I got a great deal on whole pork loins and made a pig of myself.  I refuse to say just how much I bought, but if you are what you eat we’ll all be sporting floppy ears and pig snouts soon.

It was such a great deal that I was planning to do the unthinkable and grind some of this lean, tender premium cut into sausage, but I ran into a problem.  When I pulled the grinder attachment from the deep, dark recesses of my cabinet – the black hole into which seldom used appliances and attachments are inexorably drawn – it was missing parts.

This might be a long shot, but does anyone have a Kitchenaid Food Grinder Attachment that they don’t use, or that is broken/missing parts?  Is anybody a Kitchenaid dealer?  What I’m missing is the “t” shaped blade and the plastic collar that holds the blades in place.  I’m willing to pay for them, but the best deal I’ve found online was $14 plus shipping.  Even if I have to pay that much, I’d much rather give it to a blog friend than a total stranger.

When I left my bag with all my clothes at a friends’ house 10 hours behind us, I said it could only get better.

I may have been mistaken.

This morning, hubby and 5 kids are throwing up.

On the bright side, I’m not throwing up yet.  And only one person has missed the toilet, sink, or puke pot.

And maybe everyone will be better in time for the big river cookout on the rented pavilion tomorrow.  Maybe?

I’m struggling.  I could very easily complain right now.  It would be so, so easy.  But I’ll try to give thanks instead, like this:

I get to buy all new clothes while we’re here in Branson!  Even underclothes, which I really needed anyway.  And hubby will get to buy some new casual clothes, and Bethany will get new dresses.

Because I somehow arrived in Branson with nothing but the clothes on my back.  Even my dirty laundry was in my bag, not with the children’s laundry.   Perry will have his conference clothes when he flies in this afternoon, but I don’t think he wants to lounge on the lake shore in a long sleeve button down and khakis.  Bethany has an extra outfit or two in the diaper bag, but those won’t go far.

I’m not assigning blame until I can confirm that our bag was left at our most recent hosts’ home.  The alternative is that it was stolen from right under our noses while we watched fireworks out front, during the 2 minutes that the back door of our condo was unlocked while the inside was unoccupied.  But that seems highly unlikely since the camera in plain sight on the table was still there when I went around back to let myself in.

On the bright side, the vacation can only get better from here, right?

We’ve had a lovely trip so far.  Everything has gone just right.

We left the house right on time at 5 AM.

We made great time on the drive, and I didn’t do it by speeding.

We had a wonderful visit and tour of Samantha’s blackberry farm!  Her family also had ducks, chickens, turkeys, milk goats, lavender, figs, pomegranates, tomatoes, retired meat rabbits, a guard-pony, and border collies.  Nearly every one of those items were ideas that we are considering for our own homestead, so it was fascinating to see how their family is implementing them.

After the berry farm, we joined the Reins for dinner and lodging.  We’ve had a very relaxing evening getting to know them better.   We enjoyed a delicious dinner, played pictionary for our first time ever, admired their chickens, and noticed that they too have blackberries.  We can’t wait to start some on our land!  Now I’m up much too late kicking myself once again for not getting the camera out.  I suppose I could get it out now, but snapping pictures of our sleeping hosts might not be the best manners.

We’re looking forward to meeting some friends and readers in the D/FW area tomorrow afternoon, but now there might be a new twist.  Does anyone think the possibility of chicken pox adds a little excitement to the event?  Bethany woke up with a bit of a fever Wednesday morning, but it passed.  She’s had a few bug bites on her arms and legs the last few days, but I assumed it was because we sleep with the windows open at home.  Now that we’re away from home the bites should go away, right?

But maybe I should put bug bites in quotes, like this:  She’s had a few “bug bites.”  I’m suddenly not at all sure that bugs are to blame.  Instead of getting better, they seem to be getting worse.  One or two are beginning to look a bit blistery.  And my normally cheerful baby is very clingy and prone to cry.

Here are my observations:

Proof that it’s not chicken pox:

1. She has few or no “bites” on her torso, where chicken pox typically show up first.
2. Although she may have been exposed to chicken pox, it was only in the last few days.  My little nephew was playing with a boy 2 weeks ago, and the boy came down with the pox a day or two later.  Bethany has spent time around my nephew who could be carrying the virus, but the incubation period is typically 10-21 days, so she wouldn’t have time yet to be infected by him.
3. She also has something like heat rash around her neck and diaper area.  Maybe the bigger bumps are part of an allergic reaction?  We’ve been using up an old box of store-bought laundry soap, and she is wearing disposable diapers for the first time in months, though neither one ever bothered her before.

Proof that it IS chicken pox:

1. Her bumps are getting more prominent day by day.
2. She had a brief mild fever.
3. She may have been exposed to somebody with shingles about 10 days ago.   This particular carrier doesn’t often hold Bethany, but though shingles carriers are not highly contagious, they can occasionally transmit chicken pox.
4. Murphy’s Law.

My six oldest children have already had chicken pox.  In all honesty, I would be delighted for my 3 youngest to catch it while they are young.  I’m just not sure I would have chosen this week to do it.  But on the bright side, did you know that if you’ve already had the virus, each exposure acts as a booster to your immune system and reduces your chance of developing shingles later in life?

Does anyone want to join us for a chicken pox party tomorrow?

I’m not ready to proclaim a diagnosis, but it could happen.

We weren’t sure it would happen, but it did.  After all the suspense, our van was ready this morning in time for our scheduled early-afternoon departure.

David Colbath Transmission came through for us.  A few days earlier, they had given us an estimate to replace the torque converter.  It wasn’t the lowest estimate in town, but it was reasonable.  Nonetheless, we decided that we needed to save the money by doing the work ourselves.

That was Plan A, but the parts shop gave us the wrong part.  It looked right and it was close enough to fit, but it didn’t work.   Not only did it fail to work, it damaged other parts.

When we finally brought it to them 3 days later, out of time and with 2 additional repairs needed, we were victims waiting to happen.

They knew we were in a hurry, and they knew we weren’t paying the bill ourselves.  They knew we had practically been given a blank check for repairs.  But they are Christians, and evidently they understand that true religion extends beyond Sunday morning and affects every area of life.

Would you believe that even with the new problems created by our incorrect part, they came in less than $100 over their original quote?  They actually knocked $80 off the bill to keep it at less than $1,000.

We had intended to do the work ourselves and save several hundred dollars on labor.  Instead, God provided the parts and labor.

Man proposes, God disposes.

But you’ll never guess what happened while I was driving the van home from the repair shop.

The plan was to get home, load up, and leave.  The children had everything ready and were waiting like a pit crew.  Then my sister-in-law in Waco called.   We were to spend tonight with them, but it’s not going to work.  They had a mean bug recently, and relapsed.  We don’t want it, and you don’t want it.  We’re keeping our distance.

The children are disappointed, but they’re young.  They’ll learn.  In the meantime, I consoled them with a dollar-menu lunch at Sonic in the nearby small town.  We ate late so we could enjoy half-price Cherry Limeades.

And so we move on to Plan B:  leave bright and early tomorrow.  We’re planning to wake up and leave around 5 AM.

We are not early morning people, so this will be either a brave new adventure or mass torture.  Or both.  Who wants to suggest a cheap, fun place for breakfast?  Maybe a McD’s with a big playplace?  We hope to be passing through the Austin area between 8 and 9 AM.  Unless something unexpected happens.   Nah…

Man proposes, God disposes.