New golf partners.

I was up early after a somewhat restless night. I rode my bike to the hospital to see a Canadian man who was being treated for some problem with his pacemaker. If the treatment doesn’t work, he and his wife will have to return to Canada for possible surgery. I came to anoint him with oil but had arrived while he was eating breakfast, so I went to visit Tom Kruse. I visited with him a short time and asked to anoint him as well, but he declined. Perhaps he thought I was giving him the last rites or something. I returned and visited with Arnie and he accepted my offer. I returned home and went with the kitchen band to the Weslaco Rehab Center. Evelyn drove and we took 2 others. We were there a bit longer than usual, so I was a bit late for our time to leave to play golf. We loaded Armand’s van and picked up Jack and Jodi to go to Mid Valley to play. They are quite good. I played average until the final hole. Armand beat me and had played the best he has all year. We came home and enjoyed a beer. Evelyn joined us because we were at our house. Rose was too busy cooking to join us. Everyone left around 4, and I came in to eat a bowl of Evelyn’s delicious gumbo. She had added more roux mix, making it thicker. We spent some time watching TV during the evening. We are going to have to play cards instead sometimes. Evelyn’s arm and shoulder is still hurting quite a lot. I don’t know if she will get medical help or not. I am also trying to print a few pictures but can’t. I may have to send them to a drug store or get someone to help me.

making golf plans

While walking this morning, I found some friends from last year. Jack and Jodi Revel had spent much of last winter recovering from open heart surgery. He also had to have 4 stents inserted in the same area of his heart. They want to play golf so I set up a time for tomorrow with them, Armand and me. When I came home, Armand asked me to go to Mexico with him. We went for him to get a haircut and shoe shine. Evelyn decided she needed her dress shoes shined for New Year’s Eve, so I took my black shoes too and had my sneakers cleaned as well. I bought 2 bottles of Kahlua for Shirley, we had a beer and came home. Evelyn had prepared a delicious pork roast for lunch at 2. We cleaned up the kitchen then rested for a while. We drove the golf cart to Schwinghammers so Evelyn could talk with Therese about yoga tomorrow. I was somewhat cold to Bob because I am tired of being ignored by him. I won’t even drink a beer with him, so it is obviously a serious rift.  We came home for a light supper and an evening of watching a movie on the Hallmark channel. I think I am contracting a cold. I have been applying Zicam to my nose, hoping I can stave it off. I know I am more tired than usual.

More Christmas dinner

The turkey cook and carver before serving the eager guests waiting patiently.

fun at the Christmas dinner

Boogieing in the afternoon

We led the Bible study for the final time today. We had the same number of people with the addition of Ed and Nona. I called Wesley as to why we had missed each other yesterday and learned he had been in the hospital the entire holiday season. He said he would be there tomorrow. We had lunch here and then dressed for the afternoon. Actually I dressed after taking a half hour nap. We left with Rose and Armand to go to the Mustang Lounge to meet John and Sue. A performer named Ruthie was the entertainment. She wears a lavaliere microphone, sings and walks around the crowd dancing. She is good and draws a nice crowd. The lounge is new and very clean. We shared some nachos for supper and went to the grocery after. We all needed some supplies. We were home by 8 and enjoying being at home for the evening. It is nice to be at an age and location where we can go out for dancing, some drinking and a dinner yet be home early enough to act our age. Winter Texans would rather go out in the afternoon and be home before dark. This area caters to our taste which is one of the reasons we return year after year.

serious illness in the neighborhood

I missed the park meeting this morning. I went to keep an appointment I had made to have the car checked over but found that Wesley will not be back until tomorrow. Evelyn went to the meeting. I came home and got Armand to go to play golf. Drews had come to get their small plastic drawer chest to use in their tiny apartment at Country Sunshine. After visiting a short while, we left for the golf course. I played better on 7 holes but had 15 strokes on the other 2. It was a cool pleasant day and we were home around 2:30. Evelyn had made gumbo for us. After lunch we were both tired and took a nap until 5. We had to clean the kitchen, so I washed the dishes. Evelyn’s arm had been hurting so I wanted to help. We watched the Saints play the Falcons. Drew Brees made a couple of terrible decisions but won anyway. Our neighbor, Judy came to tell us that Tom had become sick through the night and was taken to the hospital. She thought he would have to have surgery but learned later in the evening that he would not. We had ridden our bikes to the hospital and saw him in ICU but he was asleep. We have prayed for both him and her because she will be exhausted if she has to keep going like this for long.

Some relaxation

We had an uplifting worship this morning. 39 people attended, 7 were visitors from Saskatchewan. The Petersons have beautiful daughter (who have beautiful voices) bring their families to visit each year. We just sang Christmas carols, but I did read the Christmas scriptures from Luke 1 and 2 along with some short inspirational readings. We visited our neighbor, Tom Kruse, again. He is doing better in that he can swallow but is weak in the rest of their body. We had decided if we could find Rose and Armand to go with us to the Remington for the Sunday brunch, we would go. If not, we would stay home for lunch. We stayed home. We finished off the leftovers from yesterday. I then worked on finding sermons for the coming weeks while watching some NFL football. I also tried to give some tamales to our Canadian friends without success. Evidently Canadians don’t like tamales. Evelyn took a nap after talking at length with Stacy. It is cold in Atlanta and snowy. We are blessed with only cold weather. It was in the low 30s last night and will be in the upper 30s tonight. We took a walk in the late afternoon and mailed a couple of cards on the way. We thought about attending the Sunday night entertainment but stayed home. Various performers come to entertain after the weekly ice cream party. I have served ice cream in the past but made some people angry, causing me to decide to not do that again. The entertainment tonight was to be a very funny woman. Sometimes it is a singer or performing small band. We were in bed by 10:30.

Remembering the birth of our Lord

We had a lovely day to celebrate the birth of our Lord. A cool front had come through, making it quite pleasant. The wind, however, made it cooler than comfort allowed. We slept until 8:30. We both needed extra sleep. We went to the hall to help decorate the table for our dinner but had to wait for the other 9 couples. Of course, not all showed up but there were enough to do the job. We returned home and gathered up our food and place settings. We dressed in Christmas clothes and returned to socialize with everyone. Not everyone in the park goes to the dinners. Some have smaller dinners at a home while others go to other parks to visit friends. We go to meet new people. We met some more today. I drank about half a bottle of pinot grigio before and during dinner. We had turkey again with many side dishes. We were finished by 2, gathered our equipment, came home, cleaned the dishes and took a nap. That’s right, a nap. When we wakened at 4:30, we went to a friend’s home to get some tomato and cilantro plants. We visited a while and brought the plants home. We took some pie and cookies to Okells and then returned. Evelyn talked with the Beelis for a long time, and we missed 2 calls from Stacy. We will call her tomorrow. I worked on the service for tomorrow and even the following week while watching “House” on TV.

Delivering gifts for a dad in prison

It is still warm here—high 80s. We didn’t have much scheduled today, so I set up a golf game with Armand and a new friend, Jarl, another Canadian, played with us. We walked again and again were behind a group of 5. These weren’t a slow as those yesterday. I continued my long straight drives but didn’t chip or putt quite as well. I had 4 putts lip the cup. I shot 50 but should have scored 46. The brightest spot was getting over hole 9 without going into the water. We returned home, had a beer and then I had lunch. I also remembered that today was the day gifts and food was to be distributed to a community of poor people. Normally we took things to Mexico but weren’t interested in risking our well being by tempting the drug cartels. The bottom line is that we didn’t go to the giving for the first time in several years. Evelyn’s shoulder and elbow have been hurting tremendously for the past week. It was especially bad today so she went to bed. We left to go to Mercedes to deliver the gifts to the Prison Fellowship kids and practice with the choir for the Christmas Eve worship service. While delivering the presents, two Mercedes police cars came to where we were parked behind 2 men with 2 babies. The police seemed to be questioning the men as if they were not supposed to have the boys. We didn’t stay around to inquire about the situation. We went to the grocery again for items needed for the Christmas Day dinner. We came home for supper and watched Sarah Palin’s Alaska.

Christmas concert

We had Bible study again featuring the acting out of the book or Acts. One of the women called us with a serious cold, so there were only 4 of us. We had a good class anyway. We came home and had lunch. We could have ridden to Keno’s restaurant for lunch with the bike club but didn’t. We rested and then went to Harlingen to shop for some things at Kohl’s. We bought a necklace and a board game for the kids we had volunteered to give a gift. Their father is in prison and Prison Fellowship, a Christian group that ministers to prisoners, has an Angel Tree program to give the gifts as if they were from their dad. We found some things for Evelyn too. After a sandwich, we went to the auditorium to hear the Vance Greek Christmas program. The first half was not very good and was the same one we saw 3 years ago. The second half was composed of the Rio Hondo Baptist choir. Janice Waters, our friend, was in it. We sat with her husband, Don and were blessed by the music. It was very cold in the auditorium, and I wore Janice’s sweater backward like one of the snuggies being advertised on TV. We went with them to the IHOP restaurant because they have had nothing to eat for supper. We weren’t very hungry so we shared an order of banana bread French toast. It was delicious. We had a great visit with them and exchanged gifts or cookies.

Professional basketball

Monday was different from the usual one. Evelyn exercised and I walked, but we didn’t attend the park meeting. Evelyn stayed home to get ready for her lunch, and I talked with Armand. We decided to play golf. I had to vacuum the car because Evelyn had to drive to the lunch and left with Armand. We were just paying our green fees when Schwinghammers were finishing. I noticed that they had only a foursome even though I had nearly begged them to let me be the 5th. The Lord must have determined that I am better off with Armand. We played behind a group of 5 that slowed us quite a bit, but I was hot. I drove better than I ever had for 6 holes and was at 38 after 8 holes. That was only 9 over par, but the roof fell in on hole 9 as it usually does. I scored 10 on a par 5 but that included 2 penalty shots. I thanked God for such a good round. We came home and skipped our usual beer because I was hungry. I heated the spicy jambalaya and enjoyed it for lunch. I then took the shower I had skipped in the morning. Evelyn returned and told me about the lunch at Papadoux. We were both tired and took a nap. We dressed and went with Bonny and Joe and their grandson Mark to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers basketball game. They won by 30 points. Mark does some sort of delivering of statistics to the coaches, so he didn’t sit with us. His parents have good season tickets and we used them. We had to buy a general admission because Mark has to use one of the family tickets. He works there, gets paid for his work but still has to buy a ticket. Go figure! The good news was that it was dollar night: hot dogs, popcorn and sodas were all 1 dollar. We had not eaten supper but weren’t very hungry. We did share popcorn and a soda. We took him to his home and then returned to ours shortly after 10:30.

Caroling the shut-ins

We were blessed with 39 in attendance at our worship service. One of our friends who couldn’t come from Saskatchewan last year due to health was back with their grandson. Another couple had visitors from International Falls, MN. We came directly home from worship to finish the preparations for our party tonight. Evelyn finished a hot and mild jambalaya and cornbread muffins. We moved some furniture and decided how the food line would flow. Everything was pretty well decided and prepared, so we took a nap and waited for Bonny. She picked us after we moved our car to the parking place at the hall. (We expected a couple who couldn’t walk far and wanted them to have the parking.) She picked up Joe and we went to the church to rendezvous with the other carolers. It was 4 but we didn’t finish until after 7. We visited 7 shut-ins from our church. We were pleasantly surprise that a Hispanic family with 6 children went with us. The kids loved singing ”Joy to the World” as well as the other carols. The shut-ins really liked them. We learned that 3 of the kids were theirs and 3 others were children of the mother’s sister. Their father had shot and killed their mother last summer while the children watched. The mother and father who brought them here had adopted them because they had no home—mother dead, father in prison. We all came to our house and we enjoyed jambalaya and the things the others brought. Bonny brought tamales that were a big hit. We also enjoyed adult beverages. We had a very enjoyable evening.

The Feast

Today is the annual Feast of Sharing. HEB grocery chain provides a ham dinner for anyone who wants to come. They have programs of this kind in more than 28 locations throughout Texas and Mexico where they have stores. We were scheduled to work from 12-2, so we ate at 11:30. We delivered sodas to those eating. I carried a tray of about 20 while Evelyn delivered them. I soon discovered that the tray was much lighter if I didn’t fill it. One man who had finished his shift was going to put what he had left into my tray, but I stopped him. The people are brought in and seated in a large Catholic church hall that held 20 30 foot tables on each side of the hall. The plates of ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, mixed vegetables and a piece of pie were delivered by volunteers also. It is HEB’s way of saying thanks. There was also a band stage that featured at least 2 bands. We danced 3 songs and were thanked by one older man for being the first. There were also some inflatable jump toys and a climbing wall for the children and free popcorn for all. We went to Joe and Bonny’s for a piece of pastry filled with raisins and other things. It tasted good but was tough to cut and chew. We enjoyed conversation with them before returning home so I could tweak the message for tomorrow. We had had an interesting day serving our Lord.

Another Christmas party

We were up an exercising early. I had to go get the mail because the staff puts yesterday’s mail into the boxes today. We had our breakfast but no lunch. We went to serve our commitment at the hospital and then served at the children’s Christmas party. I really enjoy working with the people at the information desk. Lionel and I joke a lot while we wait to bring a mom and baby down for dismissal, a patient from day surgery or walk someone to medical records. The 3 ladies are also enjoyable and helpful. We feel like we are serving our Lord. Evelyn works with the foundation and helped set up the Christmas party again. We left our positions early to go to the party. She distributed cookies and milk to the kids while I took bags of popcorn around to everyone who wanted one. The hospital is very generous with its employees at the holiday. The kids really have a good time playing games, getting faces painted, balloons made by a clown and sitting on Santa’s lap. I saw at least 2 bicycles to be given away by raffle (no charge), and Santa gave many gifts away also. I joked with many of our volunteers that one boy received a gift of tequila. Of course, most of them just laughed, but the CEO of the hospital almost went wild until I told him I was joking. What do some people think? We hadn’t eaten any meals after breakfast, so we had some no nothing soup when we got home. Evelyn had thought she wanted to go to the dance in the park, but I thought she was too tired. I was right. She went to bed around 8:30, and that was the last I heard from her.

parties

So far this week I have played golf only once. Armand and I finished with the same terrible score on Tuesday. While we were gone, Evelyn went to Weight Watchers and learned what we both feared: she is over her target weight and she has to pay each month to be weighed and stay in the program. I had gone to have the car inspected in the morning and made an appointment for next week to have a more thorough inspection. We went to the Welcome Back party in Mercedes with Rose and Armand. I enjoy going because a friend from church has a band that plays there. They also give away door prizes and beer. I won $10 and Evelyn won also but wouldn’t claim the prize. I had gone to the bathroom or I would have claimed it. I danced with June Robinson (wife of the band leader) and Debbie Eilers (daughter in law of the Emcee). We were home by 9:30.
Wednesday was a relaxing day. We just putzed around the house. Evelyn always has something she likes to bake or cook. We planned to go to one of the local honkey tonks that caters to winter Texans in the afternoon with Hamels and Okells, but there was only karaoke tonight. We ended up returning to our house to play sequence until the bicycle/golf cart Christmas parade began. We watched it and then they went home. We left for worship service and choir practice. We needed to go to shop a bit and invited Joe and Bonny to go with us to enjoy an eggnog milkshake at Jack in the Box. We shopped at HEB and bought some supplies for the party we will host Sunday night after caroling. I came back and typed the final product of our Christmas letter. Now I have to figure out how to put 2 pictures at the bottom as Evelyn wants.
We talked with Emily in the morning until I went to take some recyclables to the new center. It was well manned and organized, unlike the one we have had for the past few years. I also went to Wal Mart and bought a deck to play Phase 10 with and a game for the boy we drew from the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree. I also got a foot massager for Evelyn. I will give it to her for Christmas. I returned and tried to find the computer guy here for advice. We both took a nap and then went to the Nickerson’s for a party. There were 30 people there and we knew most of them. The driveway was small and difficult to maneuver, so we couldn’t get around to everyone. Evelyn was stuck sitting next to Newcomers while I talked with a teacher from Canada. I tried to learn as much about him as I could because he seems like a nice person. The food was all provided by the hosts and was quite good. We stayed until the designated ending time, 6:30. After returning home, I took the instruction of the computer guy and learned how to put the pictures on the letter. I printed 6 copies and will try to email several others. I thank God for revealing this to me.

Looking to hear better

We attended the weekly park meeting because I had to talk about the Bible study and a possible AARP class. One of the couples who forgot to come is desperate to take it, so I gave him the list of those who didn’t come to allow him to contact them. I think he will. Evelyn had to meet with others from our table to plan our Christmas dinner. We then went to McAllen to see what is wrong with my hearing aids. The left ear battery dies as much as 13 hours before the right one. We spent about an hour looking for the place and then learned that it was probably because one of the aids needs more power than the other. We also went to a large HEB store and found some unusual food buys. Evelyn needs some thin sweet crackers for some cookies she wants to make. We found those and some spicy sauces to put on cream cheese to serve as an appetizer. We looked for a Kohl’s store but found none. We were home by 4 and took a nap. I almost went to the par 3 course to play golf but thought it might be dark before I finished. We called Andrew to wish him happy birthday. He is 17 today. We just stayed home, and I typed a newsletter Evelyn had composed so we can send it out. She would like to add some pictures, but I don’t know how. I will look for someone who can help me do it.

4days at once--a new record

Wow! It is really easy to get behind. Thursday we were scheduled to play with the kitchen band at a local nursing home but couldn’t go because the institution had a conflict. We rested during the day and took naps. Thursday evening we went to the local Gideon camp Christmas party. It was held near Monte Alto on a huge farm owned by a corporation. The manager of the farm was our host. He had a house that was supplied by the corporation he manages for. It had been renovated 5 years ago and was beautiful.

Friday was hectic. It began with my arising at 6:15, driving the golf cart to the outback, rearranging the room and waiting for the people to arrive for the AARP Driver Safety class. 19 were signed up but only 7 came, and one of those was a walk in. I drove back with my supplies, grabbed a light lunch with Evelyn and off we went to the hospital for our volunteering session. This happened to be the day of the hospital Christmas party. There is always a nice meal and a generous give away of some very nice prizes. We have won some in the past but weren’t there in time to enter. We had finished our shift but didn’t have to on party day. It was all right. We came home, changed clothes and went to the dance we were to work. There were far too many scheduled to work, but we stayed for most of the dance anyway. We were the only workers there who had had any experience. By then I was wearing out and so was Evelyn. We came home, and she watched “The Great Gatsby”. I went to bed at 9, thinking I would get up and work after a nap. I didn’t move until around 3, went to the bathroom, and returned to bed until around 8.
I got up Saturday and made us omelets for breakfast. We went to the DonWes flea market to see what we could find. We bought a few knick knacks, including an American flag for our house. We came home without having lunch out. We began washing the golf cart which wasn’t easy because we had to roll down the isinglass curtains. They had never been rolled down before and were full of dirt that had been dampened by all the summer rains. We had to scrub them off with nothing hard to scrub against. We had some pizzas, so we decided to invite Rose and Armand for dinner. They came and we talked as we watched Purdue play basketball. They left around 8 and I went to bed early again.

I was up at 6:45 and working on the service before taking a shower and leaving for Trail’s End. We had 32 attenders, but I didn’t think I had a good delivery. The message was the last of the series. It began as Jesus is coming as Savior, as Lord and today as Judge. Today I emphasized that our God is a loving God whereas Islam’s god doesn’t care for people at all. We left there and went to visit Tom Kruse. He is now in a room with another man who had a stroke. The room reeks because that man doesn’t have his depends changed often enough. Both Judy, his wife, and his brother were there too. His brother comes to shave him each week. We came home, ate lunch and took a nap. Evelyn then went to walk on a treadmill while I rolled up the isinglass curtains on the golf cart. I began looking for our telephone but couldn’t find it. I went to Tom Crouch’s to visit with him, and he called the phone after I arrived home. Neither Evelyn heard it in the car nor I in the house. It has begun to concern me. We went to the park entertainment and asked our local computer guru who said ATT can locate the phone using some sort of GPS system. We will go to the store tomorrow. The entertainment was poor at best. The man tried to get the audience involved but was often off key, off note, and off words. (He couldn’t remember them.)

Clean floors

The carpet cleaners came and did the usual great job. Evelyn had dragged me out of bed to move everything out of the Texas room before they arrived. We moved the computer upstairs so we could receive the SKYPE call from Emily. The cleaners left and we sat at the table working, waiting for the call. After an hour we gave up. I called her cell phone without success. We ate lunch and I went to the hall for the mail. We wore our house slippers because the carpet needed time to dry. Evelyn remembers that it took 3 days last year. The cleaner took special care to dry it more thoroughly. After lunch we took a nap. We had planned to go dancing at the honky tonk this afternoon with John and Sue, but they wouldn’t go. I called Emily on the MagicJack and learned her computer had developed a problem, preventing her from SKYPEing us. We did get to talk with her for about an hour. We just stayed home until time to go to worship. We came home after choir practice. Dixie told us via email that Justin is in Afghanistan again. We pray that he returns home safely.

Lunch with the bike club

I walked again this morning and left with Evelyn for the Bible study. We rode our bikes thinking we would leave from there to ride to Fat Daddy’s for lunch. I noticed some cherry tomatoes being given away in our park, so we took some back home. We then left to go to lunch with the bike club. It was a bit windy but not too bad to ride in. We went through the neighborhood behind us, east on the business highway, and south on 1015 the restaurant. They were eating by the time we arrived. We shared a sandwich and an order of “Texas Toothpicks”—French fried sticks of onions and jalapenos. They were different from French fries. Marilyn, the leader of the club, and Therese Schwinghammer came over to visit with us but many just ignored us. They had ridden to Progreso Lakes and were seated away from us, so I guess they didn’t have occasion to speak. We rode back the same way causing us to make several left turns in heavy traffic. This is dangerous on bicycles. I went to see if Armand wanted to play golf again, so we went off to play 9. Evelyn and Rose went to Walmart to shop. I had 2 horrendous holes on which I lost 3 balls but parred 3 of the final 4 holes. It is hard to figure this game out. We returned home and finished preparations for our supper guests, the Merryfields. Evelyn had prepared some delicious enchiladas and had a great time visiting with them. After they left, I found Purdue playing Valparaiso on TV. We have scheduled carpet cleaning for tomorrow morning.

Developing a busy month

I walked around the park before meeting Evelyn at the park meeting. I had to talk about the Bible study (no is attending) and the driver safety class. We came home to find all of our electrical items that John took yesterday were back. The large star doesn’t work nor does the fiber optic tree. John did say that he had found a new motor for the optic function and will bring it someday. I called Merryfields and invited them to dinner tomorrow evening. Evelyn made a spicy chicken dish and doesn’t want to eat it for weeks. Evelyn also called a carpet cleaner to come on Wednesday morning. We ate lunch before I left to play golf with Armand. We went to mid valley and rented a cart so we could play 18 holes. We should have saved our money because neither of us played well. What is new? Evelyn went to mail a package of books to Stacy and sent their Christmas gifts with them. We completed a birthday card to send to Andrew. It was very cool and breezy all day so I wore jeans and a long sleeve shirt for about the 2nd time this year. It was especially cool on the golf course for most of the round. We have to use a cart because the course we play is too long to walk, especially the back 9. We can walk the front 9 but not both. Evelyn and Bonny are making plans for the party after the choir caroling on the 19th. December is developing into a very busy month.

Double preaching day.

We got up earlier than last week so we arrived more on time. We had more time to set things up and visit with some of the congregation. More of our good friends have arrived and were in attendance. Our neighbors, Rose and Armand who never go to church, came to worship with us. They communed with us but I am not sure they understood that they were partaking of the Lord’s true Body and Blood. The message was about Jesus’ returning as Lord. We went to Llano Grande where I gave the same message. Afterward we went to visit a friend, Paul Zopfi, who had a knee replacement. He and Donna are well. We came home for lunch, and I watched some football before we took a nap. We were wakened by the Hamels who came to work on our speaker wires. They brought Dick Hiebert with them and he fixed our wiring. He also took our outside Christmas star and fiber optic tree base. We watched some TV, including the 3rd episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska and talked with Stacy on the phone. She certainly does her best to serve the Lord by helping with the children who are pretty helpless. She stays with the children to give the parents a respite. She is appreciated by most but has some bad experiences with a few. We enjoyed the evening at home.

On My Own

We tried to sleep in but couldn’t. I went to the kitchen band practice, but Evelyn couldn’t go because she had to dress and wait for Bonny to take her to the LWML lunch. The group has “secret sisters” who pray for them and send cards throughout the year. She took a cake she had baked. Our friend, John Hamel, sat in at the piano because our regular pianist has not yet arrived. When I returned, she was still waiting. Bonny is almost always late. She came and they left. I left shortly thereafter. I had looked for Bob Breseman to ask him to go, but he couldn’t. I went to the CVS to talk with the pharmacist, but he was busy. I went on to the flea market to get a ball plucker to put on the end of my putter. I had looked there before but never found one until today. I also found the booth that belongs to our neighbors before going to the grocery for toilet paper, etc. From there I went to Jack-in-the-Box for lunch. I got 2 chicken sandwiches to take home and 2 breakfast croissants for my lunch. I also had a coupon for a free real ice cream milkshake. I chose an eggnog flavor, and it was delicious. I went to Wal-Mart for ice cream and returned to the CVS. I got to talk to the pharmacist this time and got some Sudafed for my sinus. I hope be able to stop clearing my throat. My sinuses are draining constantly, causing my throat clearing. It is driving Evelyn crazy. I got home minutes before she did. She went to bed for a nap. I was blessed to find that Purdue was playing basketball on TV. After the game we went to visit a friend, Sylvia Owens. Her husband, Charles, had died in June, and they had been very kind when I worked for Immanuel. He suffered from Parkinson’s disease all the time I knew him but was always friendly, as was she. She is doing well and will stay here in the Valley to live. We came home so I could finish tweaking the message, and she could mail a package off to Stacy.

A partnership joke

I slept better but did wake a bit earlier than usual. The morning was so beautiful that I wanted to walk. I made it home and showered before Evelyn returned for breakfast. We ate and then went to get her temporary driver license. While she was in line, I went to get the VHS player. The heads were very dirty but are now clean. I returned for Evelyn just as she finished. We returned home for lunch and then went to the hospital. Lionel found a glass trophy awarded to the hospital and read the inscription to me and another volunteer, except he read my name on it. He asked why I hadn’t taken it home so I jumped into the ruse and said I wanted it to be here where everyone could see it. He asked when I won it, and I responded that it was last year when he was in Canada having his heart valve replaced. The woman listening to this fabrication slyly picked up the trophy to read for herself. Lionel was standing there laughing as was I. When she realized she had been deceived, she good naturedly blamed me for her being fooled. I get blamed for everything even though I just went along with Lionel’s ploy. We had a good service day at the information desk. Evelyn worked at the Foundation for an hour before leaving to help decorate for the luncheon tomorrow. She came back to finish the day and then we came home. I saw that Lloyd and Marilyn had returned from San Antonio and talked with them for a short while. They will invite us for drinks next week and will tell us all about their trip. We ate at home instead of going out for supper as usual.

bad golf again

I couldn’t sleep past 5:30, so I got up and made some charitable contributions because we have a great deal of the Lord’s money to give away before the first of the new year. When Evelyn returned from exercise, we rode our bicycles to Diana’s restaurant for breakfast. We asked Judy Kruse to ride with us. Her husband is recovering in a nursing home and just began to swallow some liquids this morning. She is very excited, and we all thank God for his recovery. We returned in time to see Armand coming to our house, proposing that we play golf this afternoon. I was sleepy and took a nap for half an hour before going to play. Evelyn worked on baking a cake for the LWML Christmas party while Armand and I played a miserable round of golf. Actually it wasn’t terrible until the final hole. I don’t know what is so intimidating about that hole, but I can’t play it at all. We did pick up a small Hispanic man on the 6th hole who was playing alone. He had lived in South Bend, IN for 30 years and moved to Mercedes to live after retiring. He parred 2 of the 4 holes we played together. Armand and I came home and enjoyed 2 beers and a snack. Then Evelyn and I ate dinner before coming in to watch what we thought was the 3rd episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska. It wasn’t. The promotion keeps promising it will be shown next Sunday. I guess we will wait. We will go to the hospital tomorrow. I hope to sleep better tonight.

first Advent worship

We had a normal Wednesday morning. The man who sold us our heat pump came to see what was wrong. He found that the wire our neighbor had cut and repaired while mowing last summer had come loose. He didn’t charge anything for the house call because he owed us a laminate hardwood panel his crew had drilled holes in when they installed the unit. We agreed to call it a wash, and then went to run some errands. Evelyn wants to get a replacement for her driver license, but the line was too long. We will return another day. We went to Ace Hardware and had another key for the Saturn made since I had lost our spare set. We also dropped our VHS player at my friend Rene’s. He said the heads were very dirty and cleaned them. He also said our extra speakers for the radio were good. We had thought they were bad for several years. We returned home for lunch at 1 and then I washed the car after resting for a while. We then went to church after supper for the first Advent service. Afterward we had a choir practice. Bonny is very brave to continue to try making a choir. She always gets the same people, and we sing the same songs. I guess they are fine if they bring glory to God. We came home and I watched the Purdue basketball game I had recorded. They won. We look forward to a very delightful day tomorrow.

Mexico again

I was up and preparing the outdoor Nativity scene. I put the star out that goes above scene and checked the lights. I joined Evelyn for breakfast and then went to the Outback for the Bible study. No one came. Evelyn stayed home to wait for the man who said he would come in the morning to look at the heat pump. I watched the video by myself because I always enjoy learning from the man in the video. The repair man didn’t come in the morning. I had planned to go to Mexico with Okells in the afternoon, but we went in the morning instead. I got my other case of beer, some Rum and 2 bottles of vanilla. They needed some medicine, so I got to talk with my friend Victor at Susy pharmacy. Armand wanted to buy me a beer, so we had one before coming home. I felt bad because he wouldn’t let me pay any on the parking. We came home, and we had lunch and then rested until 3 when he came. He didn’t fix anything because the parts are under warranty, according to the man who sold the unit to us. We then went out to arrange the lights on the Nativity scene and hang the star. We brought the mail home and then ate a light supper before our company arrived to play Tripoley. I am learning more unpleasant things about Bob Schwinghammer. He nearly walked out of the game because he got very upset with Roger, his best friend here. He seems to be a real hothead. Maybe I should not be too upset that he doesn't invite me to play golf. I would rather play with Armand anyway.