Something to do

We have developed the habit of sleeping through or around the alarm. We hurried to the lake by 8:15. We began our walk in sunlight and finished in a sprinkling rain. We went to the hotel and it rained more but was sunshiny when we left around 10. We had planned to play a bit of tennis with some people who live on the lake. The courts were wet from the rain so no one was there. We came home and prepared our lunch of barbecued hamburgers, onion and tomato. It is one of our favorite Weight Watchers meals. We rested and then went to the Haywood County fair. We enjoyed looking at the crafts and vegetables entered for competition. We left there and went to find what was scheduled for the local civic theater when Pauline visits next week. The best we could do there was to make a dress rehearsal for Little Shop of Horrors. We went on shopping and then came home for a low point dinner so we could have ice cream later in the evening. I walked around the neighborhood with an idea of sharing. I asked each member of out association to make a list of items they would we willing to lend to others. It just seems ridiculous for each of us to run out and buy an item that someone else has and is willing to lend. Everyone I was able to contact seemed pleased with the idea. We will see how many of them return the form by October 20. We watched some TV (CSI, etc) and enjoyed our ice cream. We are still planning for recreation for all or our visitors coming in October. We still have no firm date on Joe and Bonny’s visit.

Wonderful friends

We arose to fog again. We wanted to walk early so we could get home in time to prepare lunch for Tom and LuAnn. I did the computer work quickly and we left. Evelyn cooked the rice and ettouffee while I vacuumed the floor and cleaned the glass table tops. Before they arrived, I tried to call them to ask Tom to bring some speaker wire. He has some of everything in his garage, but they were already gone. They arrived and we began with the vegetable pizza from last night’s potluck. We also had some sauvignon blanc and then moved on to white zinfandel. We ate crawfish and the meal was delicious. Evelyn can really cook that Cajun food. After lunch we went to show them Lake Junaluska and we walked around it again at a much slower pace than this morning. We then took them into Waynesville to go to Mast General Store. I also went to see Laurie about some eggs and brought them home. It was almost 5 and they had to get home to take care of their dogs. We just came home and Evelyn crashed. She had really had a busy day. While she slept, I cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes. I think I should help since she does the fantastic cooking. She appreciated the help. I looked through the mail and found a note from the lab report on her blood work saying her potassium was on the low side of ok since she had changed medicine. Her blood pressure was high, however so we will have to keep checking that. We spent the evening relaxing. We really enjoy Tom and LuAnn. They are special people.

Blessings galore

Sunday it was up an off to Franklin so I could lead worship for Barry Conover. He was gone to Nashville for a short vacation. One of the elders and his wife were there to meet us. It is a blessing to experience the love of the Christian fellowship. Just before the service our friends Tom and LuAnn Jones walked into the church. I had invited them but thought they were likely still on their trip to the Maritime Provinces. The people were appreciative and kind after the service. They seemed interested in inviting me back next season. Tom and LuAnn invited us for dinner. We followed them home and enjoyed wine and shrimp cocktail for an appetizer. Tom prepared a tenderloin on the barbecue while we viewed the pictures of their trip accompanied by Newfoundland music. It was a real blessing to be reunited with them. We will miss them in Texas. We hope we can have them for dinner this coming week because we don’t have much time left here in NC before we leave, and we have two for sure and one more possible group of visitors during October. I must confess that I consumed far too much wine and let Evelyn drive home. Since we had totally blown our diet we went for broke and stopped to buy some chocolate fudge and candy. We will resume the diet tomorrow. We had popcorn and watched Desperate Housewives and snatches of the Chargers football game with Drew Brees. It has been fun to eat many things today. We don’t think one binge will ruin us.

Monday we slept in because we had stayed up too late last night. We cleaned up, and then Evelyn decided to walk the lake. I like to walk first because I sweat easily and feel dirty the rest of the day. I can’t shower again due to fear of wearing holes in my skin. We walked and did computer work before coming home for lunch of no-nothing soup. We wanted to conserve our points for the evening’s dinner with Pastor and Lisa. We spent some time cleaning the house and preparing the ettouffee. I did most of the chopping as usual. We waited until nearly seven for them to arrive; she is an optometrist in Asheville, and she had made it clear that she couldn’t arrive before 6:30. When they did arrive, we visited a short time and got right to the meal. We had a very warm visit with them which ended around 9:00 because she and he have to go to work the next day. We remember what is was like to go out during the week. We watched TV and cleaned up the kitchen. We had saved some ettouffee for Wednesday with Tom and LuAnn but had some left over from the evening. I will go to Hendersonville with John and Barry tomorrow for a circuit meeting where I hope to become known as available for pulpit supply for next summer.

Evelyn took me to church to ride to Hendersonville. John, Barry and I had a nice ride there. One of the members of Our Savior was supposed to go with us but couldn’t. We had a meeting at which I met one of the pastors from Greenville, SC wearing a Via de Cristo cross. That is quite unusual among LCMS pastors. We did not get to talk much during the day but may communicate regarding Kairos via e-mail. I was able to pass out a few calling cards to some of the pastors. We had lunch provided by the church staff consisting of quiches of various contents. I liked the one with spinach quite well. I have tried to call Kelley RV to prod them on to repair of the coach. The man from HWH returned my call, saying they were willing to replace the room slide solenoids and the rear jacks but would have to wait to learn whether the extended warranty people would insist on rebuilt ones or would permit new ones. I must call Kelley to make sure they are communicating with the company now so HWH can send them the parts. If they don’t, I am concerned that it won’t be repaired by the time for us to go to Purdue for the football game on the 8th. I called and Denise said the parts would arrive tomorrow. Further she said the extended warranty company had not balked at all about replacing the rear jacks. Praise the Lord. This is the same company that I thought did us dirty on the refrigerator repair. Perhaps it was totally the fault of Texas Trader in LaFeria. Regardless that is good news. There is no reason the coach should not be finished when we arrive the 7th. I learned a pleasant surprise when I got home: Evelyn walked alone while I was gone. This is very good for her but she dislikes doing it. I was proud of her. We went to the potluck/Bible study at church. We continue to thank God for the blessing of Pastor John Greene. I did mention to him that Evelyn felt somewhat slighted by not being invited to last Saturday’s LWML tea in Franklin. He will mention it to some of the key women.

Days behind

Thursday was foggy! Fancy that. We did walk again and finished at the Terrace for a short stop. We have had another acceptance of our invitation to visit. One of Evelyn’s former colleagues will visit for two days in early October. It is almost crushing that everyone will be coming in October after having all summer to visit. Actually, it is probably just as well because we were buying and waiting for furniture. At least now we have virtually everything that we will furnish the house with. Had they come much earlier, we might have had more confusion. One of the visitors is coming from the Rio Grande Valley and may have much trouble getting out of the state and across Louisiana. Quite likely they will have to take a more northerly route which is ok because their destinations are North Carolina and Maryland. We had hamburgers for lunch. I fired up the grill and cooked six of them. We could eat only one but it was a delight. We covered it with a large slice of onion and tomato on a wheat bun. We had some stir fry vegetables and a sweet potato for dessert. I also had a beer. This means nothing to you unless you have been on a diet. This was a feast. Of course we used up a majority of our allotted points but who cares. We planted the Cannas around the porch and then came in to clean ourselves for the day. We went to the Pisgah High School football game tonight because the pastor’s son plays on the team. The Bears were far superior and won going away.

Friday was foggy. We walked in the morning but did not go to the hotel. We came home and prepared to go to the Open Door to serve. We began to work but a group of difficult kids from a local middle school showed up to help as well. Once again, there were more people there to serve than there were being served. We went to the thrift store next door and bought a cute door hanging for fall. We left and went to the library to do the computer work. After an hour or so we came home, stopping at Lowes to buy some hooks for hanging the door hanging. They have a sticky back but don’t stick well to glass. Down came the hanging so we will have to find another method. We mostly laid around in the afternoon. We tried to watch a movie Evelyn checked out from the library. It was based on James Joyce’s The Dead. Even though there was a summary of the plot, neither of us understood much of the dialogue. Joyce is hard for me to read and the script writer must have followed his prose too closely. We had not eaten anything but “no nothing” soup for lunch, so we had many points left for dinner. We chose to have a Lean Cuisine pizza, costing only six points. That was so we could have some of the snacks at the dance we attended. The dance was Cds, recorded by one of the dance club members. He mixes the style of dances in the selections and even prints an outline so everyone knows well in advance what the selections will be. We met more nice people and had a great time. I had a piece of cake because we are supposed to eat all of our points each day. We came home and watched some of the hurricane coverage. Things are not looking good for the Texas/Louisiana coast. We are praying for them and thanking God for moving in the hearts and minds of the people to evacuate.

I didn’t sleep well. Each time I awakened it seemed that someone was working in the house behind us. They are trying to finish because the owner is moving in today. They were still working there at 2 AM and began again at 5. The workers at 5 sounded like they were laying carpet, but I couldn’t see what they were doing. I just know that they made a lot of noise. So much that I finally got up at 6 and watched some more hurricane coverage. Things were looking better than last night. The hit near Sulpher, LA which has fewer people than Houston. You can see all this on the TV. I went in to shower and go to the men’s breakfast at church. Surprisingly, Evelyn didn’t waken. The breakfast was good but there were only five of us there. Perhaps the dense fog was a deterrent. I went to Wal-Mart to get an over-the-door wreath hook, twist pins for the arm covers, and some band aids. I came home, got Evelyn and went to the lake to walk. It was very pleasant even at 10:30. It has been hot by that time most days. We rushed home to watch the Purdue game on ESPN. There are mixed predictions on the game. Purdue lost in two overtimes. It was sad to see because they had come back to lead with less than six minutes to go. So goes sports. I still can’t find six victories for them. It takes six to get a bowl bid. We prepared to go to Maggie Valley for the Western North Carolina Barbecue Festival featuring barbecue from “Bareknuckles Cooking Team”, “Cooking Dawgs”, “Hog Wild”, “Late Night Whiskey Smokers”, “Silence of the Hams”, and “The Smokin’ Butts of NC”. Some groups were from as far as Denton, TX but most were from North Carolina. There were many performing groups including the bluegrass/gospel group we saw. It got colder than we had planned for so we came home and watched football, and I practiced again for tomorrow.
Sunday it was up an off to Franklin so I could lead worship for Barry Conover. He was gone to Nashville for a short vacation. One of the elders and his wife were there to meet us. It is a blessing to experience the love of the Christian fellowship. Just before the service our friends Tom and LuAnn Jones walked into the church. I had invited them but thought they were likely still on their trip to the Maritime Provinces. The people were appreciative and kind after the service. They seemed interested in inviting me back next season. Tom and LuAnn invited us for dinner. We followed them home and enjoyed wine and shrimp cocktail for an appetizer. Tom prepared a tenderloin on the barbecue while we viewed the pictures of their trip accompanied by Newfoundland music. It was a real blessing to be reunited with them. We will miss them in Texas. We hope we can have them for dinner this coming week because we don’t have much time left here in NC before we leave, and we have two for sure and one more possible group of visitors during October. I must confess that I consumed far too much wine and let Evelyn drive home. Since we had totally blown our diet we went for broke and stopped to buy some chocolate fudge and candy. We will resume the diet tomorrow. We had popcorn and watched Desperate Housewives and snatches of the Chargers football game with Drew Brees. It has been fun to eat many things today. We don’t think one binge will ruin us.

Hunger and football

Thursday was foggy! Fancy that. We did walk again and finished at the Terrace for a short stop. We have had another acceptance of our invitation to visit. One of Evelyn’s former colleagues will visit for two days in early October. It is almost crushing that everyone will be coming in October after having all summer to visit. Actually, it is probably just as well because we were buying and waiting for furniture. At least now we have virtually everything that we will furnish the house with. Had they come much earlier, we might have had more confusion. One of the visitors is coming from the Rio Grande Valley and may have much trouble getting out of the state and across Louisiana. Quite likely they will have to take a more northerly route which is ok because their destinations are North Carolina and Maryland. We had hamburgers for lunch. I fired up the grill and cooked six of them. We could eat only one but it was a delight. We covered it with a large slice of onion and tomato on a wheat bun. We had some stir fry vegetables and a sweet potato for dessert. I also had a beer. This means nothing to you unless you have been on a diet. This was a feast. Of course we used up a majority of our allotted points but who cares. We planted the Cannas around the porch and then came in to clean ourselves for the day. We drove to Canton to split a Chinese dinner of shrimp Lo Mein. It was very good and generous but really high in points. We were not even able to split it between us and had to carry some of it home. We went to the Pisgah High School football game tonight because the pastor’s son plays on the team. The Bears were far superior and won going away.

flowers and fantasy

Wednesday opened with another thick blanket of fog. Once again we only trusted that there was water in the lake. We did not stop at the Terrace Hotel because I was able to spend several hours at the library working with the computer. Evelyn dropped me there and went to the Christian Women’s Club at the Waynesville Country Club. I was able to work from 11:15 to 1:30. My dear packed a lunch for me consisting of a left over KFC thigh, an apple and a diet Dr. Pepper. I worked so hard that I almost forgot to eat it. Me! The true Mr. Food forgot to eat! When Evelyn showed up, she changed into the work clothes we had brought. We went to Maggie Valley where one of the church members had some Canna Lily bulbs that we wanted to plant around our porch. They were in some loose mulch and easy to dig. We dug more than we needed just to help her. She has far too many, and they multiply faster than rabbits. We brought more than a dozen home and will plant them later. We tried to follow the movements of hurricane Rita as it headed for Texas. It might dip south and hit Port Mansfield, and small area not far from Weslaco. The likelihood of this happening is not great but possible. The smart money is betting on Galveston and Houston. We went off to choir practice and then returned home. Lost premiered tonight preceded by an hour recapitulation of last season. I really liked it last year, but this first episode implied some absolute insanity to follow. I will give it another chance or two but no more than that. It was hard to believe there would be an elaborate town house inside the “pod”. Come on! And somebody Jack knew living in there? The writers are going to have to do some miraculous creative writing.

The birthday princess

Today (September 20) my earthly love became 65. We have bee rpeparing for this by checking out the Medicare and supplement insurance coverage. We walked very early and it was foggier than we have ever seen it. We could not see the water in the lake even from the bridge we walked across. When finished we came home to clean up and "celebrate". We thanked God many times for the gift of long life and the measure of health He has given us. When the fog lifted, we worked in the yard. I found a wheelbarrow in the work site close around and a shovel. I brought three loads of mulch from the builder's pile to freshen up that which was already around our plants. It became quite hot during the afternoon in contrast to the wet cold of the morning. Evelyn baked a cake for the potluck at church. We were "hosts" so we left early. Evelyn wanted to get some bib overalls for Linda, my brother's wife, at Wal-Mart and a birthday card for granddaughter Olivia who will be 9 Friday. We also had to get a bag of ice for the dinner. We got to church early to find two other ladies doing our job. We helped. We had taken two Lean Cuisine dinners to help us avoid eating too much at the dinner. We ate them, I had a bowl of virtually meatless vegetable soup, and we both had a small slice of blackberry pie and apple struddle. After the Bible study, we went to the gocery on the way home to get ingredients for "no nuthin' soup." It is all vegetables so it has no points. It is good and filling, however. We also found a special on Lean Cuisines so we bought around 10 of them. They will be handy because they are low in point value. We have begun watching the track of Hurricane Rita, which is headed for the Texas coast. What disasters have come upon us this decade. Y2K may have been a welcome non-event but the decade that followed has been a series of disasters. We thank God for His moving in our hearts to help each other during these times.

visit with campground friends

We got up a bit late so Evelyn wouldn’t have to fast too long before having blood drawn at 8:30. The doctor wants to check on her electrolytes since he adjusted her medication. We came home for breakfast and medicine. She has a hard time taking the potassium pills and others without food in her stomach. My stomach is made of leather or something because things like that seem to not bother me too much. We went back to Waynesville to return books to the library and have the computer guy install Microsoft Streets and Trips on my computer. I did one small thing wrong but he corrected it and I know have the newer version installed. I don’t need to find my original disk now. We went to see if Laurie had any eggs as yet. Her hens had developed some disease, and she had to feed them an antibiotic that prohibited the eggs from being eaten. They are recovering but are not laying enough eggs to share as yet. When they regain full production, she will have many dozen to give away. We came home for lunch, and I worked on the sermon in the afternoon (after a nap). I don’t know why I get sleepy during the day, but I do. I did get some things written but am not satisfied with them as yet. We left for dinner at ARFs with the Ribbes. The restaurant is locally owned in Maggie Valley and we shared a good blackened prime rib with a salad, vegetables and baked potato. We kept our points down but were satisfied. We went back to their trailer and played Mexican Train, a game of dominoes. We also had some fruit and a small piece of hydroxyl cookie pie. We played until midnight, something most of didn’t mind. Perhaps because we didn’t realize how late it was.

church news

We slept in, got up and went to church for an open forum meeting in which the pastor tried to learn just what direction the congregation wants to go in the future. He wants to learn whether the church wants to grow or not and whether the members are willing to do what it takes to increase membership. Personally, I don’t see how they can because many of the members are older and are summer attendees like us. They will mostly go to Florida for the winter. The forum was scheduled for all day, but we went home because we would not be much of a help in leadership roles. We are always glad to serve and support but are just as unreliable here as we are in Texas. I washed the car in the early afternoon and watched some of the college football games in the afternoon. I think Purdue is in trouble for making it to another bowl game this year. They must win 6 games, and I can’t find them. They must beat Arizona tonight.

New car hunting

We wanted to get our walk completed early so we left home at 7:30. I had experienced bad dreams and had wakened at 6:00. I was dreaming that I had been stopped on the way to church by a traffic jam. I was scheduled to deliver a sermon in one hour but had not prepared anything. The nightmare continued in that a rookie policeman wanted to impound our car because he could not read one of the digits on the front license plate due to the tow bar on the front. I couldn’t take it and got up. After walking I did my computer work, and we came home for lunch. We have begun our Weight Watchers regimen and have to do some figuring to determine the points we use on each meal. Usually we aren’t too hungry because we are required to eat all of our points each day. Evelyn cleaned the house for a while, and then I suggested we go to Asheville to look for a Saturn. She is really eager to get another car, but I am more interested in not overpaying. The employee pricing ends at the end of the month so now might be a good time to go. We learned that the pricing does not apply to 2006 models but did find a 2005 Vue we are interested in. We also learned that an elderly gentleman is interested in trading his 2004 in on a new one. I am interested in it. The 2005 we like has rail running boards that I think are hazardous, so if we buy it, I will have them removed. We went home and prayed that the car would still be there Tuesday if the Lord wants us to have it. We also discussed waiting until we return to the Valley to buy a 2006 if the 2005 sells and the 2004 is unsatisfactory. We also learned that Saturn is now making a van that is also attractive. We might sell our motor home after our renters leave in the spring and buy one of those vans to travel in. We returned home for dinner and then went to Maggie Valley to a bluegrass/country/gospel concert at 8:00. The performers were good but definitely local. We got our $5 worth. There were five acts but by 10:15 only three had performed. I was tired and suggested we ho home. (remember the time I arose) Evelyn didn’t want to leave but did--just like a good person.

Meeting our neighbors

Up and off to the lake. We have learned to anticipate the refreshing walks. We wanted to hurry back so Evelyn could go to the women’s Bible study at church. I dropped her there and took two light fixtures back to Lowes. I then took a clock and my watch to the only jeweler we know of in town. I left them there and went to the grocery looking for diet Pepsi. We like to buy it when it is marked down. I found some and some good prices on wine, so I bought some for the block party tonight. I also tried to find out how to buy a Saturn Vue from Enterprise rental. I got some advice and went to get Evelyn who was to finish by 11:30. We left the church at noon. We came home for lunch and some rest. We went back into town to drop off some recyclables and go to the library to return materials and get more. I did my computer work and we came home, It was too early to go to the block party so we watched some of a DVD I bought featuring an old mountain man tell some stories of the area. Some of it was very funny. We went to the party and enjoyed delicious food. The entree was andouille sausage and Cajun chicken. One of the homeowners here loves to cook and provided the entrees. The other carry-ins were great too. We brought our lighting babe to show her our hanging lights. We also helped an elderly woman with her crawl space door. We came back and finished the mountain DVD and watched Scrubs. We both like that. This was after the President’s address. We certainly thank God for such a truly caring President who has positive plans of action. Whether the plans work or not, at least he has a plan, unlike his predecessor who did nothing but talk. We have work to do around here tomorrow. I have already dealt with the flag and hope the repair holds.

Trip recuperation

We arose later than usual and walked the lake. I have been having the strangest trouble with my back. It doesn't hurt when I walk but shoots pain when I just stand wrong. I have no idea when it will strike so every move is an apprehension. We came home and had lunch. I took a look at our American flag which had somehow fallen while we were gone. I wonder if there was a violent wind we never heard about. I doubt that I can fix it because a hard plastic piece is broken. I will try super glue but have had no success in the past. Evelyn worked on the dessert for tomorrow's block party, and I began thinking about the sermon I will bring on the 25th. Writing sermon's is hard work because it requires waiting for the Lord to reveal what He wants said. I guess it would help if I listened more closely. We went to choir practice and discussed discontinuing attendance because we will be gone all but two Sundays until we leave for the winter. We went to the grocery and bought many things to replace the items we had left in the motor home. We watched some TV, and I was excited to catch the last episode of LOST that I had missed.

A safe trip home

We arose at 7 and walked before preparing to leave. We showered and took the keys to the unit to Denise. We left and drove to Berne, stopping to show Mom the pictures of Peter at the Zoo in Maggie Valley and Lake Junaluska. We went on from there for our 9 hour trip back. We stopped many times for potty breaks and meals. Unfortunately we drove through Middlesboro and neglected to stop for the Hazelnut/Poppyseed bread that we love but is sold only at Kroger. There are no Kroger stores close to us here. We arrived home around 10 (we lost an hour crossing the time line), unpacked and went to bed. We had a safe, trouble free trip home, and thank God for His mercy. I brought the mail in and found my assignment for the worship I will lead in Franklin on the 25th. We also have to prepare for the Bible study we will lead here at Our Savior. We will have to work out some replacement for that day.

Errands and hopeful repairs

Monday was a day of errands. We went to Fort Wayne first to Glenbrook Dodge which claimed we owed them money from the repair they made in the spring. They said they had no record of indebtedness. Next to the IPFW campus to get a new “A” hang tag that allows us to park in preferred spaces at all Purdue campuses. We talked with Louise a bit and left an apple bread for her and John to share. We then went off to see our broker Clayton. We talked some strategies and called Emily to see why she had not returned the change of agent forms he had sent her and Pieder. She was not there so we left a message. Off we went to lunch at Uno Pizza. Clayton still has some coupons for free pizza and appetizers. We ordered our favorite (former) appetizer, buffalo chicken Quesadillas. The crust is still too thick when it should be a tortilla type item. We won’t order that again. Clayton gave us two more coupons we can use sometime in the future. I still had one from two years ago when he gave us many. We went to the credit union for some cash and stopped to see if Helen Fisher, a friend of Evelyn’s was in. Since she wasn’t, we went on to see Darrell. We talked about vehicles and decided we might go to a Saturn dealer to talk about a Vue. I hate to buy new cars, but we might have to because Vues jus don’t come through auctions very often. We returned to Decatur and began to pack the Jeep for the trip tomorrow. We have decided to leave it for possible repair on the problems. I talked with Denise, and she will handle the communication with the extended warranty company regarding the jacks that don’t work properly. She will also try to communicate with HWH to get an new solenoid to replace the one that continues to malfunction. We had some things from the refrigerator that would spoil before we return in a month, so I went to Ned’s to borrow a cooler. They weren’t there, but I found one in the cabana and took it, leaving a note for them. I also tried calling but got no answer. We went to bed early.

Shamefully missing church

Sunday we arose and began to put the unit together. Unfortunately, both batteries were dead, so I drove the Jeep to the front of the coach and used the jumper cables to start it. Things went smoothly and we put it together. I had to pry the right rear jack again but got it high enough to stop the warning squeal that we listen to much of the time we drive. We planned to worship along the way but the church we wanted to attend was impossible to get to in Peru. We came to Decatur, dumped and filled with water before coming to Kelly RV to set up. We now plan to leave the unit there to have them work on the hydraulic system. Otherwise we will likely have to go back to Moscow, IA on our way south. We will drive the Jeep back to NC. I do want to have the technicians call the warranty company to see if they will cover the repairs. It is not too difficult to raise the malfunctioning one manually but certainly inconvenient. We drove to Berne to visit with Mom and have dinner with her. We spent five hours there and returned to our parking spot where we watched the final two episodes of The Forsyte Saga on our computer. It is over at last. We went to bed in preparation for our errand trip tomorrow.

Hotter than H___, not the team

Saturday we arose and prepared for game day. I found our chairs, radio, water bottles, tickets, two pears and some peanuts to take to the game. I wanted to have a brunch and fixed myself three eggs we had brought with us and put them on a piece of hazelnut/poppy seed bread for brunch. Evelyn ate some rasin brand. We left early, hoping to go to the close out tent to get some shirts for the Beeli boys. There was no such tent this year. We went into the stadium about 45 minutes early for the noon o’clock game because we could find some shade there. It was too hot to stand outside. We went to our seats in the 85 degree weather and watched the game. Purdue won but not as handily as they were expected to. I was impressed with the Akron quarterback’s ability to read defenses. He really shredded the Purdue secondary. The score was 49-24 but was a much closer game. We came back, showered and talked with Bill and Shirley for a while and then heated the chicken and ate macaroni salad, shrimp dip, cheese ball, oriental slaw, Marionberry pie, cookies and peaches. We really pig out on these football weekends. We played Protestant Poker after cleaning the dishes and then went to bed. I had hoped to watch the Ohio State/ Texas game but could not get any reception. We were able to have air conditioning and that was certainly more important. We went to bed early; we were very tired. The heat takes all of our energy.

Ready for the game

Friday we waited until people had gone to work and towed the Jeep to Purdue West. We dropped the motor home close to where we would park tonight and went to talk to someone about the Medicare supplement we had bought for Evelyn. We made our monthly payment and went to the ticket office to pick up our tickets. We got everything done so quickly that we went to KFC and bought the chicken for tomorrow's tailgate. We decided to go to the RV lot early, set up our unit and took a shower and a nap. We had just started to go for a walk when Bill and Shirley arrived. We got into our Jeep and went to Taco Bell so I could try one of the new chewy/crunchy items they had. Back to our units and to bed. It has been extremely hot and we had to run our AC for quite some time. That is why we had stopped earlier and bought 10 gallons of gasoline. We were almost at 1/4 of a tank and the system would not run the generator for risk of not having enough fuel to operate the coach.

Blessings

Thursday we arose and ate our cereal. We started the gas water heater but no response. I began to be suspicious and went outside to look at the control valve on the gas and discovered it had been turned off. No wonder it wouldn’t run! After that we were confident that the refrigerator and water heater would now work. Praise God for leading me to check the valve. We continued happily on the way, eating some Gorton’s grilled salmon we had cooked earlier when we thought the generator would be our only source of power. We drove around Cincinnati and up I-74 to Shelbyville, hoping to talk with Bill and Shirley. Bill always tells us to come to town empty because he usually can get us gasoline with a $.10 per gallon discount at the local Kroger. They didn’t answer the phone so we drove on to West Lafayette. Evelyn found some black shorts on sale that she had been looking for and a pair of walking shoes she had been needing. We parked at Meijer where I grilled hamburgers for our dinner. We took a long walk and then showered and went to bed. I had wanted to watch the NFL opening game but could not get any channel carrying it.

Mini disasters

We got up and began loading the RV with things we would need for the weekend. After an hour, we went to the lake to walk. After that we went to the Weight Watchers location so Evelyn could weigh in. It was closed; disaster 1. We went to the library to return The Forsyte Saga and check out the final two. I did my computer work and we came home for lunch. We did continue packing after we ate. I took a shower while Evelyn cleaned up the kitchen. She decided to skip the shower today so we left around 1:00. We did talk to Sharon and let her know when we would return. We don’t want the electrician to hang the lights until we are there. We drove happily on our way west and north. We stopped in Middlesboro, KY, hoping to get gasoline at 2.76 per gallon! But their connection with their credit card server was down and would only take cash or a check. Disaster 2 I had neither so we shopped, intending to build up to $100 on this trip so we could get a 10 cent per gallon reduction on our next fill-up. We got up to $47 and may have to shop more in Peru. We went to Corbin, hoping gas would be even cheaper there but it wasn’t. Disaster 3. We drove on to Berea where we planned to spend the night at the Wal-Mart. There was a filling station with gas for $2.89 so I bought 10 gallons enabling us to run the generator. We were near ¼ of a tank and the generator won’t let us run out of gas. As I pulled out of the station, I turned too sharply and raked the side of the tow jeep on a dumpster. Disaster 4. We stopped and started the generator for meal preparation. When we shut it down, we noticed the gas mode for the refrigerator did not function. Disaster 5. This has happened before but we had been able to get it to restart. Not this time. We will have to run the generator periodically to keep the things cold. Perhaps we can find a place that will move us to the head of the repair line since we are traveling. Many repair shops will do that, knowing the traveler is in bind. We ran the A/C for a while because it was pretty warm until the sun went down. We spent the night at the Wal-Mart in Berea, KY where I found pairs of dark blue and black shorts for $3 each! What a find at the end of the summer season.

New lights at last

Tuesday found us walking the lake again--twice in 14 hours. We went to the Terrace and did the normal computer work. We returned home and worked on making pica de Gallo from some of the tomatoes we got from the church Sunday. We then had lunch and I tried the batch I had made by adding a drop of the insanity hot sauce and part of a habanera pepper Paul had given me. It was plenty hot. I had also shredded what was left of the ribs we had last week. Evelyn thought they were too dry but shredding it and adding more barbecue sauce improved them. We continued our preparation for the potluck/Bible study. Evelyn planned to make her Ramen noodle slaw. We also distributed medicine into our weekly carriers so we will have enough medicine with us until we get back. We waited for Sharon, the builder, to talk with us, but she never showed. Kathy Rogers did come with our lights for the dining room and entry way. We won’t have the electrician install them until we return from Purdue. After Bible class, we went to the RV park where the motor home is stored and brought it home. I wanted to bring it home before the morning traffic because I want to leave shortly after noon tomorrow.

Labor for the Lord

Monday was Labor Day. We spent more time in bed and then went to Waynesville to Goody's, hoping to find some blue shorts for me at the Labor Day sale. Unfortunately, there were none. We did see a friend from the Kern Kafe, Genny, who teaches English at Pisgah High School. She doesn't know Adam Greene but may attend a football game in the future. We went to the Open Door to serve lunch. I thought I might have to present the message so I prepared a short one. The scheduled woman arrived, and we were all blessed to hear her. There were too many volunteers as usual but were all compatible. Some of the indigent people come there everytime there is a meal. Some look like they could work, but it is not for me to know who has internal problems. Nonetheless, we are happy to serve Jesus through serving them. And they always hear the message before eating. On the way home we stopped at CVS pharmacy to get some pictures made from our digital camera. They were very good, but I wanted to put them into the computer and make them from there. Alas, I can't find the cable that connects the camera to the computer. I did stop at Wal-Mart on the way home and bought another. I am still hopeful that I will find the one I had. The blunder I made with the old computer has certainly been costly. But I am sure God knows what He wants to do with the money He has lent me. We watched episodes 3 and 4 of "The Forsyte Saga" by John Galsworthy. What a depressing story that is; and we still have episodes 5 and 6 to watch! We came back to the lake to walk (I didn't swallow any bugs this time) and went to another location to use the wireless connection because the Terrace Hotel was closed. Unfortunately, the system at Lambuth Hall is not wireless. They did have a courtesy computer, but it was one from Viet Nam, I guess. It had a ball for a mouse and the keyboard had some very unfamiliar locations. And it would only run for 10 minutes before shutting down. Of course, I was in the middle of something when the lights went out. I got frustrated and came home. We watched some of the football game before retiring.

Sunday renewals

Sunday was another beautiful day. We went to Bible class and wasted the full time discussing what we should choose as a topic for the next period of time. I was prepared to discuss a short bit and then begin the video study. Instead we discussed and discussed. I had only prepared the lesson to help Phil, the previous leader, by giving him some relief. As it turned out, I don’t think he wanted relief. At any rate, we decided to begin the study next week even though we won’t be there. They will watch half of the video and the other half the week we return. We worshipped and enjoyed the means of Grace, Holy Communion. We came home for lunch, and I rushed to Maggie Valley to get some gasoline at 3.09 per gallon. The station offering that price was out of gas. I should have known that. I hurried to another station and paid 3.29. I rushed home, picked up Evelyn, and went to the church. We met the Edwards’ and followed them to the Marriage Encounter site in Montreat. We met the couple we were praying for and talked with them and another couple from our church who had attended the weekend. The couple was from Raleigh so we came home alone, stopping to buy some wine that was on special at the Food Lion. I was surprised that the sale of alcohol was permitted on Sunday. We bought six bottles and brought them home. We decided to go to the lake to walk. It was dusk, and I swallowed a bug and got sick. The blessing was that I spit it up relatively quickly. We went on and went to the Terrace Motel to get on the WWW. After an hour we came home and had popcorn. I had one of the small bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon. My taste must be deteriorating. I used to hate that stuff but liked it this time. E wrote a letter and I watched a football game and “24”. We have a big day tomorrow because we have to work at the Open Door.
PS. I forgot to mention that the prayer couple told us that we could find gasoline for $2.95 between Black Mountain and Swananoa and we did! We hope we find more on our way to Indiana this week.

Super Saturday

Saturday was a gorgeous day. It was the kind of day we moved to North Carolina to enjoy--moderate temperature, sunny, low humidity. It was perfect. We got up a bit late and went to the monthly flea market held just around the corner from us at the Haywood County Fairground. We bought a basket for decoration on top of the entertainment center and a DC charger for our cellular phone. We went to the library to return DVDs and get some more. I tried to get on line but was somehow configured wrong. A man offered to help, but we wanted to get to the lake to walk. We took our recyclables to the site on the way. We encountered some of the sodomites meeting at Lake Junaluska on the way. One Caucasian couple held a sign “ help stop white supremacy”. I nearly cracked up. I was in no shape to drive, laughing so hard. I thought of two blacks advocating “stop black power”. I wonder if Jesus laughs as hard at us as I did. We also encountered many policemen because the KKK had said they were coming to protest. The police anticipated danger but none developed. Evelyn walked one way around the lake while I went to the hotel to post blogs and dump e-mails. I was to walk the opposite way when finished and meet her for the last half of the walk. I only got about 200 yards when we met. We came home for some Knorr Hot/Sour soup and then began preparing food for the evening meal. I also began work on making the table for the outdoor grill. Paul and Shirley came and we enjoyed a meal of Texas style ribs that I had smoked in June. Evelyn made a stir fry, hash brown potatoes, green beans and biscuits. We left for the bluegrass festival in time to arrive at 7:00 and stayed until 11:00, when it was scheduled to end. Most of the performers were local but some were imported. Some were pickers but others were quite good. We met a man and wife performer who have a web site radio program that I will try to look for. I also watched some of the first weekend of college football and saw Arizona. Purdue plays them September 17 and should be able to win. I also arranged some of the clothes we will need to take to the game with Akron next weekend. We pray that gasoline will be available so we can get to Indiana.

Another day on foot

Friday we had to borrow the neighbor’s car to take Evelyn to see Dr. McLelland. He was very pleasant and thorough. He will try to remove some of Evelyn’s medications by combining a couple of them. He also suggested that she could try cutting back on her potassium, pills that are quite hard to swallow. He thinks the new combination medicine will help control her electrolytes. We went to the grocery on the way home and the church on the way there to have copies made of the questions for Sunday’s Bible class. We arrived home to remember that the repair man from Tyson’s was to come to repair the entertainment center. As a blessing, he left a note and stayed around so he could return when we called him. He worked nearly three hours getting the things repaired. He left and Evelyn decided we needed to start a flower garden in front of the house. So I got some 5 gallon buckets from the builder’s junk wagon, went to the mulch pile and dumped 10 buckets in front of the house. I also dug out a few 2X11 boards to use to lift the car when I want to change oil. I still need one more piece to make my set. While I was working, the auto repair shop called and came to get me so I could bring the car home. I picked it up and paid $729 so we could have A/C in the car. Since I was very hot, I showered and we went to Maggie Valley for the great chili cook off. There was hardly anything going on so we left and went to “Butts on the Creek” restaurant and shared a pork barbecue sandwich. We went to Lowes and bought 8 mums to plant in the new mulch bed. We came home instead of going into Waynesville to dance in the street. I was surprised that Evelyn didn’t want to go. Go figure. We watched some of a football game featuring Arizona, a team Purdue plays in its second game. I think Purdue can beat them.

A day without a car

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We got all dressed up and had no place to go--at least no way to get there. We had a light breakfast and went outside to pull some weeds. I wanted to be close to the phone, fully expecting a call saying the car was finished. We had lunch and then I vacuumed the window sills and worked on the computer for a while. I listened to Rush and his commentaries on the tragedy in New Orleans. Some of the liberals are worried about calls for more drilling in the Gulf. Where do they think we are going to get oil? The Saudis are not just going to drop everything and give us all we want. Part of the reason the prices were high prior to the hurricane is that the entire world, especially China, are using more oil than ever before. If we don’t supply our own, the price will bring us to our knees as a society. Many places have no gasoline to sell and little chance of more being supplied. The refineries and drilling platforms are still in tact, but not operating. Had we been allowed to drill more in the Gulf and in Anwar years ago, we would have enough. If environmentalists would have allowed the construction of more refineries, we would likely have enough. As it is, the poor people of New Orleans and the Gulf coast will have a hard time getting supplies because of the lack of fuel to get them there. Some people have the audacity to speculate that President Bush is not trying to supply New Orleans because of the dominance of black people. What nonsense! The coast down there is full of people of all races that are absolutely destitute. The telephone call came regarding the car but told me the part shipped yesterday at 10 AM arrived at around 2 PM today, and the car would not be ready until tomorrow. I called the pastor who was willing to come after us so we could still go to dinner and the JV football game to see his son play. We went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Canton with John and Barry and Jackie Cono.ver He is a lay minister serving a church near Franklin. We had a good time with them but back to the dinner. I ordered Almond chicken and when it came it was the ugliest meal I have ever seen. I thought sure it featured sushi. As I ate it I was disappointed that the almonds were whole and stale. Evelyn insisted I take it back so I did and ordered fried rice which was much better. We went on to the game and home team won. When we left, I offered to take the service for Barry if the pastor he had in place for the 25 of September. He will let me know.

A day in Asheville

I took the car for repair and was brought home by Keith, the man hired for such duties. He is short and handicapped and extremely personable. I pulled some weeds after we had some cereal. Casterline’s arrived at 10 and we left for Asheville. We went directly to Hancock Fabrics where Evelyn returned some quilt lining she had bought for the Beeli girls’ replacement blankets. We then accidentally went to the Hot Shot cafe in the Biltmore Village. We stopped there because Paul found a parking place directly in front. We went in and had lunch. I could not get anyone to even try livermush, a house specialty. I didn’t have any either. We had sandwiches and then went on to Best Buy and the SAS shoe store. I tried to get some help with this new computer and did get some advice, but I am too computer illiterate to understand much standing at a counter with people stacked up behind me. I will likely have to wait until Texas to get some help from poor Ray. We toured the Farmer’s Market where Evelyn paid an enormous amount for a stuffed life-sized rooster. We came back through Clyde and saw the car near the street. We stopped hoping the repair work was finished. It wasn’t. They brought us home, and I worked on making some calling cards with some success. They aren’t as fancy as Louise would have made, but she is too busy to work on them. I had hoped the repair shop would have brought our car here so we could have transportation to choir practice but no such thing happened. We had dinner and watched TV and a movie.

Rain on the parade

We arose to a torrential rain and a call from Casterline’s saying they were not interested in going to Asheville. Since we couldn’t walk, we finished the repair of the vinyl card table I had made a hole in. The repair is not professional but will do. We had leftovers for lunch which included some of Shirley's nachos from last evening. We had promised John Knight we would try the hot sauce Evelyn had won in Sydney this week. I mistakenly thought it could be used as a sauce for the nachos. Blunder royale! I have never had anything burn my mouth quite so much. I read the label and learned it was mostly habenero peppers. It is something to be used sparingly when preparing a salsa or soup. What a lesson to be learned the hard way. We spent the remainder of the day watching movies. We also called Anthem, the drug supplier for Evelyn, and ordered more prescription drugs. In addition we were blessed with a call from Dr. McClelland’s office saying that we had appointments September 2 at 4:20 and 5. We thank God for those blessings. We went to the potluck/Bible study and learned more of the history of the Lutheran churches. We came right home and went to bed. I will take the car in for repair in the morning and then perhaps will go to Asheville if Shirley will drive