A Rat--With A Fluffy Tail?

This past week has whirled past...although you couldn't prove it by me. I've mostly been taking it easy, since at this point all you'd have to do is aim a fan at me and I'd probably fall over. My low, low blood pressure has come to haunt me these days, making it difficult to do much of anything for very long if standing is involved.

Cases in point: On Friday, we had the "End of the Year" picnic for our homeschool group. My Darling had to work late on Friday, so it was Me and the Monsters (they're just lucky that I happen to be peculiar and love monsters!), and we trekked to the park where this festive occasion was taking place. We were there for about three hours--I mostly sat and visited with the other Moms, and the Monsters ran wild, as monsters often do. Three hours, and I Was Done, thankyouverymuch. As in, the half-hour drive home seemed more like the 18 hours that it takes to get half way across the country, for Pete's sake.

Saturday dawned, and though we had an obligation that day, we begged out.....because I was still just exhausted. What the heck?! Two garage sales (the rest we just drove past) and I had had all I could take. BUT: The Garage Sale Find Of The Week was a box full of a complete 8 settings of 1960's melamine dishes! Plates, dessert plates, saucers, cups, bowls, sugar and creamer! My Darling insists that they're ugly, but it was...........FIVE DOLLARS!!! I was thrilled. But tired. We went home, and I took a loooooong nap. And this was at only 9:30.

On Sunday, I nearly passed out during Mass. Granted, our Mass is long-ish (although it's longer when Bishop is with us), but you'd think I could handle it, right? Nope. I had to sit down part way through the closing prayer, after doing the "pseudo-kneel" (knees on the kneeler, rump-roast on the pew) through all the prayers leading up to consecration and communion, and selectively standing throughout the rest of Mass. I felt like I was hovering somewhere near myself....my brain felt like mush. I convinced myself that this was all because I just needed lunch. Our Mass begins at 11:00 and is usually out somewhere between 12:15 and 12:30, so the timing was right.

We stopped for lunch and then proceeded to the fabric store so the girls could choose fabric for summer skirts.....and again, I almost hit the floor. Yep, this was not good. We got home a little after 2:00, and I immediately crawled up to the bed and didn't open my eyes again until almost 5:00!

So I've really been taking it easy, because--What Else Can I Do? I know this won't last forever, and I know that usually when God puts this kind of circumstance in my life, it's because I really need to take time to be with Him. I must admit that although my Darling and I have been praying faithfully together every morning, I've felt that it's not been enough....but then I haven't done anything about it, either. It's like getting a call from a friend you haven't seen in a long time who says, "When are we going to get together for lunch??" OK, I can take a hint. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now on to what my children would say is The Business At Hand. Yesterday, I was minding my own business, when I noticed the Frog standing at the end of the couch. There was something brown and furry in her hand, which I barely would have taken note of, since she's always hauling one stuffed animal or another to-and-fro. But this particular little furry thing was, in fact, moving! ACK!!

"Mom!" she says to me, as I'm headed for shock. "We found a baby squirrel!" She says this to me in a voice that is encouraging me to be as excited as she is, so I muster up my enthusiasm and say, "That's great! Get it out of my house!" Mind you, I'm smiling as I say this. Because if I hadn't smiled, I would have sounded way too fierce.

So I followed her out of the house and told the kids they could have a few rags and a box from the garage, but that they couldn't bring the squirrel into or even near the house. I absolutely forbade them to cage it in, but let them know they can make the little house just as nice as they want to. They must wash their hands after handling it, and they should fully expect it to bite them, die or run away at any time.

So far, none of the bad things have happened. They have built a very nice little habitat for their little friend, with a big wooden box on its side, filled with no end of soft leaves and grasses, with the rags inside for him to nest in. He seems to love this. They've been feeding him birdseed, grapes, crackers and raw oatmeal. They have a little jar lid full of water for him. And because he seems to prefer the peanuts in the wild birdseed mixture, they've named him Peanut.

This all happened yesterday, and this morning he was still there--sort of. Peanut had left his little yard and was under the van....but as soon as the Pickle and the Reepicheep got outside, Peanut ran right to them.

The Frog has taken so many pictures there's probably no more memory left on her camera. He is pretty cute, but I'm not touching him.

My Darling says he looks like a rat with a fluffy tail.