It Ain’t That Bad Yet; But I Ain’t Waitin’ for the Worst to Hit!

This is another one of my posts that consists of commentary on various subjects. I am including subtitles to enable you to skip the topics that are of no interest to you. For those of you who can’t wait or scan to find out: my guests are still with me.

I Ain’t Waitin’ for the Worst to Hit!

Tonight I was to chair a meeting of the Cabinet of the Kentuckiana Association of the United Church of Christ. If you have been reading this blog for a while, you may remember that I am president of the Association and well as Moderator elect. I planned tonight’s meeting as one of transition from out old bylaws to the new bylaws that are to take affect on January 1, 2006. Although the meeting was to be important to the future functioning of the association—I actually used the word critical to describe it—at 3:00 p.m. today I canceled it.

I canceled it because of the weather. It has been sleeting since before noon and, as I write this, the sleet has turned to snow. The weather forecast from the as of the moment I decided to cancel the meeting read:

This Afternoon: A wintry mix of snow...Sleet and freezing rain. New snow and sleet accumulation of 2 to 4 inches. Highs around 30. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 100 percent.

Tonight: Snow likely in the evening...Then chance of flurries after midnight. Additional snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. Storm total snow accumulation 3 to 6 inches. Lows around 17. West winds 15 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent. Lowest wind chill readings zero to 15 above zero after midnight.

This snow is like many we get here in Kentucky. It begins with rain and, as the temperature drops, turns to sleet and ice and finally the real fluffy snow comes down. That means that beneath the snow are layers, with the deepest one being ice. That makes driving, as well as walking, complex. And since many of the attendees at tonight’s meeting would be on the upper side of fifty-years-old, I figured the majority wouldn’t hazard the drive.

For you readers of this blog who dwell in locations north of Kentucky and think of us as pansies for not going out in such a small accumulation of snow, that is exactly the reason I am not holding the meeting: we are apprehensive of driving in such weather! Because the nature of this transitional meeting requires attendance of as many of the old and news officers and committees as possible, I believed it important to have any many folks as possible present. When one pastor and 2 laypeople called and said they weren’t going to be there, I realized I might as well cancel—and I did.

Update on my Guests

I had almost a record number of comments to Tuesday’s post regarding the latest infringement on my hospitality by Brian and Stephanie. I appreciate your comments.

At the moment both are gone—Brian to a new job and Stephanie to visit an older woman for whom she baby sits. Of course, they’ll be back. At least for a while. Wednesday afternoon, when I returned from picking up my now repaired car and taking Tiffany home, I was exhausted. So I locked myself in my bedroom and napped. I awoke in a panic. Where was my wallet? Did I leave it in my jacket where Brain and Stephanie could empty it again? (I didn’t: my wallet was on my dresser).

I left my bedroom and went to the living room where my now subsiding panic turned to rage. Tiffany had cleaned the livingroom and we had both rearranged the furniture in preparation for putting up the Christmas decorations. Part of that had been to move a round table from my study into the livingroom, placing it in front of the living room window to await my Christmas tree. When I walked into the livingroom, I found Stephanie and Brian snuggling on my sofa watching their TV which they had placed on the table that is to receive my Christmas tree!

I opened up on them with all of the rage that had built within me. They had done nothing to help clean my house—not even take out their own garbage, which they just set outside the door of my spare bedroom. But as soon as Tiffany had made the livingroom presentable, they decided to appropriate that, too. I said many other things as well, including repeating my ultimatum that they move out, even if it is to a shelter. Of course, the only response I received was their tremendous passivity—heads and eyes downcast, no words spoken in response to mine, Stephanie crying. I have come to believe that this passivity of theirs gets to me even more than their violating my space and pinching my money!

Baseline: Yesterday I telephoned the Louisville Metro Police and discussed the situation with a detective. The detective came and took a report regarding the missing money. In the end she said that there is no conclusive evidence regarding the thefts from my wallet: my word against their denial. Also, since I had invited them to stay at my house, getting them out is not a police matter.

We'll see what happens!