40ish hours to go...

...before the social worker comes a-knockin...

it's a guy out of the fort worth area, which doesn't do a whole lot to allay our anxieties of the aforementioned country-ness of our house. we're curious as to what he'll say about the old deerborne stoves we have to heat the house. oh well. we called our wonderful landlords about the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors needed, and they brought them over w/in a few hours. we just love them....our landlords, that is. josh made a trip to the hardware store today and stocked up on outlet covers and cabinet door fasteners. he'll be busy tomorrow securing all guns and ammo...both of which have to be locked up....separately. if you know josh, you won't be surprised by the magnitude of this task. meanwhile, i'll be cleanin away...just normal cleanin stuff, really...it's just all gonna happen over the course of a few hours rather than my preferred method of a little here, a little there.

we have no idea what we'll talk about for three hours....but the more we think about it, the more anxious we get....both of us playin out what-if scenarios....makin a list of either things to not talk about, or tryin to figure out a way to talk about them truthfully and plainly.... for instance, josh is a game warden....he carries a loaded gun all the time. the potential (however slight) exists that a disgruntled ticket-recipient would show up at the house, so josh believes it's prudent to keep a weapon close by. we also live in the country....in texas. maybe it's not like this if you live in the country in....say....vermont....but in texas, you keep a gun handy for...well....any number of things....snakes and hogs....or bad guys. however, we get the feelin that our reasonings and cultural influences won't be received very well by the guy inspecting the safety and suitability of our home.

(if you're readin this is shocked and appalled by now.... well.... josh and i both grew up around guns...in a very healthy sort of way, actually. we were both taught from an early age about gun safety, etc.....and in retrospect, i appreciate that. daddy's guns were kept in the closet, and we watched him use them...so they weren't big, mysterious things that continually tempted us...they were just guns. and really, i think this approach is the best...take away the mystery of firearms, and they're used safely....)

movin on...

the old farmer who takes care of the land surrounding our house was out plowin today. josh talked to him for a while and told him about the homestudy hooplah. his response: "that's a bunch of %$#&* %$^*!" they should be payin yall to take a kid!" ya gotta love local support :)

so here we go. the social worker's supposed to be here b/w 1030-1100 sunday mornin. oh - josh asked him if he'd like to eat lunch w/us...."no. i can't" was the blunt response. which is quite unfortunate....we like eatin lunch.