The seamstress

Evelyn showing her handiwork in making a knight's costume for Stephen Beeli.

Early doctor's appointment

Friday I was not much better when I first got up. Evelyn went off to exercise and I lay in bed for about half an hour. When I couldn’t sleep, I got up and went to use the neighbor’s lawn mower to cut the grass in both our yards as per our agreement. I finished and we both showered after we ate some oatmeal. We worked together treating the kitchen cabinets. We had a sandwich after Evelyn went to the woman who cuts her hair. We were then off to the hospital. We had a normal day but I went to the employee nurse for her to listen to my lungs. After telling her my recent history, she recommended that I try to see the doctor today instead of Monday in my existing appointment. I was able to get in and was given a prescription for an antibiotic and nose drops. We dropped the prescriptions at the pharmacy and went to supper at Long John Silvers. Evelyn has grown to love that place. We then went to get some supplies at HEB and returned to the pharmacy. They had trouble getting clearance from the insurer, Pacificare, and can’t until Monday. They just charged me the full price, $226 until they can contact the insurance company. We came home, I blogged and went to bed.

Friday I was not much better when I first got up. Evelyn went off to exercise and I lay in bed for about half an hour. When I couldn’t sleep, I got up and went to use the neighbor’s lawn mower to cut the grass in both our yards as per our agreement. I finished and we both showered after we ate some oatmeal. We worked together treating the kitchen cabinets. We had a sandwich after Evelyn went to the woman who cuts her hair. We were then off to the hospital. We had a normal day but I went to the employee nurse for her to listen to my lungs. After telling her my recent history, she recommended that I try to see the doctor today instead of Monday in my existing appointment. I was able to get in and was given a prescription for an antibiotic and nose drops. We dropped the prescriptions at the pharmacy and went to supper at Long John Silvers. Evelyn has grown to love that place. We then went to get some supplies at HEB and returned to the pharmacy. They had trouble getting clearance from the insurer, Pacificare, and can’t until Monday. They just charged me the full price, $226 until they can contact the insurance company. We came home, I blogged and went to bed.

A great banquet

Thursday I stayed in bed later while Evelyn exercised. We ate some oatmeal again. We went with the kitchen band to the Weslaco Rehab center. We play goofy instruments and sing old favorites. We pass out maracas to the residents and many of them have a great time shaking along. We get a real blessing from entertaining them. We returned home and had lunch before taking a rest break. At 1:15 the Fremont’s picked us up, and we went to the Encore games banquet. It was the best one ever. The band began to play at 2:00 until 4:00. Many people came in at various times, but those of us who enjoy dancing did for two hours. At 4 a brisket sandwich was served with potato salad and Cole slaw. It was very good and well organized. After we ate was the awards program for the winners of the games, but we left because none of the people we were with had won anything. We returned home in time for me to get to bed before the ladies in Evelyn’s Bible study arrived. They were here until 9, and I was able to sleep some. I got up, cleared the e-mail and went back to bed when the news was over.

Honky Tonk fun

Wednesday was fun. I tried to sleep until 8. I am still not well. I even decided to call the doctor and make an appointment for Monday morning. Evelyn came home and we ate our oatmeal. We then wiped the cabinets in the kitchen with some orange oil. We finished and then Evelyn prepared lunch as I prepared the service for Sunday. We went to Mercedes for the noon Lenten service and came home for lunch of chicken leftover from New Year’s Eve. We finished lunch and took a nap until 3 when we prepared to go to the Horseman Grill and Saloon with Tom and LuAnn. We met them at Home Depot because I wanted to look at their trailers. They were too high for our purposes. I called Darrell who will look for a snowmobile trailer for us. We went to the Saloon and had a great time dancing and drinking. The couple who entertains on Wednesday are great entertainers. Tom and Luann had a good time. They went home to care for their dogs while we picked up pizza for supper. They returned and we ate salad and pizza while we watched the Purdue/Minnesota basketball game. They left around 9 and we went to bed after Purdue won. They are tied with IU and Wisconsin. I think Wisconsin has the easier road to the Big Ten title.

Resting up

Tuesday was an attempted recovery day. I tried to find a location to vote in the primary. Texas has an early voting provision. When Evelyn came home, we ate steel cut oatmeal and then lay down for a short nap. I finally left for my voting around 10:30, completed it (I was the only Republican in sight) and went to the welder who made our mounting iron for our Saturn. I have decided to buy a low profile trailer to tow back and forth. This will allow us to have more room in the Saturn. I wanted to see if he could install a hitch. He said he could for around $100. I came home for lunch and another nap. We wakened at 4 and I watched my sports programs before picking up our friends, Tom and Diesta Crouch, to go to Harlingen for dinner at Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant. Tom chose that location over a very high class steak house in McAllen. We enjoyed our dinners and the visit with them. We were home by 8 and wrote the blog. I also went onto the e-bay and Home Depot website looking for a 4’X5’X 4 covered cargo trailer. I found none except a snowmobile trailer. I will continue looking.

The great barbecue beer party




Fun at the steak fry.

shopping fun

Monday is park meeting day. We learn some of the special events in the coming week and someone usually treats everyone to doughnuts. We never eat any. We did get some exercise first. After the meeting we left to put money into the bank, go to Wal-Mart to get some beer for the visitors in March, go to HEB to get some oyster crackers and peanuts in the shell and to Walgreen to see if they had a special on fish oil. The doctor has recommended that Evelyn take some for her cholesterol. They didn’t have any. We came home so we could have lunch. Evelyn then rested while I continued copying a DVD of some yoga exercises. I could hardly stay awake but had to because I had to change the chapters. She left to have her nails “refreshed” and I lay down to sleep for half an hour or so. I also cut some chicken fajitas to be used for supper. We then took a walk to ask Tom and Diesta to go to dinner with us tomorrow night. They like Pepe’s in Harlingen and we owe them many dinners for all the times he has helped me. We transferred another home movie from VHS to DVD while we ate and then Emily called to make some confirmations on our plans for April. I also made an appointment with my “tax preparer” for next Wednesday morning to figure our federal tax for us. Off to bed to see if I can rest enough to shake this allergy problem I have. I don’t seem to rest much when I sleep.

dessert day

Sunday was a busy day. We were blessed with 44 attending the Holy Communion service at Trail’s End. I then hurried off to Llano Grande where I preached to 365 there. I used the sermon from two weeks ago. We talked with some friends afterward and then went to Tom and LuAnn’s for wine and home made gumbo. Everything was delicious, especially the pecan tarts Evelyn brought to the meal. We left around two and went to another 90th birthday party at Trail’s End. The lady attends our worship but doesn’t commune. She is a dedicated Christian though. We returned home once again and took a nap. I thought Pieder might call but he didn’t. He answered the questions via e-mail. I still want to discuss his treatment of Noah with him before Alabama. We watched TV in the evening. “Cabaret” was the film of the evening. I also spent some time mopping up the Pepsi that came from the can I had dropped onto the kitchen floor. We also had a bowl of ice cream. Sunday is the only day we can eat dessert since we gave it up for Lent. I also forgot to record that my fellow lay minister called from NC to say, among other things, that he might lose his preaching assignment in Franklin. The district might consolidate the churches there, replacing him with an ordained preacher. Of course, it doesn’t matter that our Synod is desperately in need of pastors to fill pulpits. Cest le gere!

golf and more fun

Saturday was up at 6:30 to get ready to leave at 7 for golf. It was the annual Can/Am tournament in our park. I shot fairly well for me: 51for 9 holes. As it turned out, the Americans beat the Canadians by less than two strokes. It was reversed last year. We stayed for some beer afterward and then went to get Evelyn’s glasses that she had left at the CWC luncheon last Wednesday. I had thought that the golf club party was at 1 but it was at 3. So we had lunch late since I had arrived home late. We took a nap afterward, helping me sleep off the excesses of last night’s party. We went to the hall and I enjoyed more free beer and we had pork barbecue sandwiches. It has become a tradition for me to ask the blessing for the party. I am blessed to be able to do that. We then went to an 89th birthday party for one of the golfers. He was the one who lent me the clubs for Phil to use. I came home and took another nap before working more on the service for tomorrow. I went to bed early. It was a beautiful day with temperature in the low 80s.

Big beer and barbecue

Friday we went to work out as usual. I started to walk around the park but saw Jack Roberts and we began to talk about a small trailer to tow with our Saturn. We would be able to load much of our items we need to take back to NC in it, making the car more comfortable. I think we will look for a Coleman style trailer that has a cover. I came home and got ready for the day. Evelyn began ironing but stopped to go to the doctor to discuss her potassium level. She had another blood draw after spending two hours there. She learned that her potassium was back to normal. While she was gone, John Hamel came and hooked up our VCR to the DVD so we could record one on the other. We tested it by recording the home movies we had changed from Super 8 films to VHS tapes. Now we have DVDs of the family events from Emily’s first steps. We still have 3 more to transfer, but at least one of them is done. We certainly had a great deal of fun on our travels when the kids were young. We went to the hospital as usual and came home to rest a bit before going to the free beer and barbecue party for the volunteers at the Rio Grande Valley Stock Show. This will be our third year as volunteers. The party was just like always and the barbecue was delicious. Afterward we went to a dance and the band played one song and took a half hour break. We danced to the canned music and then left just as they came back. We had to leave because I have to get up in the morning to play golf.

Charity day

Thursday we were up early. I went to help park cars for the fund raiser and Evelyn went to exercise until time for her to clean tables. I ate some of the biscuits and gravy that were delicious. About 10:30 the event was over, and I helped put the tables and chairs back. I came home with Tom Crouch and looked at the pergola. I had a hook for hanging the chair hammock Evelyn bought last week, but Tom said it was not large enough. He gave me one he had left over. I now need a chain to hang the chair on to make it low enough for her to sit in. Evelyn took a nap while I worked on the message for next Sunday. I had not had time to work since Phil was here. We had lunch and then I worked some more while Evelyn rested again. She sees the doctor tomorrow so she can learn how to increase her energy. I had not showered this morning so I did and then I took a nap. I just can’t seem to shake this cold or allergy attack. I called the country club where I thought she had left her glasses yesterday but it was the wrong country club. We had supper and then Evelyn left for the Mary/Martha meeting. She was to lead the lesson and provide the snack that every women’s meeting must have. I stayed home and watched “Letters from Iwo Jima”, a film by Clint Eastwood that gave the enemy point of view to the “Sands of Iwo Jima”. It was a very good film but in English subtitles. I had to pay close attention to know what was going on. I also finished planning the worship services for the rest of the year.

Running wild

I had Phil at the airport by 4:30 AM and drove back going to bed immediately. I was able to sleep until 8, thinking I would be able to nap later in the day. Evelyn dressed and went to the Christian Women’s Club luncheon. We learned later that this was the one month I could have gone too. Instead she went with Jacque Thomas and met Janice there. Meanwhile I went to the grocery for some supplies. I also got some things from Wal-Mart and cashed an AARP check at the bank. I had hoped to get the next states quarter but can’t get them until Friday. I beat Evelyn home and worked a bit on the service and ate a small lunch of a sweet potato, leftover cheese grits from last evening, and a pickled egg. When she arrived we both took a nap. We got up and I tried to return the golf clubs I had borrowed for Phil but no one was home. I came home for supper, and we finished the gumbo before we left for Lenten service and choir practice. We practiced a song that is beautiful but quite high in range for me. My voice gave out in a hurry. We came home and I went to the hall to help set up tables for tomorrow’s benefit breakfast. Evelyn went to see if she had left her glasses in Jacque’s car. They weren’t there. She will have to search farther. Emily called and scheduled a time Sunday afternoon to talk with Pieder. I also scheduled a time to rehearse the song I will sing at Sunday’s service and a time for John Hamel to come to see if we can make the DVD recorder to work.

Museum and basketball

Tuesday Phil and I picked up my friend from Skatchewan to play golf at mid-valley. We began at 8 and finished at 10:30 My score was not terrible but I had too many high holes mixed with 2 pars. I had borrowed a set of clubs for Phil so he didn’t have to rent them. We came home and went to Edinburg looking for a good Mexican restaurant and the Museum of South Texas History. We took a while and finally found a very good restaurant and Phil enjoyed his last Mexican food meal with us. We then went to the museum. It was one of the best we have toured and we have toured many. We were there for about two hours and went to get the car washed. We returned home earlier than anticipated. We enjoyed a meffelato sandwich Evelyn had made for supper. We watched the IU/Purdue basketball game. Purdue lost but I am not discouraged. They still have an excellent chance to win the Big Ten. They also are learning how to compete. We must remember that they are mostly freshmen and sophomores. We went to bed early because I have to arise at 3:30 to take Phil to the airport.

Another busy day.

Monday Phil and I rode bikes to Lord and Irene’s for breakfast. I had a taco and he had a taco and some deep fried French toast. I hadn’t seen Irene for about three years so we talked as much as she could during the busy time. She has her kitchen in her old garage and has her restaurant in what was her living and dining room. We rode back and I dropped off the fax number for our mail order pharmacy at the doctor’s office. I then went to the Weslaco pharmacy to get two of my medicines refilled. We were back in time for the park meeting. I wanted Phil to see what we do in the park. Evelyn, meantime, rode to the doctor to have blood drawn. They promised, once again, to call with the lab results. Once again, they didn’t. We left for Mexico and stopped to ask Lois if she wanted to go. She did and we walked around the town for a couple of hours. We ate at La Fogata restaurant and were very disappointed in our choice. Phil likes Mexican food and we just ordered the wrong items. We came home with a hammock/chair for the pergola. Phil didn’t buy anything. I wonder why he wanted to go. We dropped Lois at her home and went back to a birding center. We walked back to a lake where there were two alligators and two new babies. We didn’t see any of them. There were many birds there but we aren’t big bird watchers. We came home around 5 after getting some orange juice we had won. We rested and then Evelyn warmed the gumbo she had made last week. We enjoyed it and a sugarless pie. I felt squeamish in eating it but it was sugarless. We made arrangements to play golf with Joe Cop tomorrow morning at 8 and go to the museum in Edinburgh tomorrow afternoon.

Off to the Island

Phil and Evelyn at South Padre Island after our lunch. It was cold out of the sun.
Sunday was a marvelous day. We had 74 people in attendance. The men’s singing group, the Trailblazers, sang but only 4 of them left after they had finished. This was the largest crowd we have ever had for worship. We thank God for His faithfulness. We came home after Bible study, changed clothes, and headed for South Padre Island. We bought a small bucket of KFC and took it to a pavilion at the beach. It was somewhat in the shade and Phil and Evelyn were cold. We finished lunch and then walked on the beach. The sole of my sandal came off. I thought I had it fixed using Gorilla glue. I guess I have to try again. We walked across the street to see what was happening in the convention center. We weren’t interested in that but did see some people flying colorful kites. That was exciting. We drove to the north end of the island and back, and then drove to the south end of the island. We walked through the UTPA oceanic research center. It was too early to eat shrimp on the island so we just drove back to Weslaco and went to El Pato for tacos. We came home and I made popcorn to eat while we watched a movie. We went to bed to prepare for another day of touring tomorrow.

A visitor from Waynesville.

Saturday we left to get Phil at the Harlingen airport. He arrived on time and we left there to take him to the Marine museum. The original casting of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima is there. We also went though the museum and watched a documentary about the island invasion in WWII. We left there and went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. Phil likes Mexican food. We left there and went to the Harlingen visitor’s center to learn where the Palo Alto battle field where the Mexican/American war when James K. Polk was president. We visited another museum and walked a long way to the battle field. We came home for supper of country style ribs that I had smoked a couple of weeks ago. We stopped at the Winston’s so Phil could talk with Joe, a fellow engineer. Bonny gave us some marmalade and sweet potatoes which we ate. We took a walk around the park to show Phil where we live and then went to bed.

potassium rush

Friday was interesting. We had arisen at 1 and 5 so Evelyn could take her potassium. At 7 we arose for the day and Evelyn went to exercise. After that she went to the doctor for another blood test. They promised to mark it STAT and would call her when the results came back. We ate our oatmeal and then she took a nap. She needed more sleep. I worked on the service and heated the soup for lunch. I ate and intended to allow Evelyn to sleep until she was rested. She woke, however, and we went to hospital for our shift. We completed it on time and came home so Evelyn could nap again before dinner. Bonny had called and invited us to go with them to a Chinese or Japanese restaurant that she had learned about in Austin. One of the chain had come to McAllen. Unfortunately, when Bonny called for reservations, she found them sold out. So when they picked us up we went to near Harlingen to a barbecue restaurant. It was in a relatively new building but was quite loud. The acoustics would make the Sydney Opera House blush. We ordered and were pleased with the quality of the food. We shared a pork loin dinner and had plenty. Evelyn was very impressed with the loin. We came home and didn’t invite Joe and Bonny in because Evelyn was still tired and we couldn’t share a dessert because of our Lenten vow to the Lord. By the way Evelyn finally had to call the doctor’s office who told her to take more potassium today and go back to normal for the weekend. She must return to have more blood work Monday. Phil comes to Harlingen tomorrow morning.

Bad news in potassium

Thursday I took the keys to the VCR chamber to the exercise room for Evelyn who had to go to have a fasting blood draw. She was back before the exercise session was over. She came home and we ate steel cut oatmeal again. We want to see just how much it might help control our cholesterol and triglycerides. She repainted our Astroturf carpet with the Purdue on each end zone while I went to the grocery and Wal-Mart for some supplies. I wanted to get out and buy her some flowers for Valentines Day. I returned and we had some hamburgers I had grilled last week. They were delicious and then E took a nap. I made up another order of service and tweaked this week’s sermon because I won’t have much time while Phil is here. We went to a nearby nursing home at 3 to play for them as the kitchen band. They had a good time listening. We played for 45 minutes and came home. I did some painting in the new closet while Evelyn did the white laundry. The doctor’s office called and wanted Evelyn to go to the emergency room to have an IV put in to administer potassium. She was very low. Instead she took her potassium to the doctor’s office and was given double doses of powder she is to take every 4 hours. She doesn’t seem that tired but has been neglecting her potassium cocktail each day. She is to return to the doctor tomorrow morning early for another blood test to see what is working. I made popcorn and then went to the men’s Bible study. I found it had been held last night. I probably knew that but had forgotten. I couldn’t have gone anyway because we were in Harlingen. I came back, watched Glenn Beck and then talked with Elizabeth Beeli. We had been unable to call last night at a decent hour for us even though it was her birthday. She was also having a party with 40 in attendance. As it turned out the party is next Saturday. Evelyn had a nice talk with her.

A marvelous musical review

Wednesday began as usual except we had bought some steel cut oatmeal, recommended by our doctor in NC. He says this is the only type that is really effective for lowering cholesterol. As we learned at our doctor appointment, Evelyn especially needs to do more to control hers. We also got reports on our tests last week. Mine showed no damage to my neck and no aorta aneurysm. Evelyn, however, showed a 20-30% blockage in her left artery. This was not serious but did show she needs to do more to control her cholesterol. Therefore steel cut oatmeal. We ate some leftovers for lunch and then rested/worked on Sunday’s message. Evelyn had not gone to sleep until 4:54 this morning and was extremely tired. She needed a nap in the worst way. We then dressed for dinner out at the Olive Garden in Harlingen before going to the 5th in our concert series. It was a collection of music from Broadway plays. The performance was magnificent. The choreography was superb as was the dancing and singing. It was even better than the Harry James orchestra. The young people have so much energy that it is breathtaking. We came home and went to bed. Hopefully Evelyn will be able to sleep tonight. I found some Simply Sleep that might help if she needs it.

A day with Lois

Tuesday we took a widowed friend to McAllen to see her cardiologist. Before we left, I went to ask Tom how to put our Purdue flag on my golf cart. We don’t hate the clips that most have so I needed advice on what to use to attach it. Tom, ever the craftsman, ended up doing it all for me as usual. I came home and we left at 11:15 because Lois had been at South Padre Island for the weekend but had to take a bus back to Weslaco. She was much earlier than she thought but we got her at 11:30 and left for McAllen. We dropped the car off for a wash and were chauffeured to the Red Lobster where she bought us lunch. We were taken back to the dealership and drove her to the doctor’s office. It was harder to find than we expected, making us late. We left her and went to see some jewelers about mounting the diamonds from Evelyn’s mother. Evelyn decided to have two added to her marquis ring. She decided to use 4 of the other diamonds to reconstruct one of Olive’s other rings. She will not make the pendant she had intended because Dixie was given the larger diamond. We will save the remaining diamonds for the granddaughters. We also went to Texas Roadhouse to complain about an overcharge that they had made to our charge card. They made a refund, and then we returned to Lois’ doctor. We waited for her, taking nearly an hour and a half. We were going to Target with her but it was too late. I wanted to get home to watch the Purdue/Michigan State basketball game which Purdue won. We stopped on the way home to get some groceries for Phil’s visit Saturday. We had a supper that was too heavy for the lunch we had. I finished this and went to bed. Did I mention that Purdue is still on top of the Big Ten?

fiesta in Mexico

Monday is park meeting day. There is usually some speaker presenting a business or activity to the park for information. Today was the Osprey deep sea fishing business. They gave away dolphin watch tickets and a deep sea fishing trip. We didn’t win but had we, the tickets would have either been sold or given away. I have been sick too many times on those to ever go again. I always joke that the trips cost $40+ and I can get the same results free by sticking my finger down my throat! We came home and had an early lunch because planned go to Mexico for the party given by Gloria’s Barber shop in Nuevo Progresso. The meal of tamales, etc., will be served around 3:30. We left early for Mexico because Evelyn wanted to look for some dresses for her and the girls, and I wanted to get a case of Negra Modelo to drink while Phil is here. He buys it in NC and we get it much cheaper. We walked over the bridge and I carried a small suitcase we thought we would sell later in the season. Our small luggage tote lost a wheel, however, on our last trip to Mexico, and, since we haven’t replaced it, I decided to use the small suitcase with wheels. It is quite a walk from the Rio Grande to the place I can get the beer. Even the case of 20 bottles gets pretty heavy when carried so I put it into the suitcase. It fit perfectly. Evelyn found some dresses while I was gone but waited to buy them until after the party. I took my suitcase to a store that requires its customers to check their outside purchases. I checked my suitcase (full of beer) and we went to the barber shop where we were loaded with 20 others into a van and were driven to Carmello and Gloria’s house. They own Gloria’s barber shop. We began going there a few years ago because we learned they were Christians. They open their home to customers each year for the “big party”. Tables are put in the front and back yards and the barbers and beauty parlor girls serve the meal of fajitas, rice, Ballios, napolitoes, tamales and charro frijoles. Things are delicious. Then we went back to town, bought three dresses, and two necklace and earrings. We walked back across the bridge (this time I had remembered my passport) and came straight home. We were both tired. Evelyn had exercised in the morning, gone to the park meeting, and went to water aerobics, so she was really beat. She washed the new dresses but one faded onto a pair of my khaki shorts. We watched a bit of the Purdue women’s game with MSU and then went to bed.

dessert day

Sunday--the day the Lord continues to amaze me. We had 54 attenders today. The message seemed to be well received. It centered around the “Seven Deadly Sins on Gilligan’s Island” leading to a discussion of sloth. We served Holy communion which is always a blessing. I wanted to go out for dinner, but Evelyn wasn’t excited about that. I did call the Crouchs to see if they wanted to go out, but they were gone. He has done many things for us around our house and likes to go to Pepe’s in Harlingen. Instead we had a spinach salad and left over pot roast. When we finished, we called Stacy and Tom to see when they were going to schedule their flight to Mobile. They will get right on it. Evelyn talked with Emily while I took a nap. I don’t know why my hips don’t hurt when I take a nap. I wakened and called the Marriot Grand Hotel and learned they had no facilities for cooking but did have a shuttle service that would take families from the airport to the hotel. We will be moreless stuck at the hotel with their food service. They will provide a cooler so we can take some milk, cereal, cold meat, and other things than need no cooking. We took a short bike ride around the park before I went to serve ice cream. I returned home and we tried to work on Evelyn’s devotional for the Mary Martha next month. It didn’t go well so we watched some programs. I also printed some pictures from last night’s party so we can give them to the host’s. We did our weekly medicine distribution and went to bed after the news. We have decided to abstain from sugar desserts during Lent but Lent doesn’t count Sundays so we ate ice cream. We won’t get anymore until next Sunday.

a new restaurant

Thursday finished my AARP class. The “driving instructor” returned again and must have declared his credentials of having taught in high school and college 3 time. He also broke into his experiences of driving in Australia and New Zealand ad nauseam. I finally had to tell him few of us would ever drive in those areas, so he should move on. We did still finish ahead of time and I came home to mount our bicycles to ride to the hospital. We still had a volunteer lunch coupon, so we ate lunch on the hospital. It was large enough to share. I had a good time razzing my Paul and Lionell about not coming to view the Super Bowl with us. They are the very best friends I have ever had at the hospital. After our shift we rode home, Evelyn talked with our neighbor a bit, and then we went to a small dump of a restaurant to have a “big ass taco” that had been recommended by the young security guard at the hospital. We thought the restaurant was questionable in size and cleanliness and the food was OK. We returned to the park, and I borrowed some golf clubs for our visitor, Phil, to use when we play Tuesday after next. We came home and I finished work on the order of service for February 24. I also made plans to help a friend get to McAllen to see a doctor for tests next Tuesday. We will sleep in tomorrow if we can.

1/2 of the AARP class

Thursday I walked and Evelyn exercised. I then borrowed a DVD player to put in the room where I hold the AARP driver safety classes. Don came and hooked it up and I arranged the tables for the class. We ate lunch of some delicious gumbo Evelyn had made. MMMMMMMMM! I then went to the class which ran from 1-5. I finished on time to my surprise because the first day usually goes a bit over. I drove the golf cart because I have much to take to the first class. A strange thing happened: a man who says he teaches driver training at some college asked to sit in on the class. I agreed because I thought he must be someone higher up and had come to evaluate me. As it turned out he wasn’t but did have plenty to say. Most of it was not needed. I returned the DVD player and came home for supper. We both went to Bible studies segregated by gender. Mine last an hour and Evelyn’s lasts two. I came home and completed some of the paperwork that I have for the class and then entered a contest on line. We watched the news as usual and went to bed.

Getting organized

Wednesday was quite a bit cooler than the past two days. The temperature was barely in the 70s after setting record highs in the low 90s. Evelyn to exercise and I walked around the park. We came home and just showered and drove the golf cart to the Bible study at 10:30. The study is on proverbs, today featuring problems with sloth. This was interesting since that is the basis for my message this Sunday. We came home and I barbecued hamburgers for our lunch. We then rested, and I began gathering my materials for the AARP class tomorrow and Friday. I also began trying to organize our time with our visitor from NC and the orders of worship for the next couple of weeks so we can spend more time entertaining. We had a light supper and went to the Ash Wednesday service to be marked with the ashes we will return to. We stayed for choir practice and began work on selections for Holy Week. Evelyn and I agreed that we would forego sugar desserts for 6 days per week in compliance with the sacrifices of Lent. Lent is 40 days but doesn’t count Sundays so we will eat desserts on that day if we want them. We are both pretty much sugar addicts and this will be hard to just remember our plan. We went to Wal-Mart to get some items. We spent far too much time in the line to be checked out so will not likely go late at night again. Today was national signing day for college football and Purdue's class was not rated by very highly. There was one really big name that bolted and went to Michigan. The best thing is that teams win games, not big name players. Perhaps Purdue has good team players.

crowns, swimming, and dominoes

Tuesday was hot--88 here. Evelyn exercised while I cut ours and the neighbor’s grass. We have a deal in that I use their mower and cut the grass in the winter and they do it in the summer. We then left for Mexico and the dentist’s office so Evelyn could have her permanent crowns installed. I had forgotten my passport but did have my driver’s license, but before I crossed the bridge, I asked one of the border patrol agents if my driver’s license would get me out. She said it would so I went across. I had some edges ground off my fillings too. We returned home without any liquor and had lunch of corned beef on the delicious rye bread Evelyn had made last night. We then rested before going to the pool to “swim”. I had not been in the park pool for at least two years. It did feel good but I was not eager to go. We came home and prepared for our visitors who came to play dominoes. We put our TV trays up to use. They wanted to have a party but didn’t have enough room in their 5th wheel. They brought everything and we had a good time playing until 10:30. While we played Mexican train, I slipped in several times to see Purdue beat Penn State in basketball. They are temporarily in first place in the Big Ten alone.

spring break confirmations

Monday was another park meeting and Luau ticket sales. So many people want to go that another table had to be established. Afterward I came home and continued working on the bar in the closet. This job would have taken some others an hour at most but I took most of the morning. It does improve our storage capacity and makes the laundry area look better. We had lunch and then went to oversee the race walk for the Encore games. Evelyn had volunteered to run the event and I helped her by using my AARP timer to record the times of the teams--there were two of each gender. We were done in half an hour. We returned home and Evelyn went to have her nails filled. Monday is $12 refill day. She was able to get seated soon and returned home within an hour and a half. We had received some of the date parameters for the planned spring break family reunion. We went to the hall to call a toll free number I thought was the hotel we want to use, but it turned out to be Expedia. After talking for 20 minutes we were discouraged. There are too many complications for to the rooms that may preclude our vacation at all. We decided to try again to call the hotel directly since I finally found the number. We were able to get rooms for April 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. The confirmation didn’t have things correct, but Evelyn got confirmation numbers. I will try to contact the hotel tomorrow via e-mail.

dancing and football

Sunday is always blessed. We had 46 in attendance again. I am in awe of how God blesses our little service. 4 years ago we were blessed to have 20 attenders on a good day. I know at least 6 regular attenders were not there so we must be getting new people. Some others were serving the brunch at the main hall. We came home and Evelyn prepared to serve the pot roast we had put into the crock pot on Thursday. We had enough for 3 people but not 4. We had thought of inviting our friend Fanny, but she had gone to the brunch. We ate and then decided to go to an afternoon dance instead of the rodeo in Los Fresnos. The dance is much closer and less expensive. We rested after cleaning up the kitchen (I washed the dishes as I often do so Evelyn doesn’t have to wear rubber gloves.). We dressed up a little bit and went to Victoria Palms for the dance. We stayed until 4:15 and returned home. We met a couple from Colorado who were staying in that park. They told us about hunting and living in the mountains. They think the ones we live in are foothills. We had a good time recommending local restaurants to them. They talked exclusively about chain restaurants. We came home and I made popcorn, put peanuts in bowls and waited for our friends to come to watch the Super Bowl with us. We had invited some former friends to come over but were rejected. We were saddened by their refusal to enjoy the day with us but watched the game anyway. We hope they enjoyed their party. Meanwhile, we really enjoyed ours with Joe and Bonny. They certainly are wonderful friends. She brought some meat balls in a cheese sauce and I had popped corn and put peanuts in the shell into a bowl. We watched the New York Giants shock the sports world by upsetting the Patriots who were 18-0 when the game began. They left shortly after 9 and then we relaxed preparing for tomorrow.

Go Boilers

Saturday was sleep in day again. Hallelujah! Unfortunately we didn’t get to bed early enough to take full advantage of it. We arose and I worked on the service for tomorrow. Evelyn and I both worked on cleaning the house for our upcoming guests. She also cleaned a cupboard where the cans were and put some pans in them. She put the cans into the new racks in the created closet. We also decided on some items we no longer need to put into the upcoming park garage sale. We had lunch and back to work for me. At 2:30 we watched Purdue beat Illinois in Champaign Urbana. This put Purdue at the top of the Big Ten conference--at least temporarily. We had not eaten since earlier this morning (except for the obligatory peanuts in the shell for athletic events) so we ate supper around 5:30 before going to Home Depot for spackling and HEB for groceries. We also mailed a birthday greeting that will be late in arrival. We came home and watched some of a Mel Gibson movie before retiring early--9:00. I was really tired.

Car keys and a shocking distortion

Friday I walked a short while and left a note for Tom Crouch that we could finish the closet this morning if he had time. Shortly after I came home he arrived. He cut the trim boards and nailed them in place, making only one mistake and the closet is finished except for the painting of the trim and the fixing of the ceramic tile to the floor. I was waiting for Paul to bring me a piece of tile to sell me that matched the pieces he left Monday but he told me that the pieces should cover the floor in a “mosaic” if fitted correctly. I will try that tomorrow. We had lunch and rode to the hospital. I dropped off my prescription for nasal spray at the pharmacy and went to the sleep center to get some advice on how to use a body pillow from the doctor. I learned it is to just keep me from sleeping on my back which I don’t do much anyway. I don’t think I want another “person” in bed with us so I won’t buy one. We rode to the hospital and invited the guys to a Super Bowl party, but neither of them wants to come. They like to watch the game with only their spouses. At about 1:30 a woman came for help because she couldn’t find her car keys and was locked out of her car. She had searched everywhere and had asked many people to help. I called the hospital security and the police, asking for a “slim jim” to pop the lock. Finally one security man came to help, bringing his tool with him. He, a man from Kansas and I worked for nearly an hour trying to get in but never could. Finally we called Pop-a-Lock to come and open the car. The charge was only $27.50. Had I known it to be that cheap, I would have called them first rather than waste the time. The woman was so grateful that she came back to the information desk with a $100 bill wanting change so she could pay us for our time. Of course, we refused. We rode our bikes home and Evelyn was able to rest before going to the Bauknechts’ for dinner and a round of Hand and Foot. We did not get home until around 11:30.
Just a side note. We had some close friends from Kansas two years ago who had come to worship where I was preaching. When I began offering Holy Communion, they never returned. I e-mailed several times asking what I had done to cause them to not only stop worshiping with us but stop associating with us socially. I have made many attempts and grieved over them many months. We even took her some boudin from LA last year because she likes it. Yesterday, one of their friends said they think we are mad at them! This is so distorted that I am now mad and don’t want any association with them whatsoever. What self deception! I have avoided any contact with them, respecting their obvious wishes to avoid us. They lamented that we never rode our bicycles to visit with them anymore, as though the path from here to there is a one way street. I thank God that this event will certainly help me heal from this loss of people I thought were dear friends. I was pretty much accepting of the dissolution before but am now certain that I am OK with it.