After publishing yesterday, we received e-mails from both parties saying they could not meet with us today. It was a big disappointment but we did get a phone call answered and some discussion followed. We learned some particulars and learned that the situation had been shared with others. I had suspected this and was extremely disappointed. These matters should be kept quiet, just as the matters I was chastised for publishing last year. I guess privacy only applies to the ones on this end. Since we had no trip to make, we slept until 9:30! Not solidly--sleep two hours, think two hours--but we certainly needed the sleep. We got up and studied a while before preparing brunch. I made myself an omelet with many onion chunks, smoked turkey and shredded cheese. It was huge, filling and delicious. Evelyn had a BLT that stayed with her all day. We walked the lake and then stopped at a carwash on the way home. Returning home, Evelyn cleaned the inside of the car while I restained the porch swing. It had weathered more than I thought. I will apply polyurethane tomorrow. The Cubs played at 4 and lost again to the last place team. I watched off and on while visiting with the neighbors. We brought the second sauerbraten meat inside and bundled it up for slicing. We will take it to church tomorrow. Evelyn watched the video of the Book of Acts for her study next Thursday.
I think I may take a break from blogging for a while or forever. I am too depessed to continue.

trouble at Goody's

Wednesday was my last day this week. Stanley, my replacement, was there too but was not supposed to be. He left and I went on with business. Evelyn got a permanent at 10 and was a bit late coming to get me. We went to Goody’s to get the purse she laid away last Thursday. Wednesday is geezer day, giving us 15% off. We had paid $3 thinking that was to be deducted from the price when we got the purse. As it turned out the $3 was a fee for laying it away. That was 25% of the cost. Needless to say we were both upset. Evelyn had wanted me to buy a pair of shoes but was ready to cancel the entire thing. I bought them anyway but left a note for the manager to call me. She needs to make sure the evening check out girls know that the $3 is a fee. We came home and had some shaved smoked turkey I had bought last week with some melted cheese and onion. It was good and low in carbohydrates. We tried to take naps but were too juiced about tomorrow’s trip to Roswell. We went to choir a different way. We went to the golf course I usually play and took a windy mountain road back to Clyde where our church is. We practiced only ½ hour because we will not sing this Sunday because everyone is busy preparing for the German dinner. We came home, walked around the loop with Jim and packed in for the night. Evelyn had a nice long talk with a former colleague from Fort Wayne. We packed our things into the car for tomorrow.

Attempting to solve the problem

I was awake from 2 AM past 3:30 thinking and praying about what to do. I seemed to hear a voice saying make the visit. I finally went to sleep and got up for work. It was a bit more pleasant today. I made a call to Clayton, and he gave me some ideas about changing some of our holdings into gold and international health care. Our country has some serious problems on the horizon if the Chinese take their money out of the country’s economy. Gold might be more precious than ever if that happens. He will send papers to allow the purchase of bullion. I came home at noon and we had some lunch before my cleaning up and taking a nap. I really slept hard for an hour, then we got up, took some recycling materials to the site, picked up my Toprol from the pharmacy, returned home for the dessert we had forgotten for the potluck, and returned to church with a checkbook to pay for the hymnals we bought. We had a good study of the Lutheran confessional articles, emphasizing the differences between the Roman church and ours plus some differences with the Anabaptists and reformed churches. I sent an e-mail asking that we meet in Georgia Thursday morning. I will take off work Thursday and Friday. The Cubs lost and the Brewers were winning at this writing.

golf doesn't get any better

Monday was hot again. Work was slow but the excitement was that it was payday. I am trying to get enough in the bank to cover the energy bills during the winter when we are gone. I came home and had some protein for lunch. I changed clothes and went off to the golf course with Phil and Jonathon. It was even hotter in the afternoon. None of us was able to play well. We were finished by 5:30 and returned here to enjoy some beer and boudin that a neighbor had given us. The friends seemed to like it. After they left we had some soup for dinner. It was late now so I went to see if Jim would walk around. He was moving furniture but came over when he finished. He drank one of the beers he had left here some time ago. We have a good time together. We came back and hoped to get a telephone call from our daughter. It never came. I was very tired and went to bed early still sad. We continue to pray.

mortal tragedy

Sunday we became associate members of Our Savior Lutheran Church. The church had a small reception for us and two other couples after worship. Our choir sang a song that I think is ugly. I am glad we finished it. We came home and had lunch. I am trying to avoid too many carbohydrates because I need to lose weight. I pray for strength. After lunch we cut our large piece of beef in two and prepared the marinade that will make sauerbraten for the German dinner Sunday. We watched the Cubs move to a 3 ½ game lead with a victory. Then I read my e-mail and learned that I had lost 4 friends. It was a sad remainder of the day. We went for a walk in the evening, and I made plans to play golf tomorrow afternoon. I sure won’t be my happy self. I had made the plan in the morning or I would have not done it.

A busy day

Saturday was finish the deck day. We didn’t walk but got up and began to work on the front porch. Evelyn could only work until 10:30 because she had to go to Franklin for a Lutheran Women’s Missionary League tea. I kept recoating the parts of the burgundy rail that I had primed with Kilz. I put four coats on each spot. As it dried I helped Evelyn with the white painting. We finished in plenty of time. She dressed and we had a light lunch. I am trying to go on the high protein diet so I just had a chicken thigh I had smoked weeks ago. I took her to the church to meet the carpool and then went to do some grocery shopping. I bought a lot of meat and cheese to eat the next few weeks. I found some good buys. I came home, put away the groceries and applied the final coat of burgundy on both rails. I also watched/listened to the Cubs game. They won and Milwaukee lost. I also watched some college football. Evelyn got home late so we had to hurry to pick up Jennifer and Jonathon for dinner. Evelyn feels guilty for not being with her more and wanted to go to the Bear’s Den in Maggie Valley. I had a coupon left so we went, but that will be the last time I go there. This is the restaurant that changes to winter hours but doesn’t to an acceptable job of changing their marquee. We took some visitors there two weeks ago and found them closed even though we were on a night that they were to be open. The same thing happened to me last year but won’t happen next year. I told the owner that I would not be coming back. I think she would have cried but had too many customers. We came home after dinner, fixed our medicine, did some ironing and watched the Purdue game from Minnesota. It didn’t begin until 9, and I got tired before it was over at nearly 1 AM. Purdue is now 4-0 and ready for Notre Dame, we hope.

work day.

Friday was a work day. We began painting the spindles on the deck. Evelyn had chosen the white which was the majority of the work. I painted the burgundy top rail. I made the mistake of painting the raw places with Kilz. I have never been so surprised. The burgundy I painted over it would not cover the white. It was always true that light colors won’t cover dark very well, but I never knew the reverse would be true. I had to paint the Kilz areas at least three times to make the new burgundy appear dark as the old parts. I will apply one more coat, hoping to make it match. I also helped Evelyn finish the white part on the deck. We still have the front porch to do tomorrow before Evelyn goes to an LWML tea in Franklin tomorrow. I thought we would go to the ballroom dance tonight but Evelyn was certainly tired and a bit stiff from bending over to paint. Instead we took a walk around the lake. We met some friends as we walked and she told Evelyn that a duck that had charged Evelyn a couple of days ago also charged her. She had kicked the duck rolling it down a slope, but the next time she walked it charged her again. She also told of a man who walks in the woods and was accosted buy a bear the other day. In fact he said he had never seen so many bear in all his years of walking. We came home and relaxed until bed time. Oh, I almost neglected to mention that Joe and Bonny from Texas are planning to visit us on October 8 and days following. We look forward to their visit.

Happy birthday

Happy birthday, Evelyn. I went to work with a pan of brownies that she had made for the girls. Things went smoothly although Darrell didn’t return my call as I thought he would. Evelyn led the women’s Bible study at church but finished early. She picked me up almost on time. I thought she might be late. We took the German dinner tickets to Dr. Thomas’ office before coming home. We finished the crown roast for lunch and then took a nap. I had wakened at 6 this morning but don’t know why. Regardless, I was sleepy. We got up and scraped the banisters on both porches, thinking we would paint them this weekend since we will be home. We stopped at 5 so Evelyn could get “dressed up” for our dinner out. She didn’t know where we were going, and I had to stall around because we were early. I went to Lowes for some Kilz to cover the bleed through on our white paint. We went to Goody’s to look for shoes for me but bought a purse for Evelyn instead. We then went to the Herren House for the surprise dinner. I really surprised her. I had ordered the entree for her: lobster ravioli with a crab sauce. She didn’t care for it too much. Mine was chicken stuffed with olives and feta cheese. She liked mine better. We had a delicious white chocolate brule for dessert. My surprise for the night was how much wine she drank. She usually drinks none. We came home and watched the Brewers lose, leaving the Cubs ahead in the division by 1 ½ games. I tried to get Jonathon to play golf with me tomorrow morning, but he was too “weary” from playing pickle ball all morning. He is from Australia.

movie

Wednesday was a pleasant day to work. We still need rain but none seems to be in the forecast as yet. The temperature is still mild (mid 70s) but is rising. Things have steadily improved with Kara. We had an enjoyable time joking around this morning. The girls all want Evelyn to make some brownies, and she had some ready when I got home. We enjoyed sampling them at lunch. Evelyn finished one of the nightgowns in the morning and picked me up to enjoy finishing the country style ribs that I had smoked a couple of months ago. I must have left them on too long because they needed some softening to be chewable. We took a much needed nap after lunch and drove to the doctor for blood pressure checks. Mine was great--128/82 but Evelyn’s was 100 on the diastolic. That is dangerously high but not enough for her to consider seeing the doctor. We drove to Asheville to see “Becoming Jane”, the story of Jane Austin the British author. Evelyn had been wanting to go see it for three weeks. I went and enjoyed it but couldn’t really hear many parts of the dialogue. We also went to Target to buy a gift for Olivia. We wanted to take it with us Friday. We came back to choir practice where I reminded the director to lead happy birthday for Evelyn. They had forgotten to sing to me in June and I didn’t want that to happen again. I thought the Cubs would be on TV and rushed home to find that it had been blacked out here. This is strange since we are in neither the Chicago nor Cincinnati markets. Such is life. After 9 Stacy called and asked us to come next weekend instead of this because of a doctor’s appointment for Olivia. Since we haven’t been able to find tickets for the ND football game at a decent price, we will go then and come back to prepare one of the sauerbraten items for the German dinner. I watched the Cubs on the computer. They won so I tried the end of the Brewers game. They were 2 runs behind in the top of the 9th but tied the game. I went to bed before the end of the inning, not knowing who won.

Golf

Tuesday was especially slow. I didn’t have to wash the windows but did spray off some of the greased areas outdoors. Kara must be having a problem getting her husband to appreciate her haircut. I think she looks nice but he thinks she looks like a boy. I keep trying to rebuild her confidence. Evelyn played pickle ball and picked me up at noon. We came home and ate half a cheesy melt with spicy chicken. Jennifer brought Jonathon at 12:45 and Phil arrived a bit late. We all left for the golf course. I played better but still poorly. Both Phil and Jonathon played well the front nine but only Phil on the back. We finished just in time to go to the potluck/Bible study. We came home thinking that the Cubs game was on TV, but it wasn’t. We watched CSI and the game on the computer. Earlier I chose the entrees’ for Thursday’s dinner at Herren House. I think Evelyn will like it.

Two surprises

Monday was a slow day at work. Two of my harder jobs, cleaning the deep fryer and degreasing the drive through, have been removed from my schedule, I guess. Evelyn worked on the girl’s nightgowns in the morning and got me at noon. We came home for lunch and then took a long nap. This working wears me out. I think we must have slept 1 ½ hours. We got up and putzed around until supper. We just made popcorn since we hadn’t had any for two weeks. Afterward Jim and Kathy came with a gift for Evelyn: a picture of us boarding the river cruise in Savannah. I had merely stopped to mollify the photographer, never thinking we would have the picture, so I was not smiling although I was happy. We walked around the loop twice with them. Jim needs to walk but his knees hurt him. I don’t know how he did so much walking on the trip. I think he is paying for it now. We watched some TV and Cubs debacle before going to bed. I hope I will be rested enough to play golf tomorrow. The exciting news of the day is that my brother is retiring at the end of the month. I am glad because he is too old to be working hard at the computer each day. J

Cypress Meadows picnic

Sunday found us greeting at church. We couldn’t do the job properly because we had to go rehearse with the choir. We usually sing during the offering so virtually every Sunday we have an obligation before church. We also had Holy Communion today. We came home and had a light lunch because of the Cypress Meadows party at 3. We just watched some football game and then went to the party. We were the last to arrive and ate after I offered the prayer. The food was all brought by the homeowners. We just ate and talked until 4:30 and then went home. We got ready and went to the band concert in Maggie Valley. It was chilly for the first time this summer so we sat in the sun until it went down. The concert lasted longer than any other had this year. Many people from our church were there and even one of our choir members plays the tuba in it. It is composed of many middle aged and older people who were in high school bands and want to continue playing. They also collect money for instruments that they can loan to poor students who might want to be in a band. We got gas and came home. We have decided to go to Roswell next weekend, so we will leave early Friday morning. The pastor asked if we wanted to become associate members of the church next Sunday so we will, even though we will likely not go to that church next year. I also made plans to play golf with Phil Tuesday afternoon.

Football Saturday

Saturday was another football day. We were up and walking by the crack of 9:30. We went to the Wal-Mart and the grocery before coming home to prepare lunch of a smoked country style rib big enough the share. The Purdue game began at noon. It began as a rout but during the second half, Central Michigan began to shred the defense. This is worrisome because that was one of the weak points in last year’s team. The first real test for the entire team will be next week against MN. Meanwhile Notre Dame was shut out at MI. I think Purdue can beat them. I laid around the rest of the afternoon watching while my energetic wife worked on the nightgown for Elizabeth. We had a sandwich for supper and as we were eating cake and ice cream for dessert, Anna, Jim, Kathy and her grandchildren came to invite us for a walk around the loop. We served them cake and ice cream and showed them the pictures from the Savannah trip on the TV monitor. I finally got the picture to stop moving. We walked around the loop twice with them and returned so E could continue work on the project. We greet at church tomorrow morning. We also made a tentative plan with Stacy for us to come to visit next weekend.

Showers of blessings

Friday was a beautiful day. It started raining around 3 AM and continued until about noon. I willingly gave up golf for the desperately needed rain. We went to Jennifer’s shortly after 10 and talked with them, looking at the scrapbook she was making about their stay in this area. We all went to the Sagebrush restaurant for lunch and then drove around the area showing them some more sites. They have gone to many places we have never been because she thinks she might want to buy another place here as a summer home. They then came here for ice cream and cake and more visiting. They left, and Evelyn took a nap. I worked on the mail from the early part of the week, sending some donations and recorded others. I laid down for just a bit but didn’t sleep. It was nearly 5 and I didn’t want to stay awake at night. I offered to take Evelyn to Pheasant Hill for music, but she didn’t want to go. I watched some things on the Big Ten network and then the Cubs on the computer. They tried to lose but couldn’t. They are now 1 ½ games in the lead in their division. I fought sleep to watch the sports to see how Pisgah had done in their football game but their game had been postponed until tomorrow because it was raining too hard.

The first day back

We were wakened by the alarm at 7. I had forgotten to turn it off. Evelyn wanted to go walk and play pickle ball so we did. I also went to get my check at Taco Bell and cashed it at the bank. We arrived at pickle ball at 10 (it begins at 9), incurring the wrath of the organizer who wants us there at 9. I was a bit irritated with her controlling attitude but played anyway. I think we both played 6 games (not together) and then left for home and lunch. I had not eaten anything. We had cold meat sandwiches, and then I went to change the oil while Evelyn made a banana cake for tonight. We will have fish. It occurred to me that we had only one grouper sandwich while in the port of Savannah. How ironic to eat it in the mountains. The oil changing featured the usual mistakes and messes but was finished. Evelyn then wanted me to water our plants. I did even though it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Of course, it has been supposed to rain many times this summer but hasn’t. I got an e-mail from Darrell saying that he would begin looking for the new mini van we want during the next week. He will also look for tickets to the football game. We had some whiting fish for dinner. Evelyn experimented with it and almost blackened it. We liked it. We invited Jim, Kathy and Anna for the banana cake but no one would come. I also asked Phil to play golf tomorrow but he couldn’t. I called Darrell but had to leave a voicemail. We watched some CSI and then I watched some of the Cubs game on the computer. Evelyn called Jennifer and made a date for Jonathon and I to play golf tomorrow morning at 10. I hope I play better than the past two times.

Coming home

We arose late, ate breakfast and showered for the last time at the Hampton Inn in Savannah. Jim and I loaded the car trunk, and we left for Fort Jackson, I thought. He missed the turn and went on to Tybee Island. All we did was drive around and come back. We got confused and took some time to get out of Savannah but had a BK chicken sandwich, leaving Savannah at 1:30. We had an uneventful trip to Asheville where we had dinner at the Texas Roadhouse, Jim’s favorite restaurant. We did spend some time looking for a Kroger store in Spartanburg but found none. I wanted another loaf of bread. We shared a rib eye steak that was late in coming to us because the tray of food had been dropped. As compensation, the cook gave us our dinners for half price. We drove on to Waynesville, nearly buying the farm as we turned onto 209. Jim didn’t see a semi coming and almost drove in front of it. Evelyn and I both screamed and stopped him in time. Thanks be to God! We came home and unpacked everything while watching the Cubs beat

The culmination

I am not sleeping well. Something is wrong with my left lung. I wake up to many times and suffer trying to get back to sleep. I was up at 7:30 and eating biscuits and gravy by 8. I was back on the phone before 9, trying to call Purdue to buy tickets for the ND game. I tried for more than an hour and never talked to a live person. I am really irritated because I tried again just before closing when the tickets should have all been gone but still got the recording. We didn’t do anything until 11 and then went to the outdoor market on River Street. We also went to the Savannah Candy Kitchen for some candy and on to the Olympia, a Greek restaurant, for lunch. We had pistiticia or something like that. I liked it but guess what. We left there and waited more than half an hour for the shuttle that was to run every 20 minutes. We then rode to the Savannah Historical Museum and spent an hour looking around there. Savannah has a great war history. We caught the shuttle in the nick of time and rode back to the hotel to rest and refresh. The shuttle driver was downright nasty but got us back. We met at 5:50 to go to the Lady and Sons restaurant, owned by Paula Deen. We left from here earlier than I thought we should but went. We rode the shuttle close to the restaurant and walked the rest of the way. We were half an hour early but could go in early. We were entitled to a buffet. I didn’t think many of the things were too much better than last night’s. Not that either was bad but I thought the great Paula Deen would have better offerings. One thing that was really good and different was succotash that had some melted cream or cheese on it. They also served hoe cakes and garlic biscuits, southern bread stuffs. There were also four desserts: hot peach cobbler, banana pudding, sweet potato mush cake and a chocolate mush cake. Everything else was good but not outstanding. Of course, the more skilled, educated cook disagreed. We went from there to Paula’s store where Evelyn bought a cookbook. From there we went to the ghost tour conducted in a horse drawn carriage narrated by a young lady from Terra Haute. There were 10 of us in the carriage, 4 in the back seat. I was miserable most of the ride. The streets are not smooth, making it bumpy. We walked back to the hotel and made some plans for tomorrow. It might rain in the afternoon.

A full day of fun

Monday began with a fair breakfast at 7:30. The hotel billed it as a full breakfast but it had no pancakes, French toast, etc. It did offer some kind of egg, Canadian bacon, biscuits and gravy, cold cereal, oatmeal and juice. We were out at the bus stop at 9:15 and took a tour of the city. We were able to get on and off at will even though we were supposed to just get the grand tour. We went to the Six Pence Pub for lunch and then called for the tour bus to come for us. We didn’t walk back to the hotel because we thought it too far. So we waited nearly an hour for the shuttle. We came back and rested because we were to take a walking tour to view gates and gardens. Ironically, we walked well past the Pub on the tour. Jim and I didn’t like the tour, Evelyn liked parts and Kathy liked it very much. We didn’t get to go into any gardens and learned that there wouldn’t have been any tour at all if the tour company hadn’t requested one. We did see some pretty yards and some fantastic iron work on the gates and fences. We returned, hot and sweaty, took showers and dressed for the evening. We walked to the riverboat and took the dinner cruise. It featured a black gospel group from a local church, I think. They were lively and good. During intermission I talked with the leader and told him my idea of singing “Welcome to My World” as if Jesus were singing it to us. Well, he came and got me during the second half of the show and had me sing it. Most people seemed to like the idea and the song, but I had keyed myself too low and did a poor job. Remember also, this was a lively gospel group and this song is not lively. I was impressed that the keyboard player was able to provide some nice back up. We came back to the hotel, planned some of tomorrow, and went to bed. I learned today that there would be 150 more tickets for sale tomorrow morning for the Notre Dame game at 9. I will try to call to buy some.

Savannah at last

Sunday we finished packing and went to Long’s Chapel to worship. It was a very inspiring and blessed service. They have a praise team and that is always an inspiring event. We returned home and Jim and Kathy picked us and the luggage and we were off by 10. We had packed a picnic lunch which we ate when we crossed into South Carolina. We stopped at many rest areas: a welcome event for all of us, especially Kathy who smokes. We arrived in Savannah at 4:30. We checked into the Hampton Inn in the Historic District. Our room had a beautiful view of the river, but our friends, who needed a smoking room, overlooked some rooftops. We relaxed a while and then took a walk, looking for a restaurant. We went up and down River Street past Spanky’s, The Pirate House and many other acceptable restaurants. We finally went to a restaurant we ate in back in 2004. This was a surprise since Evelyn wanted to eat before 8. We finished after 8. We did have a good time and saw a beautiful view of the Savannah at night. We were back at the hotel by 9. We watched “Meet the Fokkers”, a rather sick movie.

The party's over

Saturday we were up and walked around the lake. It was very foggy as usual. We went from there to Ingalls to get the roast which was not ready. After a short wait we went to Barber Orchard to get some apple slush. We had to return later in the day because the slushes would have melted. We came home and had lunch of things left in the refrigerator that we were trying to eat before we left. We then showered and settled in to watch the Purdue football game. It was good in that they won and scored 52 points again. I then went to get ice to chill the beverages and then to Barbers to get the slushes. It worked better than before because I had ice to put the pitchers in, keeping them cold. I took the car to the Rogers to allow the guests a place to park. They all arrived and I let them know that we had to leave early in the morning, requiring them to leave by 9. They had no problem with that. We had our dialogue and then the crown roast dinner with the side dishes everyone else had brought. Our theme was an apple meal and all complied with an apple dish. Most of the things were delicious, especially the roast and stuffing. One of the women helped Evelyn wash the dishes. We had planned to do them after everyone had gone, but this made things move more smoothly. We did have to put things away and make sandwiches for tomorrow’s picnic lunch. We are still looking for tickets to the Notre Dame football game. I have looked on the Purdue site that offers a secondary market now. The tickets are still very expensive. I think they will come down because Notre Dame is not winning games. They are not even close. Perhaps the Purdue fans are more eager to go.

More Party preparations

Oooops! I have missed two days of entries. Thursday is the day Evelyn leads the women’s Bible study at church. She worked last night but then went off and left her notes here. Ironically, I prayed at work for God to let her know that she was just the messenger for Him. By leaving her notes at home, I guess He proved that. She picked me up a bit late and I came home to meet Phil for another round of golf. I played only slightly better than Tuesday, but Phil shot the best round of 18 he ever has. I was happy for him. He had brought two Negra Modelo beers, the kind I buy in Mexico. We enjoyed them and came home for an Old Style at my house. I also gave him some Bailey’s Irish Creme since he had never had any. I had to rush in to shower so we could usher at the Hart Theater. The play was “Jake’s Women” by Neil Simon. It was a clever story about a writer who put words into the mouths of many of the women in his life--his mother, wife, daughter and others. I was so wiped out that I went to sleep, so Evelyn suggested we go home. We did and she made me go directly to bed. I slept mostly through the night.

I did get up for half an hour last night and tried to put together a dialogue question for Saturday night. The Lord gave me an idea and I wrote something. I will have to work more but at least have a start. I went to work until 11 when we left to go to the Open Door for our servant hood. Kara had a 48 year old retarded man come in for training. He will replace me next week and when I return to Texas. We didn’t have much attendance at the soup kitchen but still had much cleaning to do. We came home, and I cleaned up before lying down for a nap. Evelyn did too after spending much time preparing for the dinner Saturday. I helped dust and ran the vacuum. We had gone to Taco Bell on the way home to get some ice for the wine and sodas. We have three coolers so that worked well for cooling the item. I will get more ice Saturday afternoon. We had ordered a crown roast at Ingles grocery on the way home last night so we will have to go get it Saturday morning.

A new doctor

Wednesday was a perfect day. It was hot again, but business picked up. I had to wash the windows so I kept busy. The unusual thing was that one of the district managers came in and told us of a bean recall. We must have discarded 30 pounds of beans. I had to put them into a trash bag and lift them breast high to get them into the dumpster. It took two efforts but I finally got the container it was in up to the opening and into the container.
It was easier to do that than pull the bag out. I still have no hose to spray the outside eating area nor the drive through. I still think I will write Kara a letter. Evelyn walked, filled our gas tank, talked with Laurie about eggs, got her cross from the jeweler, baked cookies, fixed lunch, and laid out my clothes for the afternoon. She did this for me because we had to hurry from here to Asheville. I wanted to get more white wine at Aldi and Evelyn wanted some cotton knit to use in making nightgowns for the granddaughters. Aldi does not take credit cards so we had to use all the cash we had between us. We did find the material and the store there took plastic. It was a good thing. We came back to Clyde for my appointment with the new doctor. We both liked him. He is a doctor of osteopathy (DO), a trait I like better than a straight MD. He recommended I stop the Lipitor to see if my leg ache would go away. Muscle pain is a side effect of Lipitor. He also gave my “Christmas goose “ early. Everything was ok. We came home for dinner and then went to choir practice despite knowing we would be gone this Sunday. We did practice music for weeks after. We came home and finished packing our clothes for Sunday. There is, of course, always something we can’t pack until the last minute. This will be difficult since we have to clean the China after the party Saturday. I watched the Cubs game until bed time.

bean recall? What?

Wednesday was a perfect day. It was hot again, but business picked up. I had to wash the windows so I kept busy. The unusual thing was that one of the district managers came in and told us of a bean recall. We must have discarded 30 pounds of beans. I had to put them into a trash bag and lift them breast high to get them into the dumpster. It took two efforts but I finally got the container it was in up to the opening and into the container.
It was easier to do that than pull the bag out. I still have no hose to spray the outside eating area nor the drive through. I still think I will write Kara a letter. Evelyn walked, filled our gas tank, talked with Laurie about eggs, got her cross from the jeweler, baked cookies, fixed lunch, and laid out my clothes for the afternoon. She did this for me because we had to hurry from here to Asheville. I wanted to get more white wine at Aldi and Evelyn wanted some cotton knit to use in making nightgowns for the granddaughters. Aldi does not take credit cards so we had to use all the cash we had between us. We did find the material and the store there took plastic. It was a good thing. We came back to Clyde for my appointment with the new doctor. We both liked him. He is a doctor of osteopathy (DO), a trait I like better than a straight MD. He recommended I stop the Lipitor to see if my leg ache would go away. Muscle pain is a side effect of Lipitor. He also gave my “Christmas goose “ early. Everything was ok. We came home for dinner and then went to choir practice despite knowing we would be gone this Sunday. We did practice music for weeks after. We came home and finished packing our clothes for Sunday. There is, of course, always something we can’t pack until the last minute. This will be difficult since we have to clean the China after the party Saturday. I watched the Cubs game until bed time.

continued planning

Labor Day was a work day for me. It was another easy day because we had little business before I left. Kara asked me to call Taco Bell and register some good comments about our restaurant. I said I would and did later in the evening. We came home for lunch and then cleaned up and did some laundry. We changed the sheets on our bed. We had never washed the new sheets I had bought on line. We had been invited to Jennifer’s for dinner at 4, but we were late. We weren’t going to eat that early anyway. We shared scrap books and pictures on my computer. We had fun and a great dinner that she had prepared. She doesn't enjoy cooking but served a nice meal with Evelyn's help. We left shortly after 9 and came home where Evelyn did more ironing until bedtime. We have also been packing for the trip to Savannah because we have many things to do this week. We are hosting a marriage encounter group on Saturday night so we will have to take the suitcases to the Rogers before then. While at Jennifer’s I made one call to Taco Bell and another when we got home. Kara will love me.

Tuesday I was off to work on time and planned to ask Kara if she got the message I left but she didn’t say any thing to me. We had a good time working and I finished early again partly because David, the window washer, comes on Tuesdays. Evelyn walked and then came home to water our flowers before going to Pickle ball. She has a good time doing that. She picked me up and we came home for lunch of a grande quesadilla. I had to quickly change clothes because Phil was coming to play golf. We went to Iron Tree, and I haven’t played that badly for weeks. Not being smart, I made a plan to play with him again Thursday afternoon. Evelyn is really great to allow me to play so frequently. We came home, and I hurriedly showered so we could rush to the Bible study/potluck. We took a pizza and a Napa salad. Others brought their own specialties. At the study one of the non Lutherans had a very difficult time accepting the truth that Jesus is God. He had trouble with the concept of the Trinity. He asked for prayer as he left. We came back past Wal-Mart so I could get my medicine. We stopped at the Rogers and borrowed some centerpiece items for Saturday’s party. We are marching toward the trip to Savannah but learned that there was a big storm there last week. We will go anyway, trusting the Lord to lead us.

ME

Sunday was our first Sunday to greet at church. We had Holy Communion and a good message before coming home for lunch. We made what was called whiting Florentine. We had little time to relax because we had to meet friends at church and go with them to the Marriage Encounter closing. We went with two other couples and met the prayer couple we had been praying for. We didn’t stay long and were home by 6 so I made popcorn. We shared the meal and finished off our ½ gallon of caramel ice cream. We watched “The Aviator”, the story of Howard Hughes. I also discovered that I have to cancel my golf date with Phil for Wednesday. We rescheduled for Tuesday at the same time. We will go to the Bible study at 6. We also made a plan to go to Jennifer and Jonathon’s new rental apartment for dinner tomorrow evening.

Many surprises

Saturday means flea markets and we went after watering our plants around the house. We found some things we needed: a ceramic vase to hold our kitchen items, a candle for our prayer couple, a box of secret sister greeting cards, and a wooden coat hanger for my suit jacket to replace the one the cleaners lost for me last summer. We also went to Lowes to look for some narrow refuse containers and some spray to control ants in our kitchen. We also bought a rug grabber to stop our carpet piece from slipping on the deck. We also bought a new rug for the entrance way. We came home for lunch. Evelyn made some egg salad and pea salad because we had some hard boiled eggs that we needed to use. We had them for lunch and they were delicious as usual. After cleaning the kitchen, Evelyn rested until time to leave for a birthday dinner at church. We went to Waynesville to get some oil and a filter at a special price and some ice cream as our contribution to the dinner. Others brought the ham entree and many side dishes. It was a nice dinner after which we went to the Mountain Music Festival at Lake Junaluska. It is held each year and we go each year. There were many good groups but our favorite was the Cockman family. It is a father, four sons, a daughter and several grandchildren. We went outside before we left and listened to them jam. On the way home we learned that Purdue was winning big it its first game. Earlier Michigan was stunned by Appalachia State in its home opener.