Dec 14 07

December 14, 2007

This has been one of the most miserable days we’ve spent here. We agreed last week to take Cheryl shopping and that might have been OK. We left at 9:30 with Cheryl, Tiffany and Cheryl’s mother, Angeline. Just when we got to Show Low the cell phone rang. It was Dion and Verbena. They had been up all night shopping. One of their purchases was a full sheet cake from Wal-Mart for the Memorial Dinner tomorrow for their baby. They passed us on our way into town and decided we could take the cake home for them. Knowing how much Cheryl buys when we take her shopping, we were skeptical but said OK.

Then we dropped off Cheryl, et.al., and we went to a movie…The Golden Compass. This was the one bright spot of the day, as the movie was entertaining. When we went back to get Cheryl, they were ready on time and had purchased the expected four shopping carts filled to the brim. We did some grocery shopping, too, which we realize was selfish of us. How dare we use space in our own truck! Anyway, there was not room for all their stuff in the back and the cake too. So I ended up driving all the way home with the cake on my lap. The lid came off and we got icky whipped cream frosting all over the truck and us. When we were loading all the stuff into the truck it was freezing cold. Cheryl, Tiffany and Angeline all climbed into the truck where it was warm while we were outside in the cold loading their stuff. Is it just us or is there something wrong with this picture?

Our bad mood may also have something to do with the fact that we are dead tired from making 5 trips to Show Low/Snowflake in the last 4 days, plus we’re going to the temple again tomorrow. We feel like we’ve run ourselves into the ground taking people places and delivering stuff. Robert has loaded and unloaded that truck at least ten times this week. We are definitely looking forward to a break next week.

Anyway, we get home and unload Cheryl, bring the cake to the church for the dinner tomorrow, and unload our stuff. One of our great purchases was at Safeway where they had Coke on sale buy 2 get 3 free. We thought that was a deal, until one of Isaac’s brothers showed up with a 12-pack of Diet Pepsi he wanted to sell us for $5.00. We figure he went to the same sale we did and now is turning a profit on his investment. Did we buy it? Of course! In this neighborhood that’s known as protection money.

Robert had a counseling appointment at 6:00 (didn’t show) and at 7:00. The 7:00 came. While he was counseling Byron, his daughter Kyesha called and wanted me to give her a ride to a slumber party. I really couldn’t because Robert isn’t supposed to be alone with anyone he’s counseling. I might have stretched the rule if I hadn’t been so tired and cold, but I told her no. Then Amber Tessay called. She and her mother, Henrietta, moved to White River a while ago. She wanted us to come to White River tonight and bring them to Cibecue. I told her we couldn’t do that because Robert was counseling and it would just be too late to go clear over there tonight. So then her mother gets on the phone with her whole tough luck story. We’ve heard enough tough luck stories out here to last a lifetime. But she has a lady who can take them to Yuma to see her other daughter who is in the Marines and will only be in Arizona for a few days. I said no again. Then I said if they absolutely couldn’t find anyone else we could do it in the morning. She immediately jumped on that and I found myself committed to meeting them in White River at 8:00 tomorrow morning to bring them over to Cibecue. We have to be back here by 9:00 to pick up Dion and Verbena to bring them over to the church to prepare for the dinner.

We have now flushed both phones down the toilet, locked the gate and are going to bed.