Finding a new restaurant

I thought Evelyn would exercise today but she didn't. I did walk and came home to get ready for our ride to a new family restaurant near here. We weren't sure Evelyn could make it the mile and a half one way but she did. Our bike club nearly filled the small restaurant but there was room for some of the regulars anyway. We really enjoyed the "lonches" we shared. I had brought the computer guru here to reaquaint me with the procedure he had showed me last night, so I invited them to come for lunch as my treat. It was a beautiful day with a south wind. It was not very difficult, even riding into the wind part of the way. We returned home and took a nap before continuing our packing for the upcoming trip. We just can't thank God enough for providing us money to use in travel. We are trying to pack fewer clothes. I will wear my outfits twice and we will wash our underwear to eliminate some clothes too. Evelyn will conserve too. We will pack clothes to wear on our train trip in 1 suitcase and take 1 each for the cruise. We have been quite relaxed during the past couple of days and will continue tomorrow. Earlier this evening Evelyn went to get weighed and is still below her target weight. She was very happy.

Computer and printer problems

Somehow I lost all that I had written and won't repeat it. I cut the grass and worked on repairing a problem with the printer. I had to work on it with a friend all day.

We love Sunday worship!

We were blessed with 24 in attendance at our regular worship. That was pretty good since verymany have left for their homes in the north. More will leave this week but some will still be here for our Easter service. Even though I see them only once each week, I miss them during the summer. I went off to Llano Grande Park to give the same message. I think I did a better job the next time and received several compliments. I feel somewhat embarrassed when it is Christ who deserves all praise. The men in charge tell me how much the people there are blessed when I am scheduled to preach. I learned during the service that this was their final one of the season, so I asked one man to announce that we will have a service. We will see if any of the attenders show up at our service next week. I would be blessed if they do. We came home with the newspaper that Hamels give us each Sunday. We had lunch of meatloaf that Evelyn had prepared a few days ago and settled in to watch 2 more NCAA ball games. It was much more temperate today than yesterday. We washed the screen porch floor but couldn't get all the water out and anticipate water spots on the floor because it is painted. Evelyn brushed the water out of the opening while I sprayed. I had tried to mop it, but the dust is so thick from the wind picking up dirt and blowing into the porch. That didn't work. When we finished, we took a bike ride around the park. It was a very pleasant evening. We returned home and ate popcorn for supper as we watched 2 of my favorite reality shows: The amazing Race and Undercover Boss. Evelyn was able to talk with Emily for a while. We talked with Stacy yesterday. I did get started on packing for the trip and preparing for the worship service next week.

One wild day.

Saturday was quite a day. We were up at 7 and eating pancakes at 8. We don't normally go, but this was the final serving this season. The pancakes were delicious. We were off to a local park to serve the hospital by working at a booth at the Onion Festival. We had a blessed experience. We happened to be down at a "roulette" wheel that asked nutritional questions about diet. The questions usually used has been misplaced, so Evelyn had to create questions. She was "in my element". Extremely happy we stood there for more than an hour. People spun the wheel, I asked silly questions, she asked the correct ones, and I handed out stickers to those who spun the wheel and pencils to those who answered correctly. We worked for 3 hours and then walked around the grounds. Normally we buy 50 pounds of onions there but none was ready. The winter had been too cold. Actually this was good for us because we won't leave here for almost a month. We watched a bit of the horse show that we had watched last year and then left. We wanted to have an onion blossom but would have had to stand in line for about an hour in the hot sun. We decided to go to Chilis and have one. A woman at the festival had said they sold them. They didn't. They had something that was a poor substitute so we ate that. I didn't like them. We also had some fried cheese. That was our supper. I went to bed for a nap because I thought I would be up late because of the plan to go to the basketball game. Tom, Dan and I left for Hildalgo at 6 and arrived at the arena very early. I practiced my sermon on the way there and on the way back. We chatted and then went toward the door. We had 4 tickets, and I hated to waste it. I began looking for someone to give it to before we went in. A man from Germany asked if we had tickets. He had tried to buy 2 but was told they were sold out. We only had 1 and he wanted 1 for his "wife" also. Another man came by with his son with 1 extra ticket. The German man was willing to buy the tickets but wanted them together. I finally decided I would let them sit with Tom and Dan if he would buy the other ticket. Finally the man with the son said he would give the ticket away. I had intended to do that with mine since I had won it, so the German couple got free tickets and everyone was happy. We went inside and the German man insisted on buying us a drink so Dan and I had a beer and Tom (the driver) had a Pepsi. As it turned out, the arena was about half empty. Evidently many corporate sponsors had bought the tickets but people didn't come. I sat up in the corner by myself for the first half and then moved down with my friends. I left a much better seat than they had. We left before the end of the game and were home by 10:20. I was in bed by the regular time.

Too many basketball tickets

Evelyn was hurting too much to go to exercise so I took the key to those who could go. We went to the oncologist's at 9 but didn't get out of there until almost 10:30.We went to the recycle center and on to Mexico for out pedicures. We had to drive across the river because Evelyn couldn't walk that far. We also looked for prices on some liquor for Pieder. We drove back across the river and took nearly an hour. Traffic was so heavy and slow that I put Evelyn in the driver's seat, went into the liquor store and bought 2 bottles of Bailey's, and returned to the car before she got to the main road. About an hour later, we were on our way home. By now it was 1:30 and we had not eaten. I grilled 2 hamburgers and ate them around 2:30. Evelyn went down for a nap as did I. Our neighbor came with the tickets for the basketball game tomorrow night. He not only had those 4 but 4 for tonight's game. He had gone to the wrong radio station, and they had given him more tickets. We had a good laugh, and I began looking for someone to give the tickets to. I finally gave them to one of the park workers who loves basketball. I returned home and we dressed to go to dinner with the neighboring Lemkes. She manages the Bon Worth store in the local outlet mall. She met us at the Best Western for the Friday fish special. He has been very giving of his time and talents so I bought their dinner. We really liked the fish (sea bass) and will return sometime. From there they went home while we went to Wal Mart for some supplies. We intended to go to 2 other stores but found too many people out shopping. I wanted to get home to watch the Purdue/Duke basketball game. Purdue went farther than amost anyone thought they would and played very hard. I just can't imagine what they would have done with Robbie Hummel. I just hope they all return next year.

Elaborate volunteer luncheon

It was another pleasant morning except Evelyn's cold had intensified during the night. I walked and delivered the key to the video cabinet to Theresa. I came home and showered. We did have some Grapenuts together before Evelyn returned to bed. While walking, I called the radio station and won a family 4 pack to go to the Vipers game. They are a local NBA D team. I am trying to find people to use the tickets since Evelyn doesn't want to go. She didn't go to the kitchen band final performance either. We had nearly a full complement of of performers and had a good time. I came home to work with Jack Head on the taxes when Glenn Combs came instead. He brought a card from him an Lucy for us to open on our anniversary date. Jack came and he left. We could not solve my tax filing problem and decided to work this afternoon. I went off the the annual volunteer appreciation luncheon. At this event the pins for number of hours and years served. Evelyn was awarded a 5 year pin. We had a great lunch of chicken cordon bleu, vegetables, rice and delicious cake. Irma asked me to come to the gift shop before going home so she could give us a gift. She wasn't there on time and I left because we will be back tomorrow anyway. I came home and worked with Jack without success again. I will have to seek further help. Evelyn ate some supper because she had eaten nothing all day but I abstained. We were scheduled to go to to the Bruhn's for apple pie, so I didn't need food after the large lunch. We went there and knew no one except the hosts. We did talk to several people. I talked to a man from SC about some places we could visit during the summer. We came home and talked with the neighbor a bit. I offered him the tickets for the ball game Saturday night, but his wife doesn't want to go. I remembered that I had won 4 tickets so we have to find 2 more people to go. I finished the evening by watching some of the sweet sixteen games of the NCAA tournament. Purdue plays tomorrow night.

A new restaurant

We were up as usual in a very moderate wind. The painters never came again today even though I really expected them. Maybe tomorrow. I practiced the message for Sunday during the morning as we waited for Glenn and Lucy. They drove us to a small restaurant near Donna. It is another winter Texan hangout. It was called Martha's and had good meals at reasonable prices. We each had lasagna and shared a large fried icecream covered in chocolate. They brought us home without a mention of playing golf. He had promised to do that when we met them in Pigeon Forge. It was alomost 3 when Jack was to come to work on the taxes. I waited a while and fell asleep. I drove to his house and found he had forgotten. He is supposed to come after kitchen band tomorrow morning. We skipped supper and went to the Lenten service, thinking we would have choir rehearsal after. We didn't because there were only 5 of us there. We went to Dairy Queen instead where we had a BOGOF coupon for a waffle bowl sundae. We enjoyed the visit with some of the other choir members and came home. I tried to send pictures of the St. Patrick's Day parade to a man in Evelyn's exercise class--again.

Final Bible study and hospital service

We followed our normal routine. Evelyn had used the 5 mile walk tape and had to take a shower prior to going to the Bible study. We saw the final 2 segments so this was our final study for the season. Reddels have access to another set of studies that have 12 sessions 1 1/2 hours long. I went to the activity director who said we could have the outback for that time on Tuesdays next year. We left for the hospital to use our last remining free lunch ticket. As usual we shared a large salad and went to the gift shop. Evelyn stayed until 3:30 but left early because she had not slept since 3 AM. I stayed until 5. I called the paint crew who promised to come after 5 to inspect our driveway. They didn't. I also made an appointment to have our house sprayed for insects while we will be gone in April. We contributed money to Lynn Carter's son's wedding. I came home and talked with Tom Crouch about the driveway. He seemed to think that it looked good except for a couple of small spots. I wakened Evelyn at 6, and she heated some pizza that we had got in Harlingen last Friday. It had been frozen but was delicious. We spent the evening at home. Tomorrow some friends have invited us to lunch.

Some early morning golf

I was up and out the door to pick up my golf partner, Dave Thorpe. We went to The Palms at Mid Valley, rented a cart, and teed off at 8:14. It was about 50 degrees and I wore a short sleeve T shirt, a long sleeve T shirt, a pair of shorts and a pair of jeans over that. And my suede jacket. We had a very good time even though neither of us played well. We finished the 18 around 11:30. Throughout the round, as the weather warmed up, I shed everything except the shorts and long sleeve shirt. We came home to find Evelyn had finished the roast, vegetables and dessert for tonight's dinner. She was extremely tired and lay down until I arrived. She got up and made us a sandwich before lying down again. I went to the post office to mail a package to Emily and to get some IRS forms. There were none there, but I was referred to the library who didn't have the one I need but did refer me to the IRS site on line. I came home and found it. I printed the form and will consult Jack Head later this week. We enjoyed our dinner with the Grondahls who are leaving our park for another in the area. They have been very important in our park in the past and we wanted to bid them adieu. After they left, we watched the new beginning show of "Dancing with the Stars". I was tired and went to bed a bit earlier than usual.

A beautiful Sunday

We were blessed with 40 in attendance at our worship. I was surprised, thinking that most people would have left for the north. I know many will be leaving this week. One couple that we met in Pigeon Forge this summer invited us out for lunch on Wednesday. After worship we went to the grocery for some cleaning supplies. Of course we bought more than that. We came home and decided to go to Churchs Chicken and get an 8 piece carryout. I brought it home and we ate 1 piece each. I did my usual preparation for next Sunday during the afternoon. I also went for yesterday's mail before the Purdue/Texas A&M tournament game. Evelyn went to invite the Grondahls for dinner tomorrow night and schedule a haircut for her before we leave on our cruise. I had mine cut yesterday. The day was beautiful, making it difficult to stay indoors to watch the ball game--but I did. It was a great defensive game but very ragged in ball care. In the end Purdue won by 2 points in overtime. We took the bicycles out for a ride. I made arrangements to pick up my golf partner for tomorrow morning at 7:30. I then said goodbye again to the man who had had open heart surgery the first day they arrived in December. I told them to look up Al Ts in Winnie, TX. We continued our ride and began to eat our Sunday popcorn and watch a good new program, "Undercover Boss". A CEO of a major company goes undercover to work at the jobs his employees do. The 1 we watched tonight was fired from one of his shipping plants because he couldn't keep up.

Selling junk

I was up at 6:30 to be at the annual park garage sale at 7. We had a few items to sell and accomplished most of the purpose. I had brought my computer so I could upload some pictures using the wifi in the hall. I bought a garden hose caddy from the man next to me. Evelyn had slept until 8:30 and brought me some peanut butter toast. On the way home I met the man who cuts my hair and said I would be right back. But when I got home I began work on repairing my extension cord until I remembered. I rushed back and made it just before a short rain. I came home and tried continued work on the cord. I finally gave up and took it to the neighbor's who had offered to repair it yesterday. I left it there. Evelyn got caught on 2 movies, 1 before and 1 after lunch. We took a nap after the second. When we wakened, we dressed for the evening, and I tried to add black polish to my belt. I used the same polish from SAS Evelyn had used during the movies to blacken my belt. During the process, I squirted 2 5 inch lines of polish onto the carpet. I tried to be calm and got the Resolve to remove the stains. I was blessed to see how well it worked. God really honored my prayer. Joe and Bonny picked us up and we went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in McAllen. We shared 1 chile relleno dinner and were full because Bonny had ordered a large guacamole appetizer. We went to the Sun Harvest afterward and bought some bulk granola as well as ground beef and fillet mignons. We returned here and had some Bailey's. I didn't have enough for 4 so I drank some sweet white zinfandel.

These pictures are of the St. Patrick's Day party. The men dancing are 2 of the crazies in our park who always have a good time and entertain the rest of us. They had a hard time getting the big one back to his feet when he fell. Later I made my big blunder described in a previous blog entry.

More parade pictures

Geezers having fun at the St. Patrick's Day parade.

Gathering items to sell.

Friday morning I called a lawyer about how to claim a tax credit for our golf cart. He gave me some advice, but I have to get a form from the post office. I also asked for help from Lloyd, our Canadian neighbor. We were testing many charging units so I could try to sell them at tomorrow's garage sale. We had scoured the place for things we want to get rid of. Many were dead so I threw them away along with a drill and coffee maker that had malfunctioned. We ate the etouffee from last night for lunch and then watched the Purdue/Sienna first round game. Purdue won. We took our few items to the hall and put them on our table. The only things of real value are a Gevalia coffee maker and some of Evelyn's clothes. We looked around at other offerings but found nothing we could use. Perhaps something will show up tomorrow morning. The sale begins at 7. What a rediculous time to begin. At least we will have time to take a nap before we go to dinner with Bonny and Joe.

Evening entertainment

Thursday morning I typed an apology note and posted it at the hall where everyone could see it. I returned home after I continued walking while Evelyn exercised. Evelyn then went to the kitchen band performance while I had to wait for our friend, Jack Head, to work on our income taxes. Evelyn went to the stock show to see Janice and I continued trying to finalize the taxes. I had invited a couple from Trail's End to go with us to the final concert of the season. Joe and Bonny couldn't go so they gave us the tickets. We went to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack before attending the Canadian Tenors concert. They were excellent.

Big blunder

After the St. Patrick's Day parade, a crew came and sprayed our driveway with an epoxy paint. We went to the soup supper where I committed a silly offense. There were many people there so the tables were numbered. Our number was called early and I went to the line for Irish Stew. I wanted to try a small amount of each soup and went back to the ham and bean line because no one was in it. There were still some tables uncalled and some friends were upset with me--rightly so. I apologized and prayed for forgiveness. It was a great infraction because they all knew I was a Christian. I was not a very good ambassador for our Lord.

Bad Blunder

We had our friends, the Bauknechts, come to play hand and foot last night, and they stayed until 11, making it too late to blog. We always enjoy visiting with them. He is recovering from prostate cancer for which he was treated in Winnepeg. During the morning, we watched the men come to paint our driveway. They carried everything out for us before painting. I was surprised that Evelyn was willing to do that, but she agreed. I later learned we had one of our many miscommunications when we agreed. I also tried to get some work done on the upcoming worship services. Today was also the big St. Patrick's Day parade. Several people from both parks decorated their golf carts or bicycles in green and rode by. There were about 2 dozen units. The day's festivities continued all day in both parks. We had signed to go to the soup supper at 4. We arrived around 4:30, and I wish we had stayed home. There were many in attendance so each table was given a number. When the tables were called, we were one of the early ones. There were 3 kinds of soup and we could eat all we wanted. I went to the Irish stew first, taking half a serving because I wanted to try all of them. We had taken our own bowls so I used mine. Before each table had been called, another man at our table and I returned for a different kind. I got some ham and bean soup. There was no one in the line for that offering, but one of the tables had a justified fit when they saw me getting another serving. It was a bad blunder on my part but was too late to reverse. No one went without soup but they were still furious. It was more of an attack on my Christianity than anything else. They were right in complaining and very kind in pointing this out to me.
Thursday morning I went to the hall and posted 2 signs admitting my indiscretion and asking forgiveness. I put one of them where nearly everyone will see it--near the mailboxes. I completed my short walk and returned home. Evelyn went to perform with the kitchen band, but I waited here for a friend, Jack Head, to come to help me with my income tax form. He thought his rehab would take longer than it did, and I could have gone to perform and made it back before he got here. He worked with me while the painters returned the things to the porch and Evelyn went to the stock show to talk with Janice. Her grandkids were to show their pigs at the show but too early in the morning for us to meet her and Don there as we usually do. Jack and I finished everything but the tax credit information on our golf cart.

The next to last Tuesday of service.

Evelyn didn't want to exercise again today so we slept late again. We were off to Bible study in the car because it was raining and Evelyn was to drive to the Christian luncheon in Edinburg. We had only 9 today and 2 will not be there next week, so we decided to join the final 2 lessons into 1 next week. I have been disappointed with the study guide but extremely satisfied with the DVD discussion. It was still lightly raining when Evelyn drove off with some of her friends while I took the guide to the office to have copies made for next week. I walked on home and made a toasted cheese sandwich before walking to the hospital. I could have gone to the bike club party but am disappointed with the neighbor across the street who had his driveway painted. He had said he wouldn't when I asked him to go in with me Monday. I had thought Denise would have recruited a partner for me in the gift shop since I had called her Sunday to say Evelyn would not be there. She didn't. Next week is our final service for the season. I got along with Irma for the most part and walked home in the sunshine. I got the mail and came home. Elizabeth's thank you card finally arrived. We ate what was leftover from the etouffee served Sunday. We didn't go anywhere in the evening and watched some cooking shows featuring extra spicy food. Some of the pictures made my eyes water.

Our day at the stock show.

We slept in and didn't attend the park meeting for the first time this year. I don't think we have caught up on the hour of sleep we lost Sunday. We got up and I made us some pancakes. Unfortunately, I made the batter too thin, and we had to add flour to thinken it. I finally got them thick enough but added some chocolate chips which caused another melting problem. We went to the stock show where we work at the information station. I have a good time joking with the people coming in needing directions. We worked until 3 and then drove to Harlingen to buy a mattress cover at Kohl's. It was getting close to 5 hours since we had eaten, so we used a coupon to get a Domino's pizza for supper. We had originally planned to take Shirley Pierce with us, but she wasn't home. We used the GPS to find Dominos, ordered a take out, walked to Dollar General to buy Evelyn a comb. We went to McDonalds for something to drink and there was Shirley with some friends from her park. We chatted a while and then brought our pizza back home to eat. I like that because I have beer at home. We spent the evening trying to organize the Bible study for tomorrow.

A real ranch rodeo

We were blessed with the precious banquet with our Lord. There were only 30 in attendance because sine had returned north, one couple that had sold out and moved back north and perhaps some forgot to set their clocks forward. We had a good solo during Holy Communion--"Seed Gathered and Sewn"--sung by Billy Lovelace. I almost got up and sang harmony but didn't want to step on his solo. Jim Moody joined Sharon by playing his violin with her accordian. We came home and prepared etouffee for our guests, Roger and Mitzi Pederson, the couple we managed the dances with this season. They came and enjoyed the meal being the first time they had eaten either boudin or crawfish. We then went to the ranch rodeo at the RGV stock show. It was very entertaining. Groups of 5 ranch hands roped and hog tied full grown cattle, wrestled cattle down to "brand" them, ride horses across water (a blue tarp) to "rescue" a cowboy, and drag another cowboy on a shovel. There was also the traditional "mutton buster" event in which kids under 6 try to ride a sheep as far as they can, followed by kids under 12 trying to grab a red flag off the tail of some calves. We returned home and Evelyn went directly to bed while I cleaned up the kitchen. She had not gone to sleep until about 4 last night, the night we lost an hour of sleep any way. I worked a bit on next week's order of service while watching the NCAA tournament draw. Purdue was only seeded 4th in the South region because they wwere playing without Robbie Hummel. Perhaps they can win 1 game but not likely 2.

Yesteday was Friday and began as usual. We went to Dr. McDougal's to get a copy of Evelyn's blood work, went to pick up Heinz and Alice, and drove to Dr. Moore's. We were a bit early, so I took our passengers to Burlington Coat Factory while I returned to be with Evelyn. The results from MD Anderson were really inconclusive. We discussed surgery and decided there was no rush and will discuss the situation with Dr. Dodd in Asheville. We took our guests to Remington Steak House for their seafood buffet. We all enjoyed it, but I will not push a return. They are always offering calamari instead of a good fish selection. We left there at 1 and returned to Weslaco. I tried to get my old computer but the repairman was not there. Alice wanted us to come in to play cards, but Evelyn was still fighting a cold. We came home and she went to bed. She slept 2 hours and I joined her for 1. We took a walk in the evening after eating jello for supper. The weather has been what we had hoped for all winter. We stopped in to see what was happening at the dance but learned later that there were only 43 in attendance. We just lay around most of the evening. Evelyn went to bed early and slept through the night.
We slept until 8 as we do on Saturdays. We went for a walk and invited 2 couples from Minnesota to watch their team play Purdue, but they cancelled later in the day after agreeing to come early. I came home and cut the grass. Then I worked quite a while trying to get our sprayer to work. I was unsuccessful but then resorted to using a spray bottle. We have many weeds in our yard and mulch areas. Finally I got things sprayed. As we had lunch, we were able to talk with Emily. She and Andrew had arrived home at 2 AM. Andrew did well in his first debate tournament, finishing 16 out of 42. After lunch we began to wash our screen porch. I borrowed a power washer and a stiff bristle brush from the neighbor, and we cleaned the screen area. Then I tried to get some of the rust cleaned off the outside driveway with limited success. It does look better but not like I expected from using CRI, a rust remover. During periods of washer malfunction, I watched the disappointing Purdue basketball game. If they had been on a cruise ship, they couldn't have thrown a basketball overboard. I hope they shoot better in the NCAA tournament. We stayed in this evening and I practiced the message for tomorrow.

A day of activities

The morning was a usual Thursday. We met at the hall to go to the kitchen brand performance at a nursing home. We went to the closest one but had fewer residents attend than usual. We returned home at 10:30 and Evelyn went to bed because she thinks she is catching cold. I put on my chartruse bike club shirt and rode off to Taco Bell with about 18 members of the club. We ate there and I brought a gordito crunch home for Evelyn before rushing off to an AARP driver safety meeting. The meeting was from 1 to 5. It was not very productive and the buffet meal we were given. It was very common as my dear moither-in-law would say. The meeting was fairly well organized but the man in charge neglected to bring enough expense forms for me to file for my mileage. I came home in time to go to Walgreens for some supplements for Evelyn before going to the Thursday Bible study. This was the final Thursday session for this season. Andrew Beeli and his mother, our daughter, are at some sort of debate in Indianapolis.

Canadian friends coming and going

We were up at 6 so Evelyn could make the bus ride to the boat ride to the Port of Brownsville. We went to the hall and almost went along. There was one seat but I had no cash with me. Instead I continued my usual walk. I made a list of projects since I could find no one to play golf with. I went to Jack-in-the-Box around 9 for a breakfast bowl. I really liked it. We needed a new wiper blade for the back of our Vue. I went to three auto stores but found no refills and ended up buying an entire assembly. I went to Mercedes and had the tires rotated at 14,000 miles. I then went to talk with our friends from Winnepeg who arrived a week ago. He had been treated for prostate cancer and couldn't come until the first of March. I made arrangements for them to go with us to McAllen on Friday for the seafood buffet. I returned home and worked on the next 3 messages. I have only 3 more Sundays before we leave for Los Angeles. At 4 I went to the hall for the appreciation dinner for the volunteers in the park. We qualified by leading the Bible study and being cochairs for the dances. Evelyn had not returned by 5, so I went home to get a couple of beers and went to Schwinghammers so I could have a beer with Bob. Theresa had gone with the women Evelyn went with. Just as I was about to turn toward his house, the bus arrived. I picked up Evelyn and Theresa and took them back to their house. We spent half an hour talking with them about troubles with Mabel's free dental clinic. Evelyn had missed the dinner and was hungry. She wanted to shower when we got home and she showered while I went to DQ to buy her a Butterfinger blizzard. I brought it home and shared it with her. We watched some TV and the neighbors from Canada came over to say goodbye because they are leaving tomorrow morning. We will miss them because they are very friendly. We went to bed early because we had risen early. We tried to call Emily in Indianapolis but got no answer either time. She is there with Andrew who is in some debate tournament.

Dedicating Joe's new office

It was very balmy this morning on my walk. Evelyn is using a DVD called "4 mile walk" that makes her sweat. She had to come home and shower before going to the ribbon cutting ceremony at Joe Winston's new office. His son, Randy, gave a nice speech when he acknowledged the certificate from the Chamber of Commerce. Then the pastor from St. Paul McAllen where they worship blessed the new office. The entire family is devoted to Christ and His service. They had a tour and some light snacks before we left. We went to Jack-in-the-Box for a spicy chicken sandwich. We had gone to JC Penny first to look at intimate apperral for Evelyn. We didn't find any but did find a pair of shorts and a top for her to wear tomorrow. We really liked the sandwich. We went to the hospital for our afternoon of volunteering in the gift shop. We got along well with Irma who didn't come in until 3 when we went on break. We came home directly after work, and Evelyn lay down for an hour. I took the golf cart (it was here when we returned), got the mail, looked for a golfing partner for tomorrow, stopped at a block party, learned about how to get wireless in the park after Armond leaves and returned home. I found Armond to ask him to play golf and had a beer with him. He can't play because he plays softball tomorrow and leaves for Grandview, MB, Canada. We will miss them. We had a sandwich for supper and then watched "National Treasure 2". Evelyn had to go to bed earlier because she is going on a boat trip to Brownsville tomorrow morning at 7 AM.

Party, party

I wakened about 6:30 for some reason, so I went for my walk. I usually throw the morning newspapers onto the steps, but, even though I was early, there were none yet. I came home and showered before going to the park meeting. I met Evelyn there with the kitchen band where we performed for the park residents. We played for nearly 25 minutes--too long in my opinion. Immediately after singing, Armond and I ran to his car and drove to the Tierra Santa golf course for a free 9 holes of golf. We were right on time and paired with a man and wife from Donna. I had some good shots but more bad ones. We did have a good time though. The event was a Winter Texan appreciation day so they served a lunch of hot dogs and beer or sodas. We were home by 1:30, and I was asleep by 2. Evelyn worked on the dessert she made for the party this afternoon. We walked across the street to the party at 4. It was a very good time because the people are quite nice and friendly. We returned home and took a walk around the park at 6:30. It had just gotten dark but the wind had not subsided. It was still fairly warm and the walk was great. We came home and received a call from Elizabeth. The Magicjack works well sometimes but not others, so we heard only parts of what she said. It is always good to talk with her. It seems like they are working on adjusting to Ohio life.

Kitchen band party

Here are the members of the kitchen band out of costume. We have a party at the end of the year, and this one is at the neighbor's directly across the street.

A great day in the Lord

We were blessed to have 46 in attendance this morning. We had a speaker from the Gideons International, and our congregation donate $97 to the distribution of God's Word. We rushed from there to Immanuel to sing with the choir at 10:30. Evelyn needed some items to use in making the dessert she will make for the kitchen band farewell party tomorrow afternoon so we went to WalMart and bought them. We also bought some pomeganite-blueberry ice cream. We just learned of it a couple of weeks ago. It is delicious. We stopped at Church's Chicken and bought some to take home. We enjoyed the breast and thigh in the meal. I like to bring fast food home where we can have wine or beer. During the afternoon I worked on the service for next week and even looked at the sermon. Evelyn had to lie down for a while. I walked to the hall and retrieved yesterday's mail. When I returned, Evelyn was ready to take a walk. We did. The temperature was pleasant, making the strong wind tolerable. While walking we were asked in by the Schwinghammers who wanted us to meet their son. Theresa knew that we had met him last year, but Bob had forgotten. I have a lot of fun joking with him and so did his son. We left there and came home for popcorn and beer. We spent the evening watching TV, although I had wanted to invite someone to come and play games with us. I will have to call the man who repaired the computer last week. It is not working again. Another man thinks it is a problem with the hard drive. We were able to talk with Stacy for a short while but missed her return call while on our walk. We tried to call Emily several times but got the message that we weren't allowed to call that number. Even the MajicJack couldn't make a connection. We haven't talked with her for over a week and miss that exchange.

Isn't that a lovely cake? The committee went to great lengths to make this special. We sat at a special place for us and were the last couple since we were "W". This is the display put up showing our wedding picture and our 50th picture. I have gained a bit of weight!

These are pictures of the group awaiting their pictures to be taken; Evelyn and I posing for our camera; we are standing in the middle of the hall as we entered for the ceremony.
Evelyn had to take a sleep aid so I let her sleep while I walked my usual route. I returned home and made us an egg, bacon and cheese breakfast taco. It was very good. We had decided to eat late because of the scheduled 50th wedding anniversary party. We just lay around until 11:30 when we dressed in our finery. We were to be assembled for pictures at 12:30 and were on time. Of course we were finished half an hour before the party began at 2. We did get to talk with some people we didn't know well. The party featured 14 couples. The custom is to tell some of the history of the marriages and took quite a long time. We had been interviewed a couple of weeks ago and that information was used to compose a thumbnail sketch. We were impressed that 4 of the couples gave a short Christian witness in their story. We were finished before 4 and came home to change clothes. We were surprised to receive 55 cards from the residents in the park. I doubt that many people know us, but they are very kind and thoughtful. There must have been 200 people at the ceremony. This event is a very big deal around here. We ate a very light supper at 5:30 and a friend fromm the bike club picked us up to go to the piano concert at Immanuel. He is a former railroad engineer and loves classical music. The pianists were both former members of the church and one was Joe and Bonny's daughter. The music was all classical but quite different styles. We went to a reception afterward and got talk with the performers. We were back home by 9:00.

The final Lyle Beaver dance

It was overcast and cool this morning, but I had to shed my jacket before I was finished. We had breakfast when Evelyn came home. While she ironed, I went to a class on the U S constitution. Sadly, there were only 7 people there. The sadness is that most of the people in our park (or our country) have any knowledge or understanding of the constitution, except to have heard the word. Some can even spell it! This is obvious in the way they allow the federal government to take away rights that are guaranteed to states and individuals in the document. This theft will have little effect on our generation compared to the effect it will have on the freedoms of the successive generations. They will have to deal with the legacy we have left through our ignorance. Thank God for His revealing that we can trust Him through our Savior, Christ Jesus,for eternity. We decided to eat a later lunch than usual because we will have popcorn for supper at the dance tonight. By the way, this is the final dance we will be responsible for. Thanks be to God. We will devote our time to more Christian pursuits next season. I had a strange experience with our new golf cart yesterday. I just stopped running. I had to push it back home and thought that perhaps it was just out of charge. I charged it all night but couldn't get it to run this morning. I called the man who sold it to me and asked him to come to look at it. He said he would come tomorrow to get it, but about 2, the young man who delivered it picked it up. We rested in the afternoon and skipped supper because we knew we would eat popcorn at the dance. We have all decided we will not be in charge of the dances next year and learned that Lyle Beaver, the band, would not return at all next year. The activity director refused to give him the one dance she had promised for next year. There were only 36 paid admissions and that will not even pay the minimum amount of his contract: $275. She is something else. We were able to clean up quickly because of the slim crowd. We home by 10:25.

Another concert in McAllen

This morning was very pleasant. Evelyn had slept well and drove to the exercise because she had a hair appointment at 9:15. She is dissatisfied with her permanent from last week. She says her hair is too stiff on top. She had done what could be done and seems somewhat satisfied. I spent the morning in 2 ways. First I had to the homes of the Bible study attenders to tell them we would not meet next Tuesday. We had forgotten that Joe Winston was having a ribbon cutting at their new office, and we had been invited. Not many friends had been. After my visits, I cut our grass and the neighbors. I use his mower in the winter to mow, and he uses it in the summer to mow. This is a good deal, especially for me. I took the concert tickets across the street to Kruse's. I had them in our car but decided to let him drive because we had been invited to a block party at some other neighbor's at 4, and they will likely serve adult beverages. I am rarely affected by a few beers but let Evelyn drive if I feel woozy or she wants to. Tonight the neighbors drove. The show, "Red Hot Hollywood" was only fair. Something may have been wrong with the sound system, but the women sounded tinny. We also thought the choreography could have been better. The man we went with taught instrumental music in Iowa for over 30years and agreed with most our assessments. We weren't home until very close to 1. I had recored the urdue Indiana basketball game and I watched some of it before bedtime.

Plans for tomorrow

Tuesday is our Bible study after exercise. We had 12 in attendance again. We learned more about how the Bible was selected. We came home to get ready to go to the hospital. Our neighbor, Marilyn, invited us to her house for dinner tomorrow night. We accepted the invitation because they are good Canadian friends and serve a delicious fish meal made of fish they catch during the summer and bring here. We went to Burger King for lunch but took it back to the hospital break room to eat. We drove on to the hospital and had a good day. There were hardly any beverages until the Coke man brought some at around 4. We left at 5 and came home. Evelyn rested while I went to the neighbor's to ask them to go to the concert with us tomorrow. They accepted and I came home for supper that Evelyn fixed. I then went to Bonny's to get the tickets, went to get the old computer that was fixed and went to the grocery for milk and Dawn. I brought them home and wrote this blog before the news and weather.

visiting friends again

Up for the morning usual. It was more temperate and less windy for the morning. We found a Canadian neighbor and invited him and his wife to lunch Friday. He will let us know. We attended the park meeting and heard many jibes about the hockey game yesterday. We came home and had breakfast. Again, for some reason, we were very tired and took a morning nap. We got up and fixed bratwurst for lunch. Evelyn read in the sun while I worked ont he message for next week. I also went to find another couple for tonight's dinner but couldn't find them at home. I finally called the Jones" who agreed to come. I also called Bonny to see if they would go to the performance with us on Wednesday night. That is the night we have Lenten service followed by choir practice. Being choir director, she might not be able to go. Tom and Luanne came and we enjoyed crawfish etouffee and each other's company. They left around 8, we washed the dishes and watched some of Fox network before going to bed.