football fever

We slept until 8 and then got ready for the day. We were off to play golf at 10 and played until 2. I shot well having only two penalty shots. My score was better than actuality because I had some “mulligan” on some holes that I parred. Regardless I had an acceptable round of 97. We came home and ate some of the spaghetti left from the dinner last Saturday. We cleaned up and watched some of the Cubs game. They were killed by the Astros. We rested and went to the football game at 6. The game doesn’t begin until 7:30 but one must be early to get a seat. This is the big rivalry game in this area: Tuscola vs. Pisgah. There are around 12,000 people attending these games each year. Last year Pisgah dominated and lost in the semi-finals of the tournament in their division, but this year Tuscola dominated very soundly. We left at the half with Tuscola leading 17-0. We came home and went to bed for a big day of entertainment tomorrow.

end of the visit

We were up to find another spot on the driveway. I followed Darl back to Clyde. The mechanic looked the engine over but found no leak. We came back and I fried eggs to go with the sausage links E had made. We enjoyed the leisurely breakfast, they packed their items and we left for downtown Waynesville. We did the usual and then went to Bogart’s for lunch. We split the chopped steak again, and they brought us home and left for home. We took a nap (it was now 2) and readied to go to the baseball game. We met others at the church and rode with McElroys to Asheville. It was “Thirsty Thursday” and we were all happy about that. We had good seats but the rains came, went and came again. We left for home in the rain during the 4th inning. We came directly home and I watched the Cubs beat the Brewers. What a happy day!

Fairchild again

No walking today. Darl and I were up early to take his car to Clyde where the mechanic may work on it. I didn’t expect Alan Trantham to be there but he was. He remembered me and thought they might look at the car around 1PM today. I tried to impress on him that these were travelers from out of state and needed special attention. We came home, ate breakfast and sent the visitors off to the Biltmore Estates. They had to take our car but that was fine. We were blessed with a visit from the Musselmans at 10. We took them around town and tried to sell them Waynesville for their family reunion next summer. We showed them the recreation center which impressed them. We showed them the tennis courts in the city park and reminded them of the swimming pool, canoe rentals and miniature golf at Lake Junaluska. I really think they will return to Pigeon Forge. We went to Barber Orchard and bought seven muffins for us and our guests. We then went downtown for lunch at Whitman’s Bakery and Sandwich Shop. We also wandered around town for a bit but returned here for dessert. I had forgotten to take our telephone and was worried Bookouts might have called. They hadn’t. We had carrot cake and ice cream instead of the muffins. I tried to get them to take the two I had bought for them, but they had bought apple fritters for themselves and didn’t want more. They left around 3 after a very nice visit. They are very spiritual people and we were blessed to be with them. We spruced up the house and then rested while awaiting the return from Asheville. They arrived and found that their car was repaired. We brought it back and decided to go out to the Bear’s Den for dinner. I printed a coupon but learned upon arrival that they weren’t open despite what their marque said. This is not the first time that has happened to me. I will make it a point to tell them about this. We went to another restaurant and went to see Raymond Fairchild again. They really enjoyed the show. We are getting to be regulars there. We came home late

visitors at last

We were up early to get to the lake to walk. We had to get finished so we could get to the pickle ball court at the armory. Jonathon and Jennifer came too and Jonathon became obsessed with the game. I played twice and improved. Evelyn did also. We had to leave before the end because Evelyn had an appointment to get her hair cut. I took her and went to the bank to cash my paycheck: $188. While waiting for Evelyn, I tried to activate our rebate cards. I talked with two nice ladies who could not do it but did let me know that the aircard had a different number than our cell phone. When we came home, I got on line and activated the two cards. The visitors finally arrived and we had a sandwich for lunch. We had a visit and decided to go to Lake Junaluska to look around, especially since they were all Methodists. We walked a bit and then went to the World Methodist Museum. We had talked about going there for three years and finally made it. While there, Musselmans came and we made plans to be with them tomorrow at 10 to help them look for a rental for next summer. After they left the others of us decided to go to Cataloochee Ranch to look around. It is three steep miles up and Darl’s car overheated. We waited for it to cool and added water before returning home. We had planned to go hear Raymond Fairchild but couldn’t because we couldn’t get back in time. We came home and I barbecued 5 filets we had bought from the traveling meat man when Tom and Janet were here. We enjoyed the meal, talked a while and then went to bed. Sam has to sleep on the couch while Darl and Donna use the guest room. I called Domestic Auto and we will go there early tomorrow to see if they will work on the car to discover the problem. They are very busy but might deal with the problem because our guests are from out of town.

Another day to wait

I had to have blood drawn this morning so it was almost 9 when I got to work. As I was cleaning the parking lot, Barry Conover drove up, and we had a nice conversation. I don’t think I will ever be able get any pulpit assignments around here. I know I won’t if we begin attending a church of a different denomination. Barry will likely use me, but I don’t want him to get in trouble over a couple of substitutions by me each year. I finished when Evelyn picked me up. We came home for lunch and a shower. We expected a call both last night and this morning from our anticipated guests. They didn’t call until around 2:30 to tell us they would not be here until tomorrow around noon. This allowed us to go to play golf. We were at Iron Tree around 4:30 and played until 7:30. I had a fairly good day, shooting 49 on the front 9 and 47 on the back. I broke 100 again. What a wonderful habit to develop. We missed supper so we went to have a mixed berry cobbler with ice cream at Ammon’s drive in. I went on and filled the car with gas and drove back to Taco Bell to get my paycheck. We came home and made plans to walk, play pickle ball and get Evelyn’s haircut before coming home to get lunch ready for the Indiana visitors.

Waiting for Sam

We went off to church thinking our choir was singing but it wasn’t. We just went to worship and got 4 tickets for the German dinner. Rogers and Bollingers both want some. We came home and ate the tilapia Evelyn had prepared for us. We just laid around for most of the afternoon, but I did take the tickets to Rogers and applied another coat of polyurethane to the trunk and tater box. I also stained the TV tray that sits out on the deck and the picnic table. Evelyn melted some white chocolate and covered some pretzels. I made popcorn for dinner so we ate light. We worked on trying to get Evelyn’s rebate cards activated and copied some information about pickle ball to give to her friends and Emily. We still don’t have tickets for the football games. Bill said he won’t know until September 4 whether he can get them for the ND game. Northwestern is no problem. We still haven’t heard from the visitors we expect tomorrow. What’s up?

Folkmoot dinner.

Saturday was the final Saturday of the month so we had the men’s breakfast. The only reason I go is that I present the “devotion”. We have been watching a DVD comparing the Bible with the Book of Mormon. There would be nothing spiritual if I didn’t own the DVD. I don’t know what will be done after we leave in October. The church council met as we left. I wonder if Pastor Crume will bring up the possibilities of making me a lay minister in charge of nursing home visits or something. I left and came home. I watched some of the rest of the DVD in order to time it. We can finish it in the next two months. We ate lunch and then I applied polyurethane to the trunk and the tater box. I forgot the TV tray that is outside. I called Tom Crouch in Texas to see if it was ok to use the polyurethane in the trunk. We also talked about things in our RV park. It thundered a bit but we got no rain. We took naps but Evelyn had to finish the cake we took to the spaghetti dinner. It was given to all the people who volunteered at Folkmoot. Only 27 people came. The spaghetti was just as good as last year’s. Evelyn’s cake didn’t win anything in the dessert contest because hardly anyone ate any. Oh, well. We were home by 7:30 and watched a strange film about Ed Wood, a Hollywood director who made many cult films . I switched to it between innings of the Cubs/Diamondbacks baseball game. Jim Rogers came over to order German dinner tickets and plan a time at which we will leave on Sunday the 9th. I invited them to worship with us, and he almost accepted but thinks Kathy would not be able to be ready that early. He left and I made this blog entry.

Friday

Another enjoyable day at work. It is enjoyable when I don’t have to go back for two days. I was able to get hold of JoAnn of the Open Door and get some action on the request for information regarding the matching grant from Thrivent. She sent me e-mails containing a list of needs. Evelyn ran errands and came to get me early. She had ice cream, so I put it into the freezer at work until I left. We ordered a grande quesadilla and brought it home for our lunch. We got Evelyn’s remaining $100 rebate in the mail today. She bought my air card for $150 and just received the final rebate check. We cleaned up and took our regular nap before getting ready to take our friends to the Fines Creek Bluegrass Festival. Evelyn worked on the dessert she is making for the spaghetti dinner tomorrow night. I will make my brownies tomorrow afternoon. I won the contest last year. We went to Fines Creek and heard many of the same groups we heard last year. We came home and watched the news for a while and went to sleep

Plans for tomorrow

Thursday was hot again but fun at work. Evelyn went to pickle ball again. Jennifer and Jonathon showed up and decided that they would rather play Wii at home on the television. We came home and ate spinach salad. Phil came to show me how to repair a problem with the shower door, and Massie furniture came to hang the new window covering in the living room. It looks very nice. Phil brought some yellow tomatoes and sweet peppers. When they left, we went to bed to sleep and watch the Cubs play on TV. I had been awake from 2:30 AM to 4:30. For some reason we are tired in the afternoons. Evelyn is pushing the envelope by walking and playing pickle ball, and I work all morning. We slept until 6! But we did watch some of the game. I remembered that we wanted to have hamburgers using the ground chuck I had bought Monday. We enjoyed them and froze 4 more patties for later. We just watched TV most of the night (it was quite late when we ate) but did talk with Loylers about the Open Door requests. We also made plans with the McElroys to go to Fines Creek tomorrow evening to hear the Bluegrass festival. We went to bed at 10.

disappointment

We were up and off to golf at 8. Evelyn dropped me at the course and went to walk the lake. After that she came home and made salsa out of the tomatoes Charles had given to us. Meanwhile, I was playing golf with two pastors and the national treasurer of Via de Cristo. They were all better than I, especially the pastors. It was a blessed time in any case. I did shoot 49 on the front and 55 on the back. We played off the white tees rather than the gold for geezers even though we all were. I would like to think my score would be better had I played the gold, but my problems are more near the greens than on the tees. E and I had made a plan for her to be at the course at 1, and we finished exactly then! We had lunch, cleaned up and I got ready to meet with pastor Crume about my rejection as a lay minister in our church. He pointed out that I should have some assignment in order to be affiliated with a congregation as a lay minister. The elders have said that they don’t want me for anything. I still think we will worship somewhere else next year. I also looked into registering for DELTO, a program leading to ordination, but the requirements mention being needed for a pastor’s position before enrolling. I guess God doesn’t want me in a preaching position during the summer. Evelyn worked on a spinach salad for tomorrow’s lunch before going to choir practice. It was much cooler in the church tonight. We came home and took a walk around our loop. We then came in and I called Musselmans. I learned that they would come next week at the same time Sam will be here. It should work well because they are coming to scout for places they might stay next summer. I also called Phil Bollinger about the problem with our shower door. He will come to look at it tomorrow.

Augsburg

I was delivered to work, and Evelyn went to walk the lake and then go to pickle ball at the armory. It is a game using paddles and a whiffle ball. I have never played so I don’t know much about it. Evelyn said it is more vigorous than I expected it to be. It also is much faster. She was a bit late getting me, but I did get us a taco salad to share for lunch. She wanted to bring it home because she had groceries in the car that needed refrigeration. We found a box of sheets I had ordered on line. They are larger to fit the high mattress on our bed. We enjoyed lunch, showered and napped. We arose and finished the dishes for tonight’s potluck/Bible study. We are studying the Augsburg Confessions. One of our church friends brought us some tomatoes and gave us 4 ears of delicious corn. We came home and talked a short time with Jim and Kathy about our Savannah trip. We went to bed at the usual time so I could play golf at about the same time as I usually go to work.

dinner out

Monday was back to work. There is still no hose outside so I can’t do that part of my job. I had to stay a bit past 12 and then we came home for leftovers from the weekend. I checked to see if Pastor Crume had answered my e-mail from last night but found nothing. He may have missed it or be ignoring it. We will see him tomorrow evening at the Bible study and perhaps will get an appointment for next week. I had called the retired pastors/golfers and made a plan to play with them next Wednesday. I think I will work the other four days. I went to a meeting at the Open Door to discuss the gift that OSLC plans to give them from the profits of the German dinner. As I drove, I listened to a voicemail from Perry requesting that I not come to the meeting. I went to the grocery instead and bought some incidentals. I did leave him a voice mail asking him to enumerate things the Open Door needed. I came home and watched some of the Cubs game on Gameday. Evelyn cut my hair and then rested for our dinner with Ribbes. It was good and we played Sequence together until 9. We came home early so I could go to bed. We called the Waters in Rio Hondo and things are well there. Evelyn plans to go to play pickle ball at the armory tomorrow. I found out the time and cost today. It is free and the equipment is provided.

concerts and rain outs

Sunday was the Lord’s Supper. We also sang as a choir. After worship we came right home to finish the dinner prepared for our guests, Jennifer and Jonathon. They came right on time and we had hors doerves before our pork cutlets and sour kraut dinner. Evelyn had made mashed potatoes from scratch and did a good job. We had Barber’s apple cake and bunny tracks ice cream for dessert. They left around 2:30, and we went straight to bed after cleaning up the kitchen. We were tired, and I wanted to see the Cubs game on TV tonight. It didn’t begin until 8. We got up and drove to Jennifer’s rental so that they could follow us to pick up Frances and go to the Haywood County band concert. We went and enjoyed its theme of music from movies, Broadway and television. It was hot just as it has been everyday for nearly a month, but there was a breeze once in a while. We came home and had popcorn while watching the game that lasted only three innings before a cloudburst ended it. We went to bed so I could get up early tomorrow. Unfortunately, the naps prevented our going to sleep immediately. Cest le gere!

Another miracle.

Saturday took us to the flea market to see if we could find anything to buy. We couldn’t. We did see our former pastor, John Greene. I talked with him about the rejection I received from our church concerning my status as a lay minister. We may begin attending a different church that will sponsor me. We may have to go to church in Asheville. We went to the church to work with the cleaning crew. We used orange pledge to brighten the wood on the pews. We left when we finished before lunch. We had many containers with leftovers that we needed to eat. We rested in the afternoon because we had tickets to a bluegrass barbecue dinner near the Hart Theater where we ushered for a play. Evelyn didn’t like the play, but I thought it was ok. It is hard to play several parts alone. We both enjoyed the barbecue and bluegrass, however. The band was Balsam Range. We had a good time with Charles and Ella who got the tickets for us. While we were eating, Evelyn noticed that the set from her ring bought on the cruise was missing. We were all looking for it. I looked one more time and our gracious Lord revealed it to me on the floor under my seat. Thank you, Jesus. Two retired pastors from our church came to the play and invited me to be the fourth in their golf game Wednesday. We received a call from Bookouts who are supposed to visit next week. They aren’t going to get here until next weekend. This creates a problem in that Musselmans may come too. We will have to call them and try to work things out.

A day of just fun

Friday was sad in that Tom and Janet had to leave. We said we had much more to show them requiring that they return next year. They left shortly after 9, and we quickly got ready and left for the Iron Tree golf course. I have begun to play the gold tees (over 65) but racked up a 9 on the first hole. I then double bogeyed the next par three and got a 7 on the next par 4. I thought things were going in the usual disastrous way. Then I scored 5,4,5,5,5 totaling 51, a good score for me. We made the turn and I scored 4,5,5,4,6,3,4,6,4 totaling 42 (phenomenal!) on the back 9. This made an 18 hole score of 93! I have never shot that low in my life. I don’t know what went right. We came home after 2 and had leftovers for lunch. We were tired and took the opportunity to take a nap while the Cubs played the Cardinals on TV. We had eaten late so we weren’t hungry for supper. We dressed and went to the ballroom dance at the armory. There is a dance the third Friday of each month. We stayed only until 10 and then came home to rest up for tomorrow’s busy day.

Seeing a legend

Thursday Evelyn and Janet went to church to lead the women’s Bible study. Tom and I just knocked around Waynesville doing errands. We went to Christopher’s to look at peaches. They were $28 for half a bushel. At Barber’s they were only $20. This was still higher than we paid in July. We met the ladies downtown after lunch. Evelyn had ordered a Purdue pin for Janet and surprised her with it. We learned that the Lord had blessed the Bible study again. He does a great job through Evelyn. We all came home and napped while watching the Cubs win for a change. We had cabbage rolls for dinner and then went to Maggie Valley to hear Raymond Fairchild, a great banjo player, at his Opry House. He has performed all over the world including “Hee Haw” and the “Grand Old Opry”. He has played with many other famous bluegrass artists. Ironically, I have thought we had better go to see him while he is still alive because he is getting old. The irony is that he is one year younger than I. I thought he was older than he is. We came home late and went to bed so they could get on the road home before 9 in the morning. We received a call from Ribbes inviting us to dinner Monday evening.

more visitors scheduled

Tom and Janet decided to go to the Biltmore house and left for Asheville after breakfast. We went to the lake to walk. It was cool when we ate on our deck but warmed up as we walked. I had dressed for the day but should have changed into a tank top. We came home so Evelyn could get ready to go to the Christian Women’s Club meeting. I took her to the Waynesville Country Club and went on to the Open Door. I was to talk with the director about the donation our church wants to make from the profits of from the German dinner in September. I also needed to ask him for some folding chairs and some ice on the day of the dinner. They have no folding chairs but do have ice. He wants me to come to their board meeting next Monday to talk about the needs. I ate lunch there and then went downtown. I went for eggs but Laurie had not brought any with her. I went to the Mast General Store and found two hats that cover my ears. I returned for Evelyn who had found a Mary Kay dealer who would sell her product at a discount. We came home for a nap until T&J returned. While we were relaxing and discussing the evening plans, a black man came to the door selling steaks. We bought $90 worth just like we needed them. We then had a vegetable pizza Evelyn made as an appetizer and left for the Fiddlin Pig. The GPS directed us there and we split a barbecue sandwich. Our waiter was related to a former Purdue defensive end and we had fun with him. After dinner the bluegrass band played and some clogged. We danced twice but didn’t clog. We drove home, watched some of the Cubs game and went to bed. We received a call from the Musselman’s who want to come to visit the last week of August. Suddenly everyone we know wants to bless us with a visit.

Friends from Indiana

It was my final day of work this week. I had a good time but still no hose to work with on the outside. I tried to tell Kara that I should buy some new hoses if mine were not going to be returned to the outside. Evelyn picked me up and we went to Herb and Rosalind’s to deliver information on the house for sale above us. We went to pick up some eggs from Laurie who raises chickens. I took her a grande quesadilla for her lunch. We went to the grocery for some milk and came home for our lunch. We finished the chicken salad Evelyn had made last week. We showered and rested while waiting for Tom and Janet to arrive, which they did around 5. We chatted a while and had dinner of country style ribs and sweet potatoes. After that we went for a walk on the rose walk at Junaluska. It was a very pleasant evening, unlike the daytime temperatures. We returned home and had dessert of German chocolate cake. Janet showed her scrapbook from 2006 when they went to Alaska and Hawaii. We went to bed late.

dinner at friends

Monday was another hot day and the prediction is for hotter during the week. Nothing much happened at work. We did get our paychecks--my net was $259. I had thought to cash it or deposit it today, but Evelyn is having a recurrence of the lower bowel problem. We came home, and she ate some soup with rice. I ate what was left from of the grande quesedilla I had left from Friday. Evelyn went to bed and I cleaned up the kitchen before making an announcement flyer for the meeting we needed to have about our trip to Savannah. I had called the agency this morning and made some decisions about our schedule for next month. I wanted to talk things over with our friends. They only changed one thing: they wanted a smoking room rather than non smoking. I also made a copy of the itinerary to share with the group. I then went to shower and remembered that we were expected as guests for dinner. Evelyn wakened and I dozed while watching “Easy Rider”, a classic movie that I had never seen. It was full of liberal propaganda that I would have probably fallen for had I seen it when it was first released. I then worked with the computer and got the pictures onto the TV screen as I did before. I followed the directions Tom had given me and they worked. We went to the Rogers’ and enjoyed cocktails, a pot roast, and delicious lemon meringue pie. We made the changes to the itinerary and Jim will call and make the payments via our credit cards. I think we are all pumped for the trip that won’t happen until September. I have already told the store that I will not be working most of next week nor the next. And the dates we will be gone in September. We came home and watched “The Closer” and went to bed by 10 PM. Evelyn was beter after the nap and dinner.

Recovery day

Sunday was another day of worship. We slept later than usual and didn’t make it to Bible study but did make the choir rehearsal. We disagreed as to how we sounded during the service. We attended a meeting after church to deal with the German dinner on September 30. We plan to be gone that weekend but want to help in some way. I noticed that Phil had an “entertainment book” containing 2 for 1 coupons to some places we might take our visitors to during the next few weeks. One is Chimney Rock Park and the other is Flatrock Playhouse. We got home late and Evelyn was not feeling up to snuff. She did prepare out tilapia Vera Cruz for lunch and some moque chaux, a Cajun corn dish. As usual things were delicious. We laid down for naps while watching the Cubs. They lost but so did the Brewers, the team ahead of them in the standings. They just can’t seem to win when the Brewers lose. I slept about two hours. I just can’t seem to sleep well at night because my right hip and leg hurt. I don’t know why they didn’t hurt in the afternoon. It was too hot to go walk the lake so I just sprayed the burned pan with EZ Off oven cleaner for the third treatment. I also straightened the storage unit a bit. After the temperature cooled, we walked half way up the mountain and returned home to watch TV. We also talked with both girls and learned that Stacy and family had a great vacation trip. I also tried to transfer some money from one credit union account to another without success. I called the manager and left a message asking for her to repair the problem.

Marriage Encounter

Saturday was busy but nothing to compare with next weekend. We were up at 7 AM (what ever happened to sleeping in?) and off to walk the lake. It was so foggy we could not see more than 50 feet when we started and was not much better when we finished around 8:30. We went immediately to the Saturday farmer’s market and bought some good tomatoes, great blue lake green beans, a cantaloupe, two lovely looking ears of corn, and some string beans. We left there for the GO Grocery and bought some ground chuck and whiting for lunches among other items. We went to Ingle’s grocery on the way home for some tilapia, cheese, decaf coffee, and sundry items. We had had little breakfast so we attacked the various sample stands around the store. Unfortunately we were too early for some but had enough to get us home. Evelyn fixed the corn for lunch with our chicken salad and half a white peach. We also snipped the green beans, bringing a bit of nostalgia as we remembered snipping beans from our garden in Indiana. We laughed that our dog, Ebony, would sit right beside us hoping for a snack. She loved green beans, even eating them from the vine as we picked them. After cleaning the kitchen, we went to shower and nap in preparation for our trip to our marriage encounter spiral. Loyers picked us up at 3:10 and off we went to Hendersonville. We arrived and the hostess was in the shower. The host offered cheese and wine left from the wedding of her daughter. Around 6 PM he began to grill chicken breasts. We had our dialogue and then ate. As a result of all this waiting, I drank too much white wine and became tipsy. No one seemed to mind except Evelyn, especially after I broke the wine glass that had served me so well. We left for home and arrived around 9:30. It was a long day. I did learn that the host had a motor home and asked if we might rent it for a couple of weeks next July. He said he would pray about it. We will use it for the tour with the grandsons if it is available.

A welcome week's end

Friday was the end of the work week. I was very glad. It was possibly the last full week I will work this season. We have several visitors scheduled and one short trip plus two football weekends before we return to Texas. Things went well for me, making five consecutive days that I did not have to drag the hose around because it was not outside. I came home and we had lunch here. We showered and then took a nap. It is too hot to do anything outside. I would have liked to play golf but not in this heat. After supper we (mostly I) washed the windows inside and out. After two years of removing screens, we remembered that we could just tip the windows, allowing us to wash the outside from the inside. They are not all that easy but the bottom ones are. Evelyn made a liner for a bread basket we bought at a flea market and we went to bed late. I watched some of the Cubs game on the gameday feature on the computer.

decision day

Thursday was another very hot day. I kept coming in to cool off between jobs. Evelyn walked early and then left me the car while she went to the LWML secret pal lunch. I brought a grande quesadilla home and ate only half while I watched “The Bronx is Burning” that I had taped two nights ago. I made a mock flyer and took it to Rogers’ because we will meet with them this evening to talk over some ideas we had for our trip to Savannah. Evelyn didn’t get home until after 4. She had been shanghaied by the woman she had ridden with. They were overcharged for the lunch, she was taken to Waynesville so the driver could shop and then taken to the thrift shop. She was furious, protesting she would not attend another of those meetings. We went to talk with Jim and Kathy, and they said we should plan everything. We will choose a package deal that covers three days. We came home and ate dinner before relaxing for the evening. We had wakened at 5AM and slept poorly after that. Evelyn worked on a fleece throw for me and we went to bed early.

Many visits

Wednesday I learned Kara has the week off. Evelyn had a blood test this morning and learned that her cholesterol was 273, the bad news among many good ones. She picked me up at 11 so I could come home to shower for our day of visiting. We met Krauses at Nicos and split a Muffeleta sandwich. We visited with them about 1 ½ hours and then went to meet Jennifer and Jonathon at their rental house. It is a nice, modern log cabin in Maggie Valley. We spent time there, watching a DVD about The Villages, a development in Florida. We also played an electronic game: Wii. It has many games on it including golf and bowling. It was fun but a person could do everything on the computer and never go outside. We drove them up to Cataloochee Ranch to show them around and then went back to Maggie Valley for pizza. It was good but the gooest I have ever eaten. Most pizza is a little crisp but this was one inedible by a child. We left and went to choir practice. It was so hot in the sanctuary that I had to go outside once just to cool off. The astounding thing was that, on the hottest night so far this year, we practiced longer than our usual hour or less. I was not happy about that. We came home and watched the Cubs who are in a real scoring funk.

Prep for Savannah

Tuesday: no Kara again. Her mother did call from AK, however. The hose was still connected to the inside spigot so I did not do any of the degreasing of the outside. This is also the day the professional window washer comes. As a result I was finished with my work by 10:45 despite the fact that the crowd last night made up for the cleanliness of the crowd Sunday night. Both Kara and I don’t understand how people can be so thoughtless and filthy in their habits. As usual I did find some smaller things to occupy myself until noon when Evelyn brought me home. She had made a huge salad for our lunch. We need those but I would never request one because they are so difficult to make. She topped it with some feta cheese we had bought in New Mexico in May of 2006. We bought a pound for us and 10 pounds for Tom and Stacy. I would bet theirs was used up long before we began using ours. Evelyn had scheduled an appointment with the interior designer working on our living room window treatment. She came while I took a nap, and Evelyn made some choices. The woman left to order the materials and called back to say that they would be here in two weeks. The most recent choice was found to be out of production. We walked around to talk with Jim and Kathy about Savannah because we received our mailing from the CofC. She didn’t come home before we had to leave for the potluck/Bible study. We were well fed again and studied the historical background to the Augsburg Confessions. We came home and I went to the corner and dug two more hollyhocks and planted them. While digging them up I found a black cable. I thank God that I didn’t stick my shovel into it. It may have not been an electric line but I think I was protected. I pray that I am still of service to Him.

planning and sharing

Monday, Kara took the day off. She might have been angry had she been there and seen I had not degreased the place. The outside hose was neatly wrapped on the hanger inside, and I refuse to take it back where it belongs. The Lord has a great sense of humor, however, and sent a nice shower to do the spraying. The lot was strangely clean for a Monday morning so I was finished with all my work by 11. I did find other things to do until 12 when Evelyn arrived from walking and grocery shopping. We shared a grande quesadilla for lunch and went to Lowe’s to get some clips for hanging the mirror we bought last Friday. We came home and she made a casserole for tomorrow’s Bible study. I worked on a list of things to do when we have visitors from the north and south. It helps to have some things in mind, preventing the “oh, we forgot to take them to....” comments. We didn’t do much in the evening after our nap in the afternoon. Evelyn finished her photo album, and I made some donations on line. We sold some of my IRA and plan to give it all away. The Lord has been very gracious in allowing our investments to grow so we need to tithe on them.

The beginning of a busy August.

Sunday was another blessed Holy Communion day. The choir also sang and received many compliments. We thank God for giving us voices and opportunity to praise Him in song. We tried to get many couples to come for lunch today but found no one available. I tried the neighbors across the street yesterday but had no success. We had none with a couple at church either. I grilled the hamburgers and we ate alone. We rested in the afternoon and then went to walk the lake and get gasoline--$2.759. We received a call from Sam saying they would visit on August 22. We called Bonny who said they would visit in mid-September. On the way home we stopped at the corner where a house is being expanded into a dentist’s office and took some of the hollyhocks and Canna bulbs. They will just be torn up eventually so we took them. We came home and had tomato sandwiches and a piece of blueberry/peach cheesecake for dinner. As I was watching the Cubs, Tom Grotrian called and said they would visit on August 14. We will have a good time in August. We may take a short trip alone as well. We talked about going to Mt. Airy, NC--Andy Griffith's hometown that has been made into Mayberry.

bargain day

Saturday was the flea market at the fairgrounds. We went and found a couple of serving dishes Evelyn wanted. We also posted pictures of our recumbent exercise bike but haven’t received any calls. We left there and I dropped Evelyn at Belk for their sale. I went on to the farmer’s market and bought some tomatoes and squash. I returned and found Evelyn buying some great bargains: everything at least 50% off. I also bought a blue shirt. We took another Belk card and received another 25% off. We bought $237 of merchandise for $107, saving $130. We came home for lunch and then sat down together to look over some things Evelyn should know if I die before her. We will try to make time to do this more often. We then watched the Cubs beat the Mets in the afternoon. Unfortunately the Brewers also won so the Cubs remain 1 game behind. We ate some supper and then went to Canton for the Mater Fest, a small town festival like all small towns have. We didn’t really have much fun because the music was not appealing to us and it had stormed earlier and ruined many of the booths under small tents. We went to the grocery and bought raisins, the final ingredient we needed for the broccoli/cauliflower salad. Evelyn finished it, and we retired for the night.

serving dinners

Friday was a short day at work because Evelyn picked me up at 11 so we could get to the Open Door soup kitchen by 11:15. She had talked with an interior decorator about our window dressing. This was the second one. The director of the mission asked me to bring the message, and I used an illustration of Christ’s doing everything for our salvation through a story of a professor who had a student do push ups so that members of the class could receive a doughnut. The students could refuse the doughnuts but the boy had to do the pushups anyway. We can refuse the gift of salvation, but Jesus had to die anyway. It seemed to go well. We served bologna sandwiches and then cleaned the hall. We went from there to invite Kathy Rogers for steak tonight. She wasn’t at the store so we left a note. We went to Hazelwood to find some cotton knit fabric for Evelyn to make nightgowns for the granddaughters but there doesn’t seem to be any available anywhere. We came home and napped during the Cubs game on TV and then began dinner prep. I walked to Rogers’ and found that Kathy was in Franklin and had never been in her store today. We invited Jim anyway and Anna, another neighbor for the meal. Jim went home but the three left went downtown to the street dance. We enjoyed the music and the dancing. We came home to learn that Pieder’s mother, Ursula, had died. We had learned that Grace Rich, a friend from Fort Wayne, had died yesterday morning in Florida. This has been a bad week for deaths of people we know. Nancy Springer had died a couple of weeks ago. We will be in that number soon. Our faith is strong now, but we will need more of the Holy Spirit as the time draws nearer.

A misunderstanding but fun

Thursday was the day Evelyn led the women’s Bible study at church. She was a basket case as usual. She took me to work and then walked the lake. I got a call from the interior decorator saying she was at the house. She had the wrong day so I called and she will come tomorrow at 9:30. I had a good time at work. Kara and I were joking like old friends. I stayed until 12:30 because Evelyn had to finish her study. We both knew she would be late. She had a great study as usual. She received many compliments. She made arrangements with Nan to go to Asheville for the ball game at 5. We came home after having lunch at Taco Bell and took a nap while watching the Cubs game. They lost but so did Milwaukee so they remain tied for first. We left with Nan to return the core board we can’t use for our window dressing. I used our GPS to find the place but forgot to raise the antenna. I was surprised it worked as well as it did. While there I looked at our schedule again and noticed that the Tourists were out of town tonight. Instead we met Phil at “Cheeseburger Paradise” and had a good meal and a good time with them. They are good Christian friends. We came home by 9, earlier than we would have had there been a home game.

Fun only at work, not at golf

Wednesday the truck delivers supplies. A strong young man comes in to put the heavy boxes on the shelves, in the cooler and the freezer. I could do that but not as fast nor as efficiently as he. I just do my regular stuff. Today was a bit different in that someone had spread a great deal of trash on the parking lot. I just dooed my duty as I seed it. I had a good time today as Kara joked with me and the others more than usual. I also had to leave early to take Evelyn to a style show at Lake Junaluska. She had spent the morning at church having maps copied for tomorrow’s lesson. I dropped her off and came home to have lunch of leftover barbecue and cobbler. I just showered and laid around until 2 when I went to bring her home. She changed clothes, and we went off to Iron Tree to play golf. Things have not improved--at least on the front 9. I did do better on the back but can’t get any consistency in my play. I should give the game up but have not been known for my prudence. We came home for a light supper before going to choir. We had decided to go Asheville to the baseball game and asked the Loyers to go with us. They called later and agreed. We will eat at the ball park. Phil will meet us there after he gets off work. We will take Nan and she will come home with him. We came home and Evelyn put the finishing touches on her lesson. We also watched the first of the four videos on the book of Acts. I also tried to watch some of the Cubs game on the computer. I couldn’t finish because I had to go to bed to have enough strength to go to work tomorrow.