Blessed worship

Sunday was the final worship for the winter. Even so there were 33 people present. I delivered a sermon from my archives but one of my favorites. The people were extremely generous again and I thank God for them. We came home and changed clothes for our trip to Rio Hondo to meet with Don and Janice. We met them and went to Arroyo City to the Wharf restaurant. We shared the seafood botana for 4 and should have ordered it for 2 because it was too much to eat. We took a huge amount home. Don drove us around some of the many acres he farms and to some frontage property on the arroyo itself. It was fun to look at the crops. We returned to their house and shared some of Janice’s birthday pie. Her birthday was the 28th. Their son Bruce and family came to celebrate because they had overlooked the main event. We left there at 4 and drove home. I had to serve ice cream at 6 but had time to do some cleaning and packing. Don has talked me into having the bearings repacked with grease. He said if it had not been done within 2 or 3 years, it would be dangerous to try to go 1300 miles. I will ask our repair guy if he can do it tomorrow. After serving ice cream, I took a cooler to Wal-Mart to get some dry ice. I learned that the local store doesn’t sell it anymore. That made suspect that the chain had discontinued the product. I called the store in Alamo that said it sells it but didn’t have any right now. I don’t think if will be available anywhere. I asked a friend here in the park if he knew of any locations and he suggested Academy sports. I guess they might sell it to the fisherman for icing their catch. I will call tomorrow. I have a busy day and doubt we will be ready to leave Tuesday morning. We have to rely on the Lord’s leading.

good sales and a new toy.

I slept well wearing the mask but no better than usual. Unfortunately, Evelyn slept poorly, not because the machine made any noise. We don’t know what keeps her awake. We were up at 6 to go to the garage sale that began at 7. There was not a big crowd but it seemed that they were willing to buy. We took in $53. Naturally we did not make any money because we sold everything at a lower value than we paid, but we did get rid of quite a bit of the items we had that we no longer wanted. We finished at 10 and then came home. We picked up John and Sue to take them to lunch. We stopped at the flea market to look for some appliqués for Evelyn to attach to a blouse but found none. We did buy a pineapple. We went on to Willie’s barbecue since they had never been there and wanted smoked ribs. We had stopped at a filling station for gas, and I bought us a diet Pepsi and two beers. Unfortunately, Willies wouldn’t allow us to bring them in. We finished our lunch and went to Wal-Mart to get a lug wrench for the trailer since the one for the Saturn won’t fit it. We returned on home and Evelyn went to bed for a nap. I was tired too but fought the sleep so I could sleep tonight. We went to pay for the new golf cart we will buy. The seller will be staying here until sometime in June and will then park the unit in our driveway. We went to Palin’s to pay for the cart. I stayed and talked with him a while and he threw in some blazer buttons and a $200 golf bag. He will come tomorrow evening so I can show him where to put the cart when he leaves in June. Bill wanted to talk about his past and I was glad to listen. I came home and we had more snacky leftovers for our supper. I washed the dishes and then took off on our bikes for a ride around the park. We went around twice, saying goodbye to some who were leaving soon. We also stopped at one unit where some Christian friends from Iowa. He especially liked to talk about the good things God had done for them in their lives. We came home and relaxed before going to bed.

Goodbye to the hospital

Friday was another day of packing. We were given the wishing well yesterday and loaded it into the trailer today. This certainly makes it much more full when we add all the plastic tubs we need to put in there. I went to the sleep doctor early for my appointment at 10:40 and got into the office at 11:35. The doctor came in at 11:50 and tried to be friendly but I was not. He showed me the results of my sleep study and made an arrangement to have my breathing machine delivered later in the evening. I was upset because we were to be at the hospital by 12:30, making it impossible to have lunch and make it on time. I will never go to another appointment there on time again. I will be an hour late. We had a day of fun and said goodbye to our Friday afternoon friends for the season. We came home and took our junk to the garage sale. We loaded our table and will go tomorrow at 7 to see what we can sell. We had more leftovers for supper and waited for the sleep specialist to deliver my new sleep machine. He was quite personable and left shortly after 9. The machine makes no noise whatsoever and should not bother Evelyn. I will be curious as to how I will adjust to it.

Thursday began as usual, but we went to the hall to meet the rest of the kitchen band to go to the Weslaco Rehabilitation Center. When we arrived we learned that the Center had cancelled our visit. We came home and resumed packing until lunch time. We are continuing to prepare for our departure. I have also begun to bring our outside items indoors. We are told to do that because when hurricane season arrives, the park workers have to move items that may become missiles during high winds. I went to a local golf club to meet Lionel and Paul to drink beer. I was home by 5:30 but not in good shape. I ate supper with Evelyn and then virtually passed out on the couch. I had drunk too much. As a result, we did not call Peter on his birthday. We will do that over the weekend. I wakened at 9 and blogged. Also, a new neighbor brought a decorative wishing well to us and we will take it to NC to use as a decoration. I stayed up for the news and went back to sleep. It has been in the 90s and windy for the past two days. It is predicted to continue throught the weekend.

Closing in on departure

Wednesday reflected a bad night for Evelyn. For some reason she could not go to sleep until 2:30 again. We don’t have a lot of pressure on us and can’t understand what keeps us awake. She went to exercise anyway, and I continued to pack. I walked to the hall to get yesterday’s mail delivery. There was nothing of importance. I had called Waynesville yesterday and requested that they hold our mail until we get there. We will get some here until we leave next Tuesday. I called Paul to ask him to take me to the memorial service this afternoon, so they picked me up at 1:45. We had eaten lunch of some more leftovers that we are still trying to consume. I also asked the neighbor to take me in his truck to get Evelyn’s bicycle. I had loaded the Saturn and hated to unload it to put the bicycle in. It was much easier in the truck. The memorial service was a sharing of memories of the deceased, who will be buried in Wisconsin next week. Afterward was a reception to meet the family. We didn’t stay long and I was home by 3:30. Meanwhile Evelyn had gone to see the oncologist. She can’t have the spring mammogram until after the 5th for the insurance to pay for it. This means she will have to get one in NC and received a prescription from the doctor. We cleared the garden and ate the first cutting of Swiss chard along with some leftover gumbo. We walked to the house of the man whose golf cart we intend to buy but no one was home. We will buy it because it is painted in Purdue colors. We met his neighbors who have some Purdue paraphernalia they want to dispose of and they might bring it to our house. They also have a wishing well with a fern growing our of it. If we get it, we will eventually take it to NC. I think it might be too late to take it this year without reloading the trailer. We continued to pack until bedtime.

Final visit to Mexico this season

Tuesday found us up well rested. Evelyn exercised and I got ready to go to Mexico. When she got home, we left. We parked and went through the 25 cent turnstile to the duty free store where I bought two bottles of Bailey’s to take north. I tried to go directly back, but a border patrol agent pointed out that I had to take it across to Mexico first. I did and took it to the car. I then returned and met Evelyn. We proceeded down the street, bought some hats for the grandson trip, bought a neck band necklace for Donna, and went to get our pedicures. We waited more than an hour. We almost walked out because there are many other barber shops there. We go there because they are Christians and need support. We left shortly before noon, bought Evelyn two pairs of sunglasses (she will lose both during the summer) and came home for lunch. We would have eaten in Mexico but have too much we must consume before we leave. We leave one week from today. We were tired and took a nap before going to some friend’s for “happy hour”. Everyone here likes to drink to get happy, I guess. We stayed for nearly 2 hours and returned home. We had eaten snacks so we only had ice cream for supper. We still have 3 half gallons left to eat in a week. I have suggested we invite more people to help us eat, but Evelyn is reluctant to make a mess. We watched Glenn Beck and some of Dancing with the Stars. Our receiver has a problem with downloading the signal. We often have to reset the receiver before we can get the local channels. I called Direct TV after resetting it, but it had corrected before I could get a technician. I hung up and we watched 2 episodes of The Office and the news before going to bed.

busy-ness

Monday was the final town meeting of the year. The corporation that owns the park has given a $100 in a drawing the past two meetings. This morning a kind lady won and gave the money to the American Cancer Society. We were all moved by that gesture. After exercising, Evelyn went to lunch with some of the people from the Wednesday morning Bible study. Women have the compulsion to take the teacher to lunch or give a present. Men never think of such nonsense. I had a list of things to do and left to do them. I took Evelyn’s bicycle to have new tires put on, I went to see if our electronic guys could work on our Beta VCR, changed yesterday’s offering into larger denominations, got the Saturn wiring completed, forgot my doctor’s appointment, ate lunch at home, took some things to people at Trail’s End, responding to a phone call, came home and received some venison products from the young man who is security guard at the hospital when we work, and took a sad phone call. One of our volunteer friends died yesterday. He was in the hospital this past Friday, having been diagnosed with lung cancer but was in good spirits, ready for treatment. Suddenly, yesterday he became sick and died of a stroke. The cancer had spread to his brain. We will all miss him. I also had to check the bearings on the trailer (they were fine) and the electrical connections. Everything was fine. Evelyn invited some people for dinner of gumbo that she had worked on all afternoon. I chopped onions and began loading the food for Alabama into the car. We also loaded some things into the trailer, including a piece of memory foam for the guest bed in NC. As we watched some of the Food Network, I printed a list of the things we want to remember to take to NC. I also called and confirmed the availability of the motor home we want to rent for the summer trip with the grandsons. We plan to go to Mexico tomorrow for our send off pedicure.

Blessed Ressurection Day!

Resurrection Day is always a blessing. I greeted people by saying. “Happy Easter! He is risen!” Most people either didn’t hear or ignored me. One couple, however, did respond positively. Of course all the people at worship responded correctly: “He is risen indeed! Alleluia”. I really love the people in our worship congregation. We had 54 in attendance and, since this was the final worship for many of them (many are heading back north this week), they were especially generous in their giving. The offering was $141. I also told them that I would be returning next year but would be gone for three Sundays in January and February because we are going on a cruise to South America. We came home and Evelyn made meatballs and macaroni for our lunch. We had not received any invitation from anyone for dinner, and we wanted to eat down our larder. We then took a nap and then went for a bike ride to talk with the co-chair couple for the dances next year. We tried to come up with some themes for the dances. We will work on the details via e-mail in the summer. We tried to watch some of the Purdue women’s basketball game but found it preempted. I ended up watching CSI while Evelyn talked with her brother and wife. She learned that Justin is in Iraq and will be there until November of December. I called and made an appoint to change oil next week. I want to change it before we leave because we will be far many miles over the change mileage.

Holy Saturday

Saturday was sleep in day. We didn’t sleep as late as usual, however. We got up and Evelyn had to bake some cupcakes for the lunch at 11. The kitchen band was having a wind up carry-in lunch. We drove the golf cart and had a lunch that was over by noon. I came back thinking Purdue might be playing on TV. Part of the game was broadcast but not until after 4. I watched what I could. Even though Purdue lost to Xavier, I was very impressed. If the team stays together, they have the possibility of becoming national champions in the next few years. We drove to the Progreso bridge because I wanted to buy some Bailey’s Irish Creme, but the store was closed before we got there. We came back and stopped to see if Lois Iverson had plans for Easter dinner. She was not there so we left a note. We came home and washed the car, inside and out. It was nearly dark. We ate some warmed up turkey we had saved from months ago. It was Cajun turkey and was still delicious. We watched a little TV and went to bed. One of the shows was about the Reformation, featuring Martin Luther. We are ready to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord tomorrow.

Final Friday?

Friday I slept until almost 8. Evelyn was long gone when I arose. I went out and cut the carpet to fit the trailer and returned the knife I had borrowed. I also went to the back and marked many items with a price for sale at the park garage sale next Saturday. Evelyn came home, ate our oatmeal and got ready to go to lunch with her evening Bible study group. I just ate two pickled eggs and two pieces of toast for lunch. Evelyn had to take the car to lunch so I rode my bicycle to the hospital. It was a slow day, being Good Friday. I debated whether to make this our last day of volunteering or to work next Friday. Paul and Lionel want me to work. We can’t go out after work, so we made a plan to meet at a golf course to drink beer next Thursday. We will see how well our packing goes to make a decision on whether to work another Friday. We finished off the pulled pork casserole for supper and then went to the Good Friday service. It was quite inspiring as Good Friday always is. Aside from the pastor’s inability to read scripture, the service was well planned and presented. We came home and watched a bit of basketball and the news.

sore voice

We slept well last night and were up at 7. Evelyn went to exercise, and I took the neighbor’s lawn mower and cut the grass on both lots. They are supposed to cut both lawns during the summer. We then went to Valley Grande Manor with the kitchen band to entertain the residents . We came home and Evelyn went to have her nails filled. She came home about 1, and we had lunch. She had made a delicious casserole of pulled pork and potatoes. We will probably eat it once or twice more. She rested and I went to a house that was replacing carpet. I asked for a piece of the old carpet and cut it to put into the trailer. I brought it home, but it was time to go to the park going away party. The kitchen band played before the meal of huge hot dogs, beans and potato salad. It was billed as a picnic. The park has both a welcome back and a going away party. For the first one in January, I was asked to pray the invocation but no one did it this time. I don’t know why. Regardless, we had a good time until we had to leave so we could go to worship. It is Maundy Thursday. We sang as a choir before and during the distribution of Holy Communion and then attended choir practice. My throat was really overworked by that time. We got home after 9. I forgot to mention something. Emily has decided to not come to AL but come to NC in July. We will have a good time with the Georges at the “redneck Riviera.”

The trailer at last

This is Michelle Stillwell and her son TY. She is a paraplegic athlete who will compete in the special Olympic games in Beijing. She is the daughter of our friends from Winipeg.


The fire was contained early this morning but is still a threat to Edinburg. Evelyn went to exercise and I looked for someone to follow me to the welder‘s. I found Don Reddel who agreed to follow me. I took the car and rode back with him. Evelyn came home and prepared to go to the Bible study in the outback. I went too because I needed a ride to the welder. Donna Reddel drove both ladies to the Christian Women’s Club. They dropped me and I took the Saturn (the receiver was on) to the Texas Trader where the trailer was. I paid for it, hooked it up and drove back to the welder’s. He worked on providing a wiring harness that carries electricity from the car to the trailer. Unfortunately, the car has a 4 bulb system while the trailer has a 2. This means all the lights work on the trailer except the brake lights. David will try to find an adapter that will make them work. He called Saturn and learned that they want $192 for one that should cost around $25. That is another caveat for anyone wanting a Saturn: they will rob you for parts. I brought the trailer home and backed it into our parking area. I didn’t do a very good joy but haven’t backed a trailer for about 25 years. I will learn with practice. We cleaned it out after having supper. I had not had lunch because I stayed with the car. We took a walk after supper and then came home. It was an extremely pleasant evening but the local channels would not come through the satellite. I watched a little of the NIT tournament. Tomorrow afternoon Purdue plays its first game in the NCAA tournament.

Olympic competetor and treacherous wind

Tuesday Evelyn could only exercise for half an hour. She had to dress for a book review in Mercedes. I went to get one of our camp stools repaired, pay our homeowners insurance and see if our receiver for the car had arrived. It hadn’t and David wasn’t there. I went from there to meet Michelle Stillwell, a wheelchair racer who will compete in the special Olympics in Beijing in September. She is the daughter of our good friends the Bauknechts from Winnepeg. It was an honor to meet her. I returned home and found Evelyn there ready to go to the hospital volunteer luncheon. At this time I learned that Evelyn had been unable to go to sleep until 5:30 this morning. We went and enjoyed the delicious lunch and listened to the CEO talk about the hospital. During the talk, Evelyn fell asleep several times, so I took her home and put her to bed. The welder had called earlier to say the receiver had arrived, and we agreed that I would take our car to be worked on at 2, after the luncheon. I went and he had gone to lunch. I was quite upset and went to Mercedes to have the camp stool repaired since the store I had gone to this morning couldn’t do it. I returned to the welders but he was still at lunch. I told his helper to come to get the car but no one ever came, not as a surprise to me. We went to a party the neighbors had invited us to. They are one of the few couples in the park that has reciprocated when we invited them. There were many other people there that we didn’t especially care for. Many of them are crude, like high school or college freshmen. I did get to have a nice talk with one of the Canadians. He brought up the Lord and my ears perked up. It was the best conversation of the evening. The meal was fantastic, made of walleye in one dish and shrimp and another kind of fish in the other. They were both delicious. Our friends, from Manitoba, love to prepare those gourmet meals. We left and walked around the park, stopping to make arrangements with another Christian lady to drive to the Christian Women’s Club tomorrow. I will try to get the welder to install the receiver tomorrow. It was the 7th high wind day in succession. The fire danger was high and a huge brush fire near one of the larger population areas. The fire line is nearly 30 miles long at this time and moving rapidly.

a ring and onions

Monday was very windy for the 4th day in succession. It was not as hot so it was tolerable. I went to the park meeting and then came home to do last night’s dishes. Evelyn had gone to exercise and then to Sam’s club in McAllen with Bonny. She bought a ton of stuff to take to Alabama in April and picked up the ring she had reset with her mother’s diamonds. It also had to have some repair on the tines. It looks beautiful. She returned shortly after noon and we finished a small amount of smoked ribs and slaw for lunch. She then wanted to go to have her nails refilled but returned because the shop was too busy. I had gone to pick up the 50 lbs of Mexican 1015 onions. They were only $5. I also made a decision to buy another golf cart from a Purdue fan who is moving to a retirement facility in June. I want it because ours is not working exactly right and his is close to Purdue gold. We will work out some procedure for transfer it since we will not be here when he leaves. We took a nap and got up, thinking we would watch the St. Patrick’s Day parade, but we missed it. We ate the leftover lasagna and took a walk. It was still quite windy. We returned home and Evelyn watched “Dancing with the Stars” while I read part of Max Lucado’s new book, 3:16, the Numbers of Hope. It is quite inspirational as are most of his books. One thing that didn’t happen today was that the receiver for our Saturn did not arrive. I had thought it could be installed tomorrow, but it has to arrive first.

Bonny and Joe winston talk Corgie dogs with Linda.

People having fun on the back patio.

Paul Zopfi(co-worker at the hospital) , Sue Hamel(wife of the pianist) and Stan.

More wine drinkers on the back patio.

Janice Waters--no relation but good friend and Donna Zopfi.

Don Waters listening to John Hamel play the keyboard for the meet and greet. John loves to play and is one of the accopanists for our worship.

One goofy brother hugs the same one. Will this guy ever stop?

Two brothers and their wives having breakfast at Lord and Irene's restaurant.

entertaining day

These are pictures of people having fun at the "meet and greet" party for Stan and Linda.

Sunday was another day in which God surprised me again. We had 51 attend our worship despite at least 4 of our regulars (besides the ones who worked preparing and serving the brunch) were unable to attend. I asked how many would come to a service March 30 after Easter, and we had 15 indicate they would. I think we will have over 20, Lord willing. My contract which gives me $65 weekly and 25% of what is left over as a bonus at year’s end ended today. I received my bonus ($115) and the entire offering ($78). I will receive the entire offering from both the upcoming services. More important, the park food bank fund received $335 over the season. This, coupled with proceeds from the benefit spaghetti supper, amounted to almost $1,000. Praise God for His generosity. We skipped the Bible study and went to Immanuel to sing two numbers with the choir and partake of the Lord’s Body and Blood in Holy communion. We came home and changed clothes just moments before our two widow lady guests arrived for dinner of lasagna. We had a good time with them. They were both from Canada and have friends for a long time. We have known one, Fanny Crampton, since we have been coming to the Valley. They left around 1:30, and we finished the dishes. Evelyn then went to bed for a nap before our friends from NC arrived at 5 for popcorn. We needed to talk with them prior to their leaving because they are the ones we plan to go with on our cruise to South America nest winter. They left around 7 and we finished the popcorn. We had some ice cream since it was Sunday. We watched some of the movie “Glory Road” and then went for a walk. It had been in the 90s again today but had cooled and become very windy. We enjoyed the walk anyway.

Recovery day

Saturday was a big sleep in day. We wakened at 9:00. Evelyn went to the kitchen band concert while I made phone calls. I made plans with Bonny to go to dinner tonight. I tried to call Merryfields but had to call Elsie to give them a message. I called Jones who said we didn’t need to go anywhere before they went home. We will see them there. I confirmed our trailer purchase again (the salesman had forgotten our plan). I worked on the service for tomorrow and went to get the mail. We had invited two widowed ladies but one couldn’t come. We will find another at worship tomorrow. I worked in the afternoon so I can enjoy the evening. Stan and Linda have not contacted us since they arrived home. I hope things went well. Joe and Bonny picked us up at 4:55 and we went off to McAllen. We had reservations at PF Chiangs, a Chinese restaurant that Bonny knew in Austin. We ordered 3 entrees and shared them. We brought some home. We came home and enjoyed a glass of Bailey’s Irish Creme. I need to buy some more to take north with us. I went over the sermon again and went to bed.

A wonderful supper

I came home about 5:00 AM after being unhooked from the nodes used for measuring my sleep habits. I rode my bicycle home and then cleaned the “glue” out of my hair. I was concerned that I would get things on my pillow. I slept until 8:30. Evelyn had gone to exercise and I had showered before she came home. We ate our oatmeal and then went to Pep Boys to buy oil and filter because it was specially priced and I need to change oil before we go north. We also went to a fruit market to order some onions for two weeks from now. We had a long talk with the owner we had met at the stock show Monday, and he gave us two onions to sample before we bought 50 lbs. We went to the HEB on the way home for some supplies and then came home. We had a sandwich for lunch and went to the hospital for our tour of duty. We worked at our stations and went to Lionell and Fran Moore’s for supper. I had a good time. The stir fry supper was delicious and the beer flowed freely. Evelyn wanted to go to the St. Patrick’s dance but everyone was having a good time talking and we didn’t leave until 9:15. We went to the hall to get the mail, and Evelyn was disappointed that we didn’t go to the dance. I was disappointed that there were only 38 people dancing. Something else must have drawn people from the dance because more people like to dance than were there. We came home and I watched the Purdue/Illinois Big Ten tournament game I had taped earlier. Purdue lost in overtime.

Stock show 2

Thursday morning I called and made a bid of $1000 on the used trailer. I then went to recycle the plastic, cardboard, and papers. I then went to the license bureau to renew my license. It went smoothly and I was home shortly after Evelyn arrived. We had oatmeal and then prepared to go to the stock show for our second turn at volunteering. We picked up the partners during our shift and went to the information station. I have a good time trying to get the people to participate in the scavenger hunt. I tell them they will likely win. Actually there are thousands of entries. We did meet a man who said he had won about years ago. We took turns going to the volunteer break room and the judging areas. It was windy but pleasant because the temperature is creeping up. We came home and just sat around. I had a couple of beers because I was hot and dusty. We had some snacks and then finished the smoked ribs I had cooked a month ago. We had planned to serve them to Stan and Linda but were glad we didn’t: there weren’t as many left as we had thought. Evelyn had to get ready for her Bible study and I gathered my sleeping clothes ready to take to the doctor. I had to be there between 8 and 9. I had to blog quite early because of that.

Goodbye to Stan and Linda

Wednesday I began work on next Sunday. Stan came down to talk since it was the day they left. We enjoyed the visit. Linda wakened and had breakfast. Evelyn came home and dressed for the trip to Harlingen. For some reason they were in a hurry to go to the airport and then weren’t interested in having us stay around to visit for the hour and a half before their plane left. So we left and drove to the Texas Trader that sells things on consignment. Ironically, they had a 4X6 cargo trailer but it was over 5 feet high. We went to the Texas Trailer and looked at another. The owner said he could make a trailer the size we wanted for about the same price as the used one. He also said he could put a receiver on the car. The problem with all this is that making a trailer would take 7 to 10 days, and we leave around April 1 or 2. That meant that we would have the trailer in time but have no time to pack it. I went to the welder we used last year and he found a receiver that fit our Saturn and ordered it. We decided to call Texas Trader and make an offer on the used trailer tomorrow. We also decided to skip going to the Horseman appreciation dinner tonight. We were both tired and took a nap. We really didn’t eat any supper because we had eaten some of the leftover delicious etouffee for lunch. It was very filing. We went to church and choir practice and came home. I need to complete three errands tomorrow morning before we go to the stock show.

Big party

Tuesday was busy. I went to my doctor’s appointment at 8:20 but didn’t see anyone until 9:05. I was upset and didn’t try to conceal it from anyone. I decided to ask the doctor to set up another sleep study so I could try a sleep machine. He agreed to next Thursday. He also gave me another prescription for nose spray. I came home and we tried to go to see Michelle Stillwell, the Bauknecht’s daughter. They were not anywhere to be found. We went on to Gonzales Hamburgers for lunch. We waited an hour but enjoyed the burgers and onion rings. We returned home and took naps before preparing for the “meet and greet” party. More than 20 people came and we had a great time. John, one of our accompanists at worship, brought his keyboard and played background for us. We also spent several minutes enjoying a singalong. Evelyn had made wonderful snacks and I served wine and beer. Everyone had a magnificent time. We were blessed with these couples: Schwinghammers, Cops, Zopfis, Moores, Hamels, Reddels, Fremonts, Winstons, Jones, and Kruses, including Don and Janice Waters, Stan, Linda and us. The Crouches brought their chairs but didn’t stay because they were sick. We cleaned up the dishes and then went out for dinner. We ended up in Alamo at Willie’s Barbecue. None of us needed to eat anything but all did. Stan and Linda wanted ribs and enjoyed them. We came home and went to bed at the regular time.

Worship and Mexico

Sunday another day of blessing. Stan and Linda worshipped with us as did 72 others. I can’t believe how faithful God is. He continues to bless us with growing numbers. One extra blessing was that the Trailblazers sang for us. We also enjoyed the Holy Communion with our Lord’s Body and Blood. We didn’t stay for the Bible study but came home and went back to bed. None of us is totally well and losing an hour of sleep last night didn’t help. (Daylight savings time began.) We slept until around noon and dressed to go to Mexico. We walked across the bridge and I had a young man shine my boots. We went on the Arturo’s for lunch. We had enchilada and Linda had fajitas but was not feeling well enough to eat them. We walked around and bought 4 bottles or Kahlua for Shirley! We returned home and the ladies went to bed while Stan and I went to the grocery for some drinks for them. We returned and watched Purdue men beat Michigan and the Purdue women beat Illinois to win the Big Ten Tournament. The men then took naps and felt better. We had popcorn and a sandwich and then talked with Emily for a while before watching “Memphis Belle”, the story of a bomber in WWII. I like the movie but much of the beginning is a documentary. We will have a more structured day tomorrow.

Beginning to roll

Saturday Linda stayed in bed while Stan, Evelyn and I went to the hall for pancakes. We met a few people and returned home. We were all still tired so we went back to bed. We didn’t waken until almost noon. Linda wanted to stay in bed so we went to the Taco Cabana for lunch of Mexican food. Stan wanted to eat that while visiting here. He liked the meal. We returned home and talked of taking another nap but Linda got up. While we were at lunch, Verne Pusch from our Trail’s End worship service, called to say his wife had died and they were having a viewing at 2:30. I decided I should go to bring the comfort of Jesus to him. He appreciated my visit. I returned and Stan and I decided to play golf. We tried to go to Mid Valley but hit the stock show parade. After going miles out of the way, we got there and finished our 9 holes just before dark. I played fairly well for me--50. Stan didn’t do as well. We returned home for lasagna dinner. We really enjoyed the meal. Linda seems much better but I went to bed early because I will lose one hour’s sleep tonight because of the reinstallation of DST.

The first day of visit

Friday mornings are always short. Evelyn exercised and I walked in the park for the first time this week. I also made a couple of phone calls from the park house phone. I scheduled two dates to preach at Llano Grande next year so it looks like I won’t be retiring. We dressed for the afternoon in our volunteer uniforms. We went to cash the lottery ticket I won yesterday: $4. We had extra time so we went to Burger King for a two for one whopper. After eating, we worked our shift. I gave Lionell the invitation to the party and he accepted. He also invited us and Zopfis for supper after the shift is over next Friday. We came home and finished the chicken dinners we had brought home last night. We then went off to the Barbara Fairchild gospel concert. It was good but I found only one song I thought to be inspiring. And it was about Jezebel. We came home at 9 and I made Evelyn go to bed before we left for Harlingen at 10. Unfortunately she refused to go, making me angry. We brought Stan and Linda home and stayed up until almost 1 giving them hot liquids. They were both sick, Linda being sicker.

Helping Lois

Another good night. Neither of us was up during normal sleeping hours! We arose as usual, Evelyn to exercise and I to try to get the e-mail. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the Juno to come on. I worked for an hour because I was expecting two important e-mails. It still doesn’t work. I was able to open Internet Explorer and get it that way. Evelyn went (and passed) her Weight Watchers weigh in and then picked up Lois Iverson who had called asking to go with us to McAllen. We went through Donna so Lois could get some cash from her bank and went on to Alamo so I could cash a check for Evelyn and get some OK quarters. We continued to McAllen, dropped off the car to be washed and were carried to La Plaza Mall to look for an Easter dress for Evelyn. We found one almost immediately at JC Penney. We then walked through the mall to the door leading out to the Yepez jeweler. He has still not even begun work on Evelyn’s mother’s ring. We will have to return next week. We called Saturn to be picked up and returned for the car. Lois wanted to go to Hispanic Globe grocery to return something and shop for more. We decided to go to Mr. Ghatti’s for lunch. It is a pizza/game parlor. The senior buffet is $5.99 and is delicious. They prepare any pizza one wants to order, has a wonderful salad bar, spaghetti, linguini Alfredo, etc., soup, baked potatoes, dessert pizza and the drinks are included. We ate too much. It was around 2 when we left, stopped at a Wal-Mart for Lois and then took her home. We came home so Evelyn could rest before going to the Medical Air Services Association meeting, which included a chicken dinner. We weren’t hungry so we took them home. Evelyn prepared for the Bible study she hosts on Thursdays. I went to mine and discovered that the wind is strong from the north, drawing the temperature down. This has been an interesting week. Twice strong winds have blown from the south one day and the north the next. I mean 20-30 mph. The study was the final one this season. I came home and wrote two e-mails to Juno, hoping they can straighten things out on my computer.

Tax delights

Another fairly good night of sleep, thanks be to God. I was up between 4 and 5:30 but not because I was coughing. I just wakened. I worked on some invitations to a meet and greet party and went back to bed until 8. I worked a bit on our income tax return by myself and then went to our neighbor who used Turbo Tax to file for us last year. She is slow but quite methodical. Hopefully that is why she makes few mistakes. We didn’t finish until 1. We will get a huge refund. We ate a light lunch and then went down for the afternoon nap. Evelyn has been working on snacks for the party and I helped by doing some chopping today for the crawfish ettouffee today. We took a nap and had peanuts for supper before going to worship and choir practice. We came home after and continued cleaning. Tomorrow won’t provide much time. I got an e-mail from Turbo Tax stating that the IRS had rejected our return. I will have to consult Peggy tomorrow.

A day of recovery

Praise God! Last night was the first I have been able to sleep in my bed all night for several days. I was able to sleep until 8 while Evelyn exercised. I got up and went to where the bikes are loaded so I could tell them we weren’t going to the ride/picnic. We had decided last night that we couldn’t take more wind so Evelyn had not made her dessert. They understood but asked us to come back to be in our bike club photograph. We did and then went back home. I changed the fill valve in the front bath room. It didn’t take as long as I expected. I then dusted the fan blades and tried to make some repairs using Gorilla glue. I was only partly successful but did make a big mess on our back yard patio. I also painted some arms on our lawn chairs. After lunch we took a nap and felt much better when we wakened. We ran some errands. We went to get the new state quarters but found them not. We got some things from Wal-Mart and then HEB. We came home and I went to get a haircut from a retired barber in the park. Evelyn didn’t even notice. I repainted the chair arms and then settled in to watch the Purdue/Ohio State ball game. Purdue lost but it was 80-77 in overtime. We had a light supper and then worked on cleaning some more. Evelyn did the dusting. After 9 I made several telephone calls and then went to bed.

death and life

Last night was another miserable one. I wakened coughing at 2 AM and was up until 5. I worked on some invitations to a party and other things but went right back to sleep until 8:30. I got up and went to the park meeting, thinking she would see the doctor in my appointment time. She decided overnight that she wasn’t that ill. We came home and I did some vacuum/dusting done while she organized laundry after breakfast. We tried to rest after lunch and got ready to go to the funeral of one of our friends from church. I thought it was at 2:30 so we left for Mercedes at 1:30. I wanted to take a camp stool to a boot factory to have the stitching replaced. They were closed. I also went to the hardware store to get a replacement valve for the toilet. Since we had more time, we went to the grocery for some more supplies but were still very early. We were home by 4:45 and ready for our friends to take us to dinner at a local Italian night club. They can not have us come to their house here because it is much too small. We enjoyed the dinner and were entertained by the owners who are also a husband/wife entertainment team. We returned home by 8 and read the e-mail. We reconsidered our decision about the Alabama reunion and called Emily to talk with her. The more we talked, the more we realized that the financial expenditure was not worth it for just a three day visit. Therefore, we will likely try for a reunion in July. She will call us if she learns something more agreeable but at this time, her family will not join the Georges and us at the Grand Hotel. I hope we can sleep better tonight.

More to cough up

What a miserable night. Evelyn began coughing shortly after we went to bed as did I. I didn’t want to keep her awake, so I went to the living room and tried the tilt back chair. I still coughed so violently that I vomited. Finally I got to sleep around two and had some periods of sleep. But Sunday was another day or blessing. We had 43 in attendance again, but I was not at my best. I was coughing through much of the message and feeling poorly. We stayed after for the Bible study but came home after, ate lunch and went back to bed. The nap helped a lot. We got up and dressed to go to the final concert of this season’s series--Riders in the Sky. They were possibly the best act we had seen this year. We stayed after so our drivers could take a picture of them. We then went to Wal-Mart for them to buy some printer ink and then to the outlet mall for us to get some fish oil capsules for Evelyn’s cholesterol treatment. The Chili’s restaurant was next door and we went there for dinner. Evelyn and I shared a rib/Monterrey chicken combo and returned home for dessert. This was dessert day. We called Emily and changed our plan for spring break. She thought it would be a waste of money (the cost for their flights was $2800) for just 3 days together. We decided to make the summer reunion our long period of time together. We will break the news to the George’s via telephone and e-mail. We watched some TV and went to bed. Evelyn will take my appointment with the doctor tomorrow morning. I will try to get a haircut locally.

A busy day despite trying to recover.

Saturday I was still trying to get well. I began the new medicine and slept until 9 while Evelyn walked for Basketsful, the Mercedes food bank. On the way home she bought some flowers. I finished the sermon but did not spend as much time as I should have. I went back to bed and slept some more. At 2 we went to a park party for those who will be married 50 years sometime during 2008. We came home and I watched the final half of the Purdue/Northwestern basketball game. Purdue won. Guess what I did then--I went back to bed until 5. We left at 5:30 for McAllen where the youth group at St. Paul presented a dinner/play. There was a short skit followed by drinks. Another skit was followed by the salad. It continued with the entree and dessert all sandwiched around 6 skits. The idea was unique and the meal was as good as any ever served in a fine Italian restaurant. It was a very enjoyable evening with Joe and Bonny. We also bought tickets to the concert series in McAllen for next year.