Monday

Monday we decided to walk after showering and did the computer exercise. We went downtown to the library so I could get a copy of This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. He presents the lecture in the video we intend to use in our Bible class. It was not there, but they requested it from the Canton branch. We then went to the computer repair shop hoping he might have my copy of Streets and Trips. He didn’t but said he would install the newer version for me. I will try to use Steve’s again. We left there and went to The Open Door to serve as we agreed. We worked very hard and served more than 60 meals. We were quite tired after cleaning up. We came home and rested because we planned to meet Casterline’s at Maggie’s Galley for dinner. We shared trout almandine and a spinach salad. It was delicious. We returned here to play Texas Hold-em, the most popular new poker game. Shirley and Paul like to play it. The rain from the hurricane began just before they left. We expect it to affect our weather for the next few days. We plan to go to Asheville tomorrow if it is not raining too hard.

Worship, guests and hurricanes

We arose and went to Bible study where we learned some Islam views of women and their roles in life. I assumed that I would relieve Phil, the leader, of his responsibilities of leadership but had to leave prior to any announcement to rehearse our choir selection for the day. Phil did offer our proposal of using “The Chair” as a guide, but the class wants to discuss options next Sunday. We came home for a sandwich and a paper filing project. We were successful and took a nap while the lasagna was baking. The Riggs arrived on time, and we enjoyed merlot and a salad followed by the lasagna. We then toured some of the houses that are not yet finished behind us. They left before dark, we cleaned up and watched TV. We called the Oefingers to plan the meal at the Akron football game. Evelyn also called her high school friend, Jennifer, who lives in Fort Lauderdale. We think she might come for a visit, especially since she will be without electricity for at least a week. Hurricane Katrina went across her area last Thursday and will be powerless until next Thursday, at least. At this writing, Katrina is 100 miles southeast of New Orleans. We pray for the safety of the people unable to get out of town and our friends who live close enough to get some violent wind and rain in Cajun country. We are planning an experiment for the next two weeks. We are eliminating candy, ice cream and other sweet desserts until the football game. Perhaps that will allow me to lose 3 or 4 pounds and Evelyn to lose enough to remain “alive” in the Weight Watchers program.

The Thursday I forgot to post

Thursday we had our favorite activity: medicine distribution. We have to load our medicine boxes for the week. What fun! We then went for our usual walk. E read while I worked on the computer and then we went off to settle our bill with the urgent care. E had given them the wrong insurance card and the bill had been rejected. We took care of that and got some forms to complete so we could volunteer there sometime later. We then went to see Dr. McLelland to try to get an appointment. Our friend, Jo, from church had talked with him about taking us as new patients. We had waited for more than a week to hear from him but something must have happened. We came home for lunch and finished the sirloin and ribs. We stayed around for several hours and then went to the Weight Watchers weigh in. And as a testimony to the mercy of the Lord E made weight again! In order to celebrate, we brought home some diet food--pizza. We enjoyed it and then finished the story of Texas. I will play golf with Shirley tomorrow morning and then we will go with them to “The Lodge” for dinner tomorrow night. We must leave at 4 PM because it is about an hour and a half away.

What a great shot!

I got up and actually remembered the men’s breakfast. Wes, a man from church, called to remind me but didn’t need to. We had a nice meal and a very inspiring, short video by Max Lucado, “He Chose the Nails”. The theme was that Christ chose the nails because he saw all the sin we were carrying and wanted to take it upon Himself. I was very moved but disappointed that we couldn’t get anyone to discuss the message. Pastor and I both tried. I got the video, “The Chair” and will prepare some questions that we can use in our study next week. I was ashamed to have to leave because I had agreed to play golf but had forgotten a scheduled forum meeting at church. Shirley was right on time and off we went. I will move from the ditch directly to the good parts. I pared the third hole, bogeyed the fourth and birdied the fifth. In fact I missed an ace by approximately six inches, finishing with a 14 ¾ inch putt. I should have gone straight to the clubhouse so I won’t bore anyone with details of the rest of the round. We were finished by 1 and she brought me home. We had left over pizza and Evelyn made lasagna for the potluck and Sunday evening dinner with the Riggs, members of our church who gave me 45 golf balls. We had to cancel our plans for attending the chili cook off in Maggie Valley because it is not scheduled until next weekend. We went off to walk around the lake and made questions about the video to use as a discussion guide. We look forward to worship tomorrow,

Friday

Friday morning we walked, even though Evelyn thought we weren’t planning to. While walking, we got a call from Shirley saying there were no tee times available so we could not play. She called back later saying she had secured a tee time at 10:40 tomorrow morning. I will meet her after the men’s breakfast at church. We finished walking and took the trash to the pick up point and went to Wal-Mart to get some glides for the bottom of the counter stools. I put them on and went outside to stain some wood legs I plan to use for a table outside and on the bottom of our TV tray. I hope to be finished with staining for a while. E stayed in and made a vegetable stir fry for lunch. We wanted to eat light because of our dinner out tonight. We took showers and then took a short nap before preparing to go out. Evelyn finished lining the edge of the blankets for the girls in California. I worked on learning how to make business cards on the computer and discovered another disaster: I can’t find my Microsoft Streets and Trips disk. Perhaps it is here somewhere. If not the young man I had working on the old computer may have lost it. We left here with Paul and Shirley at 4:00 and drove 65 miles to a restaurant near a ski lodge. It was on top of a mountain called Wolf Laurel and was called the Lodge. The owners are building and selling log homes of 1500 square feet for $350,000. They have sold more than 60 lots and built 18 homes. They are nice but pretty isolated, although there will be a swimming pool and a small airstrip. The restaurant was surprisingly reasonable in price and the food was delicious. We shared a 10 ounce sirloin and 8 shrimp that cost only $13.95 and included a salad and two sides. I chose French fried sweet potatoes, the first either of us had ever had. Many of the waitresses did short clogging acts. They were quite good. We left before dark and drove very slowly down the mountain which is more tense than driving up. We went to the Farmer’s Market so Paul could buy some cantaloupe. He loves to go to that market, even in the dark. I bought 10 gallons of gasoline because they have to drive almost everywhere we go together. After we trade cars, we might be able to drive more. I called Joe Winston to ask him to send me the scripture verses from the marked Bibles so we can use them for our Sunday morning Bible study. We watched TV and went to bed. I have to remember the breakfast tomorrow; I have forgotten it each month we have been here.

August 16 &17

Tuesday we returned to our walk pattern. We had decided along with being a burden to the others, we got better exercise walking than at tennis. While walking, we got a call from Shirley saying she would pick E up at 10 for the planned trip to Ashville. E wanted to get blanket material for the Beeli girls who had outgrown the one’s she had made them as babies. They left and I worked on trying to set up the new computer. I had more delicious ribs for lunch, saving the take home from last night for E because she had liked the meal so much. She got home after 3:00 and rested for a while. We were to act as hosts for the potluck and we stopped to buy ice, oned of the responsibilities. The taco pie was so good that I didn’t even get any of it. The pastor was late so I offered the prayer and we saved the last piece for him. We continued our study of the LCMS and focused on the lay organizations, The Walther League, The Lutheran Laymen’s League, and the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. Our church body has really done a good job of reaching out to the world in more ways than just the Lutheran Hour Ministries. I thank God for drawing us into this denomination.
We did not return to the tennis court today. We walked again and Evelyn went to town to return a light fixture while I worked on the computer at the motel. They have wireless internet there and it is nice to get things on my own computer. I finished before she returned and sat outside while waiting. The Salvation Army was having a convention and I talked to one if the men for a while. The “officers” are transferred around the country and this man had had two tours of duty in this area. They are a dedicated group, but I don’t know anything about their theology. They have as a motto, “Heart to God; Hand to Man.” They do a marvelous amount of good work, but I wonder if they are relying on Jesus’ death or their good works to win favor with God. She brought me home for lunch, and then we cleaned the house some. We went to choir practice at 7 and practiced “O Lord, My God: You Are My Refuge”, a song by Bach that drags and drags. The words are powerful but I am tired of rehearsing it and will be happy after we sing Sunday and put it away. We stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home to get some pads for our counter stools and other miscellaneous items. We also found blanket binding there 2.50 cheaper than those she had bought earlier at Hancock Fabric. We came home and started the video, “Texas” based on the book by James A. Michner. It is in two parts so we watched only one tonight. We went to bed at 11. At precisely 11:09 I heard a loud rumble that sounded like thunder. Evelyn heard it but also felt the house shake. The news report on television later confirmed that we had experienced an earthquake centered about 25 miles directly north of here. We will have great memories of this event.

August 15

We went to the library to return a book and then to the grocery to get supplies for the potluck Tuesday evening. We worked together to make impossible taco pie and sauce for lasagna. I did most of the chopping of onions, bell pepper, cilantro and celery. I also chopped some zuccini, yellow and orange banana peppers, and tomatoes for a stir fry later in the week. We had more of the delicious ribs for lunch but didn‘t eat too much because we planned to go to the J. Arthur’s restaurant. Kathy, the lighting lady, came here to tell us some prices of fixtures from her store but had forgotten the price list. She and her husband were supposed to accompany Casterline’s and us, but she was too tired from planning jobs. Earlier in the afternoon, I had gone to Lowe’s to get some light fixtures in case Kathy’s prices were too high. We will have to wait more. We left at 5:00 to meet Paul and Shirley. Evelyn had fixed her mind on steak but they had a special that topped that. We both were caught on the sirloin steak topped with crab meat and a béarnaise sauce. The outstanding thing was the service--a continual flow of water, several servings of delicious rolls, and quality returns to check on our needs. Afterward we went on up to their cabin for apple bread and ice cream. We also played protestant poker and new game to us, Tripoli. We came home rather late.

Some lapsed time

Saturday we tried to go to some garage sales but could find only one sign but there was nothing there. We had lunch and I watched some of the Little League World Series. We left to go to a Blue Grass fund raiser at a small town called Fines Creek. It was very hot and humid, but we were able to sit under a canopy erected for the event. There was a semi trailer made into a stage where several local groups performed. There was also a clogging group that performed on a temporary stage. We were surprised to see our neighbors from across the road come to the concert too. The wife did not seem too friendly so we left early
and went to bed .
Sunday we celebrated our Lord’s Supper and heard a good sermon. We also went to the Bible class featuring a comparison of Islam and Christianity. We had had other classes on the subject but seemed to learn more from this one. The biggest surprise to me was that Muslims think God has no feeling for His creation. We believe that God loves us and wants a relationship with us. They don’t. It makes us wonder why God would create beings He cared nothing about. We came home and relaxed in the afternoon. Paul and Shirley called and said they were almost to Maggie Valley. We had planned to invite them for dinner but they went to their daughter, Laurie’s. We did serve peach cobbler to them at our home. We planned to go to with them and another neighbor to J. Arthur’s, a restaurant in Maggie Valley, tomorrow night.
Monday we went to the tennis court instead of walking around the lake. There were 27 people there, all over 50. The system was unique. Cards numbering ace through 6 were spread on a racquet. We all drew a card and the red 2s were partners against the black 2s on court 2, etc. Each game had a 20 minute time limit, after which there was another draw in which anyone who had sat out were permitted to draw first. We played two sets but were so bad, we doubt that we will return. We had not hit a ball since 1996, Evelyn has only one good eye, and I retwisted my back in the first set. No wonder we are no good. Perhaps we would improve if we played again. Our problem is that we know the other people there won’t miss us.

Visitors from Indiana

We walked in the morning and spent the majority of the day preparing for the visit with our friends. We went to the visitor's center to see if they had free maps of Haywood County. They didn't. We went to the bank to get some cash and went to Ingal's grocery right nearby to get some two for one ice cream. Evelyn made a broccoli casserole and pineapple fluff to accompany the ham we will have at the potluck/Bible study. Tom and Janet arrived right on time with some Indiana tomatoes and beer sent by Shirley. We sliced some of the tomatoes and went to the home of a congregational member for the study about the history of the LCMS and the dinner. The food was excellent and we came home satisfied. The Grotrian's were tired from the long drive so we went to bed.
Wednesday we walked the lake with Tom and Janet, showing them the roses and the many dwellings that surround the lake. Evelyn had prepared a quiche for breakfast so we were well satisfied as we went to show them the Barber Orchard owned in part by our neighbor Steve Arrington. We had seen him early before he went to work and bought a basket of peaches he had brought from the Asheville Farmer's Market. We saw him at the orchard store where Janet bought four apple turnovers and two apple muffins for tomorrow's breakfast. We came home and enjoyed a sandwich, a supposedly light lunch, and went back to walk the streets of Waynesville and see the quaint shops there. No one bought anything but it is fun to see the variety of items for sale in the shops. We went home, changed clothes and left for Cataloochee Ranch to enjoy a cookout. We had been there two years ago and liked the atmosphere on the mile high dude ranch. They featured horseback riding and a swimming pool located on the mountainside. They have both cabins and rooms to rent. The rooms are rustic and cost $165 per night. The ranch is four miles round trip from the Swag, another mountain resort area. They served the best barbecued ribs any of us had ever eaten. There was an enormous amount of meat on each one. There was also chicken and many side dishes and desserts that were also delicious. We enjoyed a Bluegrass trio called "Black Mountain Railroad", none of whom were from Black Mountain, NC. They were good and played "Fox on the Run", a Charlie Waller tune for me twice because I couldn't hear much of it the first time. Home late with extra full bellies.
Thursday we went to Cherokee to learn about the Indians. It is always an interesting trip over Soco Mountain. We went to the museum but spent most of the time in the lobby and never went inside. Instead we went to the Oconaluftee Village. There we had a guided tour featuring the life style of the early Cherokee. We saw finger weaving, primitive pottery weaving, arrow head making, bead weaving and blowgun making and shooting. One was 10 feet long and the "hunter" could hit a small bull's eye at 50 feet. We were all impressed. We had two group lectures telling about the dances and the heritage. They have seven different clans and are the only North American tribe to have a written language, developed by Sequoia in the 1700s. They were decimated by English induced small pox and later were removed from this area to Oklahoma by the dastardly Andrew Jackson. We left there and had native American Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch. We searched around town for a colorful native piece for pottery for Janet. The Cherokee did not make much colorful pottery so she settled for a brown wedding vase. I forgot to tell how hard it rained while we were in transit from place to place. The blessing is that it almost never rained when we were out of the car or in a shop. We started home only to encounter a line of cars stopped due to a power line that had fallen on the hood of a car. The car was not drivable but the police directed the traffic around the power line across the highway. We stopped at Cabbage Rose in Maggie Valley and then came home for a nap. Since we had not eaten lunch until 2:30, we just had popcorn and ice cream for supper. We played Protestant Poker in the evening and then went happily to bed.
Tom and Janet left after I made eggs for breakfast, and we enjoyed lounging around most of the day. It rained a lot so there was not much we could have done anyway. I did find a video of "South Pacific" I had bought at the library book sale last week and we watched part of that. We ate a light lunch of leftovers at 3:00 so we would not be loaded up for the snack buffet that would be served at the ball room dance we planned to attend in the evening. There was not as much as offered at the dance last month but an adequate amount. We met several more nice people and talked at length with a retired Methodist bishop from Kansas and his wife visiting their son-in-law who is the pastor at Long's Chapel where our builder, Sharon, worships. We may see them again because they told us about a tennis club they play in. We came home and returned to bed where we had spent most of the day.

Monday

I took Evelyn to the grocery and went off to find someone to give me a price of the air conditioner repair. The place I knew of was not open at 8:15 so I went to the cabinet store and talked with them about bringing our cookie sheet divider. They will do it next week. I went back to the AC location that was still closed and returned to get Evelyn at the grocery. I expected her to be fuming at the door, but she was not even finished. We had much to buy for our guests arriving Tuesday evening. We had to stay around the house because Tyson's were to deliver the long awaited dining room table before 5 PM. We watched a movie, "Bedroom Window" and I piddled around the storage unit and caulked a hole in a soffit to kill time. At 6:15, just as E was serving dinner, the truck pulled up. It is difficult to be upset with the nice young men who deliver. They had run into a problem but came anyway. It was truly nice of them to not just call and tell us they wouldn't come until tomorrow. We went to tell our lighting expert neighbor so she could come and give us suggestions. She will come sometime this week, after our guests leave. We went to the lake to walk and came home to watch some football and the Little League World Series.

Sunday fellowship

Remember the Bible rack we were looking for? Guess what? There was one at our church. We hadn't seen it because there had been a couple of displays in front of it. We enjoyed our worship and a fellowship dinner afterward. They have one each month. We returned home to change clothes and watched "Anna Kerenna" starring Greta Garbo and Fredric March. It was old and in black and white but moved faster than the ones we had last week. The story is quite sad and doesn't portray men as very kind. We wanted to get our walk in for the day so I made popcorn for our Sunday dinner, and then we went to Junaluska to walk. We knew there was a concert in the open air auditorium at 7:30 and arranged to be there during the performance. It is a group of young people, The Junaluska Singers, performing Christmas in August. They sang many Christmas songs and just have gone twenty minutes without even an applause break. We came home and wrote some Marriage Encounter letters before bedtime.

Bringing things home

Saturday began with a walk followed by a drive to many churches searching for a Gideon Memorial Bible rack. Most churches have them but not any of those we visited. We need to send Bibles in memory of Shelly Waters and in honor of Arnold and Gloria Gerbers 57th anniversary. We visited a few garage sales but found nothing of much interest. We went to the Open Door to take some pictures to donate and Evelyn found some white dress shoes that fit! She has trouble finding shoes that fit in shoe stores. We also picked up our upholstered counter stools that we had bought at Tyson's and found a computer cart for our office. After we lugged those things home we rested in the afternoon, planning to go to Maggie Valley in the evening but rain dampened our desire. Get it? Rain dampened.......Oh well. We just enjoyed our new Dish network.

Three days

We walked early so I could go to have suchres removed from my formerly cancerous right ear. It went well but hurt a bit more than the surgery itself as I expected. We went on to Clyde to look for a doctor that might take new patients but did not hear from them even though they said they would call. We happened on to a woman who teaches dance in an antique shop. Evelyn recognized her from the ballroom dance we attended in July. We had a good visit with her and look forward to seeing her at the August dance. We came home for lunch and prepared for choir that evening. Afterward we watched "Barcelona", a movie Evelyn had checked out from the library. It was very interesting but slow moving.
Thursday we did not walk. Evelyn took me to the church to help Artie pull and hoe weeds from the flower beds lining the parking lot. I started around 10 and worked until 1:30. It was quite hot but we persevered. Evelyn went to an LWML luncheon at the Sunset Inn on Lake Junaluska. The entire Methodist complex and surrounding buildings there seem to be in poor repair. We can't understand why. I was quite tired and ate leftovers after showering. Evelyn didn't get home until after 2:30 and I went right in and slept for two hours. This hard work in the sun will kill you! I was no good for the rest of the day. In the evening we watched another video from the library, "Best Intentions." It was about the parents of Ingar Bergman, the director. This made the above mentioned movie appear similar to a Nascar race in comparative speed of movement. I was really disappointed with the major character, Henrick, because he was a Lutheran pastor in Sweden. His theology was quite simplistic and did not match well with his life style. I know that we are all sinners, no matter what our occupation but was still disappointed. We could only take the first half of the story. Off to bed.
Friday returned us to the walking routine albeit much later. I was still exhausted and we did not start until 10. We looked several places on the way for a Gideon Memorial Bible Rack that would have in memory and in honor cards. We need one of each to send to friends. We could not find one. We looked at Long's Chapel on the way home but found nothing there either. I have seen one in some church but can't remember where. Our neighbor told us that his grandson would come over in the afternoon to see if he was interested in reloading Windows into the old laptop. We watched the other half of the Bergman story in the afternoon and sorted through some of the tomes of photographs we brought from Indiana. We had to have some activity to keep us awake. We went out to sit in the swing and talked to the young man from across the street for a while. By then it was 6:30 and we decided to go out for dinner. We had planned to go to J. Arthur's and use a 50% off the second entree coupon but found it was not good on Friday's. We went to the neighbors, Jim and Kathy Rogers, and invited them to go to the Bear's Den since we had a 10% coupon for that restaurant. They went and we had a good meal and a good time. We will go to J. Arthur's with them week after next because neither of us has ever been there and the coupons expire August 31. We were all too tired to visit afterward so we all went straight home.

Last of the etouffee

We did sleep in until nearly 8 and then woke to watch the shuttle landing. We thank God that they got home safely. That is two "rescues" by the Lord this week: the Russian submariners also were saved. We got up and went back to walk around the lake again. That is 4.6 miles in less than 16 hours. What troopers we are! We returned an item to Lowes and I bought a chimney charcoal starter. We came home and invited Sandy Burns and Michael Davis for a lunch of etouffee. It will spoil and there is too much to eat by ourselves. They seemed to like it. Evelyn napped and I arranged some bills to pay. I wakened her and took her to her hair appointment. She needs a permanent. I picked up my laptop and went to the library. I will have to go home and play with the new one. I don't think Evelyn fully understands what all I lost from the computer. We had a call from my high school buddy, Sam, who said he might come for the weekend. That will be great. We went to the Bible study/potluck and then came home to watch an old movie from the library: "The Thomas Crown Affair."

Two non trustables

We didn't take time to walk this morning. I awakened at 4:00 and couldn't sleep. I remembered that I had to transfer some money into our credit union accounts to pay for the credit card bills. I turned on the television to learn that the space shuttle would not be able to land today and that Peter Jennings had died. He was one of the most biased news reporters on the national news, frequently ridiculing President Bush and any other conservatives he could. His style was smooth, but I didn't approve of his bias. He was especially unkind during the hours after 9/11. It was interesting to learn that he resumed smoking on that day and that exacerbated his lung condition. I do grieve for his family; no one likes to lose a loved one. I went to the computer guy and then to the library. I can't find peace about what the computer guy is telling me. I think I may keep the new computer and see if there is anyone else (a hacker) who can help me reload the XP and my other back up disks from two years ago. I called Ray but he can't do much from 800 miles away. We tried to invite our builders for lunch Tuesday but they are just too busy right now. Perhaps later. Evelyn worked hard all day preparing for company and the Bible study/potluck Tuesday. She says she is just going to sit in the Lazy Boy all day tomorrow. Right! I prepared some 2X2 posts to use as table legs for my outside table. I get all the scraps I need from the waste left by the builders. I need to find a table top too. I planted the two clematis plants we bought last Saturday, and attached two curtain rods to the door. Evelyn had bought some fabric and made a pocket for the rods to slide through. The door looks better now. We watched some TV and Evelyn slept. We then went to the lake to walk for some exercise. We went to bed late and may sleep in tomorrow.

Wonderful worship, tragic news

We had invited one of the neighbors to attend church with us and he had accepted. We met him at the front door after Bible study. I tried to help him follow the liturgy and got lost myself because it was Holy Communion Sunday and we followed a variance in the order of worship. I hope Michael was blessed by the message as we were, even though we were more blessed in partaking of the Lord's Supper. We came home and I chopped vegetables for the etouffee. (I am the souse chef.) We tried to nap but Ray called and wakened me. We had a nice conversation then had to dress for the evening. The neighbors, Bill and Diane Williams, came on time. Bill is a Cajun from south Louisiana so we enjoyed boudin and crawfish etouffee. We also listened to Cajun music CDs that Jimmy Trahan had given to us in April. We had a nice visit and he gave me a gold plated coin he had fouond in Alaska. There were only 4000 made in Fairbanks for some sort of celebration. The town flooded before they could be used and were buried for 10 years before he found them. He has given all but 40 of them away. After they left, I returned a call from Don and Janice Waters in Rio Hondo, Texas. To our sorrow, we learned that their daughter, Shelley, had died Saturday night. They think that some pusher had put her back on drugs and her heart could not take it. We will pray for them and look forward to bringing them comfort when we return in November. They are strong Christians but we are all challenged in our faith when something as tragic as this happens to us.

Fleas and muffins

We went to a huge flea market and bought an old saddle and bullwhip for decoration in our room in Texas. We left there and went to Lowes to return a ceiling fan and get some cloth and rods for covering the outside door to the carport. We drove from there to Barber orchard and bought five of their delicious apple/walnut muffins and a strawberry/rhubarb pie for the etouffee dinner we are planning with the neighbors next week. We also went to a nursery and bought two clematis plants. I don't know how anything can grow in this rock hard clay around our house but we will try. We then came to the library after taking our trash to the dumpsite. It is very interesting here in that there is no trash pick up but the recycling center is located with the place for residents to take their trash. I had forgotten the trash yesterday when we took the recylables. It is interesting here in that there is no trash pick up. Residents take their trash and recyclables to the same location. There is no requirement for separating anything other than papers and cardboard. The aluminum, plastics, metal, etc. are all dumped into the same container. The computer repair store was closed, I decided to buy a new computer to take advantage of the tax free weekend here. We went off to Best Buy in Asheville. The place was packed with like minded people and we had to wait in line for a salesperson. We got a nice young man and purchased a Gateway for under $700. It is certainly not top of the line but good enough for me. I can return it within 14 days if my other one can be repaired. We had decided to go to the Asheville Tourists class A baseball game. We got directions and were surprised to find the place. It was concealed and difficult to locate. We stayed only five innings because they were being whomped and it had sprinkled for two innings. We stopped at the grocery on the way home to buy some things for making etouffee for the neighbors we had invited for Sunday evening. We drove home happy.

The end of the season

We didn't walk this morning because we wanted to get Peter ready to leave with Merle and Sue. He doesn't like to walk around the lake anyway. Evelyn went to the women's Bible study at the church, and Peter gathered his things and tried to watch the rest of "Superman" on DVD but got discouraged because the thing skipped. He thinks they all do. We had lunch and I went off to the library by myself to dump e-mail. I also went to a computer repair shop and learned that I probably had nothing left to save on my hard drive. If this is true, I have lost all of our pictures, sermons, addresses, and anything else of value. Cest la gere. Merle and Sue came and stayed all of ten minutes. We will miss the company of the grandkids but will likely see them again before we return to Texas. We just stayed in and relaxed in the evening.
Friday we walked early and then went to Asheville to get the nightstands from Pier One. They had been shipped from Alabama more than two weeks ago and we were concerned that we might never get them. From there we went to the Farmer's market and got some produce and boiled peanuts. We came home for lunch and took a nap. We were both exhausted for some reason. We went to the motor home to make the bed and set it up. The park had rented it for Saturday night. We had trouble with the battery again. I don't know why it runs down while in storage mode. We went to Casterline's to check for burglers and decided to drive up to Cataloochee Ranch and ski resort. We might go there for an expensive dinner with Grotrians. There had been a major store featuring hail. The same storm had rutted the road to Paul and Shirley's. We then went to what turned out to be the final street dance in Waynesville for the season. We had thought there would be one more to take Tom and Janet to in a couple of weeks. We will find some other dance to attend. It was also the night for the art galleries to be open in the evening. Many of them offered wine and many snacks. We came home and looked through some picture albums, finally finding some pictures we had searched for to put on the wall in the hallway.

Fun with friends

We took Ryan and Peter to the Rec center for our walk. It had a 1/4 mile track and a big infield where they could run and throw a frisbee. We took them out fopr hot c
dogs and then took Ryan home. Since we were in Maggie Valley, we went to Paul and Shirley's to check on things. I drank one of the beers she had left in the refrigerator for me. She must want me to come three times. :-) We came home for a nap but went to the library first to get some videos and work on the computer. We prepared for the potluck/Bible study and took Peter with us. He was an honor to have along and behaved marvelously. We returned home early and he watched some of the items he had checked out. You might try "Thumbtanic" and "Thumb Wars" some time. They are spoofs on some movies you might remember.

Fun in the mountains

We walked again Thursday and tried to get ready for the weekend. Tom and Stacy brought the kids in the evening after dinner. We had asked Peter to stay for a few days the following week and he accepted the invitation. Saturday was a beautiful but warm day for the Folkmoot Bazaar in downtown Waynesville. We were there most of the day. Tom, bless his heart, brought a receiver and was willing to connect it. We all waited for the delivery of our 42" set in the afternoon. We found that it was less than inch too wide for the entertainment center. We had to send it back but did get hooked up to Dish network. We may delay the TV purchase until Christmas because Clark Howard says that the prices will be drastically reduced at that time. We only have about two months before we return to Texas anyway so we can use our 20" set until then. We worshipped Sunday and then came home to change into our walking clothes for a walk around the lake. We didn't return home until 3:30 so I barbecued hamburgers and hotdogs for our sunch. (supper/lunch) Tom worked long and hard hooking up the wires to the set in the great room with success in getting it all onto one remote control. Unfortunately he had no success in reinstalling Windows XP so the computer is still down. I will have to find a "Geek squad" for professional repair.
Monday we all went with another grandmother and her four children to Sliding Rock, a natural waterfall over smooth rocks where people can slide about a hundred feet down into a pool. It is a creek that runs down the mountain. The water is too cold for these adults to venture into it (although there were several who did) but the kids loved it. Peter went at least 5 times. The lines to slide got longer in the afternoon. A busload of people came to slide. We had taken a picnic and had eaten at a picnic table along the road on our way. We came back home and took one of the four other children, the only boy, to stay overnight with us. We will take him back tomorrow. The boys had a good time playing together. The visiting boy was especially happy to be away from his sisters. In general the boys behaved very well, at least as boys do. How did my mother ever stand to raise two of us?