Oh Boy...Company and a SNAKE

Odessa



WHY? WHY????? Why do I have to be the one to find the damn snake???? Why can't some one who ISN'T AFRAID of snakes find it? But, I am starting in the middle....

Memorial Day in Odessa is a really big day and many of Al's extended family gets together after visiting the Bohemian Cemetery for a pot luck lunch on Monday. So we know we will have some company to drop by over the weekend. AND, Jennifer and Cammie were coming over to spend the weekend with us.

Friday evening, about 9:00 p.m my cell phone rings and it is Dwight Uhrich, Al's cousin from Texas and one of our favorite people calling. I answer the phone by saying "Okay, where are you?" to which he replies, "Ephrata", which is about 40 miles from here! He asked if we had room for him to stay, which we always do.

Saturday and Jennifer and Cammie arrive and that night we have a family BBQ, along with Al's cousin Lillian and husband Lynn from South Dakota (Dwight's sister) who are here for Memorial Day and staying at the local motel. Along with them Myrna, another cousin who I absolutely love and lives near by, are here for dinner. After dinner, Mandi (good friend) and her two kids stopped by and brought us some rhubarb (yum). Everyone was getting ready to leave and I decided to take the rhubarb to the refrigerator in the garage. For those of you who haven't been here, we back the 5th wheel up behind the house (this is important to the story, trust me). It is almost dark (9:30 ish) and I am walking between the house and the 5th wheel heading to the garage when I hear a "rattle"...WTH??? I look and under the trailer is a rattlesnake, coiled and rattling! I took one HUGE leap to the corner of the house and RAN between the garage and the house to the front yard screaming AL, Al, Al, Al. Well, everyone else thought I was screaming OW OW OW! Not funny. I was so scared I could barely get out the words SNAKE, let alone tell them where it was! I finally told them where it was; by that time Dwight and Jennifer had came out the back door and were standing at the corner of the house, asking me what was wrong! I screamed at them RUN...SNAKE, and of course they had no damn idea which way to run! Finally they saw the snake (they were standing next to it) and in a few steps Jennifer was next to me. At any rate, Al and Dwight killed the snake...Al said it was about 26-30 inches long....I say it was 26-30 FEET long and 15 feet around! Damn Snakes...God's big mistake! My heart slowed down to a normal beat about 24 hours later. I tell you this, I don't go off the deck after dark and I am constantly looking for those long, slithering creatures that God shouldn't have made. I think I will move to Hawaii so I won't have to worry about those things!

The rest of the weekend was great. Had a big BBQ here again Sunday night; with everyone mentioned before, plus Jerry and Ardis. Then yesterday we went to the memorial for one of Al's cousins who had died last year and then to the Pot Luck in Irby. Fun day, but exhausting.

Lillian and Lynn left today...we really enjoyed our visit with them and we are only sorry we don't see them more often. Dwight left this afternoon to take his rental car back to Seattle (long story) and then take a bus back here. This morning he found a motorcycle to buy and left it here until he can get back later this week to pick it up and ride it home to Texas. He is also a great guy and we really enjoy having him here. Both Al and I agree we are very fortunate to have some really great cousins that we enjoy so much. Unfortunately, we don't get to see them all as often as we would like. There is nothing like having a good family.

Bruce, Holly and Cortney are due in tomorrow...and we are looking forward to seeing them. It has been less than 2 weeks since we have seen them and it seems like FOREVER. They will only be here a couple of days, but we take what we can get.

We really had a good time with Jennifer and Cammie this weekend. Jennifer is a worker bee and so is Cammie. The both jumped in and helped me get things ready. Heck, I barely had the trailer unpacked...oh wait, I didn't have it totally unpacked until they got here! That's right! :-)

Now things should settle down to a dull roar for a while. We head to Seattle June 5 for a round of doctor/dentist appointments and seeing friends/family. Then on the 9th to Portland for 5 days. Our grandson Victor graduates from high school and granddaughter Lori from Jr. High. I am really looking forward to spending time with them as last year I didn't see them very much.

Until next time....watch where you step...there may be a snake near by!