Those 70ish Girls

I’m going to catch you up on Arf and Annie tonight, but first I have to say how nice it is to be in my little cottage listening to Amy Grant and looking at my lighted flowery swag and pictures of my grand-kids. The only thing missing is my tea. I need to buy an electric pot so I can brew my tea on-sight. I want to try those tea blossoms. They come in several different flavors and while they’re brewing, they turn from a pod into a beautiful flower. I also need some more beautiful teacups. I’ve broken a few moving things around in here. It’s not a true tea drinking experience unless you drink your tea from a beautiful cup and sometimes add one or two sugar cubes and a touch of warm milk or cream. (Not with the tea blossoms. That would be weird.)

You drink different teas in different ways which we’ll get into later. Tea is also an acquired taste. I haven’t totally acquired it yet, but I’m working on it.

I can’t take a picture of myself drinking tea right now because I’m using my phone like an iPod so I can listen to Amy Grant. It takes me about thirty minutes to get myself all set up in here before I start to write, and then another thirty minutes to breakdown when I leave.

So good night all! Oh Wait! I promised an Arf and Annie story.

Brad and Clark are on their way home from settling things with Clark’s father. Brad’s attorney is going to get Mr. Sanders out of a contract that gave him virtually no income from the fruits of his woodworking labor. In turn, Mr. Sanders should have fewer anger issues and if he does become frustrated, he has agreed to stop taking things out on his family.

Clark and Brad were both pretty quiet on the flight back home. Brad was thinking about Jamie. It was going to be interesting to see how things would work out between them now that her parents had moved to the ranch.

Clark was grateful that Brad could help his family out. It seemed like things would be okay for them. So why wasn’t he feeling over the moon happy? Isn’t this what he had always wanted?…Yes, it was. but he had wanted to experience it, too. He wanted a dad who loved him and was proud of him. Well, If it didn’t happen for him, at least his brothers and sisters had a chance.

Things weren’t going smoothly at the ranch. Dina had forgotten about an appointment Katie and Arf had at the research hospital. Katie had gotten behind in her physical therapy and her therapy dog, Arf didn’t know what he was supposed to do next, either.

Dina had become involved in taking care of Jamie’s mother. She had just moved to the ranch after suffering a stroke and Dina had agreed to be her attendant. She had been assigned to stroke victims in the past and had enjoyed working with them, so it was an ideal situation.

When everyone got home that evening, Katie was beyond upset that her mother had forgotten about her appointment and Katie’s father, Steve, wasn’t too happy, either. He asked Dina if they could have a few minutes alone before supper. They found themselves in Brad’s study where Arf just happened to by lying by the squirrel window.

Arf: I feel bad for Dina, but she shouldn’t have forgotten. It’s really important that Katie doesn’t quit her therapy until she can run and do things that all of the other kids do. I also know that Dina needs to feel like she is being helpful and productive all those hours that Katie is at school.

“I’m really disappointed to hear this,” Steve said. “Our highest priority should be Katie. What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t thinking. I was helping Jamie’s mother and I lost track of time. I’ll call Katie’s physical therapist tomorrow and make another appointment.”

“I’ve been thinking about something, Dina. What if we leased Jamie’s farm? That would give us a place of our own to start over. We could be a real family again… if that’s something you would even be interested in.”

Dina hesitated and the hesitation didn’t go unnoticed by Steve.

Arf: I sure wish Annie was in here. I don’t know what I can do to help this situation. What should I do? What should I do? I should interrupt before Steve or Dina say something stupid that they’ll regret. I didn’t know what would do it, so I started barking at the window, hoping there was a squirrel out there that wouldn’t give me away.

“Look,” Steve said when things quieted down let’s go and see if Katie is ready for supper. We can talk about this tomorrow.”

Grandma Helen and Miss Bessie looked on as the family picked at the delicious food they had spent hours preparing.

When everyone finished they didn’t congregate in the great room like they usually did. They all went straight to their own rooms.

Katie talked to Arf about what it would be like to run and really dance. She loved music and the thought of dancing. Arf became even more resolved to do everything he could to help her reach that goal.

Annie was with Clark. She was listening to him play beautiful music on his guitar. Soon he started to sing a song his mother had taught him about laughter and love.

Down the hall, Katie, hearing the music, began to hum in perfect harmony.

Arf and Annie couldn’t wait to get together in the morning. They had plans to make.