April 27 – “Evil jalapenos”

Our neighbors behind us put up a privacy fence.  They are planning to put their house on the market, and their realtor suggested it.  Hide the neighbor's trashy yards.  Guaranteed to help sell the house.  Chris was kind of excited.  She said it would give her a blank canvas to work with as we do landscaping back there.   Cailyn came over yesterday.  That meant a morning chockfull of toys and crayons and hugs and walks and swings and dogs and meows that sound more like beows.  We were finally getting down to some serious peanut butter and jelly sandwich action when Mommy got back.    We had leftovers for lunch.  Quite an array of options.  April had spaghetti.  Mom had barbeque brisket.  I had a sausage sandwich.  Mine was a mistake.  The first bite I took had some evil jalapenos in it.  Jalepenos and my stomach have never been on close terms.   It took awhile to hit, but sometime yesterday afternoon I started feeling queasy.  Then it advanced to an inescapable need to rid my digestive system of the offending matter.  Better known by its Latin name: Vomitus spewgutsus hurlus.  That meant the rest of my evening was spoken for.  Sure enough, once the vomiting stopped, my irritable bowel syndrome kicked in.  I was set for another few hours until my entire system cleaned itself out.    I slept fitfully throughout the night.  I do remember eating some ice and then drinking the water that was left after the rest of it melted.  Today was better.  I was exhausted.  And weak.  But I kept down some tea, and then some toast.  Nathan came by around lunchtime with some chicken soup, and that warmed me up.    And then things got interesting.  Seems the other reason Nathan came by was to get a key to Kel and Christina's house.  They were in Houston getting her checked out to see if today would be baby day.  Nathan and April had Jachin and Micah duty, so they had to pick them up from school.  But, I was not to let Chris know anything.  They didn't want to give her any more to worry about.  See, Chris was in Bay City.  Well, technically she was in Houston, too.  Today was her Dad's cataract surgery.  Tomorrow he has to go back to get the patch removed.  And Chris has to drive them.  Later, Kel called and said they were told to leave the office and go walk around somewhere and eat some lunch, then come back in a few hours to see if anything has progressed.  At least he said he was planning to call Chris.  Not long after that I got a text from Chris saying they were at first afraid her Dad had a stroke during surgery because he had some facial drooping, but it turned out to be just effects of the anesthesia.  And she added, "I'm waiting on a call from Kel."  The plot thickens.   Hebrews 4:14-16 says, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."   Father, thank you for understanding my weaknesses.  Amen.