Peter's Health

Peter has not been feeling well this last week, nausea, pain in stomach area, headaches, last night we noticed a lump on his abdominal area, his left side.

We've determined that the mesh has broken loose and his intestines have torn out.  There is nothing that the dr's can do at this point, he's got to loose weight and fast.  We've ordered a special wrap for him, we'll get it on monday and he's got to stop lifting and bending so much.

Please pray that God will give me the strength to pick up Peter's part of the load in doing things for the RV as well as my own load of setting up for the shows.  He will not give up the driving, we're trying to keep him from driving for too long at one stretch by giving us plenty of time between shows.

We are still loving being on the road, but I'm concerned that we're not seeing dr's as we should, and my arthritis is getting worse in my hands and knees. I've got the lumpy kind in my hands and wrists, once in the last month I woke up and there was a lump on my thumb the size of a large pea.  And it hurt, after a week or so, the pain has subsided but the lump is there there.  I think I've learned how to use it so that it doesn't hurt as much.  The same with my right wrist, I'm learning to minimize the pain... I do take asprin sometimes but it's not good for my stomach so I tend to live with it.

Today we're working on 1/4" leads, Peter is feeling better,

A New Grandson

Welcome Trevor Cole to the world... born on Feb 25th 2008 he came into the world weighing 8lb 3oz and 21 inches long.  Mother and baby are doing well, 3 weeks early; it doesn't sound like he's hurting for it.  Paul said that he's already chugged down an ounce of formula.  I am so excited for Paul and Michelle, they have filled out their family and all kids are healthy.  It's an answer to prayer to see them learning to love the Lord and getting Paul through school.  

Winter Wonderland

It was amazing, as we crossed the state line between OK and MO, the trees in MO are covered in ice!!  Each limb, branch and twig has a coating with little drips hanging everywhere.  The ones in OK are not... here in MO the ice is everywhere... it will be gone tomorrow as it warms up but for now it's beautiful and we give thanks to God for the sight!!!  

We are warm and comfy in the RV, everything is working and we stopped for groceries in OK where it was still warm!

Oklahoma

We got into OK really fast from Wichita Falls, TX... it's only 15 miles between the town and the border... amazingly the 44 is a toll road and it's the nicest road that we've been on in OK.  The cracks have been worked over so that they are not too bumpy and there was only one place that was being worked on.  Peter hates to have to thread the RV between the concrete blocks that they put up on either side of the lane, we usually have about 1' on each side.

We just kept going on 44 until we got to 240 then onto 40 so that we're about 25 miles west of OK city which we didn't see at all.  We are then heading up 377 and taking 44 into MO.

 We are both feeling the effects of the cold, my throat is again swollen and Peter has hurt his back and it's spasming, he can't get around well in the cold as he's bundled up so much.  We have both commented on the fact that we get sick every winter, and stay that way until spring... we're praying that it comes early this year.

The leather came in, 12 hides this time, and I spent most of a day sorting it into lengths, cutting out bad spots and making sure that it's paired with another color; when I was mostly finished with that task, Peter then took them and put the snap or ring on each one so that he knew what needed to be done with each and can just get busy braiding later.  

He spent his time working on the state sales taxes that we collect and then send in every few months.  Some states require monthly, some quarterly and some yearly.  He can do many of them via the internet so that makes it easier, but it does take time.

We're also getting together a large order from one of our people who buy wholesale from us.  They buy the tattooers and we sent 1/2 the order out last week but ran out of ink and have been waiting for it to come in.  It's kinda tough to get stock when we're just moving so quickly.  It's nice to have time to wait for mail to come in, we'll be in St Louis area for a few days before heading out to the middle of MO.

We've been watching the weather  - St Louis where we're headed is getting hit very badly... 3" of SLEET on the ground... not snow!!  That's weird, but we're not in a hurry to get there if it's doing that.  We're going to keep behind the storm and so far the weather where we are is constant, in the 20's for the first day, and today in the low 40's.  

We revamped and cleaned the furnace as we haven't had to use it for over a year due to being in nice weather most of the time.  We've got small electric heaters that usually keep the chill off instead of using propane.  But now we've got the furnace working and it keeps the cold at bay very easily.

Time to take a break and take Hoshi out for a walk, she is so entergetic... her heat cycle is over and she's back to normal now.

Layover

Well here's my tent, this is the 20' x 10 that I will setup outside, I have started using a 10x10' inside as most of those shows are VERY expensive... over 500 each most of the time.  I can use the gridwalls on each side and the back to hang alot of product.  I also have lights everywhere to make my tent light up.  I have also learned that signs make a big difference, people really appreciate not having to guess what the product is or hunt for the prices.

The leather is over 75% of my sales with the other items making up the difference, I figure the others are paying for the booth space while the leather is making it possible for us to be out here.

We made a long trip to wichita falls from lampasas yesterday, very boring drive on hwy 281.. it went on forever through the hill country of tx.  Very beautiful scenery but all the same... the little towns were averaging 400 people... and we went through a lot of them.  It's nice to be able to stay off the interstate, but sometimes the boredom makes us wish we hadn't LOL.

Peter has so far stablized in his morning blood sugars at 250, still very high but he's got to get used to it being lower than the 400's that it was... once that happens he'll see a dr and try to get it lower.  He is being very good at dropping sugars and carbs.  I also believe that once he starts getting out more and walking it should drop even further.  His whole family is diabetic on both sides so it was bound to happen and with the stresses that he has with taking care of us on the road it just happened now.  He's feeling a whole lot better though.

We will be taking interstate 44 up through OK and MO to IL over the next few days.  It's been many years since I've been through OK city, it will be interesting to see the changes.

We're staying here today also as we're waiting for some more product... I've got orders to fill and we just got in 12 hides that have to be sorted and matched for Peter to start working on. The weather is beautiful, not too chilly so I can pull out my bike and take Hoshi for some well deserved exercise.  I also have to sort out the trailer, it's very full and with the new product I have to rebalance the load.  We'll take off in the morning for our next stop. 

 Texas was not as fruitful a winter as we could have hoped for.  We'll have to go elsewhere next winter, probably back to Cal, but one never knows.  The trailer is getting very heavy with product and we're not sure that this RV can haul it up over the mountains... out here in the midwest and central, the mountains are just hills and it makes it fine... Peter says our mileage dips down into the 6-8 mile per gallon range and we can feel it lug.   One of these days a diesel pusher would sure be nice, just have to let the business pay for it.

I am trying to come up with different product ideas that dog people will go for... it has to be classy, reasonably prices and irresistable as well as unusual.

Time to get moving for the day...

San Marcos, TX

Spent 2 weekends here in San Marcos and we won't be back for other shows as it was not very good.  PLUS the fact that we got inundated with ANTS here.  The RV is crawling with them, they get into everything... TX has ant hills all over the place and people must just live with them.  We'll get some bait and try to kill them all off, plus we're going north and it will be colder up there, might help to get rid of them.

I made new friends, Susie and Derek from wichita falls were there, Derek is loosing weight fast, down to 300 and looks great.  They've just started to make name tags and it's going well.  God sure blesses us with people in our lives.  

Peter found out that his blood sugars were too high, over 400 at one point, we ran out of strips to check it with so will get some more.  It's made him go back to diet pop, and he's now feeling better. 

Hoshi is doing better in the ring, starting to know what she's supposed to do and allowing the judge to touch her.  I'm getting a little better too, not so nervous.  We did one group showing but the next day she got bit by something all over and the bites welted up.  I put benedryl cream on her and am hoping that takes the puffiness down.  Her skin is very sensitive, normal for red dogs in this breed.  Her ears have cleaned up with antibiotic cream, she's looking very good.

I am not feeling well, my mouth is still blistering and it's affecting my sinus in my right cheekbone.  I actually get swollen sinus that shows as a lump under my right eye.  It's a bother as it makes my eye swell too.  I'm going to have to see an eye doctor and get a vison test for the DMV really soon.  We've got some open days this week as we're taking next weekend off, I goofed again and got the wrong date for one of the shows.  Come to find out both shows were on the following weekend and I moved one of them to this next weekend.  Darn, Peter is going to check my scheduling as I can check and recheck and still miss things.  My brain doesn't work as well as it used to, I think I'm multi-tasking too much.

I have gotten my tent more organized, I can take down in less time as I'm using dowling (aluminum) to hang the leather on so that it fits into the boxes without me having to dismantle it all.  Then with the ornaments I have wire boxes for them that fit into tubs also, I'm just lifting off the stuff from the grid walls and putting it into the tubs, sure helps alot.

Saves time and energy, which is good for me, setup is easier too of course.

We're heading for wichita falls this week even though we don't have a show there I had some product sent to that address, but we'll be right on the way to St Louis for the following week,  We'll head up through OK city and Tulsa on that big interstate that goes through there.  Easy driving for Peter.

February 08

We got to San Marcos TX yesterday and changed from a temp in Houston of 60's to 80's.  What a difference.  This is a very dry heat, it's easy to overdo in as it feels so good.

We had to run the air conditioners all night as the temp did not get lower than mid 60's and we like it cooler to sleep. 

 We're expecting to get our mail here today...last time we received it was in December while up in Dallas.  I sure like to get emails and faxes instead.  It's hard to have an address where we can receive mail.  Many of the RV parks will not accept mail for their overnight customers.  We use KOA campgrounds alot due to the fact that they will hold the mail for us until we get there.  They are not always more expensive than any other park but we know what to expect when we get to one.

Hoshi is in heat and tires easily... have to keep an eye on her.. took her out this AM for a run and then we chased squirrel smells for awhile, visited a river bank and saw a canoe stranded and broken on the rocks below.  This is not a river I would kayak in or even wade in.. it's fast and deep with lots of large boulders.

Hoshi and I started back up the trail to the RV and she laid down to rest... I waited for a bit and then picked her up and carried her the rest of the way.  She is now laying beside me snoozing.  I will email the breeder to see if this is normal.

We will be spending two weeks here in San Marcos as we have an agility trial this next weekend and the following weekend a confirmation show.  

The agility trial we just had in the Houston area was a very good show.  It's the second time that we've been there, the previous time was 1 1/2 years ago in the fall.  They were excited to have us come back and spent their money very freely.

This RV park that we are currently in has pecan trees all over and very large pecans on the ground.  November is the month that the pecans are harvested so these are for the squirrels, Of which there are dozens in this park.

Peter has been making leather products like crazy; we get caught up and then I sell it all, so he has to scramble to make more.  People really like the way he braids it, it's very precise and even... which is a change from the way most of the other braiders make it, they eyeball their cuts and he actually measures each one.

We have started to make lanyards and they are hot!!!  These are for holding a whistle, a name badge, etc around a person's neck.  We are using 1/4" leather in various colors.. with a brass snap at the end.

We like to come up with new products made from the leather,  people love it and it gives Peter something new to work on so he doesn't get bored... LOL

Today I have to clean RV and Trailer, do the laundry and sort leather.  I will then work on the taxes some more and hope to get them done enough to send to the accountant.  We'll see how much we owe to the Federal Gov... we pay our state taxes as we go... makes it way nicer.