Looking for drugs

We did not get up to walk because the doctor has advised Evelyn to avoid walking the lake when the mold count is high. They seem to be high in the mornings that are foggy. We went to downtown Waynesville to check in with Weight Watchers. The good news is that Evelyn is still under her target weight. We went to the BiLo grocery to shop a bit. That is a very nice grocery but is generally out or our way so we usually end up at Food Lion or Ingalls. We went back to Taco Bell but I couldn’t find my mug so I can’t repair it. We went to Wal-Mart to try to get a prescription filled for me and Evelyn. They still didn’t have her meds and I left my prescription to be filled. We came home for lunch and some rest. Evelyn still gets very tired so she took a nap. Afterward we went to walk in the heat. I also did my computer work before we came home for showers. We decided to go out for dinner at Sunset on Main. I have the TXU coupon that I bought on the Internet for $5. It is worth $25 but we have to spend $35. We dressed a bit and went back. We had to add up items to make sure we got up to $35. We finally had to order two appetizers because we wanted to share an entree. The food was only ok. We went to Pheasant Hill and listened to a woman play her guitar and sing. We came home around 10, preparing for tomorrow.
We slept in until 8 and had a leisurely morning. We went to Wal-Mart and learned what we were suspecting: they still didn’t have the potassium she wants to try. We took the prescription to Eckards but they didn’t have it either. We will look into other places later. We went on to Barber Orchard to get the honey crisp apples we ordered. I also told the owner that I would not be able to work for her in October because the Beelis will be visiting during the time she needs help. We went to the library for computer work and to get a video of Little Women. We then came home for lunch and some rest. Evelyn is still not well, having a sore throat and not much energy. She rested and then we went to walk the lake. On the way home we went to Lowe’s and bought a retractable screen that rolls up horizontally something like an old fashioned blind that worked vertically. We didn’t have much for dinner but went to a nearby area called Fines Creek for a Bluegrass jam session. We went there last year. We left early because it was quite cool and damp. Evelyn thought it was not good for her condition. We came home and had some hot chocolate and she called her brother in IN. They are doing well. While at the concert, we met a man driving a Saturn who suggested going to the Saturn dealership in Asheville to see what could be done to improve our gas mileage. I also learned how to use the DVR that came with our Direct TV. We recorded a college football preview that was on while we were gone.

Baseball

Work was pleasant today except that we were short handed during the preparation time. When the area manager learned that we were, he came to our store from Murphy, NC to help. When 2:30 rolled around, Evelyn wasn’t there I kept working for an extra half hour until she arrived. She had been trying to rectify a problem with a doctor’s bill from last year. We are trying to learn who our Medicare supplement was with at the time. When she arrived, we came home for me to shower and meet the Krauses to go to the baseball game in Asheville. We went to an Italian restaurant and shared a very good meal before going to the ballpark. We were able to get box seats for the senior price of $6. We stayed until the 7th inning was over and left for home. Evelyn was not feeling well and the group of men behind us got more and more foul in their talk. Our guests left immediately when we returned home and we prepared for bed. While at the ball game, I talked to the concessions manager about a job for the next summer but was disappointed to learn how little they pay. It is closer and economically more profitable to work at the Taco Bell around the corner. At work one of the ladies knocked my JNL mug off a rack and broke the handle off. She was very sorry, but I assured her that it was a gift and quite expendable. I will try to glue the handle back on.

more information

Monday we walked the lake and went to the hotel to do computer work. I had trouble because the Cingular program prevented my logging on. It was half an hour for me to discover what was wrong. We came home and Evelyn went to bed, still sick. I went to the Open Door to serve. I worked harder than I have ever worked there. I worked with a woman volunteer who is a retired professor from some university in Alabama. I think she and her husband would be fun to socialize with. I came home and Evelyn joined me for a trip to Ghost Town, an amusement park in Maggie Valley that has never been open since we started coming to NC. It had been closed by the state safety inspector because the owner would not correct any of the safety concerns. Finally a new group has bought it. Unfortunately too many people came for the trip to the top of the mountain where the park is, so the shuttles had been discontinued. Instead those in line were given free passes for entry next year when the park opens in the spring. We must use them before July 1. We returned home and Evelyn returned to bed for rest. After dinner of vegetables, we packed in for the night and watched the biography of Vivian Leigh (Scarlet O’Hara) on the biography channel.
Tuesday was back to work. It was a normal day with some breaks in the traffic in the drive through. Evelyn took me to work and went to walk. She is not feeling any better so we agreed she should make an appointment with a doctor. She went to McLelland’s office and saw a nurse who determined she should see the doctor and made an appointment for tomorrow. She picked me up and we came home for dinner of Luky Fogles, a hamburger type sandwich we learned about while we lived in Muncie back in the 1960s. After dinner we walked around the loop we live on. On one of our trips we were joined by one of our neighbors for two of the four rounds we made. We then came in and watched a bit of TV before going to bed.
Wednesday was a harder day at work. The man who trained me at my job was fired over the weekend because he stopped coming to work. Today we learned his wife had not gone to work either. We all wonder if we will read about them in the paper as murdered or something. It was very busy all day and little cleaning was done in the dining room. I was ashamed when I went to check out so I stayed and tried to clean up a little. I don’t know why anyone would come back to a place that dirty. I know that we are short handed and very busy but the public doesn’t see that. Shirley had made a Tee time for us at 3:00 so we went to play golf. I didn’t play well but did play better and carded a 56 for 9 holes. That is 9 strokes less than I had three weeks ago. We then went to Zaxbys, a chicken fast food place, for dinner. Neither Evelyn nor I are interested in returning. We went to choir practice 45 minutes early and made a date with Rosalind and her husband to go to a minor league baseball game in Asheville tomorrow night. We came home and watched the Cubs play. Tomorrow is my last day to work this week.

Accumulation of days

Friday we went to the lake. Evelyn went to a craft sale and then walked around the lake. I had much computer work to do so I didn’t walk. We came home and Evelyn finished making a great chicken salad which we enjoyed for lunch. Evelyn was beginning to feel like she was getting a cold so we took it easy in the afternoon. Kathy, the lighting expert who lives in our neighborhood, came to help us install the light she had sold us. I invited her husband, Jim, to come also for a beer. We all worked and visited for more than an hour but finished the job. We didn’t each much for dinner because we were going to the ballroom dance where there are usually many carry-in items for snacking. There was not much there, but we enjoyed the dance anyway, despite the fact that I don’t care for the band that plays on alternate months. I prefer the CD dances.
Saturday I took Evelyn to walk while I went to the men’s breakfast at church. It was one of the more spiritual ones we have had. I returned to work at the hotel while she returned to the church to help with the altar guild. We then went to the Verizon store to check on their wireless card that I can put into my lap top. I think theirs is less expensive than the Cingular one. I will read about the service in a brochure. I may need it in Texas because the wireless router placed in our RV park won’t reach the 100 yards to our house. Perhaps the service will be strengthened before we return. We also went to the Waynesville farmer’s market but found nothing we wanted. We went to Christopher’s farm market and bought fruit for my Norwegian fruit soup that I entered in the contest at tonight’s volunteer appreciation dinner. Evelyn finished her hummingbird cake, and we ate the leftover crown salmon from Thursday. Evelyn has been coming down with a cold so she took a nap. We dressed for the dinner and met Paul and Shirley there. The entree was spaghetti followed by a brilliant power point presentation from Folkmoot USA. Then the big moment. The desserts had been put on two tables: one for men’s entries and one for women’s. The people were asked the people to vote for their favorite. One young boy fell in love with mine and said he voted for it 9 times. In short, I won! The prize was two mugs, some freshly ground coffee and a gift certificate to a local sandwich shop. Shirley won the women’s and the best cook in the room, Evelyn, didn’t win anything. We stopped on the way home to buy some cough syrup for her. When she asked the pharmacist about the syrup she had chosen, he said, “Its an ok choice.” Something about the way he said it made me curious so I asked, “What is a better choice?” He directed us to another brand other than the house brand she had chosen. We hope it works. I also talked with Emily about the itinerary for her visit. We then watched Columbo.
Sunday led us to worship. The choir didn’t sing but it was my Sunday to assist with Holy Communion. Afterward we returned home for lunch and then Evelyn went to bed because she is still ill. She spent most of the day in bed until time for us to go to the band concert in Maggie Valley. We picked up a widow lady and took her. We enjoyed the concert and returned home and had popcorn while we watched some murder mysteries and finished our prayer couple letters for the upcoming M. E. Weekend. Earlier I called some people I had wanted to call all summer: my cousin, Romaine to inquire about her health, Maury and Mim Musselman, friends from Via de Cristo to see how they have been doing, and Bill and Shirley Oefinger, friends we tailgate with at the Purdue games to plan to stay in Shelbyville the day before we go to Purdue. Evelyn also received a call from her friend, Jennifer, from Florida. We had originally planned to meet her and her “friend” on the way back from the September game, but they had decided to cancel that and meet us on their way back from Ohio to Florida. We will meet them in Waynesville. This is much better for us.

Days of more fun

Sunday was worship day. We went to Bible study and saw a lady that reminded us that Evelyn had forgotten another thing yesterday. She was supposed to meet a lady at church to help learn about altar guild. We also sang in the choir today. The selection was one of my favorite most powerful hymns: It is Well with my Soul. I was especially moved when we warmed up and was asked to pray for our performance. I could hardly make it through the prayer. Unfortunately, Evelyn and I both agreed that the rehearsal was better than the church singing. It was fellowship Sunday so we stayed for the lunch provided. We stopped at the Wal-Mart on the way home to buy another DVD player. The one we bought six months ago quit. I will take it back to where we bought it to see if we can get a refund. We came home and rested before going to a neighbor’s house to pull weeds for her. She has vertigo and can hardly stand up not to mention bend over to pull weeds. We walked the lake and tried to think of a couple who might go with us to Chimney Rock tomorrow. We are still thinking. We returned home for popcorn and a movie.
We wakened at 6 AM! We couldn’t sleep for some reason despite trying for another 45 minutes. We finally gave up and went to walk the lake. We returned home and prepared to leave for Chimney Rock. I also wanted to get a wireless “card” from Cingular. We looked for the store in Asheville and found one. There was a very nice young man who explained many things to me, but he didn’t have any of the items. He sent me to an “island” in Asheville Mall that had one. We went there and waited for the clerk to serve another customer for more than 15 minutes. He then began to help me. I was ready to buy the thing and subscribe for the service, but many things went wrong. It was closing in on one o’clock with no end in sight. It had to be installed and it took longer than I was willing to take, being hungry so I walked out. We had lunch at Chilis and took half of our lunches with us because they were too large to eat there. We then proceeded to Chimney Rock. On the way we got so tired that we had to pull off the road and take a nap. We went on to what was a beautiful park, costing $14 each for entry. We walked to the top of the rock, took some pictures and walked to the bottom of Hickory Nut Falls. In short we walked ourselves into quite a tired state. We came home and had hot dogs for dinner. We went to bed a bit early because I have to go back to work tomorrow.
Up again at 6. Evelyn dropped me at work and went to walk. I did my cleaning but didn’t have to wash windows because the professional comes on payday. My check was for $200 because I had missed the day we were in Georgia. It was a normal day with a steady line at the drive through but there were some small breaks unlike last Thursday. I also poured rain around 2 so by the time 3 came it was still a drencher. We went to the golf course and found Shirley just leaving. We couldn’t play. We came home and rested because the Casterline’s were coming for dinner. They came and we played Kings on the Corner until 8:30. They left and I went straight to bed. I turned on the TV to watch the Cubs but went to sleep immediately. I brought to degreaser home to try to eradicate some of the oil spills that are on the carport floor. I seemed to work well last time.
Wednesday was off to work again. It was a normal day but I told the manager I would likely quit around October 1. I had all my outside work done in plenty of time to help put some of the supplies from the truck away. One of the male assistant managers had heard me talk about playing golf yesterday and wanted to talk to me about it. He is thinking about taking up the game because his “girl friend” works with us and he has nothing to do on his day off. I told him how to get to our house and that I would give him my old set of clubs, a bag and perhaps a pull cart if he would go get them. When we returned home, they were still here. Evelyn went to the Christian Women’s Club luncheon and heard a quasi-nutritionist. E questioned her qualifications but had to miss talking with her because of the line waiting to do the same. She picked me up and we went to Wal-Mart to see if I could get any type of refund on the DVD player I bought last year. It quit working after only 6+ months of use. We didn’t use it all winter. There was another line but a manager implied that they could look for a price on the computer even though I no longer had the charge slip. I tried the degreaser on the oil spots and it helped but the spots will likely always faintly be there. We ate our leftover hamburgers from Monday’s lunch at Chili’s and went to choir practice.
Thursday was a normal day at work. I sometimes have fun especially with the older people (20-23). Most of the people there seem to like me, but I don’t join in much of the sophomoric fun. It does hurt to know that none of the mothers there is married. After work Shirley and I played golf and I played much more consistently than before. I shaved 5 strokes from previous scores but that is not enough to make me record the score. I don’t know whether my “new” clubs had anything to do with it, but Shirley thought so. We came to our house and met Paul. I took a quick shower and off we went to Canton. We shared a marvelous crown salmon dinner stuffed with crab meat with 6 shrimp on top. Even sharing it was too much to eat and we brought some home. We then went to a concert by a David Holt and the Lightning Bolts, a band from western North Carolina. It too was outstanding. We then came home for coffee and dessert.

rain and forgetfullness

Thursday was an interesting day. First the assistant manager with the key to the store was more than a half hour late. He did promise to clock us in at 8. We began working and did get most things ready by opening at 10. I finished my work and began filling the small salsa cups that go with the taco salads. We got so busy that I could not finish the job for three hours. There was a continuous line at the drive through and the dining room was full most of the time. The line workers were swamped making food orders. Everyone was pretty tired by the time I left. One amazing thing happened during the day. One of the teenage girl workers asked if I could add very well. I was a bit apprehensive but said yes. She said I have fried two groups of three baskets of chips and am supposed to make 8. How many do I lack? This high school student and another did not know how to add 3+3 and subtract 2 from 8. I think 6 of our 7 grandchildren could work that problem. These are high school juniors! How frightening. We came home and rested until going to Casterline’s for an elaborate hot dog dinner. The side dishes were green beans, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, relishes, jello and apple pie a-la-mode for dessert. We then played Farkel, a game we had played with them last week. They obviously loved it because they asked us to bring it with us. We came home and went to bed, ready for tomorrow.
Friday allowed us to walk. After the walk we ran several errands. Our main objective was to find some packing materials to use for sending the bi-fold back to California. We found some bubble pack at the Rexel lighting place although our neighbor, Kathy, was not there. We came home and packed the box and took it to the UPS store near here. Things went smoother than we thought. Before this on our errand run, we found a set of golf clubs, bag and cart at the Open Door. Shirley and Evelyn have been suggesting I get a new set of clubs so I did for $10. Now I must discover some place to dispose of my old ones. We ate and cleaned up. We tried to find someone to go to the Pickin’ in the Park at Canton but couldn’t. Kathy’s husband, Jim, had spent the night in the hospital suffering from dehydration as a result of diarrhea. We wanted to invite them for lunch tomorrow but he thought he should not eat much. We went to Canton by ourselves and enjoyed the evening despite the threat of rain. It had rained many times during the day and the previous night. We needed the rain.
Saturday it rained all morning. It had rained last night and a tree had fallen across a nearby power line and left us without power for an hour and a half. Since we couldn’t walk, we worked on cleaning the golf clubs and bag. I discovered that there was one set of Jack Nicklas clubs and another set of irons. I think I made a good buy. We entertained some friends we had met at Stonebridge a couple of years ago. We served the last of the Jambalya; we had served it to three groups of dinner guests. We talked with them for a couple of hours about their cruise to Alaska this summer. We were both tired so we took a nap and decided to chance the weather and go to the Shindig on the Green in Asheville. As we were dressing, we got a call from some friends from church who had gone to Marriage Encounter last fall. We thought the meeting at their house was to be tomorrow evening. We rushed to their house and had a dialogue followed by a dinner. We had brought nothing because Evelyn had not made anything, thinking it was tomorrow. We met a new couple and planned to attend another “spiral” next month and be a prayer couple for the next M. E. Weekend.

Three days

We got up and packed for the trip home. We spent some time looking at an old album from Mom’s effects. We had some sunflower seed toast with strawberry jam. We left at 10:00 and left town with little trouble. It was much easier getting out than in. I went to a gas station I remembered from the trip down and filled up with 2.909 Gasoline. We had lunch in Clayton at a Pizza Hut and went on to Franklin where the motor home is. We got the bifold with almost no effort. I thought it might take an hour but finished in 15 minutes. We returned home and prepared for our guests, Rosalind Kraus and her husband, Herb. She is our choir director. We served the saffron jambalaya Evelyn had made last week. We also served corn bread salad from the Ingalls grocery. We had a delightful visit with them, learning that they are both retired opera performers. She has performed on Broadway in some musical comedies. He is retired military and they have lived in Germany for many years. They returned to Waynesville four years ago. They left and we cleaned up the dishes before retiring.
Back to work. As I was sweeping the parking lot, the manager called me back to the store for a phone call. I had no idea who would call me at work, but it was someone in the state corporate office telling me I had won a contest I didn’t know I was in. The prize was a new pair of work shoes or the equivalent in money. I don’t need another pair of shoes so I took the money. We will give it to the Open Door soup kitchen. I finished work and came home, fired up the smoker, and smoked country style ribs (my favorite), 5 chicken breasts, and a salmon filet we had bought last night. Things turned out fine except the chicken breasts look pretty hard. They might be chicken jerky. We ate dinner and went to choir practice. We went to the hotel and then came home to watch the Cubs.
Thursday was an interesting day. First the assistant manager with the key to the store was more than a half hour late. He did promise to clock us in at 8. We began working and did get most things ready by opening at 10. I finished my work and began filling the small salsa cups that go with the taco salads. We got so busy that I could not finish the job for three hours. There was a continuous line at the drive through and the dining room was full most of the time. The line workers were swamped making food orders. Everyone was pretty tired by the time I left. One amazing thing happened during the day. One of the teenage girl workers asked if I could add very well. I was a bit apprehensive but said yes. She said I have fried two groups of three baskets of chips and am supposed to make 8. How many do I lack? This high school student and another did not know how to add 3+3 and subtract 2 from 8. I think 6 of our 7 grandchildren could work that problem. These are high school juniors! How frightening. We came home and rested until going to Casterline’s for an elaborate hot dog dinner. The side dishes were green beans, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, relishes, jello and apple pie a-la-mode for dessert. We then played Farckel, a game we had played with them last week. They obviously loved it because they asked us to bring it with us. We came home and watched the news.

Guests and a big surprise.

We got up and packed for the trip home. We spent some time looking at an old album from Mom’s effects. We had some sunflower seed toast with strawberry jam. We left at 10:00 and left town with little trouble. It was much easier getting out than in. I went to a gas station I remembered from the trip down and filled up with 2.909 Gasoline. We had lunch in Clayton at a Pizza Hut and went on to Franklin where the motor home is. We got the bifold with almost no effort. I thought it might take an hour but finished in 15 minutes. We returned home and prepared for our guests, Rosalind Kraus and her husband, Herb. She is our choir director. We served the saffron jambalaya Evelyn had made last week. We also served corn bread salad from the Ingalls grocery. We had a delightful visit with them, learning that they are both retired opera performers. She has performed on Broadway in some musical comedies. He is retired military and they have lived in Germany for many years. They returned to Waynesville four years ago. They left and we cleaned up the dishes before retiring.
Back to work. As I was sweeping the parking lot, the manager called me back to the store for a phone call. I had no idea who would call me at work, but it was someone in the state corporate office telling me I had won a contest I didn’t know I was in. The prize was a new pair of work shoes or the equivalent in money. I don’t need another pair of shoes so I took the money. We will give it to the Open Door soup kitchen. I finished work and came home, fired up the smoker, and smoked country style ribs (my favorite), 5 chicken breasts, and a salmon filet we had bought last night. Things turned out fine except the chicken breasts look pretty hard. They might be chicken jerky. We ate dinner and went to choir practice. We went to the hotel and then came home to watch the Cubs.

A mild scare

We were up at a leisurely hour and took a walk with the big dog, Beethoven. We didn’t go too far but didn’t need to because it was uphill most of the way. It is more taxing than walking the lake. We came home and cleaned up for a trip to the new school that the kids will be attending. We had hoped to take a tour but didn’t get an appointment. We went to Kroger to shop because we don’t have any in NC and then went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. Stacy likes their frozen margaritas and ordered one for us. We were shocked when the medium turned out to be about 32 ounces. The food was good but my margarita was left slightly unfinished. We came home and watched Chicken Little in the afternoon. Later we played cards with the kids and waited for Tom to come and grill the bratwurst we had brought. In the meantime, Peter stacked many aluminum cans on their hill and got in his motorless go cart and crashed into them several times, sending them flying into the air. We then ate dinner and went to watch You, Me and Dupree, a silly movie that was a pirated version from NYC. Just as it began, I became very hot. I don’t remember ever being so hot. I tried standing but soon had to sit down. Stacy got a soft frozen ice pack from the freezer and put it on the back of my neck. I was not sure whether something serious was going on. I kept waiting for pain in my arm, neck or jaw, but none of the above occurred, praise to Jesus. After about 20 minutes, I began to cool down. We were watching the movie, but I could see everyone looking to see whether I had fallen over. We (all but Tom) finished the movie and went to bed. He has to get up so early to catch the MARTA for his work in downtown Atlanta, so he retired about 2/3 of the way through.

Maters and Christmas

Saturday we went to the flea market at the fair grounds very near here. We found a couple of things we could use and then went to walk. We bought a relish tray for Shirley. I also found that we can not return our old Dish network items to the place we bought it. We will have to mail them back when they send boxes for that purpose. I wanted to change oil in the Saturn so I drove up onto my makeshift ramp and crawled under. I could barely get my drain bucket under the oil pan and could not get the old filter loose. I had no oil filter wrench but tried a channel lock I borrowed from a neighbor. Still no success so I asked the young man from across the street to try. He couldn’t get it loose either. I called the local Grease Monkey for an appointment and drove to Waynesville. I was told it would be $31.95 to change the oil and filter. When the shock wore off, I asked how much to loosen the filter. The young man just went into their pit and took the old filter off and put my new one I had bought from Advance Auto Parts on. They didn’t charge me anything, so I drove home, drained the old oil and put new oil in. What a blessing that was! We had lunch and rested in the afternoon since we had not slept well last night. We then went off to a gospel sing at a church near Canton. We arrived a few minutes before 6 but no one was there except one of the singers. He said the sing started at 7, but we were not willing to wait an hour so we went back to Canton to the Mountain Mater Fest. We listened to 5 groups in the “Battle of the Bands” but didn’t like many of them. They were not bluegrass bands. We bought some fried green tomatoes and then came back home. I made popcorn and then we went to bed.
We were up and off to Franklin. We arrived at church at 9:30, I robed and led the worship. I thought I made too many mistakes in the liturgy but had many compliments on my sermon, one I had given to my interdenominational group in Texas. I thank God for using my message. We then took some of Dave’s Ultimate Insanity, the concentrated habanera sauce that will melt plastic to one of Tom and Luann’s friends we meet at their parties. We then drove to Roswell where the kids were excited to celebrate our Christmas in July a month late. They had assembled their artificial tree and put up many Christmas items. It was a blast. We all received many wonderful things and enjoyed the celebration. We then visited the rest of the afternoon of which there was not much left. Stacy made a bean dip/taco salad for dinner that was even better than those at Taco Bell. I went in to our sleeping room to check on the computer that was charging and sat down on a blanket covered glass topped coffee table to work a bit. The glass broke and we spent half an hour cleaning up the slivers of glass from the carpeted floor. The glass had been glued back together before but I still broke it. I hope they let me pay to have the glass replaced.

garden and golf

Off to work again. I ate more than usual because a taco salad had been made in the usual way but the customer wanted no tomatoes. I ate it rather than throw it away. After work we came home and planted the flowers Evelyn had bought weeks ago. We had to off set the blocks first and then mix the bags of potting soil to fill the area. It looked pretty good when we finished. Later, we cleaned up and relaxed until time to go to choir. We watched a movie when we came home. Evelyn had spent some of the day preparing jambalaya for tomorrow evening’s dinner with Paul and Shirley.
Thursday was work again and no lunch. We had planned a large dinner, so I held back. I did have some chips and salsa. Afterward Evelyn brought me home to change for golf with Shirley. We played at the Waynesville Country Club. There are three 9 hole courses there, and we played the easiest one. I didn’t score much better but felt much better about my play than previously. I had several good shots and knew what was wrong when I shot poorly. That is progress. Next time will be even better, I think. We had a good dinner and fun playing Farkle in the evening.
Friday was a welcome day off. We could not sleep late, so we went to walk at the lake. We returned home to get ready to meet a couple of Evelyn’s friends from Geneva who have lived near here for several years. We had a good visit with them at a local pizza parlor, Nick and Nate’s. We came home and crashed for an hour or so and then went to downtown Waynesville for the final street dance of the season. It had rained hard earlier and sprinkled most of the time so we walked down the street (the shops have awnings) and went into the art galleries because it was “Art after Dark” Friday. Many of them serve wine and various hors doerves. We never buy anything but do enjoy looking at the items. We came home early and watched Hoosiers until later than we should have.

Entertainment

Monday our neighbor, Michael, and I took his truck to Lowe’s to get some castle rocks for the border of our flower garden. We brought them back and placed them around the perimeter. I then skimmed what grass I could from the interior and tried to plant it in the some of the bare spots in the yard. Evelyn went back and got some more potting soil for the interior. I couldn’t go because the Direct TV technician was supposed to arrive before noon. To make a long story short, he didn’t arrive until 7:30 PM. He called to say he would be late so we went to the library and went to south Waynesville to get some gasoline. It is usually cheaper over there. As a result, Shirley had to call the Waynesville Country Club to cancel our tee time. Finally Evelyn went to walk while I watched the tech install the new satellite system. We didn’t get to bed until late.

Tuesday I was up at 6 because I couldn’t sleep. I went in and practiced the service and sermon for Sunday. I want to do that each day until I lead worship in Franklin. I thought I heard something running but couldn’t figure out what it was. It turned out that Evelyn had left the water running outside where she was watering our sick tree. There was a pool in the yard. No wonder our water bill is so high. Then it was off to work but first I went to the hotel to get on the web to send the electric bill cost to our summer renters and transfer some money to cover the cost. Evelyn came to get me at 2:30 and we went to cash my check in Clyde. We came home and really did nothing for the rest of the day. I did play around with the remote control, trying to learn about Direct TV.