A day in Mexico

Thursday we decided to drive across the river to bring our cushions back since we had no other way to get them to the bridge. We got them and were very pleased with the workmanship. We drove back to town and parked near Gloria’s so I could get a haircut and Evelyn could get a pedicure. I will get mine later in the season. I finished first and walked down to get a beer. I softened and also bought a bottle of Kahlua for our friend who can’t find time to come to visit and get her own. I said I would not but am too weak. I wanted to eat at a restaurant recommended by some Canadian friends. We went to the Red Snapper and enjoyed a meal of catfish and shrimp. While there we met the Canadian friends we had invited for Sunday dinner a week ago and enjoyed the visit with them. We drove back and I made Evelyn lie down for a nap. I worked on the service for Sunday and reattached the cushions to the golf cart. They look nice but I would do it differently if I had it to do over. I have the seat black and the backs gold for Purdue. I would have made the seat half black and half gold and one back black and one gold. They look nice anyway. I had a light supper but Evelyn had none. We were then involved in a Bible study. A group of women came to our house, but I went to one of the men’s house for mine. I learned some very interesting things about the ancient Jewish weddings. I was home earlier than the women were finished so I worked in our bedroom with the computer I had providentially put there before I had left. I came back down to the Texas room when I could to watch the IU/Wisconsin men’s basketball game. It was nice to see IU lose. I went to bed after the news, a bit earlier than usual.

More tests and good music

Wednesday was another full day. Evelyn went to exercise and I picked her up at 8:30 and drove to the Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance for Evelyn’s CT scan. We had a little trouble finding the hospital but did since we had left Weslaco early. She checked in and got an IV so she could have a contrasting dye injected during her procedure. I waited outside the room, never guessing she was having any pain. The dye injected made her stiffen in pain. We have never heard of anyone having pain during a CT scan, but she did. We left there at 11:30 (her appointment was at 9:30) and drove to the Saturn dealership to have the car washed. We left it there and were shuttled to Tony Romas for lunch. We had not eaten anything because her test was a fasting one. We had a $5 off coupon and shared a chicken breast stuffed with spinach. We then walked through La Plaza Mall, stopped at Penny’s, bought a couple of long sleeve T-shirts for me, and went to a jeweler to see if he could make a necklace of one of the diamonds from a ring of her mother. He was not there so little was accomplished. We called for our shuttle and returned to our clean car. We had to return home because I thought we had to leave for Harlingen at 4. I wanted to make sure Evelyn had some time to rest. We were dressed and ready at 4 but the couple we go to the concerts with didn’t come until 5. They had chosen to go to a restaurant new to all of us because it had received a flawless health report from the board of health. We drove to Harlingen and found it closes at 3 PM on Wednesdays. We ended up going to Long John Silvers for supper. We went to the 4th in the concert series: Fred Radke and the Harry James orchestra. We all agreed this one was the best of the 4 we have had this season. We have two more that promise to be good also. We came home and I watched the Purdue/Iowa basketball game. Purdue won.

Medical tests

Tuesday I went for my MRI. I wasn’t sure that I could tolerate being in the tube for 45 minutes but did it successfully. I think I made it through because I never opened my eyes, prayed and imagined looking up at our ceiling. I had to have some dye injected in my veins about 30 minutes into the procedure. I did well with that too. I next went for a sonogram of my aorta to check for an aneurism. That was non invasive procedure but I was very uncomfortable with the amount of pressure the technician applied to my stomach and chest. I was supposed to have fasted but had drunk some coffee. I don’t know what difference that made. I think things must have been acceptable because the tech didn’t say anything like, “Your doctor will call you this afternoon.” I came home to get ready to go to the volunteer luncheon at the foundation building. We enjoyed the catered meal and the presentation on advancements in knee and hip replacement by a young orthopedic surgeon. We came home and began preparing a statement to send to the girls saying what we are willing to pay for during our spring vacation in Alabama. We didn’t finish before I had to go for my review with the sleep doctor. He told me to get a body pillow, never sleep on my back and consider coming to spend another night to see if a mask will help me. I do have serious problems breathing while I sleep. I returned home a full hour later than I should have come. We went to the afternoon soiree with the 50 other members of the bike club. We had a good time but didn’t eat many of the snacks because we had eaten a huge lunch. We returned home and finished our break proposal. We watched some TV and I blogged. I also called to learn whether the Trail’s End group would allow Roy to pick up the cushions. The woman in charge agreed to bring the cushions back. We finished the evening watching “The Office” and the news. Evelyn has an ultra sound exam in McAllen tomorrow morning.

delivering the cushions

Monday we were up and off the exercise/park meeting where I helped sell Luau tickets again. We sold many of them and have filled 8 tables. We finished and came home to get ready to go to Mexico to take the golf cart cushions reupholstered. I thought of taking some of the wood Tom had cut out of the closet he is making. I had to remove the dry wall from it and decided to give it to some carpenters in the park. We ate lunch and then Roy came home and we left to deliver some carpet to one of the colonias. On the way we found an upholsterer who agreed to put Negra (black) on the seat and oro (gold) on the back rests for $60. We also got some veterinary for his dogs and some vanilla for us. I paid our way out of Mexico as a thanks for taking me along. We came home and I worked a while cleaning the porch area and then Evelyn wanted to have a drink and invited the neighbors to join us. We had a very enjoyable visit. They are from Iowa but have ridden motorcycles for many years and have ridden the Blue Ridge Parkway. They might still be riding and make their way to our house this summer. We watched a little TV and I called Trail’s End to ask if their park had sold all the tickets for the Mabel’s Clinic tour. They had so I can’t go along to bring the cushions back. I went to bed about 10:30, so I could get up to go have an MRI taken.

sweet Sunday

Sunday was another worship day. We had 44 in attendance and most were blessed by the message. The people in Trail’s End are very faithful and appreciative. I have different people read the OT and epistle each Sunday and I don’t have much trouble getting people to volunteer. It was an unusual day in that the Communion had not been prepared. The woman in charge came to prepare but found no wine. Another woman was supposed to buy more wine but thought the first woman was doing it. When they got together, one woman went home and got a bottle. Things got prepared and I was quite surprise to find she had used merlot instead of the usual Manichevicz. It becomes Christ’s Blood but still tastes like wine--this time a dry wine. I had a good laugh over this. We stayed for Bible class and had lunch before cleaning up. Evelyn rested while I started the smoker to smoke the country style ribs we had bought yesterday. I had some trouble getting the coals started but finally did. I put the ribs on for two hours and found that on this smoker, I should have turned them over. They burned on one side but were properly done on the other. We took them into the house and then I went to the hall to participate in the egg toss. Our neighbor participated with me last year and we won. This year, however, we finished second but could not have participated in the Encore finals anyway. I have my AARP driving class on the day of the finals. I was disappointed for him that we didn’t win again. I went to the mailboxes and found that we had a box from the Georges family--Olivia to be exact. She had bought us some Christmas gifts for us: A pair of blue socks for me and a ceramic rooster for Evelyn. We immediately called her to thank her and we had a great conversation with her about school and the play, Fiddler on the Roof, she will be in. We then took a bike ride around the park. And then returned home to make popcorn and work. Evelyn worked on the costume for Stephen in the evening. We had popcorn for supper.

more chili and dancing

Wonderful sleep in Saturday. Since the golf games had been cancelled, I had turned off the alarms and we slept until 8:30. We took our time waking and then I went to the hall to see some people who weren’t there. I hung around until time for the kitchen band practice. We practiced for an hour and then we came home so Evelyn could bake cakes for tonight’s chili supper at Immanuel. We went to Home Depot to get some molding for the closet. We also went to the grocery so we could get some country style ribs that were on special for $1.99 per pound. We got home in time for me to watch the Purdue men’s basketball game. They played the 11th ranked Wisconsin Badgers and won. The game was at home, but they still won. I think they will be contenders for the national title next year or the year after. Most of the team are freshmen. We went to the 50s dance but only danced three dances. We were late and then were kept from dancing by various contests (twist, limbo) and line dances and strolls plus many prize give-aways. We also spent most of the dancing times talking with another couple new to the park. We won a half gallon of orange juice from a local orchard. The dance also included two pieces of pizza, but I didn't eat mine because I had eaten chili. Evelyn didn't like the chili so she ate hers. We came home with my pizza at 10 and watched the news. I will try to post some of the pictures of the dance.

chili benefit

I arose this morning and got right to work on the message for Sunday. The Lord was faithful again and helped me get things ready. By the time Evelyn returned from exercise, I was finished. She iced the cake she had made for the benefit chili supper tonight, and I took it to the hall. We avoided breakfast and ate a brunch before going to the hospital for our weekly shift of volunteering. We had to drive because it was too cold, windy and rainy looking to ride the bikes. We worked as usual until 5 and left for home to meet Joe and Bonny for the benefit chili supper. They were right on time and we went to a packed rec hall. We were one of the last to eat but people had stayed because there were prizes. One couple had gone to many businesses to ask for gifts they could give away. They had many nice prizes and many people had bought raffle tickets. I am sure there were many dollars raised for the Mata family. She has cancer and he has lost his job. Joe and Bonny came back to our house to share a pecan pie Joe had been given. It was really good and we had a nice visit. They told me something that surprised me: I was not a qualified lay minister in Texas. I think I am but am considering resignation because I can get no response from the district office. After they left I finished the sermon for Sunday and tried to contact Direct TV again. I was unable to get a picture and sound on the local news channels. I think we may have fixed the problem but won’t know until tomorrow night when the news comes on again.

Fun at the doctor's office

We had a normal beginning to the day, but at 9 we had a meeting with our medical air transport service. This service will fly our mortal remains to Geneva for burial so the kids won’t have to bother with that since they are quite a distance from us. We bought the service for protection when we went on our Panama Canal cruise last spring. We didn’t want to chance being put ashore in Mexico if we were seriously ill. The service will come to get us. We are planning another cruise in South America next January and will feel good knowing we are still covered. We left there and spent the next two hours with the doctor. Part of the time found me getting electric therapy on my shoulder. The nurses forgot me and I spent too much time waiting. The blessing was that I was able to take a nap. I had blood drawn again to check my lipid profile and both Evelyn and I will get ultra sound checks on our arteries and I will get an MRI on my shoulder next week. We had made arrangements to meet our widowed friend, Lois, who needed a ride home. She was at a doctor across the street and walked over to meet with us. We took her out to lunch at a Taco Cabana. We had a 2 for 1 coupon and shared the two dinners among the three of us. We took her to shop at Wal-Mart and then home. We came home too and took a nap. I worked on writing and reading e-mails. My computer runs so slow that I spend most of the time waiting for it to be transferred. We had soup for supper because it is cold enough for it. The day was rainy and in the low 50s. I also called and cancelled our order for the car we had looked at in McAllen. I will just try to buy one on line. I decided to begin painting the interior of the closet. It is too small to paint all three walls at once: I would have to back into one to paint the other, so I just painted the back and the west side. I will paint the east wall tomorrow. I will probably have to give things two coats anyway.

two trips to bed

I was roused at 5 AM and sent home. I went straight to my own bed and slept until 7I got up as Evelyn left for exercise and went to the neighbor’s to borrow a putty knife to apply the spackling. I worked all morning applying the first coat. It took until lunch time and then it was time to sand the spots smooth. Of course, much of that had to be done twice and a third time because I had to drive some of the dry wall nail in further. I finished my work in time to leave for the Horseman Saloon and Honky Tonk. It is a place in the country where we went two weeks ago with the Schwinghammers. We met them there and danced and drank beer until 7 when we left for choir practice. We also shared a cheeseburger basket that was not very good. We practiced some songs for the Lenten services and then returned home to finish the blogs. Evelyn has been concerned about being tired so often. We have an appointment with our GP tomorrow and will see what he says can be done.

sleep test

Tom came today to begin work on our new closet. It will be in the space where our furnace used to be. He cut a hole where the vent was and mounted a shelf on the wall. I was given the job of spackling the nail holes and painting the walls. We had lunch and then went to McAllen to look for a Chrysler Town and Country. We went to Burns Motors and found one we liked but couldn’t make a deal that satisfied me. They wanted $16000 and I offered $15000. I kept making leaps toward their price, but they only came down small amounts. My final offer was $15200 but they wanted 15650. We left and went to the SAS store for some scuff coat for Evelyn’s shoes. We came home and made supper. I packed my little bag with pajamas and left for the sleep clinic for my sleep test. I arrived at 9 and waited quite a while. I learned that they really weren’t expecting me. Finally they did find bed for me. They wired my head in eight places, my chest, my legs (the wire from one to the other made me feel like a hobbled horse. The staff could monitor all my movements throughout the night. I could hardly turn over because of my hobble. I had to go to the rest room twice and they had to come in and unplug me to go. I had to carry the wires as I went. I did sleep well but most certainly snored.

still fighting the cold

Monday is park meeting day. I often play golf but didn’t today. We have volunteered to sell tickets to the Luau in our park. To fit the occasion, I wore my jams and Hawaiian shirt I bought in 1985. Needless to say, it was offensively small. Fortunately, I was able to sit still while selling tickets. Evelyn received many complaints and harassments about my attire. We came home and ate our lunch very early. We finished the leftover meatballs from yesterday by 10:30. Then Evelyn lay down. She has kept the cold at bay by resting. I rode my bike to the pharmacy to get some medicine and came back to load our medicine containers for the week. Evelyn wakened and went to get a permanent. I tried to work a while but finally had to take a nap myself. I am not completely well either. She came home and I made her lie down again while I chopped onion and shaved zucchini squash and yellow pepper. I used a mandolin and sliced myself a bit too. I asked Tom if he could come to work on the closet, but he had friends visiting and went to dinner with them. He thinks he might come tomorrow at 9:30. We took a walk after our supper of pizza still left from NYE. Evelyn loaded the spinach pizza with zucchini, onion and more cheese. She didn’t like it but I thought it was OK. It really didn’t retain its pizza flavor so I added a lot of crushed red pepper. As we walked, we called Stacy since she had not called back yesterday on her birthday. We learned the dates of the spring break at the schools and will begin to make plans for a family trip to Alabama in April.

guests, plans, and blessed memories

We slept pretty well even though Evelyn coughed some. She slept entirely through the night. I did well too. We went to worship and had 44 attending. My sermon was exceptionally long, but we still finished early. We didn’t stay for the Bible class because I knew Evelyn had more preparation to complete and I wanted her to have some time to rest. Everything went just as planned. The guests from Manitoba arrived a bit early but we were ready. We had wine and then spaghetti. Unfortunately, Evelyn had turned up the fire a bit too much and scorched some of the sauce. The guests were served the unscorched from the top but even the bottom was not inedible. They stayed a couple of hours and then left. We made arrangements to go to the golf fun day next Saturday. It had been postponed due to cold and rain yesterday. Evelyn went back to bed, and I called Bonny to cancel our visit this evening. We rescheduled our soup meal for Tuesday. We both napped a bit while I watched the NFL playoff games. There is a large contingent of Green Bay fans in the Valley. We spent the evening reading some things about travel in Buenos Aries in preparation for our trip next February. Our friends, Tom and LuAnn Jones, are making the arrangements for our trip. They are currently in Boerne, TX but will come to the Valley around February 20. We have a bit of down time scheduled for the first of next week. Somehow we don’t get much anymore. Being retired and old wears us out as you can learn by reading previous blog entries. 47 years ago today we were blessed with our first daughter. It was an icy cold night in Hazelcrest, IL. We remember "skating" to the hospital door and our firstborn arrived about 6 hours later. We had hoped to talk with her today, but she was out celebrating with her husband.

Germanfest

Friday Evelyn beat me up again--out of bed, that is. She exercised and returned home just as I finished my shower. We had breakfast when I learned she had not gone to sleep until after 3 AM because of my loud snoring. We were to go to the hospital at 12:30, but I made her go back to bed. I told her I would come back and get her around 2:30. I went on to work and took my computer so a friend who volunteers could look at it to see if it would run any faster. He cleaned up some of the things and made some suggestion for removing some of the duplicate programs. I returned for Evelyn who was now awake and eating a bit of chili. I had received the reports from our blood, urine and X-ray tests required by the hospital. I took her to the hospital after dropping the health results at the doctor’s where she made an appoint at the same time as mine on the 24th. I went on to the bank to pay the property tax on our mobile unit. I returned to the hospital to finish my shift. We had tried to call our German friends from Winnipeg to give them our tickets to the Germanfest. We had not been feeling well and would have gladly given them up, knowing they would have really enjoyed them. We couldn’t contact them so we went ourselves. The menu was bratwurst, hot German potato salad, Sauer kraut, bun, jello salad, and German chocolate cake. There was beer and sodas available for sale. The meal was followed by a dance. We like the band and love to dance but came home early because we got hot and did not want to risk aggravating our weak health. We went to bed at the usual time.

A day of recovery

Thursday was hardly active. Evelyn was up and off to exercise at the regular time, but I slept until 9:30. I ate breakfast and sent her off to play with the kitchen band. She had come home to get her paraphernalia and went to meet the rest of the band only to find they had left her. She went to the grocery instead. I went back to bed. I was up from 11 to 12 when we had lunch but went back to bed until 3:45. I got up and showered. We dressed for the evening, picked up our friends and went to Harlingen for dinner. We ate at the Blue Shell and shared a dinner. I then drove to the F Street Dairy Bar, thinking everyone would like some ice cream. They didn’t so I went in alone and had a hot fudge Sundae. I had also wanted to stop there because we were nearly an hour early for the concert we were to attend. The concert was not very appealing. It was Misty River, a group of women from the Pacific Northwest that played string instruments and sang. Some songs were bluegrass but most were “melancholy” according to Evelyn. I thought so too. The show needs more upbeat. We were home by 10 and got here just before it began to sprinkle. I really think all that sleep today helped me.

sick at work

Wednesday I got up for the third time at 6:30. I had to move into the living room so I could sleep sitting up. I was coughing and bothering Evelyn and was not resting anyway. I went to Siesta Village park to pick up Lois Iverson to take her to the class. Since her husband died, she has no transportation. We arrived in plenty of time and set up the room. The other instructor helping me lives at Llano Grande. We had to do the two day class in one day because they had no space otherwise. We went until noon and broke for lunch. I had to take Lois to a restaurant because she had not brought any food. I had brought chili but couldn’t eat it and take her too. We finished the afternoon session right at 4, an hour early. I thought we worked well together. I took Lois home and started her lawnmower for her so she could cut the grass. I came home but went to Wal-Mart to get some more over the counter medicine and some Zicam for Evelyn. Hopefully it will prevent her getting my cold. I got some Nyquil and allergy medicine for my sinus trouble. I watched Purdue beat Iowa on TV, took medicine and went to bed.

plumbing and preparation

Tuesday I was worse. I had hoped the Lord would spare me this cold but won’t complain; He has given me too many wonderful illness free days in my life. I stayed in bed until almost 9 but had to get up for a while. I got a sermon topic selected for the 27th and began work on it. I also wanted to replace the water line in the bathroom but discovered I had the wrong type of tubing so I took it back to Mercedes to exchange it. On the way I stopped at a convenience store to buy a breakfast taquito made with chorizo and egg. I added salsa and left driving for Mercedes. I thought I had it contained but dripped the salsa down the front of my T shirt and onto the towel we cover our seats with. What a mess! I drove home and changed clothes before changing the tube. Everything went fine. Evelyn continued sewing on Stephen’s costume all day. This was a great activity because the Lord blessed us with an all day rain. We had nearly an inch during the day and more during a thunderstorm at night. I wasn’t able to check the rain guage before I went to bed. We took a nap in the afternoon, and continued on our projects. I did add another: I had to refresh myself on my driver safety material because I have an 8 hour class tomorrow. I have a man scheduled to help me because I have several items of paperwork to complete. Normally, the class is 4 hours on two days, but I have never tried to do this in one day and accepted the offer of help for this one. The rain is supposed to leave us for a couple of days, allowing Evelyn a day to have her dental work completed in Mexico tomorrow. It will be muddy and unpleasant in the little border town but at least tolerable without a downpour. Again I am writing this after 2 AM because I am not sleeping well--coughing, congestion, etc.

Some rain at last

I was up Monday to go pay for my golf fees. My regular friends weren’t going today, so I met another man from Ontario and caught a ride with him. I then showered and rushed to the park meeting where the kitchen band was performing so that we could show the park what we do when we go to nursing homes to entertain the residents. We are hoping to get more participants. I came home and was picked up at 9:30 by Joe Cop, the man from Ontario. He farms, has taught, manages a golf course in the summer and has just retired. We had a good time and I played better in 7 holes than I have been but had two horrendous holes. We returned and I stopped at the upholsterer in Mercedes who was finally there. He was a very congenial man and gave me a price to cover the golf cart we own with vinyl: $110. I will continue to look around. We were home by 1:30, just after the rain started. We have had little rain here since we arrived in November but have been led to believe we will have some during the next two days. It rained about ¼” today. We ate lunch and I began work on next week’s sermon. By then it was nearly 5. We went to solidify our plans with the couple we go to the concert series with for Thursdays performance. It is our turn to drive so we choose the restaurant where we will eat. We returned home and had a bowl of chili. I am developing a sore throat. I had a bout this past summer that began with a sinus infection that made my throat hurt. In attempt to prevent a recurrence, I took two vitamin C tablets during the day. I also sprayed my throat and went to bed at 9. Evelyn spent the evening sewing on the knight’s costume she had cut out yesterday. I am writing this around midnight because I couldn’t sleep after two hours. Perhaps I can get some more sleep now. I noticed it has not begun raining again as promised by the weather gurus. As one old boy said in NC, “They’re the only people who get paid to lie to us.” He must be unaware of the U.S. Congress, Senate and President. As one grandmother said to the granddaughter. “Not all fairy tales begin with ‘Once upon a time’, some begin with, ‘If elected, I promise....’”

reunion with a widow

Sunday’s blessings just keep getting better and better. We had 61 in attendance for worship! This is the most we have ever had except when the men’s chorus sings and brings their families. We served Holy Communion and there are a few who don’t partake. I think they don’t believe in the real presence of the Lord’s Body in the bread and wine. We still have an uplifting service. Our Bible study is going well too. We came home for a short time before going to get Lois at the Lutheran Church. We agreed to take her to the lunch buffet at Harold’s Country Kitchen. As it happened, she had met some friends at church who took her to the restaurant, but we still paid for her lunch. Her husband, Lionell, died this past summer. We were friends with them in previous years. She told Evelyn about Lionell’s last days while I talked with her friends who turned out to be from Alberta, Canada and are staying at the park next door to ours. We didn’t take Lois home because she wanted to go to the flea market and we were too dressed up to go. We came home instead and I watched the Colts and Cowboys lose their playoff games. I also got a call from another Purdue fan who lives here in the park, bragging that Joe Tiller, the current Purdue football coach, will retire at the end of next season. People’s past successes are of no value in the present. This coach has taken the Purdue team to 10 post season bowls during the past 11 seasons, twice as many as they have been invited to in the school’s history. Admittedly, they haven’t won many of them, but there aren’t many schools that have gone to more. We spent the afternoon relaxing, except for the walk we took around the park. Evelyn spent the evening cutting out the pattern for Stephen’s knight costume.

work and play

I did work most of Saturday. I did get a late start, however, because we were so exhausted that we slept past 9:30! I didn’t know I was that tired but can understand why political candidates get admitted to the hospital for exhaustion but don’t know they are exhausted. We missed the kitchen band practice but will try to go to a nursing home on Thursday. I was able to watch the Purdue men beat Ohio State in basketball and some of the playoff football games. We also made chili during some of the morning and ate some for lunch. I say we in confidence because I do the chopping that needs to be done and open all the cans to pour into the pot. It was another beautiful day in the high 60s. There is some talk about rain for the next few days and we desperately need it. We took a bike ride around the park and saw 30 men gathered around 4 grills cooking meat for the cook out supper. I don’t go because it is too crowded at the cooking stations. We came home and I grilled hamburgers for us on our own grill and never had to reach over someone to turn them over. We watched some more playoff football and some country western singers on the RFD TV channel as I continued to work out the order of service. I went to bed around 10:45 while Evelyn was still on the phone talking to the granddaughters in CA. They love to talk. She had to finally tell them to hang up. We do love to keep in touch with both sets of grandchildren.

Another intense day

We seem to often hit the ground running. After exercise we came home for an early lunch and then dressed to go to the hospital. We rode our bicycles because it was such a beautiful day: 70s and no wind. We had to get X-rays for our volunteer obligation. We checked in and had our chest X-rays before starting our shift early. We had a good time working but left at 2:45 so we could be ready when our friends came to get us to head for McAllen. We left right at 3:30 and went to John’s retina eye appointment. We left him and Sue there and drove with the Froments to the radio station to get the hockey game tickets I had won. These 4 matched with the 2 Evelyn had won at the welcome back party in December made enough for all of us. We had decided to eat at the Texas Roadhouse so we went back to get John. He was still in a room where his eyes were adjusting to the dilation. We took Lloyd and Marilyn to reserve a table for us at 5 because the early bird special ended at 6. We went back and waited until 4:45 but John had not yet seen the doctor. They told us to go to dinner and they would walk the ½ mile to the restaurant. When we arrived, Lloyd and Marilyn were still not inside. They had waited an hour and we finally got a table after we reduced our request from a table for 6 to a table for 4. We ordered the “twofer” special of a 6 oz sirloin, salad and sweet potato. John and Sue went to Chic-filet for a sandwich and waited for us in the car. I had been driving John’s car because of his eye dilation. I continued to the Dodge Arena where the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees play hockey. We had good seats and enjoyed the game, but the home team lost as they frequently do. The arena was surprisingly sparsely populated. We were given some “thunder fans” (heavy skinned, long balloons) that made a sound like tin when beaten together. The entire arena had them and we had a lot of fun. The best part of the game was the dollar beer time. When the home team scored a goal on a power play, beer was sold for $1 for 10 minutes. The only goal scored by the Killer Bees was a power play goal. We were home by 11, giving me some time to write this. We hope things will slow down next week. Tomorrow I must work most of the day on the Sunday service.

touring the border patrol

Thursday found us foregoing exercise to go to the hospital for a blood draw and urine sample required for us to volunteer. We hurried off to Harlingen, stopping on the way for a Whataburger breakfast sandwich. Arriving at 9:30, we joined others from our park that had been cleared for the tour of the border patrol station. I had slept poorly after last night’s “party” and was tired during the slide show presented by the border patrol agents. We learned the history and heard some of the experiences of the two presenters, followed by a tour to the area where agents watch pictures sent by video cameras located at various areas where illegals and drugs can come into the states. We also saw some of the rifles used by agents in the field and the holding cells where illegal aliens are held before being sent back to Mexico and central America. There were also pictures of many Latinos with tattoos identifying them as various gang members. Then I tried to get some insert sheets from the Lutheran church in Harlingen but learned that they don’t use them. We returned to Mercedes where I bought a hose for our bathroom sink. We also stopped at the upholstery shop to check on having our golf cart seats reupholstered but found no one there. We came home, rested and went to the “welcome back” party dinner provided by the park ownership. After that we went to Bible studies, Evelyn with women at our house and I with men at the Reddels. I was not very alert but enough to know I don’t like going 45 minutes longer than scheduled. I came home and read the Bible until the women left more than an hour over their time.

food and fun

Same morning routine except that I called in to the radio station to see if I could win some basketball tickets and did. When I talked to the program producer, I asked for tickets to the hockey game Friday instead. He gave them to us. That means we can sit with our friends from Canada. Now we have to find another couple to use the tickets we already have. The wind had subsided a great deal so I went around the house spraying the weeds with Roundup. Evelyn went to the Wednesday morning Bible study while I tried to find the prayers for Sunday on the computer. I couldn’t partly because the computer ran quite slowly. I went to get the mail and called the man who give preaching assignments at Llano Grande and accepted the job for February 24. I then went to the sleep clinic to give them my Medicare card because I had forgotten to yesterday. We had soup for lunch and prepared to go to help prepare for the buffet. We were there from 2 to 5:30, dishing up applesauce, making instant potatoes and gravy and corn. The pork roast had been sliced earlier. We stayed to help serve the meal and then left before the clean-up because we had agreed to meet the Schwinghammers at a dance hall in the country. We went there and had a good time. The crowd was much larger than usual and someone had a birthday. Things were quite rowdy. We were able to dance several times. It was fun. We went to dinner with them at a Mexican restaurant back near Weslaco. We came home and made arrangements to go to the hockey game with the Hamels and Froments. We had talked with Schwinghammers just in case but can’t go with them because we don’t have enough tickets.

preparing for a sleep test

Tuesday was craft sale/flea market day at our park. I worked a short while on e-mail, etc. while Evelyn exercised. I went to the sale and bought a card to send to the retiring secretary. Evelyn came home and we finished storing the Christmas decorations. We have fewer boxes than last year but have more items. I was able to take the lights hanging around the carport roof without getting on the ladder. I used the clamp extender that mom had. It worked very well. We had brunch about 11, and then Evelyn went to the grocery alone. She wanted to go alone and forgot some things that I might have remembered. While she was gone I went to the sleep treatment center and talked with one of the doctors. I agreed to go there to spend the night on January 22. I think they will put a machine/mask on my face to help me breathe but don’t know. Evelyn had unloaded the car and shelved the groceries before I got home. She had talked with the man who cleans our carpet each year and had arranged for him to come tomorrow morning. He was a school janitor and cleans with what looks like a floor polisher so I have to sweep everything before he gets here. I did that and then we moved things out of the Texas room onto the porch. We had a dish Evelyn had seen in a magazine for supper. It was called shrimp lo mein and she had bought the ingredients just today. She worked hard on it, and we ate it around 5:30. It was terrible. We disliked it so much that she ate the shrimp out and put the rest down the garbage disposal. I went to the hall and brought travel catalogues that offer tours into Mexico. We took them to the church to give to Joe and Bonny after the meeting scheduled about using finances wisely. Perhaps we are too arrogant, but we decided we don’t need to enroll in that class. It deals with budgeting and investing among other things and sounded like our family plan when we were a family with children at home. It also emphasized eliminating debt which, praise God, we don’t have. Tonight’s meeting was just an introduction but we won’t return next week. It cost $93 for a lot of benefits including a study kit, but we didn’t see that as good stewardship. We gave the travel books to the Winstons and they seemed interested in a long trip to Copper Canyon in Mexico. Is that good stewardship? We will go if they decide they would like to go. He is still working and perhaps he can’t get away this winter. We came home and watched Purdue play Michigan State in basketball. Purdue plays 3 freshman and 2 sophomores so this is not their year. But are they good!

golf scramble

We went our separate ways: Evelyn to exercise and I to draw for position in the scramble golf game. I came home and put some of the decorations away and waited for my ride. We left shortly after 9 and went to Harlingen. I was in the second group to tee off and had one of my better days. It doesn’t really give a good test of skill because we don’t keep our individual scores. I finished well ahead of my driver, so I drank a couple of beers while waiting for him. I got home just before 2 and ate lunch together. I was really tired because I had wakened around 6 and then walked around the golf course so we took a nap. Just as we wakened, the floor installer came to make the repairs on the kitchen floor. We had 3 pieces replaced and are still waiting for some replacement pieces from the AC man. We put some more decorations away and then heat some pizza for dinner. I still have some icicle lights to take down but have to get on a ladder to do it. The wind has gusted to 45 mph the past 2 days, and I didn’t want to get on a ladder. I will have an opportunity tomorrow when the wind subsides. We have been invited to a Bible study on finances tomorrow evening at Bonny and Joe’s. We also have more events coming up Thursday and Friday that will keep us busy most of the days. We thought things would slow up after Christmas but haven’t so far.

Sunday Brunch

Worship was great again. We had 51 people, the most of the season so far and many were working at the brunch. We went to eat there afterward as did most of the people who were in worship. We came home around 11 and changed clothes. We had been notified of a surprise luncheon for the former secretary at Immanuel. When I was leading the church while it looked for a pastor, she worked with me. We just didn’t want to go. We began taking the Christmas decorations down. I also went through some of the plastic tubs from the shed to see what I could get rid of. I found many things that we had for use in the motor home. Since we will not likely have another one, I will try to sell the things at the park wide garage sale in March. Evelyn worked on packing the tree decorations and other things from the house. The big job is packing things away in boxes so we can find them next season. We worked until about 5 and then took a walk to Schwinghammer’s to buy tickets for the German dinner next week. We then returned home and came close to finishing our projects. We watched a few TV programs, and Evelyn called Louise, her former secretary at IPFW. We went to bed early. I think I will play golf tomorrow morning.

Saturday was a partial sleep in day. I wakened at 7:30 to discover Evelyn asleep on the recliner in the living room. I snored too loudly for her to sleep. She said she had shoved and poked me but with no success. I didn’t know any of this. I think I will try to go to a sleep clinic in the near future to see if I can get one of those breathing machines. We went to practice with the kitchen band (8 people who sing and play crazy instruments to entertain nursing home residents. I could only stay for half of the practice because our friend the plumber was to come at 10. When he didn’t come I went to his house to find his golf cart jacked up and a wheel missing. He did come back and worked on getting the cold water faucet in the master bathroom free of corrosion. He did and it works fine now. After lunch of the last of the delicious tortilla soup, I worked on cleaning the golf cart seats. We thought we might be able to clean them instead of having them reupholstered but found too many small punctures. I learned that there are upholstery places in Mexico where many people take things to be worked on. Perhaps we will take them there next week. I watched the Purdue/Michigan basketball game and then began to work on cleaning the shed so we can put our Christmas decorations back there for another year. I also went to sign for golf on Monday and found the sheet had been pulled. I can still play, I think. I also signed for the fun day and dinner on the 14th. I came home, and we continued working on the shed while watching the NFL playoff game and having supper. I continued working on the shed by using our vacuum to clean up the voluminous gecko turds all over the floor etc. I even found a nearly dried up corpse. We watched another football game and went to bed.

pizza creation.

Friday was much warmer soon after we got up. We walked and then had breakfast. I wanted to go to Mercedes to see about getting the cart seat reupholstered but didn’t have enough time. Tom Crouch came and we planned to work on the bathroom faucets tomorrow at 10 after kitchen band practice at 9:30. We had lunch of tortilla soup and rode our bicycles to the hospital. I enjoy the people I work with at the information desk. Unfortunately, Evelyn is not especially happy in her position. Today, however, she was busy. She also got extra tired. We rode home at 5 as usual, and she lay down for a nap. I put the sausage she had cooked along with some cheese and onion on some of the pizza we had brought home New Year’s Eve. I heated it and it made a good pizza dinner. We had invited Schwinghammers to come to play cards, but they never came. I was not surprised since we had heard nothing from them. Evelyn cleaned outg the cupboard under the bathroom sink so we would have space to work tomorrow. We then watched “The Legend of Zorro” and went to bed.

Looking for a car.

Thursday was colder. I even wore a sweatshirt and a heavy type jacket as I walked. I stopped for coffee and then went to talk with the Reddels about Bible study. I learned Don had brought one so I will still not be able to use my Max Lucado study. I came home and worked on the sermon some more until Evelyn arrived. We took the fleece we had bought to cover the golf cart seat to see how to make it fit but decided to look for an upholsterer who could cover it with vinyl. Evelyn worked on making a tortilla soup and we ate it for lunch. It was delicious as is most of the things she makes. We then walked to get the mail and invite Reddels for supper tonight and Schwinghammers for cards tomorrow night. Reddels couldn’t come and we haven’t heard from the Schwinghammers. We drove out to Payne motors to look for a 2007 Town and Country or Dodge Caravan. They didn’t have any but we did look at a 2008 and learned some things about how they work. We came home, showered and took a short nap. When we learned that Reddels couldn’t come, we called Joe and Bonny. Evelyn had made a large shepherds pie and we shared it with them. It too was delicious. She used some chicken left from the dinner Sunday. We talked with Joe and Bonny who directed us to an upholsterer in Mercedes. We also talked with them about a possible bus trip to Mexico and they were receptive to the idea. They also told us of a surprise brunch for Suzanne, the secretary I worked with when I was “pastor” of Immanuel. We have plans to go to the brunch at Trail’s End after worship and Bible class but will go to Immanuel to pay our respects and wish her well.

work day

Wednesday was cold. We completed our usual routine anyway. I did get to talk with the activity director about the trip to the Border Control on January 10. We have to be there about 9:40 so we will have to hurry to get blood drawn at 8 since we have to drive to Harlingen. I came home, packed the recyclables, took Evelyn to Wells Department Store to check out their sale, took the recyclables to the center, returned for Evelyn and went off to retrieve Evelyn. We went to Big Lots to look at furniture and then to Radio Shack to check on the status of our rechargeable batteries. I can’t let this go without a scary story. I talked with a young saleslady about getting a couple of batteries. “How many do you want?” she asked. “How many is a couple?” I asked. “Four or five.” she responded. I was truly speechless. I asked if a married couple would consist of four or five. She turned to another young salesman and asked him. “I thought it was three.” he said. I was so dumb struck that I could not even complete a deposit at the bank when we took money to deposit. We came home and I began working on the sermon. I worked most of the day while Evelyn worked on cooking. We also took a nap and were able to sleep this time. She went to some entertainment at the hall in the evening while I continued working. I think I made some good solid progress. She came home and we watched the season premier of Law and Order while she polished shoes.

Just another Tuesday

New Year’s Day we slept a bit later, but Evelyn went to exercise anyway. She was the only one so she came home early. We were still tired so we went back to bed but couldn’t sleep much. I got up and heated some of the chicken from last night and we had lunch at noon. We then went to McAllen because almost every store was open. Evelyn needed to get some material at Hancock Fabric to use in making a knight costume for Stephen. She also bought some Purdue looking fleece to put on the seats in our cart. We got all that and went to look at some furniture. Evelyn is not comfortable on the couch in the Texas room because it is too deep and she can’t touch the floor. I think we will look for a new couch and love seat. We went to Sears and returned the cutlery we had bought last week and proceeded to Linen and Things where we bought a small griddle to take to NC. We returned to the Walgreens to get some supplements and vitamins that were 2 for 1 today. The thing I was most desperate for was Centrum Silver but they were out of them. I will have to go back Thursday or Friday. As I went through yesterday’s mail, I found some medicine for Evelyn that we had thought had been cancelled. We called Prescription Solutions and straightened it out. As we came home we talked to the man in charge of the party last night. He told us to go get some more leftover chicken and pizza from the park kitchen. We did and talked with the “life of the party” from last night. He was very upbeat and denied knowing what was going to happen. We came home and packaged more pizza and chicken for the freezer. We have quite a supply of ready made meals for the next week. We brought our calendars up to date and watched TV. We have many things to do during the next two weeks. I checked on availability of rooms at the Grand Hotel in Alabama but can't get an accurate projection of money because I still don't know the dates of the kids' spring break.

Happy New Year!

New Year’s Eve morning I went off to play golf at Stuart Place. I drove and took two others. I played fairly well on many holes but cost myself more than 6 strokes by taking penalties for hitting into the water. I walked the course but one of the older men who rode a cart got very tired so we came directly home, and I was just in time for lunch. Evelyn had exercised and worked around the house until then. We ate and then she went off to get her nails refilled. I went to the hall to help set up for the New Year’s Eve party we were scheduled to work. It didn’t take long and I came home at about the same time Evelyn returned. We took naps to prepare for being up later tonight. We went to the dance and had a good time dancing to the DJ. We served Church’s chicken and Ci Ci’s pizza at 10 to the people in attendance. Everyone had all they wanted because they had brought snacks and had eaten popcorn. There was enough left over that the workers divided what was left to take home. We left around 11 and came home. We never stay until midnight because there might be many drunks that might feel overly amorous and seek my beautiful wife out. I like to seek her out myself. One riotous thing happened. One of the fun loving guys in the park went home, changed clothes (removing his wallet, watch, etc.) and came back to incite the men at his table to throw him into the swimming pool. They dragged him out and threw him in. We all felt sorry for him until we learned he had planned the whole thing. He went home again and changed into red long johns and a white beard to be the year 2007. He is quite “the life of the party”.