Termites are so much fun . . .

If you believe the subject line, I might have some swamp land property to offer, too! We first got notice of the unwelcome critters when we discovered they had actually eaten a noticeable chunk out of the baseboard in my daughter's room. Fortunately, they were able to treat just the wall and, for the sake of prevention, sprayed our attic and the perimeter of the house. We were offered a yearly 'membership' for $250 which would give us an annual check up and treatment as needed. We weren't sure but decided to go for it. Best decision of our life.

Given the extensive treatment of last year, we were pretty sure the $250 payment would remain just a fee without a benefit. Wrong! The termites came in through a drain line that was outside the house BUT up against the wall of an inside closet. Uh, this is my craft/junk closet so you can imagine how much I enjoyed my husband the the termite guy pulling out the piles and piles of stuff. Sigh . . . Guess what, that closet is near perfection today. Do you think the termite guy was sent by my guardian angel to finally bring organization to that portion of my life?

Hard to figure . . .

When I was about two weeks away from delivering my fourth child, I got an unexpected visit from an unpopular relative. She had actually brought a gift for the unborn baby and addressed it in the name of the baby we had named and lost the year before. It was like she figured we'd recycle the name until we had a live birth of a male child. It was not a calming influence on an already nervous mother to be. I had a bad fall the next day and went into labor two days after Christmas and had an uneventful birth and a healthy baby.

The odd part followed. Every year, we go to the trouble of calling each and every sibling and parent and wish them a Merry Christmas. Giving the pre-Christmas trials and tribulations and the pending delivery, we never got around to it. We found it a bit disheartening that not one of the relatives called us either. We have stopped calling and they don't seem to notice. Guess we get extra blessings for having made the effort?

I've run into that with casual friendships over the years, too. It must be a frequent quirk among more people than just family. It is really kind of sad that in this turbulant world of ours, people can so easily let go of relationships. This actually happened to us this year but we must have 'grown up' a bit because we just shook our heads and went on with life.

We had one of those Christmas holidays which was preceded by the onslaught of a leaky roof, an unexpected dental bill, and a termite invasion. We missed out on connecting with a lot of people with all this going on. A few of them didn't notice so I guess we were subtly informed that the friendship wasn't really there. It's a strange world which is probably what hones our sense of humor! :-)

Have still been busy with sewing, crocheting, and trying to sell my items on-line. I feel a great need to pad our emergency fund!