more tests

We were up at 6 to be at the hospital by 6:45 for Evelyn’s thyroid test. She had the nuclear injection and was out in 5 minutes. She wanted to go out for breakfast, so we went to Waffle House. We had a coupon for 2 for 1 waffle, but she wanted an omelet. This from a woman who hates eggs! This was the second egg breakfast in 5 days. We shared a 3 egg omelet because they are so big and came with hash brown potatoes and toast. We left there and returned home. Evelyn was up for a while but then took a long nap. I played with the computer and tried to pay our homeowners insurance on line. I couldn’t and wrote the company an e-mail asking for help. I got no answer today. At noon I went to the kitchen and sliced the remaining rotisserie breast and some of our tomatoes. I asked Evelyn to join me but she wasn’t hungry. I ate alone. L We had to return to the hospital for a reading of how the nuclear stuff progressed through her body. She won’t know any results for a few days. It took a half hour for the test. We then went to the doctor to try to get a check for the German dinner tickets he agreed to buy. It was to be at the front desk but wasn’t. I waited a while and then left the tickets and came back home. He seems to be very caring and takes a long time with his patients. One distressing thing we learned was that the hyperthyroidism showed up on a blood test she had taken in June. We will ask how he missed it. We worked on making a broccoli salad and a casserole at home. I do most of the chopping and Evelyn does the cooking. She made a garden salad and we had that and some of the casserole (made with rice) for dinner. We had many dishes to clean up and Evelyn did them since I had done the ones before the meal. We walked around the loop 3 times--making 8 rounds for me today; I had done 5 earlier. We watched TV in the evening. While at the hospital, I called a number from the Trading Post program on a local station. A man said he had salvage RV parts, and I am still looking for a Maxxaire cover for our vent. He will call back tomorrow evening. I also called and made a T time for the Waynesville Country Club to use my golf round I had bought at the Relay for Life in April. After our walk we trimmed up some bushes and took them to an open field behind a neighbor’s house. I talked with Andrew about his paper on Patrick Henry. He had a sore throat and couldn’t respond to anything, but I hope he found the session worthwhile.

Knocking around the house

We went off to church, thinking the choir would sing. That was wrong but we sat in the choir loft anyway. There was a baptism and induction of new members. The sermon was on baptism and was very good. I would like to send a copy to the Beeli family. We stopped at the grocery on the way home to use some coupons and get some veggies and eggs. We also bought some bottled water because Evelyn thinks ours is causing her gas. I was thinking she might be right because she didn’t have gas when we were in Mt. Airy. She didn’t want any lunch but I ate a light lunch of a chicken wing . I watched some of the Cubs game, and Evelyn came out to heat some soup for herself. After the game, we made 3 loops and then planted the mums we have around the tree in our front yard garden. Evelyn also cut down some of the black-eyed Susans while I watered the tomatoes, etc. I also dug up 2 rhododendrons because the lawn care guy said they are dying because they were planted too deep. What I did might kill them but they would probably die if left alone. We then had popcorn for supper. She had a long talk with Emily about her test tomorrow morning. Stacy had called earlier so we talked with the entire family today. We also read the 3 newswpapers we have received since we had been gone.

Terrible football

We wakened and I colored my hair with “A Touch of Grey” before going to the huge breakfast. Evelyn ate well again and didn’t seem to have any ill effects. She did rest after we packed things into the car for the trip home. We drove without incident to Mars Hill for the football game. We met Dallas and Karen (I will post their pictures soon) and watched the Mars Hill Lions lose. They like to go to those games. We drove to their house as planned and watched the pathetic Purdue football team lose to a poor Notre Dame team. I decided about half way through the 3rd quarter that I was not going to waste a week in October waiting to see if they can beat Michigan--they can’t. We also watched some of the Cubs next to last game of the regular season. Dallas prepared steaks and salmon on his barbecue and Karen served a rice dish, asparagus and sliced tomatoes before a delicious carrot cake. We went to their basement and practiced some of our tango steps. They have a beautiful home in Candler. We drove home and unpacked. Evelyn developed gas again after taking potassium with our water. If that continues we will have to buy water. We will worship tomorrow morning and then relax in the afternoon.

Pirates Landing in a driving rain

Tjhe Dillards in concert

Guess who guess where

Us with a statue of Andy and Opie

Inside the Andy Griffith Museum

Rain and Bluegrass

We went to the lobby for the breakfast and found much more than we expected. Even eggs, biscuits and gravy, and waffles were offered. Evelyn ate cereal, half a waffle and some juice. More of a blessing was that she kept it all down and didn’t hurt. She came back and called Stacy. She talked for a while and then took a short nap. I walked around the motel until she dressed. We then took off to Mt. Airy. We went to the Andy Griffith museum at the Andy Griffith Theater. I will post some pictures of the interior. It had been raining all night and continued into the morning. We went to Aunt Bea’s Barbecue for lunch. We ate light knowing we would eat early at suppertime. We went back to the theater for a concert by the Dillards. I thought the 2 brothers were local boys but they were from the Ozarks. They had been on the Andy Griffith show a few times. They gave an hour concert and featured a woman who was on the show as Barney’s girl friend. We had planned to go to a restaurant, Pirates Landing, for supper. What we didn’t remember was that its location was 3 miles from our motel. This means we had to drive almost home for dinner. Several people had recommended it and rightly so. We shared a dinner of flounder, shrimp, and crab cake. While we were driving there it began to pour down rain. We went in during the rain and out during the rain. We also drove back to Mt. Airy in a driving rain. It was so bad that we hydroplaned for short periods while making the 20 mile trip. We went to the downtown theater to hear Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top Express. He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and has won many awards. We enjoyed the concert and even requested a song, but they ran out of time before it could be played. Another group was scheduled to play after them. We had been blessed to find a parking place directly in front of the theater and didn’t have to walk far in the rain to head for home. It was still pouring rain all the way home. We arrived around 10 and prepared for bed. I would like to go back for the Mayberry Days parade tomorrow morning before heading back to Mars Hill to meet our friends for a small college football game. I will have to decide tomorrow based on the rain and the estimated travel time.

Catching up

This is an addendum to yesteday's blog. I published many pictures from past weeks because we are in a motel with wifi. I can't get the pictures to publish unless we are in high speed Internet country. Therefore, if you want to read about the events producing the pictures, go back and read some of September's entries. We saw the Gomer Pyle impersonator last night at supper. There likely will be many more today. Evelyn did not get to sleep until 3 and then our small travel alarm wakened her at 4. I don't ever remember setting it for 4 AM or PM. I wakened and got up to shower at 6:45 because I didn't feel well. Perhaps due to excessive snoring. I didn't bring my CPAP machine. It rained a great deal last night and was still cool and rainy this morning. The weather channel graphic showed that it was raining in Waynesville. We certainly pray they were right.

Off to Mayberry Days

We were up and finished packing things into the car by 9:30. We went to the fairgrounds to see what the hospital had to display but found only two nurses taking blood pressure. We were on our way out of town and went on by the doctor to check on when Evelyn can have her diagnostic test scheduled. We learned that she could have had it done at 8 this morning but no one had called to tell us. She is scheduled for Monday morning at 7 AM. We were very irritated but realize that it required a follow up 5 hours later and that would have prevented our leaving for the weekend on time. We drove to Asheville and went to the Grove Park Inn for two reasons. First we wanted to get an extension on the day pass to the spa that we bought last May at the Relay for Life. Evelyn wants to wait until she feels better before using it. We were told there is no expiration date. We then went to the Grovewood Cafe. It was elegant but the cheaper restaurant at the Inn. There were linen table cloths. We left and drove to Jonesville where we had a room reserved for the next 2 nights. Evelyn was again feeling weak and nauseous so we walked around outside the motel a bit. She then lay down for a few minutes and then it was into the car and off to Mt. Airy. There were few people there but expect many more tomorrow. We ate some bad vegetable soup and toasted cheese sandwich for supper. It began to rain some as we left for the motel. We pray that it gets to the mountains where we need so much. Evelyn didn’t feel to bad after supper. We watched Drew Barrymore in a Cinderella story before going to bed.

Our beautiful front yard flower garden

Exhibits from the Mountain State Fair

Rhonda Vincent at the Mountain State Fair

Pictures of the inside of the idea house. It is 4 stories high. The 3rd floor is the bunk beds and the ladder to the loft, pictured next.

More outside the idea house

Southern Living idea house in the mountains

Olivia's birthday ride and the Shindig on the Green

These are pictures of the work Evelyn does at our church

Struggling to find gasoline without waiting in line

I was up and on my way to play golf in Canton by 8:30. We were supposed to have a T time of 9:24, but, after hustling around, we didn’t begin until 10. This was the 2nd time I had played this course and thought I couldn’t play as badly as the first time: wrong. I was worse. I had made myself a chicken salad sandwich of the leftover portion from last night. This was the highlight of the 18 holes. I was home by 3 after stopping to see how Kathy was doing. She seemed fine. Evelyn had watered the plants and straightened up some of the house while I was gone. I had hoped the doctor might have called with an appointment for the nuclear test of her thyroid but none had come. We didn’t really have a supper but did leave for choir practice. We were the only ones there, indicating that it had been canceled. We returned home and watched the Cubs game and a movie, “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle”. As is the case of many of the comedies, it was crazy. I had called the Pilot truck stop earlier in the afternoon to see if they had gasoline. I haven’t mentioned that few stations in our area have any fuel. The ones that have any draw many people who line up for more than an hour to get some. I called again about 10:30 PM to see if the truck stop had any lines and was told to come on in. I did and had no wait. We need the gasoline to get to Mt. Airy tomorrow. We will likely leave around noon or a bit before on our trip. There should be fuel available on toward the Virginia state line. I offered to cancel the trip if Evelyn didn’t feel like going, but she wants to go. I didn’t mention that the Bollingers had brought a large supply of rhubarb so I washed, chopped and cooked some while putting enough for a pie into the refrigerator to be used next week.

more medicine

We both slept through the night with the exception of the required trips to the bathroom. We had a light breakfast and then went off to Waynesville. I still had a check our friends had written to us for the play tickets and wanted to cash it. I always hated having checks outstanding longer than they had to be. We also went to the grocery to get some final fixings for our chicken salad. We want to use the chicken from yesterday before we go away for the weekend. Ingalls had some specials we wanted. We returned home and Evelyn lay down to rest. I called Karen, asking he to allow us to bring the meal for our picnic before dance class. She agreed and told of long lines of people waiting for gasoline in the Asheville area. We had not seen that here but after lunch we went to the doctor’s office and passed a filling station with long lines. The doctor listened to Evelyn’s symptoms and will try to schedule a nuclear injection of some kind to examine whether she has nodules on her thyroid or has an infection or what. He scheduled appointments for us on October 16 but will try to get the nuclear test this week or early next. He also prescribed something to bind off the bile to help her stomach problem. We came home and I finished making the salad. I have the job of chopping the vegetables and fruits. I added celery hearts, onion, grapes and crushed peanuts. It was very good. We joined our friends at the lake for dinner. They brought beer, wine and the dessert. On our way to dance lessons we got the prescription. For some reason Wal-Mart doesn’t have some of our prescriptions. They gave us what they had. We learned a couple of new tango steps tonight and did fairly well. Evelyn seemed to have more energy for some reason. We came home and she began her new medicine and watched some of “Dancing with the Stars” before going to bed. I am supposed to play golf tomorrow and then we will finish packing.

Admonitions from the western conscience

Evelyn slept late again because she was awake some of the night. She has been taking potassium and honey but still lacks much energy. The heavy hammer from the west laid the law onto her yesterday. She is to eat more for more energy. I think she tries but has no appetite and feels like she will vomit after almost every meal. He stomach hurts many times each day, especially after eating. We hope the doctor prescribes something tomorrow that will help. I watered the plants in the neighborhood this morning before we had our oatmeal. I cleaned the ceiling fan blades as Evelyn rested. She had done laundry yesterday and today and we folded the clothes. I gathered the clothes I want to take on the weekend and bagged them and Evelyn’s for our travel. We have to prepare medicine to take along too as well as cosmetics, etc. We had lunch after which I edited Andrew’s paper and returned to him for his review. It has already been submitted for grading. Evelyn also read some things on a website that dealt with treatments for hyperthyroidism. She is encouraged by what she read. She rested more after lunch while I went to play golf. I have decided to accept the fact that I will never be even decent at the sport. The more I play, the more opportunity I have to make the same mistakes over and over. I can’t seem to come up with any way to correct the same mistakes. I guess I can enjoy being outdoors if I can just accept that fact. I came home for supper and we walked around the loop. Evelyn had walked around a couple of times while I was gone. We picked up our neighbor Jim and he made it around 3 times--1 more than usual. His wife, Cathy, called me in and talked with me for over an hour about the probability of her losing her job. She is a very skilled and talented lighting consultant. She cried a lot and asked for prayer. I was very blessed to be able to bring the love of Christ to her. She is worried about their finances and feels betrayed by a company she has devoted the past 10 years to. She has read the writing on the wall and thinks she will be marched out the door very soon. We will continue to come along side with the love of Christ for her.

Good and bad Christian decisions

We were up preparing to be blessed by going to worship. Today was Holy Communion day. The altar Evelyn had helped with was lovely. The parments were red to commemorate St. Matthew. The service was a bit long as usual. The pastor has good but long messages. Billy Riggs said we have a T time at 9:24 on 9/24 at his golf course. I am to play with about 20 other men. I asked him who he was angry with that he would stick me with them. I felt rejected at church again. I had signed up to assist with Communion several weeks ago. Two weeks ago I was replaced by the head elder of the church. This time I was replaced by the vice president of the congregation and my name had been crossed off. I thought the secretary had just missed my name before. This time there was no mistake. We came home and Evelyn didn’t want to eat. I finished our $.49 cheeseburgers when she came out an made some Grands biscuits for her. I watched some of the early football games and then left and walked around the loop 10 times. I need to measure the distance to see how far I go. I know it is not the 2 ½ miles around the lake. I then watered our flowers and plants before watching some of the Cubs game while Evelyn napped. We need to pack our clothes for this weekends trip to Mt. Airy. We went to the Marriage Encounter Spiral at 4. The usual couples were there plus a new couple in their 40s--easily the youngest there. We had a good sharing and a good carry-in meal. Evelyn didn’t eat much but didn’t feel as bad as usual. She felt bad just after eating and then recovered. We went to the band concert in Maggie Valley. We got there during the intermission, and I found a couple that has been missing from our church for a couple of weeks. She and I had a long talk (Evelyn was listening to the concert in the car) and she told me the reason they weren’t coming back. She and her husband are divorced but are trying to work out the problems. They are still living together--unmarried--so the elders of our church will not allow them to be members. She understood the decision and I understood the decision. I also understand why they want to worship somewhere else. We had a prayer with her (Evelyn had showed up) and then we came home. We watched a replay of yesterday’s Purdue football game. They won but really looked bad in many aspects. I had hoped (still do) that they could beat Notre Dame but now have my doubts. They just don’t score like they should. We have to get our clothes together for Thursday’s trip to Mayberry Days.

Sports galore and great blessing

We were up and off to church by 10. I had loaded the trash and recyclables so I could take them around the corner to the dump. I dropped Evelyn so she could work with a friend to prepare the altar for church tomorrow. I accidentally dropped our cell phone but didn’t notice it was gone until I took Evelyn home. I went to Jim’s and called out phone on his cell. The man at the dump answered and I drove to get it. I knew it had to be there or the grocery or the church. I retuned home with the phone and heated soup for Evelyn’s lunch. I ate some scraps from the refrigerator for mine. I settled in to watch some of Purdue’s game on the game tracker. They beat a good team from Central Michigan. We then watched the Cubs win their division title for the 2nd year in a row. After that we took a walk around the loop and met Jim. We invited him to walk with us and ended up going to the Garlic Knots in Maggie Valley. We got the 2 for 1 spaghetti dinner with sausage. We came home to see the finish seeing Ball State clobber IU. We called some friends from our park in Texas and talked for a short while before retiring. Evelyn seemed to have a bit more energy today but is worried about the hyperthyroidism. We are praying that it will not require additional surgery. She still has stomach pain after eating but is taking more potassium and honey. We pray that this will help more. Evelyn also received more cards and birthday calls from friends and family.

more medical problems

Today was our day to volunteer at the hospital. We began at 8:30 (I had watered the plants earlier) and were busier than many times. Evelyn’s surgeon came by on another case and asked about her situation. She told him her symptoms and that she would see our GP on Tuesday. I also gave him a note explaining where the money from the German dinner goes. I am hoping he will buy some based on that information. Toward the end of our work time, things slowed down so we practiced our tango a bit in the hallway. After work we went to the cafeteria for lunch. Evelyn could eat only a few bites of food before feeling nauseous. We brought what was left home. She rested and napped until 2:30 when I decided to go play golf. I had planned to play just 9 but was playing so well and continued. I played 2 balls and broke 100 on each. While on the course I received 3 calls. First was the Karen saying she didn’t feel well enough to go to the dance tonight. Evelyn had thought she didn’t want to go either and made the final decision when I got home. The second was Dr. Lafata, the GP, saying her blood work showed she had hyperthyroidism. We looked on the Internet and learned some things about that. The third call was from a woman who had just bought a unit in our resort park. She was interested in one of our golf carts (we have 2) and was willing to wait until we return in mid-November to look at it. She may find another before that but someone else will likely buy it. I came home and ate my supper (Evelyn had opened a can of soup for her soft meal). We walked around the loop 4 times because our neighbor, Jim, joined us on the 3rd round. When we returned, Kathy, his wife, gave us some tomatoes. We came home and watched our DVD of Folkmoot USA, the 25th anniversary edition.

resignation

I was up at 7, made coffee, and walked around our loop 10 time. I was waiting for our neighbor to get home from his walk so we could work on installing our vent on the cargo trailer. Evelyn prepared for her Bible study when she wakened. The neighbor, Clarence, and I went to Lowes to get some hardware and returned to work. We had to cut a hole in the top, drill holes and affix the vent with some caulking. Evelyn had a good study but didn’t get home until nearly 2. I thought the women had taken her to lunch, but she had gone to the nail parlor to have her nails refilled. Unfortunately, the man said she had to remove them. Her fingers were sore. I had eaten lunch before she arrived. She rested a very short while and began preparing a meal for another woman and her husband. She had had surgery and couldn’t do much. Evelyn is often exhausted but refuses to rest. I have tried to get her to do that more often but have come to the realization that she is not going to. I try dragging her to bed, being sarcastic, and refusing to participate, but to no avail. Therefore, I will try to resign from the position of “rest police” and “rest enforcer”. If she enjoys feeling tired but “sucking it up” to endanger her health, it is not my business. She is of age. We delivered the meal and came home to eat ours. Afterward she wanted to walk twice around our loop. On the way, the neighbor invited is for some lemon meringue pie he had made. We returned home and watched “Assassination Tango” starring Robert DuVall. It was good and had many scenes of Argentineans doing some beautiful tangos. I talked briefly with Andrew about his paper and learned he will send another soon.

A great day of fun

I was up earlier again. I went out to water our plants and the neighbor’s before waking Evelyn. I thought her hair appointment was at 9:30 but it ws at 9. I didn’t waken her until 8:50. She rushed to get there. I stayed here and tried to call the salesman from yesterday. He was not in today. I tried to scan and send a copy of the car spec sheet. I dressed for the day and heated our lunch. Evelyn returned, ate, and dressed herself. We left for Candler to meet our friends for the trip to the Flatrock Playhouse. They drove and we saw the play, “Unnecessary Farce”. It was risqué but funny and very well acted. We were out by 4 and drove back toward Asheville, stopping at a big shoe warehouse where Evelyn found some white heels that don’t hurt her toes. We left there and went to Frankie Bones, a restaurant in Arden (a suburb of Asheville) to have dinner. It was a nice place dedicated to Frank Sinatra. We had 2 for 1 coupons for both the play and the restaurant. We were impressed with the meal. We had returned a call to Stacy who has been trying to talk with Evelyn concerning a gift for her birthday. We were invited into the Norris home for strawberry/rhubarb pie but came home instead because Evelyn needed to work on her Bible study for tomorrow. She also must play a hymn for the ladies to sing. She has practiced many times and will do an acceptable job. I watched the Cubs play the Brewers.

dancing and health suggestions

We got up to find that it had rained a bit overnight. I decided I didn’t need to water. We went to the lab to have Evelyn’s blood drawn and then to the Waffle House. For some reason Evelyn wanted to go out to breakfast. We had a coupon for omelets, and she enjoyed about half of her order. We left there and drove to an auto dealer to look at 2008 Chevrolet Outlanders. It is a minivan similar to the Town and Country we looked at last winter. The salesman began to look into what our car was worth. While the manager was looking, he took me out to look a new 2008 Chrysler Town and Country. They are extremely nice. I got tired of waiting (and so did Evelyn) for the results of the estimate so we left and went to the Folkmoot USA center to get my DVD of the Gala. We came home but weren’t hungry so we didn’t have lunch. Evelyn lay down for a while. I sorted the e-mail. In the afternoon the salesman called and told me that we could have the Chrysler for $16,000+ and our car. I think that is a bit too much. Unfortunately, I neglected to ask about the Outlander. I will have to call him tomorrow. I sent an e-mail to Darrell, our friend in Fort Wayne, who will check on the deal he can get. We are looking because there are attractive rebates on both these cars. We dressed and left to get Bo Jangles chicken for supper. We were to meet our dance lesson friends at Lake Junaluska again before dance lesson. We went there but it was chilly and misty, so, when they arrived, we asked them to come back home with us. They agreed but, when we were ready to eat, they discovered they had left their food at home. Evelyn shared her meal with Karen and we gave Dallas the pizza we had left from last Friday. We enjoyed wine and beer with our meal. I also made popcorn for Karen. They were very embarrassed but we were fine with the situation. We left and went to the lesson and learned several complicated steps before returning home. We were both tired and ready for bed. Karen did recommend that we get Evelyn some raw honey for energy. I know the Bible records many uses of honey. Later in the evening a nurse friend called and recommended that Evelyn eat a little every couple of hours to see if that would ease her stomach pain. We stopped on the way home for some honey and she took 3 tablespoons. We hope these suggestions help.

volunteering, bread and golf

I was up and off the my scheduled day at the hospital. I worked with a woman from the Philippines who lived in Milwaukee for 40 years. I think she lives in Florida in winter and Waynesville in the summer. We had a good time together. I went to the cafeteria and got some peanut butter/chocolate soft serve frozen yogurt for Evelyn and me. We ate cheeseburgers for lunch and made some bread. I have to chop the hazelnuts and kneed the dough because Evelyn isn’t strong enough to do it. It was a nice day so I went to the golf course to cash in my rain check from several weeks ago. I started very gruesomely and intended to play only 9. But I decided to punish myself and play a few more holes. I only double bogeyed hole 10 and bogeyed 11. I went on to 14 and met up with a retired PCUSA preacher. For some reason I began to play much better and am sorry I skipped those two holes. I came home a bit late and had leftover pizza for supper. Evelyn is afraid to eat almost anything because it makes her stomach hurt. She had a slice of our new bread and some of the yogurt I had brought at noon and complained that she hurt. We watched a movie “The Wedding Crashers”. Evelyn liked it but our DVR didn’t get all of it so the ending is lost. We made arrangements with our dancing friends to go to a play Wednesday afternoon. Evelyn seemed to be a bit stronger today and has an appointment to have blood drawn tomorrow morning.

Bluegrass all around

We went to worship and sang in the choir. I spoke before church about the LLL convention. People listened but no one wanted an application in spite of the fact that the price of registration increases by $20 after October 1. We came home and finished our lunch from the Fiddlin Pig before resting until 4:30. We left for the Western Carolina Mountain State Fair in Fletcher, between Asheville and Hendersonville. We wanted to attend a concert with Rhonda Vincent and the Rage. We also saw some amateur groups too before her concert. Between acts we walked around to look at some of the livestock. The fair is similar to the Rio Grande Valley Stock Show. We learned many things about chickens and eggs. I may post a picture when I can. We stopped for a Frosty Float on the way home and arrived just in time to see the finish of Carlos Zambrano’s no hit baseball game. He was great but there were things that were unfair to the Astros. The game was in Milwaukee, 90 miles north of Chicago. It was scheduled for Houston but moved because of hurricane Ike. I worked on mentoring Andrew’s paper on Luther before going to bed.

tea and grouper

We were up and moving by 8. We had breakfast and Evelyn began preparing to leave for the LWML tea in Franklin. I went out and watered our plants and the neighbor’s. We haven’t had any rain for quite a while and was needed. I took Evelyn to church to catch her ride and then went to the CVS to get some foundation for her. It was marked down this week. They only had 2 bottles, so I had to ask for rain checks for 2 more. I came home and finished off the hot dogs and my boudin. I watched some football games waiting for the Purdue game. They played well for 1 quarter and were ahead of Oregon 20-13 when the Bollingers came to take us to the “fishes and loaves” grouper dinner at the local Methodist Church. We enjoyed the grouper and returned here for raisin pudding dessert. We arrived just in time to see the finish of the game. Purdue lost 32-26 in double overtime. It was depressing but no one thought they would come within 2 touchdowns because Oregon is ranked 16 in the national poles. After dessert we watched the DVD of Evelyn’s 50th class reunion. During the day I had planned and practiced a talk I plan to give before worship tomorrow morning. I must hold it to under 5 minutes. It is about the LLL convention next year in Greensboro, NC.

A day out.

I got up and wakened Evelyn in time to take me to the hospital. She dropped me off and I went to the 6th floor only to learn that I was a Friday too early. I was able to sell 4 tickets to the German dinner to the volunteer that was supposed to be there. I had to call a neighbor because I couldn’t call Texas from the hospital. She came and took me home to change clothes. Since we had an entire day, we decided to go to Asheville early. We stopped at the Goodwill to look for a dinner jacket. No success. We then went for a long drive to The Fiddlin Pig for lunch. It was very good. Then it was back across town to Leicester highway and long, winding drive to the Southern Home idea house. It was a house built that is supposed to be “green” living. The houses were extremely rustic yet too contemporary for us. Someday I will post some pictures of the area which turned out to be a land development area. The lots were priced at $359K. They were all located in some beautiful mountains but one of the problems is that they are at least 12 miles from the nearest grocery. I am glad we live where we do. We came back to Canton and bought some cheeseburgers and a Pizza Hut pizza. I think that it will be the final one we buy. Something has been done to the crusts that has ruined them. They are more like melba toast than pizza crust. We also tried a Wendy’s Frosty Float on the way home. It is a new product like a root beer float. They were good. We also got a call from Phil Bollinger inviting us to go with them to a fish dinner at the Methodist Church tomorrow evening. Of course all of this made Evelyn very tired. She sat down several times and even lay down in a hammock in one of the houses. She also used the lay back feature of the passenger seat while we drove. We were both ready to relax for the evening.

Serving our Lord's children

For some reason I wakened at 6. Evelyn had been struggling with sleep all night again so I let her sleep until 8:30. She had asked me to make eggs for breakfast (she doesn’t like eggs) so I was surprised. She said this morning she would like an omelet. While she showered, I put together an omelet that contained low fat soft items. I made a regular one for myself. She said she liked hers a lot. I took her to the LWML meeting and left, going first to the doctor to ask him to renew her prescriptions, (I went back to talk to the nurse and upset her because I was not supposed to be there. I was in no mood to wait for her to come to the reception area and followed a couple into the inner sanctum.), went to the grocery for steel cut oatmeal and Nutty Nuggets, went to Rite Aid to get her some Cover Girl foundation and on to the Open Door. There was a huge crowd and I was virtually the only server there who was willing to stay to clean the place. A doctor gave the devotion and I sold him 2 tickets to the German Dinner. I worked by myself cleaning tables and sweeping. One of the patrons, Richard, helped me a bit as he usually does. I left at 1:30 and took one of the regular volunteers, Alice, home. She was not feeling well and lived right on my route home. When I returned, Evelyn was resting in bed! This is not usually the case as recorded in yesterday’s entry. She told me how the LWML really shunned her help in several ways. It didn’t bother her but it did me. She had a long talk with Stacy. I had bought 4 hardy mums at the grocery and showed them to her. We watched a video of Sarah Palin’s testimony and then the sports shows. We had ham brought home from church and then walked around the loop. Jim went with us when we reached his house. After 9 I called Bonny because we have an empty house that could house someone escaping from the path of hurricane Ike. I had received an e-mail from LCMS asking if anyone could offer protection to anyone evacuating. Her son is a pastor near Houston and is there with her. I thought he might know of someone who needed a place to stay. She will talk with him and let us know tomorrow.

Rest

We slept late. Evelyn slept better last night than she had for weeks. I decided to play golf and she called and got an appointment to have her hair cut, washed and set. I went to Lake Junaluska Golf Course, rented a cart and played the first 9 with an older couple and played the back 9 with to older gentlemen. I talked with the course manager and think I will apply to be a ranger next summer. It doesn’t pay but for working one day each week, golf privileges anytime are included. After I finished my 18, Evelyn came and we rode around and played some more holes. We were home around 4. We ate some “hot browns” that she had learned to make while we were in Lexington and then she rested. We left for choir, practiced for an hour, and went to the Food Lion to get some fruit juice for breakfasts. We returned home and she wrote a card to a friend in Texas and reordered some medicine from the mail order house we use.
An addendum: Evelyn does not do anything that she doesn’t want to do. In fact, since the surgery, virtually everything we have done has been at her suggestion, including the dance lessons. She gets a lot of rest because I often have to make her lie down to rest. She is getting better at doing it on her own, but I still have to insist many times. For example, after taking me to the golf course, she went to a local farmer's market to get some produce, posted a sign at the post office, went to get her hair cut and set, came home and worked with the green beans, and, at 1:30, returned to get me. I asked if she had rested during the day and was told, "I didn't have time until I got to the golf course." Then she looked for me before tilting the seat back and relaxing for what was about 10 minutes or less. I wasn't there to force her to rest. So all of you out there please note that I am doing my best to see that she gets the rest she needs!

dancing with friends

We slept until 8 and had oatmeal for breakfast. Evelyn sat in the living room a while reading and watching the weather channel. I was on the Internet looking for cars and learning what ours is worth. I am seriously considering selling this Saturn to someone who needs a good tow vehicle and buying another or a Chrysler Town and Country. We had lunch and then Evelyn took a short nap. We went to meet our dancing friends at a local Subway and took our sandwiches to Lake Junaluska to eat beside the lake. We had a good time and left for the dance lessons. We learned about 5 new steps and were both tired. The class ended early. I sold 5 tickets to the German dinner in October and left the class with a likely promise of 2 to 6 more. I must remember to take the tickets with me next week. We came home and watched the Cubs lose again. I am afraid the magic of the season is over and things will end the same as they have for the past 100 years. I had my first consultation with Andrew before going to bed. He is writing a paper on Martin Luther.

A lazy day

I was up at 7 but let Evelyn sleep because I knew she had been up most of the night. I had coffee and wakened her at 8. We must get her sleep pattern reorganized. She must be sleeping too much during the day. We are watching the hurricane reports and didn’t do much all morning. We ate leftovers from yesterday’s dinner for our lunch and then she took her hour nap that I allowed her. I wakened her and we made a couple of laps around. She had spent much of the morning looking for a raisin pudding recipe of her mothers. She found one that was just like it and planned to make it but didn’t. Instead she showered and washed her hair. We ate a stir fry type of meal for supper. Then took another walk. She got nauseous after we started and came home. I walked a bit more and then we both made 2 loops. We also practiced our tango steps twice. Our lesson is tomorrow night, and we are very rusty. After practicing Evelyn made the raisin dessert. We will wait to test it because Karen said she would bring dessert tomorrow afternoon.

Dedication dinner

We were up early and on the way to church. We stopped at Taco Bell and filled 3 coolers with ice for the dinner. We took to the church kitchen and began some preparation as people brought their dishes. We couldn’t work long because we had to rehearse with the choir. We went to the choir loft and sang during the offering as usual and then I took Communion. Evelyn didn’t want to risk drinking any wine. We were putting things on the serving tables while the dedication ceremony took place. We had places set for 80 and most of them were filled. Several women helped us set up the dishes and serve the drinks. It was a potluck so the people filled their own plates. Our crew began cleaning up immediately and we were out the door by 2. We used disposable plates and cups but real cutlery. That was all we had to wash. It was a very successful dinner. We came home and Evelyn went directly to bed. I unloaded the car and put things away. I tuned in to the Cubs game and thought they would win. But they have learned how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I am worried they will blow their chance for the World Series again. The only thing with them is that their closest rival continues to lose as well. I wanted to walk around the loop, but Evelyn just doesn’t have the energy. She takes potassium but doesn’t seem to get any stronger. We watched a stupid movie called “The Chase”. I had seen it before. We had snacks for supper and finished the evening trying to talk with Emily (Evelyn had talked with Stacy earlier) but the phone kept cutting them off. We watched some of the Bears/Colts football game before retiring.

The day before the dinner

We were wakened by the alarm at 7:01. The odd thing is that the clock we have has 2 alarms. Last week it was alarm 2 that worked while #1 wouldn’t. Today #1 worked but #2 didn’t. I don’t think the alarm is very reliable. I watered our plants and Sandy’s and then we were off to church. Evelyn helped with the altar guild while I began arranging the tables in the church basement. The husband of the other woman working on the altar helped me. He had had cataract surgery and was not feeling well. By the time Evelyn finished we were too. Several others came at 10--the time we were supposed to begin work and helped roll silverware in napkins. Another crew of men worked on assembling some playground equipment for the back of the church. The pastor even came to help. He was a bit puzzled about where he would hold Bible study. I showed him where I had put all of his materials and left. He knew the dinner was coming and had not made a plan. I feel bad that we took his area because Bible study is more important than the dinner but we had no choice. We came home and I expected to watch Purdue play football but another game was shown. For 2 months Purdue had been advertised but then cancelled. I am going to send an e-mail of complaint to the university. Evelyn is really weak after much activity and went to bed. I watched Wisconsin play and made myself an egg sandwich as well as some broccoli soup for Evelyn. She slept a while and then ate. I had boiled the soup over but cleaned it up before she wakened. I was able to watch Purdue on the computer using Gametracker. I used a similar device to watch the Cubs. We walked around our loop 2 times and then found a movie to watch: “Best Years of Our Lives”. It won the academy award in 1946 over “It’s a Wonderful Life”. We walked twice more around the loop, and then Evelyn called her cousin Don in Idaho while she did some ironing before we went to bed. I also need to say that the Cubs came to life--finally.

We were up a little after 7 and off to the hospital by 8. I stopped at Taco Bell to ask Kara for ice for Sunday. She agreed I could have some coolers full then. We went to the 6th floor where we serve snacks and drinks to the outpatient surgery people. That is where Evelyn was for her surgery. We stayed until 12:30, went to the cafeteria for lunch of crumby fish and frozen yogurt and then went to the grocery to buy flowers for the Sunday dinner. When we came home, Evelyn was exhausted. I brought most of the things in and shooed her to bed. She slept a while but rested much. We had planned to go to a football game with 12,000 other people tonight but she was still tired. We ate hotdogs for supper and then walked around our loop. On the second loop, our neighbor Jim joined us. Evelyn stopped after 2 rounds, but I continued with him for 2 more. He is trying to lose weight and needs some exercise. I then used our DC air pump to try to pump the tires on the car. I don't think it worked well. We watched some of the Reds massacering the Cubs game and the Ball State beating Navy in football game. During the game the power went off for about an hour. We used some lamps my mother had bought when the entire world was supposed to go dark in Y2K. She had bought them so we would have light, bless her heart. We played dominoes by those lamps and went to bed after the lights came back on. Tomorrow will be a big work day at church--at least in the morning.

Bible study

We both slept fairly well through the night. I was up first making coffee, and then Evelyn bolted because she had only an hour to get to the church. She had agreed to transport some ladies to the private home where they would meet this time. She had her potassium, medicine and yogurt and was off. I went to shower and was just finished when she returned the car to me because there weren’t as many ladies wanting rides as anticipated. I was happy because I had planned to change the oil and filter on this date. I drove the car onto the ramps and changed the oil and the filter. I had offered to mop the kitchen floor but watered the plants instead, after eating a hot dog. I had just finished when Evelyn arrived home without eating any of the brunch ladies must always have when gathered together. I heated the last of the vegetable soup Jo Wooten had brought to us, and she went to bed. It was after 1, and she went right to sleep. I wakened her at 3 because I want her to be sleepy enough to sleep tonight. She got up and mopped the floors. We thought about going to play golf but decided 89 was too hot. I will try to get out next week. I miss playing and will not get any better by abstaining. Of course, I will not likely get any better if I play every day. We took some Cheezit crackers and drinks to the Rogers to socialize, but Kathy must have had a late customer because she wasn’t home by 6:25. We left and came home for a tomato sandwich supper. Evelyn cleaned the bathrooms while I watched TV for a while. I am going to start getting us to bed earlier to keep me from eating late at night.

An exciting on line surgery

Evelyn was up during the night but I slept though. She did sleep a bit longer after I was up and then ate breakfast before we left for the church. I took the trash to dump and then we went to the church to check out how we should arrange the tables for Sunday. We got help from Susan, the church secretary, and then went to the doctor. He was pleasant and spent good time with us. Evelyn described her discomforts and was told that she should give the pains a couple of more weeks. If things don’t improve naturally, the doctor will refer her to a gastroenterologist. Dr. Reitz also recommended Metamucil and Gas-x to combat her indigestion. We left and went to a Blimpy’s Subs for lunch. We thought it was much the same as Subway except that they offered a spinach wrap as well as sub sandwiches. We went to the grocery because it is geezer day, offering a 5% discount on purchases. We then bought some table cloth sheeting for Sunday and came home. Evelyn was tired. She went to bed to rest and I went out and watered our plants and the neighbor’s plants. I also worked on getting some sermons ready for when we will be gone in January and February. We went to choir practice and then came home. We talked with the choir director about going to a play in a nearby town. We will try to work out a date. Dr. Reitz suggested that we go on line to observe the surgery that he had done, so I found a site on the Internet that showed one. Evelyn watched it while I watched some of the Republican convention and the LIBERAL analyists cut the speakers apart. Hooray for PBS! Fair and balanced--NOT!

dancing

We were both up during the night. I don’t know what is wrong with our sleep habits. Evelyn has been this way for more than a month, but I haven’t. I was drowsy all yesterday afternoon and went to sleep before 11 but was up twice before 12:30 and then up until 2:30. I hope we can sleep tonight after having slept until after 9 this morning. We were so late we had a brunch of spaghetti around 11:15. We went outside to water the plants in our yard and in our neighbor Sandy’s while she is having her left knee replaced. Evelyn rested in the afternoon after finishing the spaghetti from Sunday for lunch. We then made a peach cobbler. I peeled the peaches and she mixed the batter. We baked it for this evening. We didn’t prepare supper but went to our advanced tango class at 7. We reviewed the beginning class steps and learned one new one. Our friends from Candler were not there. We called them after we got home but got mixed messages on whether they were coming to the class. Evelyn thinks no but I think yes. I think they just missed the first class. She said they had been very busy especially her with the Women’s Aglow group. She must be a fine Christian woman since she is heavily involved in that group. We also watched the Cubs/Astros game. Tomorrow we go to the doctor, hoping to learn what is causing Evelyn to have much of the same pain as before the surgery.

End of a nice visit

We slept late but the Georges were up packing when we went to the kitchen. There had been talk of going for a brunch, but we were so late that no one seemed interested. Each ate breakfast on his own; Evelyn ate nothing. I hope the doctor can give some indication as to why she still has upset stomach most of the time. They worked hard on straightening the house and found a coffee mug that had held for ransom since July. Olivia was able to pack the air mattress into the box: a feat I thought impossible. We got to see Peter play his “Guitar Hero” on our TV monitor. He is very good at playing it. He even beat his dad, an accomplished musician, by tens of thousands of points. We were happy that the kids got to do some things they like (the Hero and Olivia’s riding the horse) while they were here. It is difficult to find things they like around here. They loaded their car with luggage, Beethoven and the ferret and were off for home by 11. We remember how hard it is to pack everything to take the kids to visit grandparents. We did it several times per year and had to go 3 places many times since my mom and dad were divorced. I tried to get Evelyn to go back to sleep, but she just read. We ate some soup for lunch, and she read some more. I did the dishes after I peeled and cut peaches to mix with blueberries, cantaloupe, grapes and strawberries for a fruit compote. We had a small dish with some lemon/vanilla topping. Evelyn read some more. Then she decided that we should walk some at Lake Junaluska. We only walked in front of the rose walk, not around the lake as usual. We came home to see the finish of the anemic Cubs performance against the Astros. This kind of performance during the past 3 games is what sends severe chills down the backs of Cubs fans. We ate a hot dog and watched a movie. I also walked to the Rogers and sold them 2 tickets to the German dinner October 12. We will begin preparations for the dinner Sunday.

Out to the ballgame

Thank God for the first good night’s sleep since the surgery. When Evelyn went to bed, her stomach hurt a bit but did not bother her during the night. She felt better when she arose than any morning since Monday morning. We ate breakfast and then went to enjoy our worship. Our entire family went and the kids even went forward for the children’s message. This was a great blessing for me. We talked to various people about helping with the dedication dinner we are in charge of next Sunday and then went to the Garlic Knots for Sunday dinner. We had 2 for 1 coupons for spaghetti dinners. They were very good and we brought one home. We all rested in the afternoon and then Tom, Peter and I went to Asheville for the Tourists game. It had a lot of offense but many errors. The home team lost. We stayed for the fireworks following the game. They were very different in that the explosives were sometimes fanned across the sky. Others had one explosion of regular size followed by finer explosions. It was very good. I stopped for gas on the way home and we were in bed by 12:15.