90% Chance of Confusion, I think, I dunno, I can't remember...

What's today? Day Three? Or Day Four? Or by now, it's the eve of Day 4. I have a feeling I am not going to keep up with the numbering the days thing. Like Arvin is at this point, I am losing track of what day it is. He said he is already finding himself telling people to "Have a good night", even if it is daytime. :) This discombobulation has me wondering if we were ever really combobulated in the first place.

I was planning on having posted a bit earlier than this, but this has just been a very discombobulating 24 hours actually. Arvin woke up around 1:30 yesterday after a good solid stretch of sleep to find a voice mail from the contractor that they were cancelling that night's work because there was a 90% chance of rain. Well, shucks. NOW what do ya do? A half dozen phone calls later and it was what it was. He stayed home and we looked out the window wondering when that rain was going to come. Turns out, we'd have been waiting a long time because it didn't come really until the wee hours and we both imagine that they'd have been able to accomplish at least most of their work for the night. Ah, but that's how these things go sometimes, I suppose. It was nice to have my man snoring beside me last night.

Both Thomas and I suggested to him that he might want to maintain his schedule as much as possible and stay up as late as he could, but when the pillow beckons, Arvin is not one to resist.

Then the funny thing was that he had a meeting called by his boss for today at 1:00. I said, "Doesn't she know you work nights?," rather cheekily. Evidently, this "nights" thing pretty much means whenever, wherever, and be ready to work basically 24/7, as needed. Oh, and the days you work might be flexible too because now that they didn't work last night, they may add an extra night tomorrow night. I can sense that this is going to be lots and lots of fun. That is if you totally like living with an uncertain fate. :)

But there are perks too. Yes, I can hear my Dad in my head, "Like a paycheck". Yes Dad. But also time...Today, Arvin got to come along on Norah's class field trip to the High School's Agricultural Fair. It was lots of fun and great that he got to be there and share the memories. We were assigned the sweetest, best behaved and most lovely foursome of little girls in the class (God Bless that teacher!) and we didn't lose a single one! We watched log bucking, archery, and fishing, and got to pet cows and horses and bunnies, and we got to look at pigs and sheep and all sorts of critters. I was impressed by the high school students running the demonstrations. They were very smart, kind, prepared, and knowledgeable. Their parents and teachers must be very proud.

I had an eye exam today and Arvin was also able to be home to watch Norah while I went to do that. I have taken her along with me to that appointment several times before, and it's very do-able, but not particularly easy for either her or me. So it was a blessing that she got to stay home and play while I took care of that.

A recipe called "Loaded Potato Chowder" and whole grain rolls were for dinner tonight and when it was time to say good-bye, that sinking fog sensation did not roll in...the one that echos "this is too hard". That was good. That was a blessing. But it's relative, "I hate good-byes" did whisper in my brain. Why did that pop in? He was just going to work, that happens all the time. And I remembered that little bit of myself, from way back, and why it is that I flinch at good-byes, why I hate watching the last episode of anything, why I cried even when I left a job that I really wanted to leave...When I was a little kid, I packed and moved a lot. And having stability really meant a lot to me then and obviously still does today. So sometimes even packing for a much anticipated vacation or saying "Have a good day at work honey", gives me butterflies. But only sometimes. God has done quite a healing work in my life in that area and will be faithful to complete it.

I didn't come across a Scripture verse today that seemed to just pop out out "nowhere" and soothe my mental hiccup. So I will offer instead one of my favorites, one of many, that reminds me of my husband as he works tonight on the highway:

"Go out! Prepare the highway for my people to return! Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders; raise flag for all nations to see."

Isaiah 62:10 (NLT)

Amen!