Friends visit

Again we were blessed with 57 in worship with us at our Holy Communion service. Tom and LuAnne came as did our friends the Reddels. We left for home and the Jones left for their trailer to "reset the dog's clock", enabling us to go to the Remington Steak House for the Sunday brunch. Tom insisted on buying ours. They had parked their truck in our driveway. Last year it had been towed away since it was in a neighbor's carport. We put a "hands off" sign on the truck to prevent a recurrence. We enjoyed the brunch but had to hurry back to attend John Hamel's 75th birthday party. Sue had asked me to give the invocation for the party held in the rec hall at their park. There was a surprise in that his other brothers and sister had come from a distance. We didn't stay too long and returned home to rest and watch the gold medal hockey game. I also toggled between that and the Purdue/Michigan State basketball game. The Canadians and Michigan State won. Purdue lost because one of their real stars got hurt last Wednesday and will be out for the rest of the season. This is really sad because Purdue is no longer a real threat to go to the final 4 in the NCAA tournament. This may be the last chance for Purdue since one of the other players my be drafted in the NBA. We had both napped during the afternoon and took a walk around the park around at 5:30. We returned home and popped corn for supper. We also called Rosalie because it is her birthday. She is now 12. They are in their permanent house and are trying to paint, remodel, etc. I began to work on some of next week's service in the evening.

Searching for a jacket

It was a welcomed sleep in Saturday. We barely made it to the 9:00kitchen band practice. Actually Evelyn didn't until later. The practice was unexciting to me but will be better when we perform. We came home and went to IHOP for brunch, using our 15% off coupon. Evelyn had delicious blueberry pancakes while I had pancakes, eggs and turkey bacon. We had planned to go to the outlet mall. We did and stayed almost 3 hours, looking for a jacket to go over a dress Evelyn wants to wear to the 50th anniversary party. There will be pictures taken of us too. It was not too hot or too cold. We found several things that I thought would work. Finally she bought one, and we started home. She spotted a lengerie store and went in to buy some things. I went to sit down in the mall and spotted a Dress Barn across the way. i went it and found a chocolate jacket that was a better match than the cream one she had bought. We went back and tried to return the previous purchase but could only enxhange it. She chose a couple of necklaces. We returned home, and I worked on the service. Evelyn did some laundry and then took a nap. We tried to call Tom and Luanne because they were having trouble with their trailer. We offered them a place to sleep if they had trouble but heard nothing. She had called this morning informing us of their problems and of the earthquake that hit Chile. We had been in Santiago just 1 year ago. In fact we were there February 16-18, 2009. We had the remainder of our pulled pork dinner for supper and then took some brownies to Jack and Kay Head. He has been home from open heart surgery on Tuesday. We returned home and tried to call Emily but remembered they had planned to go skiing for the weekend. It was then Stacy's turn. Evelyn talked with her for quite some time. They talked about many things including plans for the 4th of July in Waynesville. Evelyn then confiscated the television set to watch a Beth Moore tape about Esther. Of course we missed some great Olympic moments. We went to bed after the news.

The barbecue for the stock show volunteers

We had the normal morning and then returned for breakfast. I had to run some errands and left while Evelyn did some baking. I took some items to recycle and dropped our old computer to a repairman. He said he didn't think things were as bad I do. He will have it corrected by tomorrow for $135. He said that would be cheaper than buying a new hard drive. I went to the grocery for some necessities. From there I dropped off our registration for the Relay for Life before going to the WalMart to buy a Hormel pork loin. My final stop was at the bank for some rolls of quarters. I returned home for lunch. I then went out looking for someone to go with to the banquet in the afternoon. I tried to get our Purdue flag mounted on the new golf cart. Our neighbor had several ideas and helped me get it attached. We played our first game of Boce ball this afternoon. It was fun. We came home and rested up for the party tonight. We were at the banquet site by 5:45 but were not eating until 7:30. Needless to say I had to drink beer for just something to do. We sat with some people from our park for the first time since we began volunteering. I tried to talk to the people from our church but received a cool reception. We stayed through the program after the usual meal of delicious barbecue. The only disappointment was that charro beans had been replaced by green beans. We stopped in at the Friday night dance just to hear the band, Ron O'Neil,Party of One. There were even fewer there than at the Lyle Beaver dances. We have had a great evening but will have our final dance next Friday.

Neil Diamond impersonator

It was far more pleasant when we wakened this morning. I walked and talked with a friend who was home from heart surgery. He and his wife are looking for a rehab center for him to use for a couple of weeks. I came home and set out the breakfast items for us: steel cut for me and oat squares for Evelyn. We hurridly ate and went to the hall to car pool to a local rehab center with the kitchen band. We played there again. We drove home, and I changed into my bike club shirt for a ride to Dairy Queen for lunch. This was one of the rare days that permitted a ride, but the wind was strong from the south, causing Evelyn to pass up this ride. There were 9 who went and enjoyed the trip there. I refuse to go to DQ because of the length of time it takes to get anything. I rode another 100 yards to the Taco Bell, placed my order, ate my gordito crunch and returned to the DQ before half of our group was served. I had to sit and wait for them nearly half an hour. I did so to avoid being impolite even more than I had been. We rode home into the 30 mph wind, and we were all tired and will likely be sore tomorrow. Evelyn went to get her nails filled. Bt 1:30 we were at home. We both took short naps and dressed for our evening at the theater. We picked up our friends, John and Sue, and went to Texas Roadhouse for Texas twofers. We decided to get 2 dinners and share them. We love the pulled pork and had enough that we brought some home. We were earlier to the concert than usual so we got better general admission seats. We were 6 rows from the stage instead of the usual 46. The show was Nearly Neil and the Solitary Band, and they were great. The sang only Neil Diamond songs and the lead, Bobby Bruce, looked quite a bit like him. This was one of the best performances we have seen in the series. It was certainly better than the Cab Calloway show last month. We have a light day tomorrow until the evening. Our friends, Tom and Luanne come to the Valley tomorrow.

Visiting the honkey tonk.

After exercise, Evelyn went to get a permanent. I walked and then, since Evelyn was gone, I rode my bike to a restgaurant for a breakfast taco. I was disappointed in Diana's restraurant. I had really liked it when it was in Mercedes. I came home and tried to work on the taxes again. I will have to get help. I then watched the DVD that we will use for the next 4 weeks. It took over an hour but will help to have a good overview. Evelyn returned just in time for us to leave for the noon Lenten service. It was a good message. We returned home for chili. Evelyn had had only a small breakfast bar to eat since last night. We then took a nap to get ready for our afternoon entertainment. I asked a single man who sings in our kitchen band to go with us to the Horseman Grill and Saloon. We tried a different way to get there and made some mistakes. It took us longer than when we took the long way. Next time will be different. We had a good time and saw some old friends from Country Sunshine. We had not seen them for several years. We had a good time dancing and stopped at the Diary Queen for supper. We returned home and talked with Emily for a while. They will be movint to their permanent home soon but have to clean it first. We watched Purdue play Minnesota. Robbie Hummel, one of their great players got hurt early in the first half. Somehow Purdue won 59-58. The weather is supposed to be temperate for the next few days, so our bike club will be able to ride out for lunch tomorrow for a change.

Serving the Lord Tuesday

We wakened to falling temperatures. This has been the most disappointing winter ever to those wanting to come south to warmth. Of course, it has been a worse winter in the area they left to come here. I walked and Evelyn exercised before the rain came. I always get home before she does, so I heated the biscuits and gravy from last Thursday to Okells next door. I wanted them to merely taste them, but thought they might refuse. Miraculously, they did and Rose even liked them. I doubt Armand will have another bite in his lifetime but seemed to tolerate them. We went to Bible study and were blessed to have 16 others in attendance. We drove our new cart in a light misty type sprinkle. I took next week's lesson to the office to have copied before returning home for lunch. We ate a delicious soup concoction that Evelyn made. I have tried for years to get her to send some of her recipes to magazine contests with no success. Perhaps it is because she is such a good cook that she can't remember the portions of spices, etc. We served our day at the hospital without conflict with Irma, the manager. In fact, she left early and was actually smiling and joking with us as she left. We will see how long that lasts. It was cold and windy as we left but not raining. This is good. It is so cold that I even turned the furnace on so it would be toasty for my sweetheart when we returned. We returned and received a call from Okells because they thought we were coming at 5. I know we wouldn't have agreed to that time because we weren't finished at the hospital until 5. We walked over and enjoyed a visit before dinner. She had prepared tilapia and yams. We enjoyed the meal and the visit after. They are such nice people and we enjoy their company. They told us about their town and home. We came home at 8:30 because Evelyn was very tired from being on the run all day. She went right to bed while I stayed up for the news. The temperature is supposed to approach freezing again tonightr. What a winter we have had.

An early vote

Monday, after walking and exercising, we attended the weekly park meeting. I talked about the new Bible study beginning tomorrow. We returned home for steel cut oatmeal and a shower. I had been too busy before the meeting to shower. I continued to work on the Sunday service while Evelyn did some ironing. After lunch we rested and continued on the project. I also called our friend Fanny in Morden, MB. She couldn't come this winter because she couldn't get out of the country insurance. We decided to go to the early voting site this afternoon. We finally found it and voted as best we could. We had looked at a voter's guide from a Christian organization so we had some idea of how to vote. Almost everyone in this area is Democrat and the Republican booth was open booth was open. The neighbors across the street invited us to their house for dinner. She made spaghetti and meat balls and a peas salad different from any we had ever had. Nothing was particularly outstanding, but we really appreciate her efforts because she has had heart problems and caratid artery cleaning since the first of the year. We came home and went over tomorrow's Bible study on "How we got the Bible". The first lesson is short but challenging.

A Sunday full of fun

This is a shot of Joe, Bonny and Evelyn preparing to eat at the potluck after church.

I sit proudly in our new golf cart between church services.

Here is the beautiful model showing the new golf cart. Can she be driving it to church?
We were blessed again this morning with 50 in attendance. There were some 1 time visitors so this should mark the peak attendance for the season. We left there, came home to get a dish of pistachio pudding to take to the potluck, and drove to Mercedes to worship and sing the anthem with the choir. After the service we went to the potluck that featured many great dishes. We ate with Joe and Bonny who left for a ski trip in New Mexico at 3. We came home and rested until 2. The message we heard this morning was one of the best we have heard since Pastor Edge has come there. That was because it was given by a visiting pastor. We really do thank God for that. The people in that church really deserve better sermons and leadership. We rested in the afternoon until I went to borrow the neighbor's pressure washer. The streets here are so poor that black residue on the driveways and even into the house if we were shoes into the house. It took quite a while to get even some of the black stuff off. We still have many rust spots from the older golf carts we have had. Evelyn worked on getting mildew spots from the siding. The neighbors across the street had an industrial strength clorox solution that did wonders in removing the mildew. I paid them for the amount they had given us. I also went to Schwinghammers to invite them to come to watch the Canada/American hockey game. They came and we had popcorn and beer as the American NHL team beat the Canadan NHL team 5-3. Bob sceamed at the TV constantly, making both Evelyn and I vowing to never invite them again for a sports event. We taped some American flags to our Canadian neighbor's door and joked with them when they got home. We came home and retired after watching the news.

The new golf cart is finally here.

Saturday we didn't sleep in as long as usual. We ate breakfast and dressed for the day waiting for the new golf cart to be delivered. It came right at 10:30. A very nice young man went over some of the tips for usage with me just before we had to leave for Mercedes. Evelyn took the cake she had iced this morning to the church for the funeral. There is a dinner after most funerals and desserts were needed. We went from there to the stock show grounds to have our pictures taken for our name badges. Evidently people have been sharing their badges in the past, allowing many extra people to enter freely. We were almost an hour early so we were able to listen to some of the music at the music festival held during this time. As we watched I noticed 3 flagpoles. The one in the center was taller and had the Canadian flag on it. On the left was the American flag, on the right a Mexican one. I tried to find the man in charge to complain. The American flag should have been in the center and higher than the others. They were all the same level. I was only able to leave my message with a volunteer. After having our pictures taken, we came home for a late lunch at 2. I looked at the cart some more and drove it a bit. It has enough power to travel at 25 mph, 15 mph higher than the limit in the park. It is "road worthy" and can be driven on streets with 35 mph limits or lower. We have to purchase a license to do that. I watched Purdue beat Illinois, working in a bike ride during half time. Then I made Evelyn drive the cart a short way. We stopped and visited a while with Schwinghammers and returned home to practice the message and watch some of the Olympics. We went to bed early.

A somewhat relaxing day.

I had some gas problems last night, so I finished the night on the couch. I didn' sleep well but did sleep late. I was ready for the day by the time Evelyn returned in the rain. We ate some porridge, and I left to take some trash and try to find the owner of a jacket left at our most recent kitchen band performance. I found him, mailed a letter, gathered yesterday's mail and returned home in a light drizzle. We distributed our medicine into our daily portions before I made telephone calls. Evelyn prepared lunch, and then we left to shop a bit. She wants a jacket to wear with a dress she has for Easter. We couldn't find anything she liked. We also went to Walgreens for some asprins then to the bank to cash a check and then home. I talked Evelyn into going to bed for a nap while I worked on the service for Sunday. I also had a talk with Clayton, our investment advisor, about some tax questions and our viatical settlement problem. We didn't eat supper because we always eat mucho popcorn while working the dances. We had a dance tonight. The band we have most of the time is not liked by the residents of this park but he brings a nice following. There were 66 people there and he brought about 50 of them. We were finished cleaning up by 10:30 and I was able to finish the blog.

Helping poor childrens in Mexico

This morning I walked as usual but stopped at the Mabel's breakfast to bid on the trip to Mexico. I was the second bidder of $575. I didn't even get close. I saw a woman raising the bid to above $650. That was more than we were willing to play even though it was still a good buy. We both returned home just in time to ride with our neighbor to the kitchen band performance at Valley Grande Manor. We did many extra things. Evelyn and I danced the polka to one number and another man and I hugged a male soloist after another. We returned home to learn that the bike ride we had planned to Fiesta TexMex had been canceled due to rain. Instead we came home for lunch of chili. We rested in the afternoon because it was raining all day. We hosted a pad party for 6 friends. Everyone brought something to eat, and we used that as our supper. We then were off to Bible study. Actually, the men's group met here. We finished our examination of Exodus and will begin a different study next week. That is they will. We have tickets to a concert next Thursday so we will miss. We went to bed with hope in our hearts; Evelyn has slept well the past few nights. We have still not heard anything from M D Anderson regarding the thyroid. I did get a call from the golf cart people. We agreed they would not deliver the new one until it stops raining. That may not be until Saturday.

Where does the time go?

Evelyn drove to exercise so she could go get her hair washed and set at 9:15. I walked and then got ready to go to the Christian Women's Club luncheon. I worked on the computer until Evelyn came home and dressed too. We left just before 11 and stopped at the Golf A-la-cart to complain that we have waited too long for our new cart delivery. They found our cart and promised to deliver it tomorrow afternoon. Our day is so full that I told them to deliver it between 1 and 3 or wait until Friday morning. We went on to the luncheon. Vance Greek, a friend of Janice, provided the entertainment. The featured speaker was the same man who spoke 4 years ago when I was there. His testimony was just as moving as the earlier one. We stopped at the Texas Trader on the way back to look at motor homes on consignment. As the Lord would have it, there was a couple there who wanted to learn how much their Itasca Navion was worth. We talked with them and are considering a purchase. I came home and went to a friend who delivers coaches for Winnebago to ask what he knew about them. He said they were good coaches and would go with me to look at this one. I got home just in time to meet with the 50th anniversary committee. Our park has a party each year for all those who are celebrating the golden anniversary during the current year. We had a nice short interview, and then Evelyn took a short nap. I was trying to get an idea of what the coach we looked at was worth but couldn't find how to get the Kelly Blue Book to give it to me. We ate a light supper and went to the Ash Wednesday service. We were marked with ashes on our foreheads to remind us of our sin. We had choir practice afterward and then went to Wal Mart. We have a pad party here at 4 tomorrow, a funeral dinner at church Saturday and a dinner after church Sunday. The church is celebrating its 100th anniversary and this Sunday is one of the several special events during this year. Evelyn has to prepare something for each of those events ad needed some supplies. We came home and watched the finish of the Purdue/Ohio State basketball game that I had recorded. Purdue held on to win by 3.

Our normal busy Tuesday.

I walked Tuesday morning,looking for the resident computer guru. I have done something to ruin my homepage, making it very difficult to check in on my e-mail. He tried to help but to no avail. I will have to take my computer to him. I also decided to show something on the computer in our Bible class. Strangely, my speakers are very weak. I know they weren't a few weeks ago before he worked on my computer. I know several people who have little good to say about his work. He directed me to a man with a set of external speakers. They didn't make any difference. I took the computer to the outback but learned that there was a dart tournament being held there. I missed that announcement at yesterday's meeting. We had to bring most of the students back to our home. We watched the DVD with the lesson and then listened very carefully to the program, The Baloney Shop, on my computer. It was a presentation concerning the Fort Hood shooting and how the media in this country (and many of our government officials)will attack Christians in every way but will protect and downplay any infractions by any other religions, especially Islam. After the class, we ate and changed into our hospital garb. We had a slow day there but avoided conflict with the manager. We went to Long John Silvers again for dinner. Evelyn really likes their fish. We came home and changed into our pajamas although it was still before 7. We learned that our friends, Tom and Luanne, are coming to the Valley on February 26. They will stay until March 5 so we should be able to meet with them at least once. We watched some of the Olympics although Evelyn is caught on a book about 5 women in the Bible and reads most of the time. We have another busy day in store for tomorrow.

An afternoon of lounging

Monday always brings the park meeting. We didn't learn much this time but had many things to do afterward. I talked with Thorpes about organizing a happy hour with Baumans and Okells. They all pitch horeshoes together and Okells will leave for Canada near the end of the month. I then went to Marge Butchers to talk with her sister about details on some vacations we may bid on Thursday at the breakfast for Mable's Free Clinic. They support a free dental clinic for the poor children in this area of northern Mexico. The trips are to several locations on the western Mexican coast where a donor owns some time share condominiums. The minimum bid is $500--a steal--but our problem is whether we can use it during the winter months since I preach every Sunday. I think I can work that out but need to win the silent auction first. I returned home and called to reschedule the Gideon visit to our worship service. I also mailed the materials related to Saturday's AARP class. Of course, it would out because today is President's Day. We had chili for lunch because it was cold. We don't have many days to just lie around but this was one of them and we did. We didn't even go outside in the afternoon until about 4. We then took a bike ride around the park. We also covered our tomatoes in the garden before coming in for the evening. The temperature prediction was for freezing tonight.

Warm Sunday

Sunday we were blessed with 47 attenders, 5 of whom were visitors or first timers. We came home for me to vacuum the floor, and Evelyn prepare for our dinner guests. Clifford and Corrine Lenz came for oven baked chicken. They are on the church "committee", and we owe much to all of them. We try to have some of them for a meal each year. We had a nice visit with them. They are from Canada, retiring from the hydro (electricity) industry. They left around 2:30, and Evelyn lay down for a nap. I talked with Elizabeth for a while (we had neglected to call her yesterday on her 10th birthday) and then left for Immanuel for a Valentine party. The regular people were there. We returned home and took a bike ride around the park. This was the first warm, sunny afternoon in weeks. I also called the AARP area coordinator to learn somd things about how to file the report on my class. I have to contact the Gideon church assignment secretary to change the date we will allow the Gideons to come to make their report. We closed the evening watching the winter Olympics and talking to the grandchildren, Olivia and Elizabeth. The weather is forecast nice for tomorrow but then cold and rainy for the middle of the week.

Dinner with friends.

Saturday is the usual day to sleep in. I could not. I had to arise and go to lead the AARP class at 8. Evelyn had had trouble falling asleep and was able to sleep in. As I led the class of 17, she was dusting the house and cooking our lunch. She also cooked a chicken for tomorrow. We were both tired after lunch and took a nap until time for the Purdue/Iowa basketball game. Purdue won easily. We then went to Joe and Bonny's for dinner. She served pork loin, beet greens, snow peas fresh from her garden and cornbread. Everything was very good including the friendship bread for dessert and the chocolate covered strawberries we had contributed. We tried to watch some of the DVD of their 50th anniversary party held last July. Joe couldn't get the DVD player to work properly, so we saw only part of it. I also introduced Joe to the Baloney Shop on lhm.org. It features a pastor commenting on things said in the media that are critical of Christians. It is really well done and thought provoking for the thinking person with an open mind to the truth. We came home and went to bed a bit early for tomorrow.

Marvelous Christian testimonies.

We completed our normal morning routine. It was cooler than yesterday morning but not windy. We decided to forego breakfast because we would have a large lunch at the Gideon's Pastors Appreciation Luncheon. I dressed for the event and then went to have my hair cut. I was back in time for us to finish dressing and go to the parkk next door to attend a "Taste of Minnesota" event. Evelyn wanted to go but I didn't. We were going to lunch and didn't need more food. She bought some small cupcakes anyway. We were blessed by the testimonies and address at the luncheon. It is amazing what God accomplishes through the testaments distributed through the Gideons International. I was there as a pastor but am also a Gideon myself. Evelyn needed some things for some cooking, so we went to WalMart to get them. We were home by 2:30 and intended to take a nap. She announced that she didn't want to go to the dance tonight, so I had time to play golf. I took Armand to the Executive course where we met a widower who was plaing alone and joined him. He was from Virginia! I never expected to meet anyone from that far east down here. We shared a pitcher of beer afterward and returned home. I had to prepare more for the class tomorrow, so I went to work. Evelyn had heated our bratwurst for supper and had made some chocolate covered strawberries and some microwave fudge. All was delicious. We went to share the fudge with the neighbors and then returned home to watcche the ceremony opening the Olympic games in Vancouver, BC. I continued working on the class for tomorrow and blogged.

How can we be so busy?

We began a regular morning. I was surprised to find how warm and humid it was. I had to remove my coat. We went to the kitchen band performance at 10 and returned home directly so Evelyn could get dressed for her lunch with the Bible study ladies. I picked up a widower and we went to Taco Bell for one of the new menu items. It was good. I came home and began reviewing the AARP class that I lead Saturday. When Evelyn returned home, we took a long nap. We had to get up and go to an appreciation chili supper. The honoree is a man who has done many repair and building projects in our park. Our screen porch was built by him. He is in poor health but was honored in the tribute. We came home and prepared to go to the Thursday Bible study. I must note here that Evelyn's lunch was at a new restaurant in town. It is owned by one of the finer restraunts in Neuvo Progreso, Arturo's. It was a disaster. Three received meals while four waited. Evelyn never did get the meal she ordered. I don't think there will be many diners if word about this gets around our park.

A question about blockage.

We wakened to our regular routine. I ate breakfast, but Evelyn didn't. She was still full from last night's dinner. I worked on the sermon for a while and then went to mow the lawn because rain is predicted for tomorrow. Evelyn prepared a large lunch of one of the smoked country style ribs smoked several weeks ago. I cleaned up the kitchen while Evelyn went to collect the list of names of people who signed up for the AARP driver safety class. We were both tired and took a nap. We had an appointment for several stroke scans at 3:30. We were both declared healthy but I was warned that there was a slight blockage in my left caratoid artery and should watch it until next year when I will have another scan. I also talked with a man in another park who had driver safety books for the coming class. The same technician led Evelyn to believe that she might not need to have her thyroid removed. I am concerned that this may promote a danger to her in the future. We will await the opinion from MD Anderson. As I returned the clipboard to the activity director, she told me that there might some more from our neighboring park. This upset me because I had already made arrangements to pick up the number of books needed for those who had signed up. I told her they would likely not be able to come without a book. We left there and drove to the neighboring town of Alamo to get the books. We returned and ate a light supper before going to choir practice. There were many missing so we had a shortened version. We will not be able to sing on Ash Wednesday because of lack of attendance. We will still try to sing on the 21st when a special speaker will bring the message of God's love as shown through the 100 years Immanuel Lutheran Church has existed. We also made plans to go to Bonny and Joe's for supper Saturday night. As I wrote this I watched the last half of The Great Debaters starring Denzel Washington. He is a great actor, director and even greater person.

An event filled day

I walked farther this morning before Evelyn exercised. I cleaned up while she worked out and left to have the car looked over. The man I go to is wonderful Christian and good at his job. He looked at the belts, hoses, brakes, and fluids and said that things looked good for at least 6 months. I was happy and returned home to go to the Bible study. We had 10 of us again and learned a great deal about jihad. If you are reading this and are anything but a muslim, you had better strengthen your faith and vote some officials into office that will not support the political correct nonsense that is sweeping our country. Islam will and is using that to weaken Jews and Christians and strengthen themselves. We returned home and dressed for the hospital service. We receive a free lunch each year for volunteering, and we usually get a large salad and share it. We did today because we had been invited for dinner. We served our 4 1/2 hours. I had another mild rift with the woman who manages the gift shop but made it to the end. I had taken some peanut brittle I had bought to support a hospice house because we had not taken any treats to the volunteer break room for some time. One of the older lady volunteers brings something she bakes almost every time she works. We wanted to do something for her. Evelyn went to weight watchers for her monthly weigh in so I caught a ride with someone else. She beat me home and the couple who invited us out were here waiting. We went to Cortino's for Italian food. We shared chicken parmasian. Evelyn loved it; I didn't. We returned to our house for dessert and a short card game before watching Purdue play Michigan State. Purdue was ahead by 18 points at one time in the second half but MSU closed to within 3 before losing by 12. Ed an Nona stayed for part of the 2nd half but had to leave and get some sleep before rising to fix breakfast for their park tomorrow morning. We are expecting rain for the next couple of days with temperatures in the low 50s to high 40s.

Finally a new faucet.

I am speaking about the AARP class I will lead on Saturday.
I was up and walking by 7:15. I saw the park worker and asked him to get to our water line fixed first thing and he did. It wasn't until around 10 until he got finished but that was OK. When I returned, Evelyn was exercising and I showered before returning to the park meeting. I had to talk about the AARP Driver Safety class. We came home and had some cereal. I wanted to have to car looked over but got distracted and forgot. We mailed a package to Bonita and went to the grocery, Big Lots and started to WalMart but were too tired. We unloaded the groceries and had lunch after I looked at what Rolly had done with the line. Around 3, Ron came to install the new faucet but we found that the new shut off valve had a small amount of PVC glue in it. We brought the park boys back for them to turn it on. We didn't want to break it, so we let them turn it on. Then Ron had a problem with the hot water line after installing the faucet. He had to go make a new connecting line while I lay on the floor with my finger plugging the leaking line. I was there for around 20 minutes before he returned to finish the job. We were very grateful that it had been done. We heated the chili Evelyn had made in the afternoon. It was excellent. She worked on her hair for a while before we took a walk in the evening.

Fiesta dance pictures

This is the 2 man band that we have for most of our dances. They have lost their appeal to most of our park residents but brings a following of his own.

This a shot of all the volunteers. We are the co-chair couple for all the dances.

These are our gracious ticket takers for each dance. They are from Thompson, Manitiba, Canada. She can't walk well but they are fun to work with.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

We were blessed with 45 in attendance at our Holy Communion service this morning. I thought I did a lousy job of construction and delivery but always rely on the Lord to convert my babblings into His message. We came home to prepare the house for our lunch party. The people who came do much of the cooking in the hall for our events. They are Jerry and Diane Brandenburger and Ron and Roberta Jacobson. They were unable to come last Sunday so we had them come to enjoy the same menu as then. They couldn't stay long because they had to return to the hall to begin cooking for tomorrow's lunch before the weekly jam. We cleaned up in a hurry, and Evelyn went to the porch swing for the first time this season. It has been too cold prior to this. I worked a bit and watched reruns of CSI until we took a walk around the park. I also called my old friend, John Mader. It is his 78th birthday. We talked mostly about health because it is that time of our lives. We tried to emphasize that we must always remember how the Lord has blessed us in the past. That is hard to do when aging and hurting, unable to do many things. The Super Bowl began at 5:30, and we watched here. I had thought Joe and Bonny might either come over here or invite us over to their house but that didn't happen. Laissez les bon temps rouler! Boiler up!!! It was a surprise that the Saints won but they did. We are thanking God for choosing to allow the honor to go to him. The city certainly needs something to celebrate since they had too many Democrats in charged during the hurricane. We wentr to bed early.

Serving the Lord's dinner to the sick.

We were blessed to be able sleep until after 8:30. I went to the shuffle tournament to see how John Hamel was doing, but he had lost and was gone. I came back home and we had a piece of toast for breakast. We had some brats and 93% ground beef we wanted to cook, and the neighbor woman across the street is not recovering fast from her karata artery cleaning. We invited them for lunch at 2. I worked on the sermon and Evelyn worked on getting things ready for the lunch. I talked with the neighbor, Armand, about playing golf after 3 and we planned that. I cooked the meat and we ate around 2:15. I had asked them to leave after an hour because she is not strong enough to visit longer than that. They had agreed before coming. They left and I loaded my clubs into Armand's car with his, and we went to the par 3 Executive course that we usually play. We played our usual miserable game but enjoyed the lovely, sunny afternoon. We returned home and drank a beer before parting for the evening. Evelyn and I then went for a walk around the park, delivering the trash to the dumpster on the way. We enjoyed being able to walk in the cool of the evening. We ate some popcorn from last night's dance for supper. Evelyn worked on making a dessert for tomorrow's lunch with the friends who couldn't come last Sunday. We must stop this entertaining so Evelyn can relax sometime. Perhaps she can relax during the Super Bowl tomorrow night! Who Dat?

How do we keep so busy?

We wakened and I immediately left to walk around the park. I must redevelop a routine of doing that. My right knee hurts most of the time I walk, but I must do it or it might stop working altogether. I saw the resident plumber as I walked and told him of our leaky kitchen faucet. He came over to work around 10. We discovered that the shut off valve under our trailer won't shut the cold water off completely nor will the shut off valve to the main line shut off either. The park workers will have to return and install individual shut off valves for the 3 of us on this line. They will also have to replace the main valve. This means shutting down the park for half an hour or so. They won't get to this project until Monday, so the water will drip, drip all weekend. We went with 5 other people on a bike ride to a local restaurant for lunch. We shared a catfish lunch which included 5 pieces of catfish at least a cup of both green beans and Mexican corn, 2 ice cream scoops of mashed potatoes, a modest salad, corn bread and delicious yeast rolls, plus bread pudding. We ate our fill and left some there. The ride was only a mile and a half one way so we returned home and left almost immediately so Evelyn could get her nails filled, and I could return the extra faucet we had bought, the unneeded adapter for the new CD player, mail a package and pick up her remade eye glasses. We were home by 2:30. She went to a neighbor to get instruction on how to finish her prayer shawl for Bonita and then lay down to rest in preparation for the dance tonight. There were only 51 paid admissions for our Mexican Fiesta. I know people are tired of the band we have most of the time, but I believe that failure to announce the dance at the park meeting this past Monday contributed. We were cleaned up and home by 10:30. I am a bit concerned about my right leg. It aches more than it should. Dancing causes me to twist it somewhat and that hurts. We get to sleep in tomorrow.

The Lord carries us along

It was barely sprinkling this morning We had received enough blessings anyway. Evelyn made it to exercise and then returned home for breakfast. We then left on what seems to be our daily errands. We met with the kitchen band to entertain the residents at John Knox Village. Many were missing but we still had a good performance. We left there and went to the jeweler to have him make one of Evelyn's rings round. I waited in the car for 20 minutes. It seems he was fascinated with her turquois ring. He was also interested in showing her all kinds of amethyst jewelry. We left there and went to make another appointment to have the car looked over. He had told me to not come if it was a nasty morning. We left and went to Radio Shack to see if they had a portable CD player that would replace the one in our living room. They did and it worked when we came home. It even worked with the connections we had used with the old one. We will miss it because it was a gift from Pieder many years ago and we used it many hundred miles in our motor homes. We tried to go to the Cricket store but there was a longer line than we were willing to wait for. We resisted the call to eat out and came home where Evelyn made some delicious tacos. We were glad to have come home. We cleaned the kitchen and lay down for a nap. We were up by 3 and Evelyn went to see if our neighbor could help her remove her knitting, but she was busy looking at floor covering. We finished our potato soup for supper and then went to our respective Bible studies. She is studying Esther, and I am studying God in Exodus and how He showed the gods of Egypt how powerful He is. I noticed that Purdue was playing Indiana and set the DVR to record the second half but somehow that didn't happen. I think I have finalized our trip to Los Angeles in April. I had the dates wrong, and we have to stay an extra night there. Before the cruise, we will stay in the Westin and after in the La Quinta, both at the airport. The big complications are getting our luggage from the train station to the hotel, then from the pier to the La Quinta. On Sunday we must get back to the depot and board the train for the return to San Antonio. I made an offer to the van driver for all three rides. I will have to wait for the reponse.

Much rain in the Valley

It was raining and Evelyn had not gone to sleep until 3 so I left her in bed and took the key to the exercise video cabinet to the 10 people waiting. I then left, wearing my complete rain outfit, to go to Lowes for a furnace filter. They didn't have the kind I wanted so I went to WalMart next door and found something that would do. I still went to the Ace Hardware but again came up empty. I came home and took our washing brush to the car and cleaned it while the rain was still pouring down. I cleaned the golf cart too. It was very warm out and was a pleasant job. I picked up yesterday's mail and left the next Bible lesson to be copied. When I got home I found that Evelyn had not gone back to sleep so we showered and ate a light breakfast due to the late hour. I worked on the computer while she prepared soup for lunch (we had a different soup for supper) and we ate. She finally got tired enough to sleep and so did I. When she wakened, she left to have her new glasses adjusted and went to the hospital to buy some over priced bracelets. I cut the new furnace filter to size and exchanged it with the old dirty one. The dust down here accumulates very quickly. Some friends delivered the Bailey's Irish Creme from Mexico with a bottle of vanilla. I am getting quite a collection of things to deliver to friends in the north. After supper we went to choir and then returned home. I went to bed early. and Evelyn called her sister-in-law, Linda, and a friend to talk about knitting. We received about an inch and a half of rain. She also has to return some bras we had ordered on line because they don't fit. Some things have to be bought in the store.

Serving the Lord Tuesday

While Evelyn was exercising, I was watching the DVD we showed in our Bible class at 10. After that we came home for lunch and dressed for our time at the hospital. We drove to the hospital because we had a threat of rain. We have ridden to the hospital only once this year because of the inclement weather. We spent our second afternoon in the gift shop. We have learned some of the techniques a bit better. For example, I began replacing the drinks before the end of the day. We had a good day in collecting over $700. Neither of us can understand people buying the merchandise at such inflated prices ($1.15 for an average Snicker bar). But they do. I thought it would be nice to take Evelyn out to Long John Silvers for supper because she likes that a lot. Afterward we went to the grocery for some of the items we will need for our company Sunday at noon. We are entertaining the same people who couldn't come last Sunday. We will likely have another party during the Super Bowl in the evening. We may be invited out. I was able to plan the prayers for Valentine's Day this evening as we watched a DVD about Jacob and Esau and Joseph and his brothers. It followed the Bible very well and was fairly well done. A heavy rain began this evening and is to last all day tomorrow. 2 inches is predicted.

Much ado about everything

We were up on time, and Evelyn went to exercise while I showered. We went to the park meeting, and I spoke about the AARP class I will lead on February 13. I had 10 signed up but one immediately canceled because there is a golf tournament that day. I wonder if it will be worth the $60 dollars he could save on his car insurance. We ate a late breakfast and then left to run errands. I dropped off a prescription and then went to the recycle center to deliver cardboard. The sign is still up declaring "we are not accepting plastic at the moment." We all get a charge out of that. The whole operation is a joke anyway. We then went to Walgreen's for some Crill gels on sale. From there we went to Home Depot and bought a faucet set for our kitchen. The current one is corroded at the bottom and is in need of a new washer. From there I went to make an appointment to have the car checked over and then on to pick up our CD player that doesn't work well. We swung on over to Lowes and bought another faucet set to compare them to see if we like one better than the other. We went to Dairy Queen and brought a hunger buster home for our lunch. Then we cleaned up the kitchen before Evelyn lay down. I worked a bit on the sermon and then got very tired. Unfortunately, Stephen called and wanted to talk. I was so wiped out I couldn't talk and stay awake. I handed the phone to Evelyn and went to sleep on the couch. I slept for almost 2 hours. The park workers have already begun digging the trench for our new water line. The should be done tomorrow. We didn't eat any supper but did have popcorn with our neighbors. They came and played Sequence with us for a couple of hours. I felt somewhat guilty because I had partially made arrangements with him to play golf this afternoon but remember the nap? That took priority over everything. I hope to work through this sleep deprivation period of my life soon. We also signed up for some ultra sound tests for our arteries. That happens later in the week. This was a busy day.

The third concert

We were blessed with 49 at our worship service. We went from there to WalMart to get some frozen yogurt that we couldn't find at HEB. We returned home and waited until noon to eat up some of our leftovers. After that Evelyn relaxed while I watched Purdue beat Penn State. I even napped a bit through the second half. Evelyn was able to talk with Stacy for a while before we picked up Joe and Bonny to go to the concert. We tried to go to the Macaroni Grill for supper but it was full. So were 4 of the other restaurants. We finally ended up at a McAllister Deli which turned out to be pretty good. We went to the concert earlier and had better seats than before. The program was the Calloway Centennial Celebration. The grandson of Cab Calloway put together some musicians and tried to play Cab Calloway songs. I had looked forward to the event but was somewhat disappointed. We all liked the musicians but thought the leader was somewhat over imposing. We came back here to enjoy a piece of apple pie that Evelyn had made. I had to take Joe and Bonny home and then finish the blog. We got a call during the concert that was probably from Emily but I couldn't talk and we never got to contact her. Perhaps we can contact her on MagicJack tomorrow.