Be careful what ya ask for.  Ya just might get it.

Woke up at 8:40 A.M.  Terrible idea.  Had breakfast, went back to bed.  Woke up at 11:10 instead.  So much better.

Ran a few errands.  Opened up a checking account in town.  Called about my car...still in the shop.  Been there since Thursday!  I forgot to write about that one, I think...more or less, it's in for rear pads, but I found out on Friday that the brakes need more work...the calipers are rusted shut!  More money than I have to spend with tax-time, so yeah, I told 'em to put it back together...we'll see how much they charge me for that.

Life happens.

Got a phone call this morning while sleeping...I missed it.  I called it back.  It was the lady whose house I was at last night...

"Hey, now you don't have to if you don't want to, but I was talkin' with my husband, and we think you were serious...."  And on she went about how they wanted to take me up on my offer yesterday.

I told 'em if they had any work to do, I would be more than happy to come out and do it.  So at 2:00, after my errands, I headed 10 miles out in the country...

And I worked.  And I worked.  And I worked.  I cleared off 2 inches of topsoil, then hauled it out to a prairie.  I moved bricks.  I took apart a huge burm flowerbed...with three rails high of railroad ties all around.  Old, wet, and incredibly heavy railroad ties.  I unloaded cattle feed.  I dug a foot-deep flowerbed.  In clay, not Illinois dirt.  Some shale.  Some dry, some wet.

Of course, I had great help, and frankly, they were a great inspiration!  I had the family helpin' out (home-schooled, great kids, crazy hard workers!), and they kept me goin'!  They didn't know how to stop!

But I was spent.  I actually reached the point of total exhaustion in my arms!  I had pried some of the ties apart with a huge crowbar (they were nailed together).  And then we had to lift the wet logs.  We needed two guys on each of the ties, and there were times where I physically could not lift the ties anymore.  We had to take breaks, work up some motivation, then throw all our strength at it.  After several hours, I was sooooo tired in the arms.  We loaded 'em on a truck, went and unloaded 'em, then came back for more...thousands of pounds altogether!

But the kids were still truckin'!  Dad had come home, and the sun was still up, so we kept working!

A great day, for sure!  I have actually missed working.  That's a funny statement to say, but it's so true.  It's so nice to do something, to be used, to not sit around at the airport, to look back and have accomplished a task!  Shoot, I could get used to that type of stuff.

You get to a point where you just want to work!  I want to do something!

Well, with the sun goin' down, we went in for supper.  And let me tell you, this was a little taste of heaven on earth.  The best way to describe it is to picture any movie with the Southern-style Thanksgiving meal goin' on...never-ending...absolutely incredible.

I had home-made mashed potatoes, home-made chicken and noodles, home-made salad, home-made bread, tea...and two helpings of all of the above.  And then I took a breather.  But much to my surprise, it wasn't over.  Then they brought out home-made coconute creme pie.  And coffee.

Wow.  We had 10 of us around the table, and it was nothing short of amazing!!!  I loooooooved it!

I stayed at their house 'til 10:20 P.M., then headed back for the airport.  I was covered in dirt, I pulled two ticks out of my hair, but I felt great.

No more sittin' around at the airport.  Life is meant to be doin' somethin'.

(No flying today.  The twin looks like it will be up around Friday-ish.  The propellers are comin' in on Wednesday.  So I've got a few more days of workin' out on the farm!).

Went to bed at 1:30 A.M.