Accepting blessings

Sunday continued the blessing in our worship services. We had 45 in attendance again. The Lord in His mercy has held our numbers right around there all season. The widower of a couple who used to come returned to be with us this morning and it was nice to give him a hug. I will try to give him a chaplain tract next week if he returns. He belongs to our Synod and doesn’t like my serving Holy Communion since I am not ordained. We went to the grocery to get a rotisserie chicken to serve to our guests. He was in radio broadcasting in Canada and was right on time. We had cheese ball for hors doerves and then the dinner. It was much better than yesterday’s. We enjoyed being with them. His wife had just returned from Winnipeg late last night and were tired. They stayed for a couple of hours and then left. We were tired and went directly to bed for our nap. I spent some time working on next week’s sermon and order of service. We took a plate of cookies across the street to welcome the new neighbors. He was a teacher of instrumental music and she did alterations in Iowa. We had some leftovers for dinner, and then Evelyn called Emily. Pieder wanted to talk with me so the three of us did. He and Emily were both sick but wanted to talk anyway. We did but I don’t know how much progress was really made. I always think I am the one who has to change but that is merely my perception. I need to work on next week’s sermon quite hard because the outline I follow has many things in it that lead me to some points I don’t agree with. I want to play golf tomorrow morning and work some tomorrow afternoon before the New Year’s Eve party.

guests for lunch

If you look closely, you will see Evelyn relaxing on the couch watching football.


Saturday was windy in the morning but better in the afternoon. The temperature was in the high 60s but will get much cooler on New Year’s Eve and several days thereafter. I went to the hall where the pancake breakfast was being served so I could invite two couples for lunch. They accepted and I came home to help prepare. I also went to Wal-Mart to take advantage of the special on Busch beer. I was running out. I returned and worked more on the service for tomorrow and then helped set up for lunch. The couples are from MN and Evelyn had made a new recipe of Mexican food we wanted to try. There was a great volume hence the two couples at once. They stayed until about two after which we cleaned up the mess and took naps. We got up and I worked more while Evelyn went to walk on the treadmill. She returned and just snacked for our evening meal. We spent the evening watching two football games. I also called our friends from IN and learned that there were more than 5,000 from Purdue at the Motor City Bowl. One of the Purdue alumni here in the park had told me there were no more than 1,000. We will have company for dinner tomorrow after church. I am ready as I can be for tomorrow’s service.

volunteering and visiting

Friday was quite windy but mild. After exercise, Evelyn tried to talk with the park manager to get one of the treadmills repaired or replaced. She was gruff as usual and only agreed to put an “out of order” sign on it. Meanwhile I walked and then talked with one of the builders in the park about building a shelter for the bicycles. Evelyn doesn’t think it will look very good even though it is in a place extremely hidden in the back of our unit. I want to protect the bicycles. We will see when he comes to make a proposal. Evelyn watered the plants in the back for the first time in several days. We need rain. Janice told us yesterday that they haven’t had rain near Rio Hondo for two months. We have not had very much here either. We got ready for our shift at the hospital and had some turkey tetrazinni for lunch. It was still too windy to ride so we drove. Evelyn had little to do but the information lobby was a mad house with many families waiting to see people in ICU. We had one code blue and one that must have been close because there was no limit to how many could go to the waiting room. It was also interesting because there was only a skeleton staff at work. Even the volunteer department had no workers present, only volunteers. We finished at 5 and came home so Evelyn could rest. We left and went to Long John Silver for fish. One of the people we volunteer with let us use a 10% senior discount coupon. We ate only half of our order (we should have shared a meal) and brought the rest home. We went to visit with Tom and Diesta Crouch to see how their Christmas trip went. It was terrible: the weather and their health made it one they wouldn’t do again. We returned home after a nice visit; they are really wonderful people.

Baileys bargain day

We began Thursday with exercise and my visit to the coffee table. We all joked with each other about how Purdue had beaten up on central Michigan. Of course, it was a struggle until the final field goal in the final seconds. I went off to HEB to get their meal deal for the week: chicken thigh fajitas which we bought and some sausage, tortillas, lettuce, sour cream and tonic water that were thrown in with the deal. HEB does this almost every week. I cut the chicken into strips while Evelyn worked on putting things together in a sort of Mexican lasagna. We then got ready for our trip to the Mexican dentist. Janice arrived and we went to the parking lot and walked across the bridge. I stopped at the duty free store and found Bailey’s Irish Cream in a box with two nice cocktail glasses so I bought one. It was cheaper than usual and had the glasses thrown in. Evelyn and Janice got their dental work down but I never did get in. I finally went to the barber shop for a haircut. I came back and met them at Arturo’s restaurant for lunch. Evelyn and I shared a meal and then we walked back across the bridge. I was so fascinated with the Bailey’s deal that I went back and bought two more bottles. We had to all claim one because Texans are allowed only one bottle per trip. Janice wanted one anyway and paid for it. We came home and Evelyn napped while I went through the mail. We then had a snack for supper and took a walk. I called Joe to see if he wanted the extra bottle, and he came over and bought it. It has been a pleasant day here in the low 70s and will be pleasant tonight and the next 5 days. What a blessing during this Christmas season. We have 9 days left until Epiphany

Shopping and celebrating

Wednesday--the second day of Christmas. We did the usual exercise/walk and then cleaned our bodies and ate breakfast. Then we did something I don’t ever remember doing before: we went shopping the day after Christmas Day. We drove to Alamo and went to Wal-Mart to get some decorations for next Christmas. We got a star to replace one we have had for years and an angel to hang in our front window. We drove on to McAllen and had the car washed at the Saturn dealer. We get free car washes for life. We then drove to LaPlaza Mall. We were looking for a Belk store but there was none. We did find a Macy’s and a Sears where we bought some Oneida flatware to replace our gold plate that is becoming badly tarnished. We then decided to go to the House of China for lunch. They have an excellent buffet that we enjoyed. (It was 1:30 before we got there.) We continued to Mervyn’s where we found another set of gold plated cutlery so we bought it, planning to return the one to Sears in a week or two. We went to Target (just one of the places) looking for a VCR/DVD combination for the exercise room. The park has agreed to buy a new one if we can find one on sale during Christmas. So far we haven’t found one that they will support. We did find more Christmas decorations and candy at ½ price. We also looked for candles for the Advent wreathe and a green blouse for Evelyn. We returned home and watched the Purdue bowl game after Evelyn took a nap. In all we had a very successful day. It even continued as Purdue knocked the stuffings out or Central Michigan 51-48! During halftime I paid for our New Year’s Eve tickets and mounted our new star of Bethlehem in the tree above our lighted manger scene. Did I say Purdue won its bowl game?

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Here is a picture of the Christmas dinner party. Joe, Bonny, Randy, Tracy, Christian, Mark, Bob, Evelyn, and some people from Galveston who have a home on Progreso Lakes.

This is a picture of Evelyn looking at the pool at Randy, Tracy, Christian and Mark Winston's. Progreso Lake is in the background.


Christmas morning began late for us since we had been up late the night before. We didn’t exchange gifts at all because we have been blessed throughout the year. Besides, we try to focus on the special gift God gave us on His birthday: Yashua Amashia (Jesus Christ). I went to the hall to look around while Evelyn finished the desserts we were to take to dinner with the Winstons. We left for their house about 15 until 1 and were surprised to find no one home. I called Bonny and found her headed to their son’s where the dinner was to be. She had not made that clear to Evelyn. When we arrived, I poured a glass of wine and dropped it on their floor even before I had sipped from the glass. I had dropped one earlier in the summer but after I had consumed quite a bit. Any way we were further surprised to find virtually nothing had been done in preparation. The turkey wasn’t sliced, the fresh green beans weren’t cooked, the table wasn’t even set. It was 2 before we had anything to eat. There was an appetizer of delicious chicken salad to munch on. The dinner was delicious including two dishes of sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, an apple salad, and cranberry salad as well as the above mentioned items. We also had a variety of desserts. In short a gluttonous day was had by all. We visited most of the afternoon and came home around 5. We rested a bit and then walked around the park in the wonderfully temperate weather: 68 degrees and little wind. We watched some of last year’s concert by Mannheim Steamroller and went to bed. We may go shopping tomorrow for after Christmas bargains.

sing, sing,sing

Monday began with exercise and the park meeting. The highlight was a recounting of how much help had been given to the Mata family. It was very near to $1,000. Someone had even paid the rent for them. We thought we might see if they needed to have some car payments or something else for them. We will check with our park contact, Sharon, to see what she knows. We didn’t do much in the morning and early afternoon because we had much to do beginning at 3. I went to the hall dressed to sing in the cantata during the vesper service. We sang the same cantata, “Bethlehem’s Child”, as we did last year. And we had to rehearse until the service began at 4. I thought we did well. We left there and got into the car and drove to pick up Joe to go with us to deliver the packages to our Angel Tree child. It was a little 8 year old boy whose father is in prison. We took Joe because he speaks some Spanish and the boy’s house hold speaks no English. We had a small bit of trouble finding the house but a neighbor helped us and we learned that the boy was at a party with his mother. We gave the gifts to the grandfather he lives with. He was very appreciative, but we tried to make him know the gifts are from his father. We were not able to see the boy and couldn’t tell him that Jesus loves him but did tell the grandfather. From there we went to church for the cookies and fellowship before the Christmas Eve service. Our choir sang in front of the church before the service and then went to the choir loft to sing during the service. In all we sang around a dozen songs, some of them hard. We came home and rested until around 10:15 when Bonny and Joe picked us up and drove us to McAllen where we attended a “midnight” service featuring their grandchildren. We didn’t get to bed until 1. Everything was very spiritually uplifting except that the organist made every Christmas carol we sang an opportunity for him to give a concert. He must have lengthened the service by 15 minutes. I was really sung out by the end of the day.

Sunday

Sunday was another day of blessed worship with Holy Communion. There were 43 people in attendance. It was the final Sunday before Christmas and there were younger visitors from Canada. They had been there before last year. They are the children of one of our pianists from Canada. After the service one of the worshippers invited us to their house for cookies on Christmas Eve. We will try to do that. We stayed for the Bible study which went better than last week. The leader stuck closer to the book. We came home and finished preparations for dinner with our guests from two doors down. He had taken care of our lawn for much of the summer. Evelyn had made jambalaya that was delicious. They stayed until 3 and we cleaned up the kitchen before taking a nap. When we awakened we went for a walk. It was cool and we had to wear jackets. We came back and had popcorn to eat. We called our friends from the past, the Maders, who now live in Henderson, NV. We were close friends while we were teaching in Indiana. We also called some friends who moved from here a couple of years ago. They are staying in Milwaukee because they are too old to make the trip down. Evelyn worked on putting some pictures in a scrapbook while we watched “Leminy Snickett and a Series of Unfortunate Events”. It was an interesting movie starring Jim Carrey. We went to bed early waiting for our Lord’s return. I forgot to mention that Evelyn had called my brother last night while I was working on the sermon. They are still planning to come to visit in March.

Here are pictures of Mexicans gathering clothing, winter Texans enjoying serving the Lord, and even one Mexican woman who is wheeling a wheelbarrow full of clothes to her house.

Here is Santa Merlyn Brunkow and his wife Lois giving candy to the children. They are a couple from Iowa living in our park during the winter. He grows a beard each fall so he can be Santa. He will be clean shaven next week.

Here we are distributing clothing to the people in Colonia San Lucas near Neuvo Progreso, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Christmas in Mexico

Saturday was the big day for a few colonials in Mexico. We ate a more substantial breakfast, thinking we would be there until at least mid-afternoon. We met with the other people going to transport and distribute the items at 8:30. We left close to the planned time and drove the 7 miles to the Rio Grande River. Our entire convoy of 14 vehicles is allowed to cross the bridge without paying the usual entrance fee, but must pay the $2.15 to get out of Mexico. We drove more than 5 miles farther south than usual and treated 3 smaller colonials than the one we treated last year. The people are always very appreciative and friendly, but we receive the blessings of sharing the love of Christ. We came home back through the small border town of Neuvo Progreso. We had noticed a line of cars trying to get across into the U.S. as we went south. We had heard that people had spent more than 2 hours waiting earlier this week and remembered the 21 ½ hours we had waited last year. Sure enough, the line was long as we entered the town about a mile from the bridge. I was led to go to the east to find one of the sides streets out. We moved right along, knowing that we would have to rejoin the line eventually. We met a long line of cars waiting to get back to the main street and found someone who would let us in. Evelyn took a couple of dollars to him as a thanks. That paid for his exit. As a result of this, we took only 40 minutes to get across the bridge and through customs. What a blessing! We were home before noon. I don’t know if anyone will believe us. We had lunch and then rested until 3:00 when we left to go to the grocery. We went to two stores and bought more than we needed. We bought some things we had not had before and discovered we didn’t like them. We also found a bargain price on sodas and bought some for the future. We returned home and had supper of snacks. Evelyn mopped the tile floors, and I worked on practicing for tomorrow’s service. We have Holy communion tomorrow so we had to go prepare it on our way home from the grocery.

loads, gifts and cruises

Friday was a morning to exercise. It was quite pleasant in the 60s, warming into the high 70s later. I walked around the park and Evelyn exercised. Evelyn returned and made the jambalaya for Sunday. I took the car to the central location where we load the vehicles for tomorrow’s trip to distribute items in the colonials in Mexico. The cars will be loaded this evening. We came home for a sandwich, dressed in our hospital garb, and rode our bicycles to the hospital. We served at our regular stations until 5. Evelyn had taken a plate of Christmas cookies for the volunteers and they were eaten. We rode home, and I went to see if I could help in loading the vehicles. I did but there were so many people there that we were generally competing for boxes to carry to the cars. Our car was the final one loaded, and I just left it there for the night since Evelyn did not want to go out for fish. We ate some soup here instead. After supper we watched a movie, “Babe: Pig in the City”. It was really clever but more for children. I also continued making end of the year donations on line now that our credit card had been paid. I called the credit union from the hospital to try to get them to contact Bank of America so I can pay on line. The computer runs quite slow but I did get some completed. We also lined up our friend Joe to go with us to deliver our Angel Tree gifts on Christmas Eve afternoon. He speaks some Spanish and the family we are donating to speaks no English. We look forward to a real blessing in this process and know the boy will feel blessed to receive a gift from his father who is in prison. We also received an e-mail from Tom Jones who is planning a flight and cruise to South America in early 2009. We look forward to being with them because they have been there before.

Canadian guests

Thursday is sermon tweaking day. I walked around the park and stopped after at the coffee table. Another Bob had put a 5th of vanilla liqueur on the table and was encouraging each of us to have some. I added it to my coffee and it tasted like cappuccino. I liked it. In fact I had two coffees. I walked home and worked on the sermon. For some reason my internet connection failed and by 1 PM was still not running. I wanted to check to see if my credit card payments had been taken from the credit union. I can’t check it off line. Between checks on the internet, I kept at the sermon and prayers for Sunday. I think I have them done. The bad news is that I need to plan sermons and worship services for upcoming weeks but need to be on line to do that. I must keep trying. I also put new batteries into the wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer we brought from NC. We had leftovers on the porch because it was a pleasant 80 degrees. Of course it was cooler in the shade. At lunch Evelyn decided she would like to have another pad party. She named three couples so I set out to invite them. Two of the three were not home when I looked, but the other couple will come at 5. Perhaps the other two will be back soon. As I took a break, the internet decided to work again. Evelyn finished her preparations and laid down for a rest. She gets tired easily and we thank God we are at the period of our lives that she can take a nap almost at will. I went around the neighborhood looking for people to come since one of the primaries was having visitors themselves. I went to get the mail and invited three people there but am doubtful that they will come. I returned and on the way found another couple from Manitoba to invite. He is a vegetarian and we have wanted to invite them for dinner but never knew what to serve. All the snacks we have tonight are meatless so I grabbed the opportunity. I came home and checked on the charge card payments but none had been made. At 5 our invited guests arrived and we enjoyed the hors doerves Evelyn had made. We also served beer, wine and pina coladas. They left before 7. It was a beautiful evening, mild and calm. We thank God for allowing us to live here in the winter.

problems in paying a bill

Wednesday I had intended to go have blood drawn to see it the Crestor was doing its job. I rode the bike and took a note I had printed off to the doctor asking that he prescribe an MRI or CAT scan so he could know something when I came to see him on January 2. I also made a plan to have blood drawn two days after Christmas. I may not do that since the hospital will draw blood free for us later as volunteers. I returned and we ate a brunch at 10:30. We never eat lunch that early. We also invited one of the neighbors for dinner Sunday. We left to run errands. We went to the Mirror House to have our mirror re-silvered but the man said it couldn’t be done. We ordered a new one. We went to the bank and got a roll of the final quarters of 2007 to put in our collection for the grandchildren. We went to Wal-Mart and bought some food for Sunday’s dinner and another gift for our Angel Tree child at church. We returned home and I spent much time trying to pay our Bank of America card. I also was curious as to why we couldn’t charge anything on it. When I called, I learned that we had charged more than our credit limit. I will try to get it raised but won’t likely need it because I had charged large donations to charities that I won’t be doing until next year. I am still irritated that BOA is unable to get the money from the credit union. I can’t pay on line and, in order to make any more charges, I had to call and make a payment over the phone, costing $5. I am pretty irritated with the credit union. We went to our Advent service and then stayed for choir practice. We weren’t home until almost 9 and just relaxed. I also took a couple of toys to be put with those we will take to Mexico next Saturday. We are to drive and transport items and people.

Another bike ride

Tuesday began with exercise and elevated to a bike ride around a local “resort” area. It is called Progreso Lakes and is on a body of water that was once the bed of the Rio Grande River. The waters was retained when the river changed beds and people saw the potential for a resort. We have friends who live there and have boats and jet skis so it is a large body of water. We rode almost 9 miles and then loaded the bikes back onto the trailer. We drove back to a local restaurant called “Fat Daddy’s” and is frequented by people returning from Mexico. One of the owners lives in our park but doesn’t give any discounts. He couldn’t because nearly every resident here would be there at least once a week. We returned home and rested and read. We got some more mail, consisting mostly of charities requesting money. They have to get most of their donations at the end of the year, reminding me of retailers. Some of them get crazy in their mailings. We went to the Dairy Queen at 6 to play BINGO and have something to eat. The DQ holds bingo games each Tuesday and gives coupons for product as prizes for the winners. We didn’t win anything so we had to buy a pecan mudslide for our dinner. We came home and took a walk around the park. It was a pleasant evening, and we thank God that we don’t have to be in the cold and snow that is punishing the Midwest.

Second golf outing of the year

Loading my golf clubs for the trip to the golf club scramble.


Monday I was prepared to drive to the golf course for the scramble but another golfer offered to take 4 of us so I rode. Before I left, my golf cart was returned. The noise we heard was the brake shoes breaking apart. We now have new brakes.
The game was a scramble in which each of the 4 players hits from the best lie. I was in a group that walked instead of riding in a cart. My drive on the first hole was the best so everyone played from there. We could not use my ball for the next shot no matter how good it may have been. Each player’s drive must be used at least 2 times during the round. Our team finished one under par. We were not finished until after 1. I had neglected to leave a note telling Evelyn I was not driving, but she figured it out. She was ironing when I arrived, partly to help her be warmer. We had lunch and then took a nap. I have been very tired during the days and needed some sleep. We got up and spent the evening watching some football and writing Christmas cards.

Another busy Sunday

These are pictures of our choir singing carols to nursing home residents. We went to 8 places in all.

Sunday was another great day. I was up for about an hour until 3:30 but slept well after that. I mean I didn’t have to get up, but I have too much pain in the right side of my neck and some in my shoulder. I have had this discomfort for most nights since just before we left NC. I think I will see if the doctor will recommend an MRI or something. There have been many friends who have had rotator cuff surgery, but I don’t think that is my problem. The pain is not near enough my shoulder joint. We went to worship and had 38 in attendance again. I felt most unsatisfied with the service and the sermon than I have had for some time. We stayed for the Bible study that is being led by a woman new to our services. She is a Baptist and time will tell whether I want her to continue leading. We left at 10 to go to Immanuel in Mercedes to sing with the choir there. We didn’t stay after we sang. We came home and were ready for our guests in plenty of time. I even had time to vacuum the floors before they came. We had a pork loin for dinner and some sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, we learned that neither of them will eat sweet potatoes. They are from Winnipeg and used to own a hotel with a restaurant. She is an excellent cook and has us come for dinner a couple of times each year. They are of German descent and love to polka so we gave them a CD we had bought for them at the Wurstfest in New Braunfels. After they left we went to the hall where I had volunteered to serve ice cream. Very few people are coming for ice cream this year. I don’t know what is wrong. We have had to reduce the amount of ice cream each person gets but that is not likely the reason. We came back home and watched “Monster in Law”, a very funny movie. I tried to call Emily’s husband when I thought he would be available but they were gone. I received a call from one of my high school classmates, Dick Rice and had a nice visit with him. He is a retired Air Force pilot. I am scheduled to play golf tomorrow morning

A full day of service

Saturday we continued the tradition I began when we arrived in Texas: I turn off the alarms on Friday night and we sleep in on Saturday. It was after 8 when we got up. I went to the hall to get coffee and Evelyn finished the preparation of her dessert for the golf party this afternoon. We left for the “Feast of Sharing” at 11:15. This is a large free meal catered by HEB, the Texas grocery store chain, at more than 20 locations in Texas and northern Mexico. It was no doubt begun as a way to provide food for the needy but has become a large event for everyone. We went to volunteer serving as did hundreds of others. In fact, the time slot from 10 through noon was served by people from the park where I preach. We were to serve from noon to 2:30. We don’t know how many were actually served but do know that last year food was prepared for 5,000. The event was as well organized as it could be with so many to serve. We were to be table runners, people who took the meals to the tables. The tables were about 75 feet long on both sides of the large hall. People are brought in and seated. Then we took plates filled with ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, and a roll. I carried 6 or more plates in a large tray to the tables, and Evelyn served them to the people. Others brought milk or sodas to them and still others served apple pie. This was all free from HEB. The original owner of the chain was a Christian who wanted to give back to the needy public who supported his establishment. At about 1 o’clock there were so many people serving food that we could hardly find a table where we could give ours away. We stopped and went outside where a band was playing. We danced once and then decided to leave. Normally we serve for an hour more but saw no reason to stand in a crowd holding food that was cooling because we couldn’t give it away. We stopped on the way home to see about getting a mirror in our bathroom re-silvered and came home. I washed the car while Evelyn rested before walking to the hall for the golf club party at 3. We sat with friends and drank beer while eating hors doerves. We were entitled to a meal that had been prepared but couldn’t because we had to be in Mercedes to join members of the church to go caroling. We went clear to Harlingen and then back to Weslaco. We caroled 8 shut ins before going to a restaurant for dinner. We didn’t arrive there until 8 but had a nice dinner later than we like to eat. This was the first real meal I had eaten today. Ironically all week I had been apprehensive about eating too much, having 3 meals scheduled. We enjoyed serving and praising our Lord as always

volunteering

Friday was cool again. We did our respective exercises, and I spent a little time at the coffee table. Many of the men gather there each morning and share reminiscences and exaggerations. I always joke that I come only to learn from those more experienced. I came home and we showered then Evelyn had to take a nap. The exercise class often makes her tired. This is a surprise to both of us because she is in good shape, having exercised. (What did he say?) We ate some soup for lunch and then went to the hospital wearing our new red shirts we received yesterday. One of the regular guys I work with stayed home and worked on replacing the floor in his unit. We had fun but less than usual. I joked with the CEO of the hospital about giving dance lessons. He was pretty jivey at yesterday’s party but said his wife might teach but he wouldn’t. He seems like a very good guy to work for. Evelyn worked the outpatient admitting desk as she did last year. We received another small gift from the hospital: a small purse with first aid supplies in it. Evelyn decided she wanted to go to Long John Silver for supper and then come home. We watched a Daniel Steele novel made into a movie and then walked around the park while recording another. Unfortunately, the recording came to an end, and I was able to publish this blog.

The first of a series of parties

Thursday was much cooler--52 when we arose. I was up and at Big Lots by 8:15. I had seen an ad for DVD/VCR combinations for $29.95 and know they don’t get many. As it turned out, that ad had run since Sunday and the three they had were long gone. I left a request for them to call me if they got any more. I did buy some gifts for our Angel Tree child while I was there and then returned home. Evelyn went to Weight Watchers for her monthly weigh in and learned she had lost a pound. We had an omelet out of the new WW cookbook around 11 because we were going to the hospital Christmas party at 3. The repairman came and took the golf cart away. He said he would likely bring it back tomorrow or Saturday morning. I worked on the worship services and went to the hall to call two people to read on Sunday. We didn’t get ready to go to the party until almost 4 but were surprised to learn it didn’t begin until then. I don’t know how the misinformation made its way into the announcements. The fare was similar to last year: chicken and pork tamales, taquitos, tortillas filled with pork, steak or chicken, pica de gallo, and various salsas. There was also chocolate and white tres leches cake. The chocolate had rum in it and was delicious. There was a DJ playing lively music, much of it Hispanic. We had a great time dancing. We danced the Samba, twist, and swing. The hospital also gave many prizes. We won two poinsettias by answering some trivia questions about “The Night Before Christmas.” We were home about 7:45 and relaxed. We called the restaurant to check on our reservations for tomorrow’s after caroling dinner and found that we may not have the room we thought we had may not be available. I called and they said we could have a catered meal. We will call tomorrow to confirm things tomorrow afternoon. We called our eldest grandson to wish him happy 14th birthday. We don’t get to see him much.

Presents and worship

Wednesday was the usual exercise program for each of us. It was hot and sticky so we needed cooling showers. I also called the golf cart repair shop to come to work on our cart. He won’t be able to come until Friday but there is no hurry We ate breakfast after and left for Zion Lutheran in Alamo to get some lectionary sheets to use with in our worship services. I give them to people to use to read the scriptures for me. The pastor was there and was very gracious to provide them and wanted to talk with me. I learned that there might be a connection for me to help with some Lenten services in the spring. We went shopping for some toys to give to the children in Mexico when we go with Mabel’s clinic on the 22nd. We also bought some food for our dinner with the Bauknechts on Sunday. They are friends from Winnipeg. . We came home and had lunch of some hamburgers I had barbecued a couple of days ago. I had to slice some onions and tomatoes. I used a mandolin but don’t like it. I like things a bit thicker than it allows. We strung some blue lights onto our wire manger scene that we have had for years. The regular lights are unreliable and are more costly to operate than the new, smaller lights. It took us more than half an hour to finish the job, but the display looks much better. Mary and Joseph are in blue and the Christ child is in orange. We dressed for church and went with John. We rehearsed after the service and planned our caroling this coming Saturday. We also chose a restaurant to eat at afterward. We were in charge of choosing the restaurant, so I tried to influence the vote. It worked and we will go to Teri’s Bistro. We were not home until 9:30 and barely had time to write this before bedtime.

Party day

Tuesday, I walked around again and Evelyn exercised. There was no water aerobics today. I rode my bike to the pharmacy and ordered some Hydrochlorothyazide but did not have any money to pay for it. I naturally assumed I would have to wait until tomorrow. I got to know a couple of the techs last year but learned that one of them had moved. Oh, well. I have the one left. I rode back into the 30 mph wind. We are both getting tired more easily so we took a nap in the morning. We then decided to go to the hall for lunch. Today was the craft sale day, and we decided to support the park since this is one way they make money. They served a delicious chicken soup. We came home and continued preparation for our “pad party” at 4:30. I took the golf cart up to get the mail. As I traveled a strange thumping occurred again. I stopped to get my friend, Tom, to go with me and listen. He determined that we were losing a bearing in the left wheel. As we arrived at the hall, the choir director was coming to choir practice that I thought was tomorrow. I made it home and walked back to the hall with my music to complete the last half of the choir practice. I had gone to Bob’s to get a card that had the telephone number of his friend who repairs golf carts. Unfortunately, I forgot to call him this evening. I came back in time to welcome the neighbors to the party. We had invited people who were new to our “neighborhood” this year. We had a great time because Evelyn makes such a great menu and organizes things so well. She does many wonderful things. The people were from various locations: Canada, Iowa, North Dakota, Indiana, and even Texas. One of the couples was not married, or at least did not have the same last name. They all left before 7, and we went to the Dairy Queen to play bingo. They give prizes and play every Tuesday night. Unfortunately, we arrived in time for the last game. We shared a peppermint blizzard and then came home.

No Christian Christmas

Monday is park meeting. I walked around the park before showering. I need to develop a habit of walking. I sit too much. The meeting was ordinary except that we learned of a family in our park that is in trouble. She has had a mastectomy and some other surgery, is facing chemotherapy, and the husband has been laid off. We started a fund for them. We took supper to them and then learned that he should be on workman’s comp within the week. We will check back at mid week to see how their finances are and offer to help if needed. Evelyn had done the regular exercise and then gone to water aerobics. She was pooped and went to bed for a nap after showering. We had lunch and then I went to the hall to call the stock show office to say we would volunteer again this year. I took Evelyn to the nail parlor to have her nails refilled while I went to shop for some things. I am normally amazed at the lower prices at the Dollar General store and Big Lots. I can hardly go into those places without buying many things I don’t need. The reason I went was to see if they had any Christian Christmas things I could use to decorate our golf cart for the parade. One of out friends wants us to decorate. She has every imaginable secular Christmas item available on her house and cart. I refuse to do that. She is a devout Catholic too. I guess she wants to stay away from our Lord. As we learned later, we can’t be in the parade because we will be volunteering at the hospital. We came home and made more preparations for tomorrow’s pad party. I worked on the sermon and made some donations to charities.

No Christian Christmas

Monday is park meeting. I walked around the park before showering. I need to develop a habit of walking. I sit too much. The meeting was ordinary except that we learned of a family in our park that is in trouble. She has had a mastectomy and some other surgery, is facing chemotherapy, and the husband has been laid off. We started a fund for them. We took supper to them and then learned that he should be on workman’s comp within the week. We will check back at mid week to see how their finances are and offer to help if needed. Evelyn had done the regular exercise and then gone to water aerobics. She was pooped and went to bed for a nap after showering. We had lunch and then I went to the hall to call the stock show office to say we would volunteer again this year. I took Evelyn to the nail parlor to have her nails refilled while I went to shop for some things. I am normally amazed at the lower prices at the Dollar General store and Big Lots. I can hardly go into those places without buying many things I don’t need. The reason I went was to see if they had any Christian Christmas things I could use to decorate our golf cart for the parade. One of out friends wants us to decorate. She has every imaginable secular Christmas item available on her house and cart. I refuse to do that. She is a devout Catholic too. I guess she wants to stay away from our Lord. As we learned later, we can’t be in the parade because we will be volunteering at the hospital. We came home and made more preparations for tomorrow’s pad party. I worked on the sermon and made some donations to charities.

Two days with friends

Saturday began with an invitation from Bonny for us to come to lunch. She was in her garden and had a great deal of vegetables and wanted to share. Evelyn spent the morning walking the treadmill and swimming while I practiced the sermon for tomorrow. She came home and we went for lunch. We had a nice visit with Joe and her and were able to see her garden. It was really lovely and made me nostalgic for ours in Ft. Wayne. We left there and went to Wal-Mart to do some more shopping. We didn’t come home until about 4. We had a light supper and then went around the park looking at the decorations. We have a contest for decorations and are supposed to vote for the ones we like. I continued to practice during the evening and then to bed.

Sunday is always a blessing. I didn’t wear a coat and tie for the first time since I have begun leading worship. The room in which we meet has a poor air conditioning system and a large window that provides a greenhouse effect. We had attendance of 42 and were blessed with Holy Communion again. We also had a Bible study for ½ an hour after, and a woman volunteered to lead it. We had to hurry to Immanuel because we were singing. Unfortunately, we sang first in the service and we were late. We joined in the last verse and then sang again a few minutes later. We came home and ate a light lunch because we are going out to dinner after attending the concert at the Baptist Church in Rio Hondo. We left and really enjoyed hearing the praises of our Lord at Christmas. Our friend, Janice, sang in the choir. We then went with her and her husband, Don, to Chilis in Harlingen for dinner. Don paid for the dinner because they had wanted to have us come to their house. She had broken her arm some time ago, and we didn’t think she was strong enough to do that. We had a good time and came home to prepare for another week. I have also been sending Christmas cards via e-mail to our friends who have computers.

volunteering

Friday was hot. The temperature was in the 90s and will be for the next few days. The company that installed our new heating system came to our house, reviewed our floor, and left a check for the work to replace the damaged laminated strips. We were, of course, delighted. I went to the hall and called a couple that worships with us and asked them to read some Scripture Sunday. They agreed. We had to get dressed for our serving at the hospital and decided to have lunch at the hospital since we are always given a free lunch coupon for our birthdays. We are permitted just about as much as we want so we used one and shared it. I worked at the information desk as usual, and Evelyn did some filing. We learned that she might go back to checking in the patients in the outpatient area. We had only popcorn for supper and just stayed in. I watched the Brad Pitt movie, “Troy”. It was OK but didn’t follow the actual Illiad accurately but as close as Hollywood can do. Evelyn dipped her peanut butter bon bons in chocolate. She also began writing Christmas Cards. We will continue tomorrow.

A day on the bikes

Thursday was productive early in the sermon for Sunday. Evelyn went to exercise and then we rode our bikes to the nearest bank to get some crisp dollar bills to send out for a birthday. We got them and then stopped at a local restaurant to see about a place for our choir to go for dinner after caroling. We then went to the hospital to visit our friend Joan but did not find her. She had been dismissed so we returned. Evelyn then went to water aerobics but the leader didn’t come. She exercised a bit and came home. This was the first time she had been in the pool for two years or more. We had lunch of a delicious, home made spinach salad and then rested until time to go to a planning meeting for the formation of another recreational group in the park. It might fly. At 4:30 we went on a poker run with the bike club. We were to ride around the park 5 times. We were given 2 cards to start and 1 more each time we completed a round. That meant each of us had 7 cards so we were playing 7 card stud. The best hand of 5 won a prize. I had a pair of 9s and 2s but the 5 winners all had three of a kind. We left and rushed to a nearby park to see Razzmatazz, a group of high school students from a local school. They do a variety show that is quite professional. A couple of the kids had very good voices. We were home by 8:30. I called the man who installed our heat/AC system and he will come tomorrow morning. His workers drilled holes in our kitchen pergo floor last year, and I want them to pay to have it repaired.

dangerous judgements

It was a warmer but temperate Wednesday. I tried to learn about the scheduled AARP class and was pleased that it was cancelled for lack of interest. I was not surprised it was cancelled because 7 does not meet the minimum. I was also happy. When Evelyn came home, she showered and then we ate a banana on the way to the Bible study. We ate lunch just a bit late and then we went to the flea market to get some things. It is only open on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. We ran some errands on the way home and finally return the loctite glue that was so old it was hardened. I told the manager that he should pull that product because it is too old. (It was the second one I had returned.) We came home and relaxed before eating a snack and going off to church and choir practice. We are both distressed with the pastor. He never seems to have never read the scripture in preparation. He always blunders through the liturgy and often the sermons. I hate to make judgments because I don’t know whether I do the same or not. I pray that I don’t. I also just don’t get along with him. I use the lectionary sheets for my services and almost have to beg him to let me use the ones from the church. If it weren’t for our friends, I would not ever return, but we sing in the choir to the glory of God. We took John Hamel home and returned to watch part of the Purdue basketball game I had taped.

Welcome back, winter Texans

Tuesday morning was normal: exercise and walk. I went to the hall and found Evelyn trying to lobby for a new DV D/VCR combination for her exercise room. She has to talk with the park manager who was supposed to be in the office this afternoon but wasn’t. I talked with the Froments about going to the welcome back party this evening. We planned to go out and I called the restaurant where we wanted to go and learned that they were not having the specials we wanted. We came home and ate our breakfast before going to do some shopping. We went to buy birthday cards but found the place we usually go for sale. We went on to Wal-Mart and saw Marilyn who invited us for a fish dinner before we went to the party. We went on to Big Lots to look for a DVR but found none, although there might be more. We then went to El Pato for al lunch. We had a buy one get one free and brought one of them home. We went to the library so Evelyn could renew a book and then came home to rest. It was already 1:30 and I worked on the sermon until I went to choir practice for the cantata on Christmas Eve. I returned home and we prepared to go to the neighbor’s for a delicious dinner of tilapia. We went on to the party, and Evelyn won a mug of candy and two tickets to see the local hockey team play in January. We had a good time too. I drank beer and danced with two of the women from church who never get to dance because their husbands are in the band and giving our the prizes. We came home by 9:30 and relaxed.

mowing and shooting off my mouth

Monday was surprising. Evelyn was off to exercise and I worked on the remainder of the lights. I hung a new string of colored icicle lights. I also took a longer walk than usual and ended up at the hall for the park meeting. We had the usual items and announcements and then learned that someone has been stealing bags of coffee and other items from the hall. I was moved by the Holy Spirit to stand and make a sarcastic comment concerning if there was anyone there who didn’t think Jesus had given them enough to live on that they could come to our house at night wearing a mask if they wanted and we would give them some coffee and even some canned goods if they need some. I said this might make it unnecessary for them to steal from the hall. Many who understood what I was doing applauded and some came to me afterward agreeing. Some of my friends said they were going to come here wearing a mask tonight to get their coffee. Of course no one came. We returned home and I went to the neighbor’s and used their mower and cut the grass in both lawns. I used their electric weed wacker and cut some of the seeds nest to the houses, etc. Until the cutting cord was used up. I came in to work on orders of service for the Sundays leading up to Christmas. We had not eaten our breakfast until after the meeting (around 10:30) so we didn’t have any lunch. That meant that we ate our supper of turkey sandwiches earlier than usual. After that we took a walk around the park. It was a delightful evening--no wind and temperature in the 60s. We made arrangements with the neighbors to go together to the welcome back winter Texans party in Mercedes. We go every year and have a great time.

Our backyard poinsettias and bougenvilla

christmas decorations 2007

Pictures of our Christmas decorations in our Texas home.

Sunday was a glorious worship service. We had 33 people in attendance! We expected about 20 because it is very early in the season. More exciting was that we had 3 new couples. This may be the most blessed season ever. We got there early enough that Evelyn could prepare Holy Communion. It is always a blessing to serve our Lord’s body and blood to His children. One of the new men stopped afterward to talk about the blessing he had received. Praise God! It was brunch day at the park so we weren’t supposed to have Communion. I had forgotten that we serve the Lord’s Supper on the 2nd and 4th Sundays. We didn’t have our Bible study because we had to go to Immanuel to sing with the choir. We did that and left for home after we sang. We had more than an hour before our dinner guests arrived. We made the final leisurely preparations of heating the turkey tetrazinni. We served crab dip as an appetizer and had a good time with them at dinner. He will help us build a closet in the area where our old furnace was. When they left, we took a much needed nap. There was a “happy hour” memorial service for one of the park residents who died in Canada last week. We didn’t go because I don’t know what the service would have been. Her husband wasn’t here so we couldn’t figure out who we would be getting happy for. I can drink a beer here at home. When we wakened, we finished decorating the tree on the porch and I hung the icicle lights from the edge of the carport. We have done all that we will be doing. We juiced a couple of Valley lemons that a friend had given us this morning and then watched the football bowl selections. Purdue was invited to the lowest possible bowl: the Motor City Bowl in Detroit. The game is December 26 at 7:30. I don’t know why anyone would want them to play. They must have been desperate.

The Phantom of the Opera was here

Since we didn’t have to get up early today, we didn’t. I had turned the alarm off and slept in. We both showered early, and then Evelyn began to cook for tomorrow’s dinner. I went to the computer to tweak the sermon. She was off to a coffee klatch at the church for the Mary-Martha meeting. I continued to practice for a while and then went to get Tom Crouch to look at the closet project I would like him to build. He did but couldn’t make any real plan until Evelyn makes her design. At least I think he will do the work. Evelyn returned around noon, and we had more leftovers for lunch. It might be turkey month in the Valley. We had to dress early because we had to leave for our 7:30 concert at 3:30. This is because the people we go with are Catholic and have Mass at 4. They wanted us to go with them because they thought that there would be a free winter Texan dinner afterward. The worship service was very uplifting. Their priest has had very good messages both times we have been there. The dinner turned out to be cookies and coffee. They also gave prizes to each couple there. Ours was citrus fruit. We went to Taco Bell for a light supper and then were off to the concert, featuring Franc D’Ambrosio. We were still 45 minutes early but that is par for winter Texans. The performer sang one of the leads in “Phantom of the Opera” for 3,000 performances. He was very good. I was able to talk with him a but before the cncert, during the intermission, and after the concert. I did learn that Broadway performers now wear “lavaliere” microphones whereas they used to have voices that could project even to the back row of the theater. We came home and went right to bed for tomorrow.