Happy birthday to the Christian church on Pentecost

We were up early even though we planned to go to worship at 11. Evelyn did stretching exercises while I put together omelets for us. We wanted to eat a large breakfast early because we had been invited to a lunch for cancer survivors. We didn’t eat until around 10 and left for worship. We went to the Methodist Church in downtown Waynesville. The service centered around the Holy Spirit because today is Pentecost. That is the day that the Holy Spirit came to the disciples after Jesus was raised from the dead. The service was very inspiring and covered with red around the church. We left and drove to the Laurel Ridge Country Club for the dinner. It was a blessing too. We were seated and invited to paint a small terra cotta flower pot. We waited for some friends before going to the buffet bar. The program featured a woman singing “The Wind Beneath My Wings”. It is about a caregiver, and it occurred to me that I was Evelyn’s caregiver when she struggled with her treatments for breast cancer: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. It was very hard on her, and I had to pick up much of the slack. I am sorry she had to suffer but thank God that I could be there for her. We then heard a poem about a butterfly’s being a carrier of dreams and were given a small envelope containing 2 butterflies that had been flown overnight from Florida. Somehow they had been numbed by almost cryogenics and were recharged by the sun when released. It was inspiring. Since we were at a Country Club, there was a golf course. When we arrived early, I saw a 4 some approach the 18th green. One of them had lost a ball in the brush and gave up on finding it. I decided to go look and found it. I also saw another in a creek but couldn’t reach it. After the program, however, I went to the car and got a club. Being determined I went back and dug it out of the creek, nearly falling in. We came home, changed clothes and worked on our mulch area. Evelyn planted some daisy and poppy seeds. We were done in time to watch “Flying to Rio”, one of the first films featuring Fred Astair dancing with Ginger Rogers. I then watched the Cubs “play” baseball against the Dodgers. We have to rise early in the morning because I have an 8:50 tee time.

Renewing friendship

We were up and eating breakfast by 8:30. I packed my walking bag of clubs, and we were off to the golf course. Evelyn walked with me as I played the back 9. I played 2 balls on most holes and recorded the lower score. I shot a 43, better than ever. I admit the score was not honest but was accurate. J We were early so we decided to walk around the lake. Actually we walked only 15 minutes, turned around, and walked back making our trip half an hour. We ate lunch of a sausage sandwich and then showered. It was time for a nap. Evelyn was especially tired because she had been unable to go to sleep until around 3 this morning. She slept more than an hour. I prepared a welcome wine and crackers party for the Jones couple because we thought they might arrive while we were gone. Evelyn had made an artichoke/spinach dip for them. I made signs welcoming them in for the appetizer. We dressed and left for the Relay for Life. I had the wrong time in mind so Evelyn missed the survivors lap. I did get to bid on the golf round at one of the local courses. We came home but our company had not arrived. Her flight to Asheville had arrived over 2 hours late. They drove here and arrived around 7:30. We enjoyed the appetizers together and went off to Maggie’s Galley, one of Evelyn’s favorite seafood restaurants. She had wanted to go there last Monday, and I thought I would take her there tonight for our anniversary dinner. Jones were delighted with the restaurant, and we had a wonderful visit with them. They are just delightful friends. They left and Evelyn went to bed, but I watched some of the NBA playoffs. I also watched some of Jay Leno’s final hosting of the Tonight show.

49 years together (correct this time)

The alarm worked but we slept a bit later. When we arose we ate cereal and I went out to continue my skimming project. As I started, the man who was to build our steps came. Our neighbor Doris had lined him up but allowed him to work on our project before hers. He began while I finished skimming. We then went to walk around the lake. On the way we met our friends and invited them to go with us to J. Arthur’s for dinner next Monday. We returned home and ate lunch of yesterday’s shrimp dish. I had not showered yet so I did. I was not feeling just right so I lay down and slept for nearly an hour. When I arose the steps were finished, but our worker was at the neighbor’s and left without telling us how much we owed him. We wondered what we could do special so we drove up to Cataloochee Ranch to see if we could make reservations for our horse ride with the girls in July. We also toyed with the idea of spending a night there. That soon melted away because 1 night for 4 in a cabin including a dinner and a breakfast cost $574. It was $50 more for an extra person. The horse ride was not included. It is hard to justify that amount when we live 13 miles away. We then went to Garlic Knots for an anniversary spaghetti dinner. We both brought half of our meal home for another day. We just spent the evening watching the Cubs/Dodgers game.

Errata (I am fluent in Latin!)

I did some math wrong. The 49 years conclude today, May 28. Some were confused by the way I expressed this yesterday. I have changed the ending if you want to re read yesterday's entry.
By the way, the rain has been so heavy in Western North Carolina that many large trees as falling out of the ground like they have been hit by a tornado. One railroad track was so loose that a train coming across it slid down with the track into a creek below. It was a freight train and no one was injured.

49 years together

We slept later again, but I think I accidentally fixed the alarm clock. We won’t know until tomorrow. We got up intending to walk but couldn’t because of the rain. I learned from the neighbor that we have had 2 inches since Saturday. Evelyn began doing the laundry and cleaning some of the cupboards, looking for ants. She found some but the poison I broadcast yesterday has not had time to work. I worked on finances--transferring money and paying credit card bills. I also did some ironing of napkins ( thought it would be hard to mess this up) and helped fold much of the laundry. Evelyn made a shrimp dish for lunch. I am not a big fan of shrimp but liked this. She is quite a cook. The rain finally stopped, but walking may not happen until later this afternoon because the Cubs were on TV again. They won and we decided to walk the lake because it had stopped raining--that is until we approached the lake. It began raining so we went on to get 2 garbage cans full of mulch. On the way back the rain had stopped so we decided to walk. After about ¼ of the way, the rain began. We had taken 2 umbrellas so we weren’t unprepared. It rained a nice gentle rain all the way around. When we arrived, we ate the black bean soup Evelyn had made for supper. It was good. We then watched “The Fantastics”. It was one of the DVDs Evelyn had checked out of the library. I had heard of it but was very disappointed. It was the most convoluted story in a musical I have ever seen. There was only one familiar song in it (“Try to Remember”) and it had nothing to do with the “plot”. We finished watching some of the NBA PLAYOFFS. I HAVE SET THE CAPS LOCK ON THIS COMPUTER AND DON’T KNOW HOW TO UNSET THEM. If anyone can help, please do. Tomorrow concludes our 49th year of marriage. I wish she had found someone more worthy of her than me. The Lord must have wanted her to have a mission field close at hand. The Lord has His own plan though, and He did produce 2 lovely girls who know His love and strive to serve Him.

volunteer day at HRMC

We wakened ourselves around 8 and went immediately to the lake. On the way around the sun came out and made it uncomfortably hot. We continued and went to Lowe’s afterward to get some Ortho Max, recommended by Tom Jones to help with our ant problem. We then dressed for our shift at the hospital. We arrived shortly before 12 and met with the president of the Auxillary so she could tell us some of the changes in procedure on the outpatient floor. We went to have our lunch and returned to the floor. We had some business but were finished by 3 because nearly everyone was gone. What we do is take light drinks and snacks to people after their surgery or colonoscopy. When busy it is fun. There was a heavy rain while we were there but had stopped by the time we left. We left the hospital and went to the library to return DVDs and check out some more. We returned home and changed for the evening. We made some black bean soup and broccoli salad. I did the chopping of the onion, celery, red pepper, cilantro, scallions and garlic. We didn’t eat until 6:30 but finished and cleaned the kitchen. We enjoyed one of the hamburgers from yesterday and other side dishes. I had to take the solidified fat from yesterday’s meat to the large field of weeds near us. I returned and broadcast the Ortho Max around the yard as Tom directed. We had planned to watch one of the DVDs but found a movie about Florence Nightingale starring Jaclyn Smith. It was on the Gospel Music Channel and had more commercials than any other program we have viewed before.

Memorial Day party

No alarm today. We did waken good time and went through both the stretching and slow aerobics tape. Some of the stunts hurt my knee while others hurt my hips. I am beginning to remember which ones hurt before I feel it. We didn’t walk the lake today. We finished cleaning the house. I vacuumed and we put the leaf into the dining table to make room for to 6. We put the hamburgers I cooked the other day into the slow cooker to thaw and finish cooking. I put the bratwurst Evelyn had parboiled yesterday on the old charcoal grill to cook. I also cooked some of a sausage ring we bought last summer. Evelyn set the table and the card table we had set up in the living area. She then went to sleep. I tried to deal with the e-mail until she wakened. Then we tried to get the response to the IRS ready so we don’t have to pay a large penalty. I evidently didn’t report all the income in 2007. I believe that part of the problem was that our major income firm had at least 2 corrections on their forms during that year. We got things together just as the guests for our Memorial Day party began to arrive. We had anticipated 12-13 including us but only 7 of us were here. We had a potluck including potato salad, veggies, corn on the cob, baked beans, and individual key lime pie tarts. We talked until 7:30 when they left. We finished cleaning things up and walked around our loop 3 times to cool off. It was quite warm in the house. The predictions have been for rain from yesterday through the rest of the week. We will see. The Cubs were on TV again. This must be the fifth time this week.

Contemporary worship with friends

The alarm served us again. We were up much earlier than we needed to be. I dealt with some computer issues while Evelyn did some of the stretching exercises with the video. We left around 10 to drive to Asheville to worship with John Greene. I needed gas and was shocked to find gas at $2.459 at the station normally the cheapest in the area. I only got 4 gallons and drove on to worship. The contemporary service is held in the Lutheran school gymnasium. It was very cold in there and the attendance was down about half, probably due to the holiday weekend. Afterward we went with John, his wife Lisa (an optometrist) and their son Adam. We enjoy being with them. We left them and went to K-Mart to get a radio headset for my birthday--a month away. They had none so we went to Radio Shack and found one. I didn’t want to buy it so early but the price was right. We left there and drove on to Hancock Fabrics to get some apron material for the granddaughters to sew into aprons for their dresses. We found things at half price. Thanks be to God. We then returned home and tuned in to the Cubs game. Their run production is not any better. We were grieved to receive a call from our friend Bill Oefinger. He told us that his wife Shirley had a kidney removed in April and is thought to have a slow growing lymphoma. We used to camp beside them at the Purdue football games and have visited them at their home several times. We may make a special trip to Indiana to visit her. We ate some leftovers and then went to walk around the lake. We returned home, enjoyed some popcorn, and tried to watch a movie from the library, “ Landscape in the Mist”. It was in a foreign language with subtitles. Evelyn can’t read very fast and the plot was too slow moving. We gave up on it and found a movie on the Gospel Music Channel called “Solomon” We have also been preparing for tomorrow’s party by cleaning and arranging furniture.

The alarms work!

The alarms on our clock are working now. I have no reason as to why. We ate and then walked the lake. Evelyn had to help prepare the altar for Communion tomorrow. We then went to Food Lion and found some bargains for our party Monday. I had wanted to go to a different grocery because I thought the items would be cheaper, but the Lord had everyone of the items we need marked down. We then came home and had no-nothing soup. We wanted to eat light because our friend Tom Jones wanted to have an early supper with us. Evelyn rested for the second time and then Tom came. We had a nice visit. He had taken Luann to the airport so she could join her brother in caring for his wife. Tom brought a bottle of Malbec from Argentina, but we drank some of our shiraz. We went to Pizza Hut to get an order of chicken alfredo and lasagna. We brought it back here so we could drink wine. Evelyn had wanted to go out, so I will have to take her out some time soon. When we left we rested and dressed to go downtown to the block party planned by the chamber of commerce. It was fun and well planned. There were 4 bands: 2 of them were good. We dance 2 songs with others in the middle of the street. There were many activities for the children including face painting and hula hoops. We came home and I got hooked on a war movie and didn’t go to sleep until after midnight. We will be tired in the morning.

A busy day

We slept late again. I have to get an alarm that works. We cleaned up for the day and went to walk the lake. When finished we began driving toward Clyde, delivering Folkmoot brochures on the way. We hit several doctor’s offices and a bank before going to the place where Evelyn has her hair cut. She wanted me to get a haircut so I did. While were waiting for my turn, we bought some strawberries brought from Bryson City. They are brought to Clyde each year during the season. We have bought them for several summers. I had my haircut and we went across the street to a restaurant we had heard was famous for pie. We shared a shrimp dinner and a blueberry cobbler with ice cream. The pie didn’t sound good. As we left more than 20 motorcycles (2 people each) pulled in to eat. We were glad we had not been any later. We delivered more brochures on the way home. After arriving, Evelyn went down for a nap. I went outside and blew many cobwebs and other debris off our carport in preparation for Monday’s party. I also washed the car before Evelyn wakened. She tried to scrub the pollen off the porch and the deck. It is almost impossible to make the job permanent. We called the Monteiths and invited them to come for tacos. They came and afterward we showed our DVD of the South America trip. They left after 9:30 and we watched some of the Cubs/Padres game. The Cubs have lost 4 in a row and scored only 2 runs in the past 3 games. We will entertain Tom Jones tomorrow afternoon. Luann is flying to New York to be with her brother and his wife.

soliciting for Folkmoot

We ate our breakfast and set out to distribute Folkmoot brochures. We took some to the Terrace Hotel and a few other businesses in that area. We then walked around the lake before taking some to the old Wal Mart plaza. Many of the businesses have left there because the traffic has really diminished. We took some recyclables to the collection site and went on to the Open Door where I again led the devotion. We left at 1 and went to fill our 2 garbage cans with the mulch from the city. We came home and unloaded them onto the carport. Evelyn then took me to meet Shirley at the golf course. We rented a cart and played the front 9. It was only an average day for us. Evelyn picked me up, and we went to the cabin for supper. Shirley had insisted that we come for meatloaf. The meal was delicious and afterward we met their neighbors from just below them. We had looked at the house these people had bought when we were looking for a home in 2004. We came home by 9:30 to discover that the Cubs/Cardinals game was being telecast. The Cubs finally scored 1 run but lost. They didn’t score any last night. We were in bed by 11, looking forward to another gorgeous day just like today was.

Breakfast out

We were up late again but had finished our walk by 10. We drove to Waynesville looking for the location of the free mulch. We found it and then went to the waffle house to enjoy a 2 for 1 cheese omelet. Evelyn, who doesn’t care for eggs, likes them. While there we got a call from Folkmoot telling us that the brochures are finished and ready for us to distribute around the Clyde/Junaluska area. We picked them up and renewed the DVDs we had not seen. We returned home and worked the afternoon (we decided to skip a formal lunch) on cleaning the inside window sills and the windows. It really saved a great deal of time being able to tilt the windows in from the inside instead of wrestling with the screens as we did in the past. The builder had told us of this feature but we had forgotten. Evelyn was able to take a nap. I called the Maggie Valley Country Club to see if I could play golf since I had bought it at last year’s Relay for Life. The pro said I could despite the fact that I had lost the certificate I had won. We watched some of a movie, “London Suite” written by Neil Simon. It was funny but we didn’t finish because the Cubs/Cardinals game came on as well as Dancing with the Stars. We will finish the movie tomorrow evening. I also was blessed to receive a statement of our stock trades in 2007. I need to send them off to the IRS before June 3, showing them the errors in their challenge of our return for that year. I hope things straighten out. We will owe a bunch of money if they don’t.

IRS worries

We are still working on our alarms. They aren’t working as well as they should. We were up late, ate breakfast and walked the lake at 9:30. I published our Mother’s Day pictures and pictures of the girl’s dresses before going to Lowes to get some plastic to use as barrier for grass under our mulch patch. We also bought a rug for the deck before coming home. I made patties of the ground chuck I had bought yesterday and cooked them on our Holland grill. We took them to the neighbor’s freezer to stay until the party next Monday. I also transplanted some “monkey grass” while the burgers cooked. We ate one of the hamburgers for lunch and then I cleaned the grill. I went to the neighbor’s to use the phone to call the IRS. I received a notice yesterday saying we had not declared all of our income in 2007. The agent was nice and told me what to do to stall until we returned to Texas where our returns are. I had also contacted the woman who helped me prepare the return, and she e-mailed me the copy from her computer. I will try to understand what went wrong. I must communicate with the agency this week to get the process started. I have also called our financial broker because we are thought to have not put a cost basis on some stocks we sold. We took a short nap before I called the Casterline’s to invite them for a bratwurst supper. They came and I gave then the Kahlua and onions we had brought from Mexico. I watched the news after we covered some of our plants. A frost is predicted for tonight, dropping below 36, the old record low for this date.

Holiday dresses

These are dresses we bought in Mexico for the granddaughters when they visit in July.

Mother's Day at Ruth's Chris Steak House

Here we are at outdoor tables overlooking Lake Junaluska. It happens to be raining so we couldn't get a good shot of the lake. I thought I should publish this before Father's Day. The second picture was taken before I located a level place to put the camera on delay.

painting furniture

We slept late again because the second alarm setting doesn’t work either. I tried resetting them both and will look forward to tomorrow. We arose and walked around the lake before going to the church so Evelyn could help attend to the altar preparations. We left and bought some strawberries on the way home. We immediately began painting the rattan compartment from the deck. I sanded the TV tray we have there too. When she finished, we stopped to eat the remainder of the jambalaya for lunch. After that we rested until time to dress and go to the graduation party for our former pastor who just finished his masters degree in education. We only knew half of the people there but did meet a nice younger couple who had attended an Emmaus Walk some years ago. It began to rain hard and we had to stay until 9:30. We rushed to the car and came home for the night.

precious rain continues

We weren’t up very early because the alarm didn’t work. When we did arise, we drank some orange juice and rushed out the door, planning to walk the lake first thing. Then our sliding screen door got stuck. We had a difficult time moving it. I sprayed WD40 in the tracks and finally moved it. By now it was too late to walk first. Instead we returned some DVDs to the library and took Evelyn down to be weighed at Weight Watchers. She had lost a little weight. We then deposited a check she had in the bank and drove to walk the lake. As we began to walk, we received a phone call containing some distressing news. As we walked we prayed fervently, and God in His mercy answered our prayers. We received another call that said things were all right. We thanked God as we finished our walk. It was around noon so we came home for lunch. Then I settled in to watch the Cubs on TV only to learn the game had been rained out. I showered and then took a short but noisy (snoring) nap. We dressed and drove to Canton to participate in the Relay for Life walk. I had hoped to bid on a round of golf at the local country club as last year, but the oncology office had not entered their offering in the silent auction. We don’t know whether they didn’t care enough to participate or the Relay committee did a poor job in contacting them for solicitation of a prize. We have another Relay to attend in a couple of weeks and hope to bid then. We returned home for a small sandwich and dressed to go to the monthly ballroom dance. We saw some old friends and met new ones. I wonder how much longer I can dance. My left leg aches quite a bit of the time, limiting my range of motion. It began raining while we were there, causing us to wonder about the teams that are to walk all night for the Relay. Weslaco has still had no rain. This is a tragedy for an area that is not too prosperous anyway.

great golf

We got up but didn’t exercise. Instead we walked the lake after breakfast. We were finished by 9:15, and Evelyn took me to the golf course before she left for the LWML meeting at OSLC. I had put a driver, 3 wood, 4 iron, 7 iron, pitching wedge, and putter into the red bag I had bought for Rosalie yesterday. It was light weight, and I wanted to walk the course. I did and played 2 balls. I noticed a huge crowd ( a league no doubt) so I played the back 9. I shot better on ball 1than I have ever shot--45 and 50 on ball 2. I never saw anyone before or after me until I was almost to the green on 18. Evelyn picked me up, and we went to Food Lion and took advantage of some of the specials of the week. We ate lunch and then I took a shower before starting to read “The Shack”. I finished the foreword and chapter 1 before going to sleep. I think I am exercising myself into exhaustion. We were wakened by a phone call inviting us to a graduation party for our former pastor who got a degree in education. Evelyn made a peach cobbler which we enjoyed as dessert. We watched another movie, “The Loved One” which was a riot. We also received an e-mail from our friends who took us to South America. They have had a plethora of troubles since we have seen them. We will try to see them when we aren’t in their way. I must add that Evelyn is very angry with our association for not allowing us to have a garden and Our Savior Lutheran Church for not using my gifts of ministry in any way. We must pray for her to have peace about this. I am not happy about things either but must make my will like God’s will. If He doesn’t want things to happen, we shouldn’t either.
Oh yes. I think this is post 1500. I hope you have been as excited about them as I have.

serving and shopping

We got up early. I at 6 and Evelyn at 7. She had been unable to sleep well again last night. We did our slow aerobics and then showered for the day. I was so tired that I lay on the couch and slept for an hour. I really think the exercising wears me pretty thin. We left for the Open Door, the local soup kitchen we go to volunteer several times a month, and arrived a bit early. The director asked me to present the devotion and I did. I tried to focus on the fact that we don’t deserve anything from God since won’t do what He asks of us. The good news is that, if we trust that Jesus died to redeem us, He will. We then served the meals prepared by other volunteers. We ate a bit there too and then cleaned the area. Evelyn wipes the tables, and I turn the chairs onto the table top. I then sweep under the tables and dry mop the floors. We leave around 1. I bought a few used golf clubs and a bag for Rosalie to use when they come to visit in July. I hope they aren’t too big for her. We then went to the Grocery Outlet for some of the items needed to put us on the Anti-aging diet. We found only part of them and went to the Bi-lo grocery for the geezer day discount for some of the rest of the items. We aren’t finished, however, because neither store has quality produce that we need. We dropped off a prescription for me at Rite-Aid, and Evelyn bought some Cover Girl at CVS before coming home. We unloaded things and then relaxed for a bit. We had Rueben sandwiches for supper and then watched an old movie, “Lilies of the Fields” starring Sidney Portier. We had seen it before but so long ago that we had forgotten all but the basic plot. This was the first Wednesday in 4 summers that we did not attend choir practice. We are going to worship at a different church and don't need to go. I had e-mailed the director but have heard nothing. We will try to contact her later in the week. She is a friend and wonderful director. We want to make sure she knows why we weren't there. We went to bed hoping for a restful night.

The high price of sight

We were finished with our slow aerobics by 9:30, showered and off to town. I had to return a dinner jacket I had borrowed from the local theater and did that before returning some DVDs to the library. We brought some more home. We came back and had some pork loin for lunch. We had to go to Asheville for my eye appointment. We went to Michael’s Crafts to get some bird houses for the kids to work with when they arrive in July and also a grapevine wreath and some artificial flowers to adhere to it. Evelyn did a nice job when we returned home. We went to the eye appointment and I learned that I could use some new lenses. I looked at frames and lenses and was shocked at the price--nearly $400. Our insurance only provides $150 at the most. I think we will look elsewhere to get them. We went to find some ramekins to use making creme brule but couldn’t find any. We were hungry and went to a Burger King before returning to watch “Dancing with the Stars” and the weather. It had sprinkled most of the day and was too cold for us to go to the baseball game as planned. The weather is to be cool but sunny tomorrow, and we may go to Iron Tree to play golf but not until around 10. The high for the day is to be 70 but that won’t be until later in the day.

Happy Mother's day

We were up and off to worship at a different church. We went to a contemporary service as a Methodist Church, Long’s Chapel. It was an uplifting service especially to Evelyn. I too was blessed but did notice that the focus of the service was on social ministry rather than exalting Christ and what He did on the Cross. There were many good things about the message too. The main phrase was, “We are beggars telling other beggars where we found food.” I especially noted that one of the things that makes Christians offensive to unbelievers is that they forget where they came from. There is a lot to that. We came home, changed clothes and went to walk around the lake before going to Bo Jangles Chicken place. I offered to take Evelyn to Ruth’s Chris Steak House, but she wanted to get take out and go to the lake for a picnic. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed looking over the lake as we ate. I went to the hotel to post pictures on the blog and we returned home to watch the Cubs play the Brewers. I made the traditional popcorn and we ate it while watching “Bean, the Movie”. We remember the Georges family recommending it. It was quite ridiculous. Stacy had made her Mother’s Day call yesterday and Emily made hers this evening. She and Evelyn talked as Evelyn colored her hair. It turned out very well. We finished the night thinking we might have a storm.

earlier plants

Evelyn is on the deck displaying our newly planted hanging baskets. This was taken on Mother's Day. She still outshines the plants. The basket to the far left will be hanging tomato plants from "Buzzy Seeds". We haven't tried growing them befrore. There is also beauty in our Clematis planted 4 years ago surrounded by our knockout roses.

Vegetables in the ground

We had to plant our vegetables among our existing flowers. The cilantro is by our driveway, tomatoes and a pepper are in our front yard flower garden, 2 pepper plants are outside our deck, and onion and lettuce seed are in our borrowed window trays.

At the HART

Evelyn and I usher at the Haywood Area Repetory Theater. We were early. Some of our friends from Our Savior Lutheran Church were there too.

planting the garden

We were up early and did some stretching again. This is really hard on my left leg and knee. We ate breakfast and then did slow aerobics. I can’t do these as well either but better than the stretching. Regardless I feel the need to do them. I showered during the floor portion of the exercise, and then we drove to church to set up the altar for tomorrow’s worship. We then drove to Tuscola High School to buy some plants at their greenhouse sale. We got 3 petunias, 2 begonias and a Mandevilla. We then went to Lowes for some potting soil. We drove in to town to look for a place that gives away mulch. We finally got proper directions but didn’t go because we didn’t have containers. We came home and began preparing places to plant the items. Several will go into hanging baskets while others will be planted between shrubs and in our front yard flower garden. We planted some seeds in the short window boxes Frieda gave us. I will try to take and publish pictures of them tomorrow. We had lunch and then soaked some material that came in the box with our hanging tomato plant. We followed the directions but had a great deal of soil (also included) left over. I went to the web site and asked why. I hope to get an answer in a few days. We were both tired and took about an hour nap before supper. While sleeping, I heard a very hard rain come down along with some thunder. We ate supper and then Evelyn made some brownies before watching another movie from the library. It was “Captain Jack”. It was very good but broke up in the middle of the disk as did the one night before last. We don’t know whether it is the disk or our DVD player. Off to worship tomorrow.

A funny play

It was stormy this morning. I don’t think we will grow tired of the rain for several more days. We certainly need it. We drove to the south side of town to get Evelyn’s purse and then went across the street to WalMart to get some hair color for her and some supplements. We came back and picked up a leaf blower Evelyn had bought at the Second Blessing thrift shop. We drove on out to the Iron Tree Golf Course where I played a lot last year. The price has increased slightly but it was too wet to play. My friend, Isidro, still works there. We left and dropped our trash at the collection point and came home. Evelyn worked on the flower pots a while and then we worked together to fix lunch. She rested a while, and we went to walk the lake. I also took my work shoes back to Taco Bell incase someone with little money could use them. I won them 3 years ago when I worked there. We snacked for supper and then went to get some food items for the post office food collection day before going to the HART Theater to usher for a play called “Honk”. It was very funny, based on the “ugly duckling” concept. We both marvel at the level of talent there is in this small town. We came home just in time to see the Cubs blow a lead and lose to the Brewers.

More Relay for life.

We were up and stretching until 9:30 when Evelyn took me to the golf course and went on to the ladies Bible study. I played with Phil and we had a good time. I almost broke 100 but was 1 stroke over. He brought me home, and we had a beer together before he left for Asheville to play in a league he belongs to at his work. I cleaned up and took Evelyn to the local Relay for Life dinner. We had trouble finding the location but had a nice ziti dinner when we arrived. Evelyn won another prize, this time of Mary Kay products she won’t use. We came home and mixed some soil from our back yard with some Black Cow to use for planting some vegetables in. We will just have to use flower pots, buckets, etc. to use for our garden. We also discovered she had left her purse at the dinner. It will be taken to a local bank for us to pick up tomorrow.

Drenched and delighted about it

We both wakened early and did an hour of stretching. I then got ready and went to meet Phil at the golf course. It was overcast but the predictions by the weather people said the rain would hold off until the afternoon. We played the first hole in a light sprinkle (I pared it) and then went to 2 in a lighter sprinkle (I bogeyed it--a par 3). On our way to 3 the sprinkled harder and I didn’t shoot well. The 4th is a par 5 and the rain began in earnest. We finished the hole but it was raining far too hard to finish. We returned, got a rain check, and made a T time for 10:40 tomorrow. The rains are supposed to stop late tonight. I came home to find Evelyn finishing mopping the tile surfaces. I changed clothes and touched up some of the spots on the walls in the bathroom but am not satisfied with how it blended. We had soup for lunch and looked through an old picture album in the afternoon. Around 5 I started the coals to barbecue the steaks we had bought at the GO grocery yesterday. We had also bought some brats so I cooked them all at once. We had bought 2 “reduced” NY strip steaks but shared only 1, keeping the other for another time. We also kept the bratwurst. Evelyn had made baked potatoes so we had a real dinner “out”. We cleaned the kitchen and I took some scraps up to the dogs up the mountain. We stayed home and watched an old movie we checked out of the library: The Carpetbaggers. We have been blessed with rain nearly all day, much of it heavy. We really needed what we have had but are trying to make up for a 2 1/2 feet shortfall the past 3 years.

First Relay for Life dinner.

Evelyn didn’t sleep well last night so I let her sleep until 9. We did some stretching exercises led by a woman on the Fit TV program I had recorded. It lasted 1 hour and then we finished a “slowrobics” program we had started yesterday. We then walked a short distance up the mountain behind us. We will try to establish a pattern of going up the incline. We returned home and I worked on the garden hose connection before working on trimming the Knockout roses and butterfly bush. We made a lot of progress in the brush “grubbing” we needed to do. We may be finished for a while. The next project will be making a garden behind our carport. It will be small but all we really need and can have. We went to a Relay for Life sponsored dinner for survivors and caregivers at Pisgah High School. The dinner was quite good and was served by a group of girls from the school. The program was a bit long, but the testimonies by survivors were wonderful. It is a blessing to live in an area where nearly everyone who speaks is not afraid to give the glory for their cures and their struggles with the disease to God through Christ. There are places in the country where this would be ridiculed and even prohibited. Evelyn won one of the centerpieces and a lovely vase. We returned home and learned that our request for a garden had been denied in the location we had chosen. We do have permission to make one in a different area. I watched the news before going to bed. It appears that Phil and I might get our golf game in before the storms that are supposed to arrive come in the afternoon. I would gladly give up the golf game for some more rain.

Chasing the ants

We got up hoping for more rain but didn’t get any here all day. We tried doing some exercises with Fit TV but what was on was too hard. We ate breakfast and left to walk the lake. I did look ahead into the day and recorded some that would be on while we were gone. We went to get some make up for Evelyn but the store was out. They did agree to sell her some at the current price when a shipment comes in. We went to the Folkmoot headquarters and registered to volunteer when the girls come. I also helped one of the men move some chairs in preparation for the groups coming in a couple of months. We went to the GO grocery again for more supplies. We should really stop buying and eat only what we already have. We went to Lowe’s on the way home and bought some more ant killer. We have been using Terro, a proven product, but Evelyn is unwilling to wait the prescribed period of time that it takes to kill the ants. We also bought a bag of Black Cow that I used to plant the azalea we had bought Saturday. We ate our lunch left over from Friday and then I took a nap. I was worn out from all the activity of the day. When I wakened, I planted the azalea in the place of one of the plants that had died and 2 tomato plants in the buckets we used last year. Evelyn had made baked chimichangas, hoping the Rogers would come but they wouldn’t. We invited Doris from across the street instead. After dinner, we took a walk and then watched some of the exercise videos I had recorded. One of them is one we will keep. We worked out to about half of it. We went off to bed after the 10 o’clock news.

More rain

We woke to enjoy seeing that it had rained during the night. It continued until we went to worship. We sang with the choir and took Holy Communion before coming home to enjoy a roast chicken dinner Evelyn had made. We were finished with the lunch and the kitchen clean up by 2. I watched the Cubs play the Marlins while Evelyn took a nap. I wakened her around 4 because she wanted to return some DVDs she had checked out of the library but they aren’t open on Sundays any longer. We decided to go to the lake for our walk and then went to the hotel to post some pictures before returning home. By then it was 7. I made popcorn and Evelyn decided to make caramel corn in a paper bag. We were nearly out of popcorn last week so we had bought some. I mix white and yellow so I poured 2 pounds of each into a colander to mix them together. I then filled the 2 containers we keep on the kitchen counter. I had some left over and somehow spilled over 2/3 of a cup into the garbage disposal. I spent more than an hour pulling out kernels using a tongs. I got almost all of them and used a small vacuum cleaner (as Evelyn suggested) to suck the remaining few kernels out. One got caught and stopped the disposal from running. I dug around the edges with a screw driver and corrected the problem. I watched a little TV while eating the popcorn I had made while Evelyn talked with Pauline, a friend she worked with at IPFW. We watched the news and then went to bed. We had more rain and then learned that Asheville had a storm that knocked out power in some places.

Pictures from our Marriage Encounter spiral last night. I was too busy at the bar to take many pictures.

Pictures of the new, younger me! I got too close to the hair color bottle and am now a young stud again. Also included: the young babe that I want to be a young stud for.

More welcome rain

We were up and off to the local flea market. It is held once each month about a mile from here. We looked for a hoe but there was none. We did buy a gallon of strawberries for $11. I would not have paid it. We came home, ate breakfast and went to meet the Bollingers to go to the herb festival at the Farmer’s Market in Asheville. We spent about an hour and a half looking at and buying plants and herbs. We got cilantro, tomatoes, and a sweet potato plant. We drove home in a light rain that we need desperately and ate our last hamburger for lunch. As Evelyn lay down Stacy called and they had a nice visit. We met our marriage encounter friends at church and drove to a couple’s house in Hendersonville for a spiral. We had some wine, a nice sharing, and a meal as usual. I drove home because the man who owns the car doesn’t like to drive at night. We made good time and were home by 9:30. I watched a bit of the Bulls/Celtics basketball game and then went to bed. We were both tired even though Evelyn had napped for a short while in the afternoon.

Welcome rain

We woke this morning to a much needed rain. In all we received 1/4 inch. We couldn’t walk the lake so we exercised while watching a Cindy Crawford VHS. It was to be a level 1 stretching exercise, but we decided it was too vigorous for us. We then found something more reasonable on Fit TV and finished with it. We are too old for Cindy. We ate breakfast, showered and went to town. We took some old clothes to the Open Door soup kitchen and volunteered for a couple of times each month. We then went to the GO grocery and bought many more things than we had planned to. We then went to the Sagebrush for a 2 for 1 lunch. We ate one and brought 1 home for tonight but didn’t eat it. We got more groceries at Ingall’s and then got the pictures from Rite Aid that I had uploaded Wednesday. We may have many duplicates because I didn’t know exactly how to complete the process I wanted. We came home, and Evelyn prepared for our 5 o’clock guests. I tried to make a nice invitation but failed. I took what I had and left it in their front door. They didn’t arrive home until 7 so we ate our hors doerves for our supper and walked around our loop before watching a very strange foreign film. I only paid intermittent attention. I distributed my medicine for the week. We have a very full day tomorrow.

Finishing a hectic month

We are pleased to report that the alarm clock is functioning. We decided that we would color my hair this morning. We used a different product from what we had and had a disaster. The color is far too dark and it did not just cover the grey. It made my entire head of hair darker than it has ever been. It caused me great anxiety by clumping as I washed it out. I thought I would be wearing “corn rows” for 6 weeks. I was combing so hard that I splattered the shower wall with some, leaving a few dark spots. I will have to paint some spots soon. We went to the lake and walked. We then spent more than 2 hours uploading some pictures to the Rite Aid photography to have them printed for us. I didn’t know that was possible but am glad that I found it. We had to choose pictures from our South America trip. I haven’t learned how to fully use the service because I know we ordered some duplicates. We returned home to have a 1 o’clock lunch. We had planned to go to Asheville to watch class A baseball tonight but decided it is too cold. Evelyn would be tight as a drum sitting out watching. We will try to go in a week or 2. We looked at e-mail and regular mail in the afternoon. Phil called and we invited him for dinner since we weren’t going to the ball game. When he came, we watched the CD Tom Jones had made of our South America trip. He did a great job, adding South American music to the show. Phil left after we watched CSI together. We have made a plan to play golf at 9 Wednesday morning. I watched the Chicago Bulls game and went to bed.