Early morning has arrived. I’m not exactly sure what time the missionary crew will arrive this morning but I figure it could be any moment. My son was off work yesterday but had to return to work today. When he came in to prepare his breakfast he made a comment on my appearance. Not that I looked bad, just miserable. With the past two nights, I wonder why.
Removing all the furniture from the house meant my bed went as well. I used the rewards I had earned with my insurance and purchased a twin size inflatable mattress to prevent sleeping on the floor. I had purchased the cheaper one available which meant no pump. The big box store only had one electric pump and it had been removed from the box so I chose a manual pump. The thought was that after this is all over with, I can use the mattress in my son’s camper when we go camping. Now I’m not sure it will work because it looks bigger but we’ll find out later.
Even though I was going to sleep in the area near the wood stove I left blankets and a couple pillows back there. Sunday night, I pumped up the mattress and tried to sleep. This is the very first time I have ever slept on an inflatable mattress and well, it did not go well. First the cat decided she wanted to be my best friend and join me. Her purring seemingly louder than usual and annoying. I must not have put enough air in the mattress as it was not firm at all and felt like what a waterbed must have been like. I ended up trying to sleep half on half off the thing wrapped in the blankets. Needless to say, I did not rest much at all.
Last night I worked harder at pumping the thing up. Yes, I had deflated the thing to get it out of the way in case then needed back there. Since they did not, I left it pumped up this morning. Anyway, last night I also had brought in extra pillows and shoved the mattress over closer to the wall. Between the extra efforts, extra pillows and a wall, I slept a little better. The men had left the blinds up over the front windows and I had just left them. I found out that this dead end, narrow dirt road, is very busy late at night as I watched the many headlights passing by.
Both nights I had left the door to the room Molly usually sleeps in alone open and a gate across the doorway from the kitchen to the rest of the house. The dogs got along fine and obeyed the enclosure. Bella woke me around six this morning though when she discovered the bag of dry dog food. Bella is back on her diet. I had to struggle out of my cocoon and move the bag out of reach. While I was up I added wood to the stove to keep the fire burning. Then Cricket the cat decided she wanted to play with one of the many jingle balls that was found under furniture. Round and round the kitchen until she annoyed Bella. That growl stopped that in a hurry. When the alarm on my phone went off, I was ready to begin again. I did make sure everything was as out of the way as possible.
I explained some of the reasons to my son why I may look miserable, but I’m not. I’m blessed and will continue to shout that blessing. Sleeping on a mattress on the floor is nothing. It is something that many have done for generations. Just because I’m a bit on the soft side means nothing. It is worth it in the end. The floors of my home will be repaired and no longer a threat. I am greatly and deeply blessed to have such Godly people in my life.
Words from The Dirt Road 