merchandise.  It would be so much fun to be a kid again.
• Open a bag of candy and taste it to see if I want to buy it.
• Talk really loud on my cell phone while I am shopping so that everyone will know I when I am arriving home for supper or what I am buying in the grocery store.
• Better yet, I will wait until I get to the counter and the clerk is waiting on me.   They won’t mind cause they are chatting with another clerk and will not notice.
• Call the store at 2 AM just in case someone is there to answer my questions. That way I won’t bother them during regular store hours.
• Remove the tags on a product before returning it and rip the box.  The next customer will be delighted to have it already out of  the box.
• See how many pens I can collect to add to my stash at home.

It almost makes me blush to think about it and I would be so embarrassed with myself!  At least I know how not to be!