Aug. 18, 2004 ~ Blessings and challenges
My friend Becky recently wrote about blessings and challenges. This month has certainly been filled with both.
The blessing is that College Boy is in college (or will be next week, when classes start), that he is healthy, and that he has a safe, fairly reliable car to drive. He was just home for a visit, and it was great to see him. While he was here, Husband changed the oil in the car. And in doing so, he noticed that a couple of tires were in bad shape and would have to be replaced. So we got that taken care of, though it was an unexpected expense. It's one of those things you can't really put off. We also got the car inspected and put new license plates on it. Again, all very necessry. What really WASN'T necessary, though, was the speeding ticket Son just received, on his way back to school. It will cost as much as the new tires and the alignment we just had done.
In theory, he should pay for the ticket himself. In reality, he doesn't earn enough to make ends meet, as it is. So I am trying to decide exactly how this qualifies as a blessing. Usually, receiving such a ticket makes a person slow down, if they were speeding. They are more careful, at least for a while. In this case, though, Son wasn't trying to speed. He thought he was going under the limit. He was driving in an area where the speed limit frequently changes and he must have missed a sign. He was trying to be careful; it was a mistake. It is hard to be angry at someone who says they are sorry and explains it this way. We've all made similar mistakes. Sometimes we get caught, sometimes we don't. Still, it's another unexpected expense at a time when we are already stretched to the limit. Past the limit. Son's school, like most of the public colleges and universities in Texas, recently experienced a large increase in tuition and fees. In this case, it was significant. Last spring's loan check covered all of his tuition and fees, with a little left over to help with books. This semester's check left him about $750 short just for tuition and fees. Nothing left over to help with books ($400) or anything else.
He is working, and borrowing the maximum amount, and it is nowhere near enough for him to live on. How do people do this? We did not save nearly enough, obviously. His college fund was used up the first year! We borrowed to pay for his second year, and now he's doing the loans and working, and we're making up the difference. Kicking in something for living expenses each month, too. A friend who works full-time says that her entire paycheck goes to pay her college student son's living expenses. He has college loans, too, and is also working. So looking at it from that point of view, we are blessed! It could be worse! I am disappointed about the ticket, though. Auto insurance will likely go up, too. Which brings me back to the original question... how, exactly is this a blessing? Will he be more careful, more watchful of the speed limit signs? Will it perhaps prevent an accident? One never knows.
Another challenge/blessing. Meadow, the world's cutest dog, is barely out of her puppyhood and still loves to chew on everything. Sunday night I found her chewing a piece of plastic, and took it away from her. That's when I noticed the smell. Poison. Thinking at first that it was rat poison, I was terrified! Then I calmed down enough to realize that it wasn't that, but it still smelled like poison. The bug strip! Years ago we'd put up a bug strip in the barn, in an effort to cut down on flies. It hung high in the rafters, and we just forgot about it. If you aren't familiar with this, a bug strip hangs in a cardboard container filled with holes, and the insecticide wafts out into the air for several months. The cardboard had given way and the strip must have fallen to the barn floor. This thing had to be something like 5 or 10 years old; I'm not even sure they still make them. So it was probably harmless, but Meadow had chewed off a couple of chunks of it. Didn't know if she had swallowed them or not. Dr. Susan was not at home, and she didn't answer her cell, so I wound up calling a different vet, who thought Meadow would probably be fine if she did not show symptoms within an hour. Later I did talk with Susan, who disagreed with the other vet, and thought we should watch Meadow for about 12 hours. Of course, I deferred to Susan's judgment. So I didn't get much sleep Sunday night, being worried about Miss Meadow dog. And checking on her, looking at her pupils, seeing if she was trembling. All was well. The blessing was that she came through it okay, and it has made me realize that we will need to go through the barn and house and check for other such forgotten dangerous/poisonous items. We don't want our other pets or visiting children to be in danger.
Well. All these challenges are of the type that can be fixed, and for that I am grateful. That truly is a blessing. A friend's mother recently died, and I'm sure my friend would trade challenges with me, if only she could.
A heifer calf was born today. Meadow was giving her a hard time, picking at her. I told Meadow to behave herself. In a week or so, the calf will be able to hold her own against Meadow. Till then, the dog had best leave her alone. Mama cow doesn't appreciate the dog bothering her baby; neither do I.
I think I will go outside and play with Meadow. She's probably lonesome.
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