The first day of my Sabbatical was more or less uneventful. I read the entire Gospel of John, and the first chapter of “Cure for the Common Life” by Max Lucado. Two weeks ago today, I came down with an allergy attack that took away any energy I was hoping to exert. It was a mystery why my allergies reacted that way for a couple of days, then I remembered what I did the day before.
My parents had a garage sale on the 4th and 5th, which was the Saturday before I started my Sabbatical. My Mom’s two sisters came to visit them and help, along with their husbands, one of my cousins and another cousin once-removed. (The generation gap in family trees confuses me sometimes.) Their garage sale was going on at the same time as a family reunion for Laura’s family on the evening on the 4th and the first part of the 5th. Laura’s family is large, I don’t know how many cousins she has or how many her Dad has. This reunion was for her Dad’s Mother’s parents’ descendants. I met some people I have not met before, so that was interesting and fun. It was also exhausting to my introvert side.
When that was over, we headed to my parents’ place to see my Mom’s family and helped clean up after the garage sale. That meant a long trip with an open trailer from Eula to Abilene for a stop a Goodwill to donate an inordinate amount of clothing (some of which may still be on South 11th and Treadaway).
My parents could have garage sales every weekend from now until Kingdom Come and still have too much “stuff.” They have always been garage sale aficionados, but over the last year, they have gotten hooked on auctions as well. So on Sunday, the 6th, I got the opportunity to go with my Dad and two uncles to an auction in an older part of town. I wasn’t planning on buying anything. However, when we were outside, there was a stack of “Abilene” bricks along with a half full propane tank for my grill and some other “junk.” When I saw it, I was sure the bidding would be too high. The auctioneer started at $5, nothing, then he went to $2, nothing, and again asked for two. Because I did not expect to buy anything, I did not register to bid. So the third time the auctioneer asked for $2, I elbowed my Dad and said I wanted it and would pay him back. I got about 45 bricks and a propane tank for $2 and tax. There were so many ants and spiders in that stack of bricks, I had to put on gloves and still got bit a couple of times. I think those bricks had been in the same stack for over 20 years and some of them may be 100 years old. I have always wanted “Abilene” bricks. Abilene is home to us and has had a significant place in my family. 
I tell this story partly to explain the mystery of the allergy attack. On Tuesday, I had time to reflect and also figure out what to do with the bricks. I remembered walking into the house and recalling the smell, it smelled like a pet or a hundred pets, specifically cats. So, on Monday, the 7th, I rested.
On Tuesday morning, I rested some more, and did a few things around the house for Laura, and in the afternoon, we did chores together. On Wednesday, the 9th I called my Mom to see what they were doing and if I could go out to their place and clean off my “new” bricks and measure them. She told me they were going to pick up my niece, who is 3, because my 2 month old nephew was having his second surgery in two weeks on his throat. I don’t know much about medical procedures, but I think the surgeries were called “supraglottoplasty.” The first one was on the sides of his throat to clear up some tissue that constricted his breathing and the second surgery was on the top of his throat. Fortunately, the second surgery went smoother. I went with my Mom and Dad to meet my Brother-in Law, kids in tow at a truckstop around Gordon. It was a good time for me to chat with my parents about things we haven’t really talked about in several years. It also gave me a chance to compliment them on how well they raised my siblings and me. On the way back to their house, we stopped at DQ in Ranger and got to see my parents be grandparents and buy too much ice cream for my niece, which meant she got to share with “Uncle Jamin.” A quick discloure, there may be future blogs about the legend of “Uncle Jamin” and his status, which rivals Greek Mythology. After getting back to Mom and Dad’s, Mykenna (my niece) wanted to see the chickens, so we walked behind the shop and watched the chickens and I collected the eggs. Going to the “farm” (only 5 acres) is one of her favorite things to do, evidenced by her perpetual singing of “‘Nellie and Pop-Pop’ have a farm, E-I-E-I-O.”(Nellie and Pop-Pop have become my parents’ grandparent nicknames.) We came back to Abilene and hung out at our house for a couple of hours until Mykenna got tired and they went back to Eula.
On Thursday, Laura and I did more things around the house, including yard work. Finishing up my first week of sabbatical, on Friday the 11th, we left for vacation with Laura’s Dad to meet Laura’s family for a week on the beach.