Today the sun is shining

OK, enough of the dreary posts, y'all are gonna think I am just a hateful person. Summer just got here it seems and already we are gearing up for convention and getting the kids back to school. Aug 17th! I know! Early start this year. That means I will move to my daystaff position earlier than I thought. No big deal, the kids and I have worked out a schedule enabling me to manage school, daycare and work all at the same time. Only problem I can foresee: cooking! I am so bad at preparing meals, I could burn orange juice. The four of us will figure it out and I always have Clyde to clean up the stuff not fit for human consumption. Everyone is pretty wore out from a busy week. Luckily I have a job so I can go and relax. =)

Will the drama never end?

So, what an interesting weekend! I got to make a flash trip to Iowa of all places to pick up some friends who had a loss of vehicle casualty while coming coast to coast. What a place to be stranded, unless of course you REALLY like corn fields. HAHA Well, picked them up, brought them as far as Ohio and working on getting them home to upstate NY. Thats the premise of this story and really, it is all people should care about. Sadly, there are quite a few folks who feel as though this was... I don't know, wrong, or inappropriate, or whatever. Apparently, men with a week off should not go on overnight rescue missions and women who are stranded should not have male friends who are wiling to pick them up and help them out. So, is chivalry actually dead or are we just supposed to be so independent that asking for help is out of the question?

I think life is so full of twists and turns that having close friends is one of the things that helps our sanity stay intact. We all went to Sunday morning meeting yesterday and yet within an hour the phone was ringing off the hook voicing disapproval of the situation; as if a dead car was planned, as if there were an easier option, as if they should not have called and I should not have offered assistance. Bottom line: Somebody's business still remains their own business, and everyone else's opinion and meddling does not belong ANYWHERE in the situation. I wish people could understand this because someday they too will experience a difficult situation and have to make choices that are less than desirable and wouldn't it be nice to have a friend to call who would be willing to help out? Those people out there who feel offended by this post, I am sorry for any hard feelings that exist and I hope that all of this blows over soon.

The kids and I have enough to deal with without having people feel that I am making wrong choices. As a man, I feel it is my duty to help out wherever I can. I am able and willing, I wish we all were.

Today is beautiful here and I will relax on the tractor for a few hours. Please, if you are someone who feels connected somehow to this situation and really aren't, just stop and think about the results in people's lives that can come from meddling and gossiping behind their back. Just leave it alone, please, so the rest of us can move on without the baggage and the hard feelings. It is getting difficult to keep a right spirit knowing people who once were your friends are now so judgmental and opinionated. If the shoe doesn't fit you, if you are not here right now, if you only heard the story through the grapevine and especially if I have never met you, try to find something in your own lives to be judgmental about.

Where a few of His own are gathered together, that is where His Spirit will be. Take care, Arlen

Summer days are here

Ryann and Elena stay dry under my USEC umbrella during an early July thunder boomer and PJ thinks her pool is a blast!

I am in no mood for drama

I want to start this out by saying I am so thankful for the support that has been shown to my family this past year and especially these past few months. There has been so many kind words of encouragement and blessings from family and friends alike. This picture was taken around our 9th anniversary in WA state. Jess, I will love you forever.
Now to the meat of the post:
Seems as if there is a lot of behind the scenes chit-chat about what is going on on Ramey Ridge and although many of you have never been here or maybe have never even met me, I seem to be catching on to some disturbing conversation. I suppose there is some speculation and wondering (which is normal I think) about what the future holds for my little family. Truth is, I don't know either and if I try to recall what I did last time I was going through this situation I hit a brick wall, 'cause guess what!? I've never been here before! I've never had to choose which watch to keep; the one I gave Jess for our anniversary, or the one the girls might like to wear someday, or the one that still has an operating battery? I've never had to consider where to keep Jess' sketches and where to send Paige for daycare and how can I work 40 hour weeks and still be a good,single, struggling father. Will I ever get married again and will I choose right the way I did the first time and is there even a woman out there who would be willing to jump into a ready made family? And yet, on top of these mind boggling questions I hear through the wind that there are people out there who have a pre-conceived idea about what I should or shouldn't be doing, or who I should or shouldn't be talking to, or what I should or shouldn't be spending my time doing. As if anyone else has a clue! At this point, I am only ready to take advice from my a very select few, those that have suffered through this experience and can help shed some light on my darkness. For all the nay-sayers out there I politely ask to mind your own business and just leave these things in God's hands as I am trying to do. He is the only one that knows what part I have in His plan and I would really appreciate all those "helpy-helperton's" out there who think they have something to say or think they are protecting someone to please find some peace in knowing that in my house, we will serve the Lord. He has helped me so much through these months and I trust He will continue to show me where to turn.

To my own family, thank you for respecting my space and although we are spread abroad, I feel the bond that ties us and value your love. Our family extends from South Carolina to Alaska, from Ohio to Australia, from San Diego to Iowa, Idaho to Minnesota. May each in our place serve faithfully in the place we have been given.

Recent pictures around the house

Our corn is taller than me now and Ryann is learning to drive the old 8N, still working on that clutch foot.

Shingles done and Siding going up

Finally got the Cabin roof up

Had the whole crew out today 7/1/10, and my shift supervisor came out and roofed the cabin in no time. A lot accomplished in a short time, just a few days past 3 weeks.

Man toys

Some things I spend time with that I have man-affection for