Heading south

Yesterday was Tom’s 49th birthday, and Stacy threw him a party.  After worship (a message I really needed) we went to Papadeaux for a brunch.  Stacy had invited some friends that Tom had not seen for a while and were a big hit.  We just spent the evening watching Netflix items.  I was very uncomfortable watching either of the choices and worked mostly on my computer. 

We left shortly after 8 this morning and sat in line on Holcomb Bridge for more than 15 minutes.  We got to 400 in time to drive past a horrific accident in the outbound lane.  We prayed for the victims.  There were 3 or 4 fire trucks, ambulances and policemen scrambling on the lanes.  The traffic was backed up for 6 miles.  We sailed through Atlanta without further incident.  We got some advice from the attendant at the Alabama welcome station and had lunch at a turkey restaurant.  It was good but pricey.  On to Mobile where we just rested until we ate some sandwiches we had brought from NC.  Around noon, I discovered that Evelyn had left our cold packs in Stacy’s freezer.  I was angry for a while until I realized it was my fault.  I should not have relied on her to get them.  After supper we walked to a nearby Dennys and enjoyed an apple crisp.  We had a good time joking with the server.

Where we live in the summer

Why do we leave this place so early.

Autumn in NC: why we hate to leave

These are taken at a NC state forest.

Leaving the mountains

I have not had any serious bouts with vertigo since Monday although I frequently have minor ones.  I just stop and wait for a few minutes and then go on.  There were the usual 3 of us at the Lunch with the Lord Thursday.  The weather was still lovely but crisp.  Pastor and Megan wanted some shoe boxes, but I was not returning to the church—I thought.  I went to pay a doctor across the expressway and found that I didn’t have any money.  I returned home and continued packing while Evelyn cleaned.  That night it rained all night: a cold but gentle rain that didn’t knock all the leaves from the trees.  Friday, we had to go to town to get Evelyn’s ankle bracelet she had repaired, returned a book, went to pay the doctor (and get my good PSA results) and went to deliver the shoe boxes.  The Pastor and Megan were excited.  We said goodbye again, and were returned home for the evening.  I hooked the trailer to the car and went to Gary and Linda’s for a turkey Rueben dinner.  They were gracious to give us a sendoff dinner.  We came home and I called to put our Direct TV on vacation. 

I forgot to mention more woes.  We decided to color my hair, thinking it would just slightly colored and leave much of the grey.  Wrong!  Even though the box said brown, my hair is now black.  We went to a hair dresser to see if we could get advice on what we could do to lighten the hair.  The suggestion was to wash it with Dawn and baking soda.  It didn’t work at all. 

We got up early Saturday, finished packing the last minute items, delivered some left over food to neighbors, did some last minute laundry, packed the Direct TV receiver, and got into the car.  I couldn’t get the car to start.  We got Gary to come down to give us a jump.  We got away around 10 and talked to Emily on the way.  We stopped to get a jar of Vidalia mustard relish and some apples for our trip.  We arrived at Stacy’s early.  Tom made his famous Stromboli for our supper and then went to a haunted house.

Photo post

Three generations of square dancers.

 

Troubles galore

I have been having health issues. First, I had a couple of extensive nosebleeds within the past week. I got both of them under control by following a doctor's advice of squeezing tightly on the nose and blowing out the clots gently. I have always had nosebleeds and have even gone to the doctor for treatment. One was on a Christmas Eve afternoon about 40 years ago, requiring cauterization by use of silver nitrate. I also use a nasal spray called Afrin, recommended by the second doctor about 20 years ago. Both treatments worked well this past time. I have had small bleeds since stopping the recent big ones. Praise God. I have also had 2 relatively minor attacks of vertigo during the same period of time. Tuesday was the worst because I was not at home. We were taking dinner to the pastor's family when I looked down at their new dog for too long. The dog, the room and I began to spin, causing me to fall to the floor. Of course this caused the entire assembly to go into panic mode. I wasn't hurt (again praise God) but was a bit shaken up. It is almost impossible to know when or what will cause an attack, so I just move slowly.

In the meantime, we have put everything away that has been in the yard and will now work on moving furniture indoors from the deck and porch. It has been bright, sunny, and relatively warm in the afternoons, making it pleasant to work outdoors. It will be cold and rainy tomorrow and Friday before we leave Saturday. It is good to know I won't have to work in that weather. We have avoided shopping for a week now and have been fairly successful at eating from the freezer and refrigerator. Even under those conditions, the wonderful cook the Lord gave me has made delicious meals including yesterday's beef stroganoff. We have also been moving along on getting our 4X6 trailer packed to the roof. It seems that the more I declare we will not transport as much back and forth, the more we end up packing. I will take today off and go play golf with our neighbor.

Beautiful cold weather.

The past few days have been bright and beautiful. Then we had to bring all of our plants in at night. Yesterday our neighbor and I carried the cuttings of our rose bushes to his house across the street. He has a small trailer that he hooks to his riding mower. I used his pitchfork and loaded the trailer twice. He took it to his large yard where I used the pitchfork to unload it. He will burn it in a couple of weeks. He did almost knock me down when he tried to back up. We did some preparations for Saturday's football party and then dressed to go to the last ballroom dance of the season. We had a good time but left early because Evelyn's hips began to ache. This morning I was up early and dumped the chili we had made a couple of weeks ago into a large pan and slowly heated it. I also heated the boudin while Evelyn went back to Belk to see if she could find another bra like the one she found there Thursday. She couldn't, so she came home and we continued preparations. We had invited our neighbors, Gary and Linda and Andy and Adele, along with Brent and Susan Ramsey for a chili lunch and football party. We had several things to dispose of before we leave. I also had several bottles of beer that I can't transport to Texas. The guests accommodated us by drinking all the beer and 2 bottles of wine. We watched Purdue barely beat Illinois and then watched some of the game in which Nebraska mauled Minnesota. We had planned to go to the final square dance in NC, but Evelyn was tired so we stayed home. I also got a call from NCL and I scheduled us for a cruise to the southern Caribbean on October 24, 2012. It will be an 11 day cruise and will delay our departure for Texas because we will not return until November 4. I think I have nearly finished packing the trailer with a week to go. We will leave a day earlier than originally planned so we can attend Tom's 49^th birthday party.

Weather changes

It is really getting cold here. There was snow in some higher elevations just last night. The prediction for our area tonight is a low of 28. We are both getting ready to leave for warmer climes. I have been packing the trailer. We have a great deal of difficulty in deciding what clothes to pack and what to leave here. Last night we learned that one of the real pillars of our church here in NC is leaving the church. He is planning to marry a Methodist woman and wants to follow her. He sings tenor in our choir and I join him during the summer. There will be no tenor after we leave. I don't know if the choir can survive his leaving because no other men are apparently willing to sing. Evelyn finished her Beth Moore Bible study series this morning, and I went to my final "lunch with the Lord" study and prayer time. I have also cut our roses down to about a foot high. They have been too large all summer. We have finished our square dance lessons but will go to a student dance next Monday. We will also try to go to our final ballroom dance tomorrow night. We have not attended one for 4 months but might not be able to go if Evelyn doesn't feel well enough to dance. We are slowly losing our cold that developed after our flu shots, but her hips and legs hurt often. We made what we hope will be our final trip to the grocery before we leave. Son-in-law Tom sent me a solution to publishing pictures on my blog, but I can't get it to work. I think we will see him next weekend. I have made arrangements to hold an AARP driving class for veterans on November 21, thanks to our neighbor who is in our park. She is my liaison with the activities directors. Texas just won the second game of the World Series, so I am off to bed.

What have we been doing?

Life has been busy as usual. Evelyn had an LWML meeting to plan a zone rally. I also had our Lunch with the Lord Bible study. Once again, we had only 3 in attendance, and just the pastor and I at our prayer meeting. I enjoy going to the altar to praise Him. Before going to church, I talked with Gene, our neighbor, about buying a 22 automatic pistol from him. He let me fire it and gave me a booklet of instructions to read. I think a pistol might come in handy sometime if the drug cartels get any more dangerous in Texas. Friday was a productive day. I took my Groupon to the Interstate Battery store and learned that they had a better price on them than other stores. It rained in the morning but had stopped by the time we went to work at the hospital. Saturday was the big zone rally. I took Evelyn to church at 8:30 and went off to get more hearing aid batteries. I had bought 3 Groupons because that was the limit. I now know where to get my batteries. I returned to help 2 other men serve lunch to the ladies attending the rally. I always have fun serving our Lord. After cleaning up a bit, I came home to watch Purdue play Penn State. They lost but played pretty well. I wish their schedule was not so tough. I don't know whether they can win 3 more games to become Bowl eligible. Evelyn was tired so we just stayed home after the meeting. Actually, we are both a bit ill since we got our flu shots. Our neighbor first complained, and about a cold after the shot. 2 days later, I began to get sick. Evelyn followed me. She often has trouble sleeping and is often tired. She is doing even worse now. Sunday brought a wonderful worship and Holy Communion. We hurried home for lunch before meeting some friends from Sylva to go to a square dance to raise money for our caller. His wife had died Thursday. The benefit dance had been planned for several weeks. We didn't get to dance much because Emily called and talked for about an hour. At least we got to sit for a while. The Y where the dance was held had no chairs and the acoustics were terrible. We were happy to leave. We went to a type of oriental restaurant for dinner with Tom and Melanie, the couple we rode with. Evelyn was not very satisfied with the choice of locations. We came back to our rendezvous point, jumped into our car, and drove to Maggie Valley for the final band concert of the year. Our choir director leads a women's singing group that sang. After stopping for ice cream, we came home and retired early. It was a good thing because our colds forced us both to be awake from 2-4. We even slept late on Monday. Instead of exercising, we went to hook up our trailer and brought it to our house. I wanted to get the heavier items toward the front. It is a bit early, but we couldn't do anything until the heavy things were loaded. We took a rest in the afternoon before going to the square dance lessons. I forgot the time and we were an hour early. Then the dance was really a review because a substitute caller could not be found. One of the couples just had us walk through about half of the lesson's moves that had been covered. We will finish next week. Tom had brought me some wine to take south.

God’s spoken word

I wish I could publish the pictures of the color in the mountains today. I don't know how in the new method of publishing to this blog. Regardless, we boarded the van from the Rec Center at 10:30 and drove to DuPont State Forest and Park. The colors were breathtaking because they are just a bit higher than we are. We saw 3 waterfalls that were flowing quite full due to the recent rains. We met some new friends on the trip and had lunch at a Ryan's buffet. We didn't overeat quite as much as usual and didn't eat any supper. That meant we had eaten only 2 meals since I had made pancakes for our breakfast. We returned home for a nap before going to choir practice. I will have to check with some relative to learn how to resolve my problem by consulting a relative by marriage. We did get some encouraging news from a friend in Wisconsin. He is scheduled for a heart pump to be installed next Tuesday. He is quite concerned, but both he and his wife have strong faith in our Lord Jesus.

Beautiful rain

We woke this morning to a beautiful rain. It had been predicted, but many were worried how hard it would rain and how hard the wind would blow. The concern was for the leaves. The wrong conditions would shorten the leaf season here. But this rain was perfect. In fact is still raining even now. It is also temperate instead of too cold. Evelyn didn't sleep well last night, so I didn't wake her to attend exercise class. Instead we went shopping and ran errands. She finally found the Estee Lauder perfume she wants with the accompanying free make up kit. After going to 2 grocery stores, we came home for lunch at 2. Evelyn's hip is really bothering her, so she went to bed to read. When she arose, I went in for a nap. I seem to be tired often and need more naps than before. We ate supper late because of our late lunch. We watched a movie made in 1981 in the evening. Evelyn talked to our neighbor, Judy for a while. I wrote an email to our friends in San Antonio. They want us to visit them on our way south as well as go to the Wurstfest with us. I also spent some time catching up on my Bible reading. I am several days behind.

Back to business

We were off to the Rec center where Evelyn attended the class while I worked out on some of the machines. I don't like the way the instructor leads. I also walked a mile indoors. Evelyn tried to walk but had to stop because her hip hurt. We ran some errands before going home for lunch. We finished what was left of the German dinner. Evelyn went to read in bed while I tried to work on the computer. I did make some progress before taking a shower and joining Evelyn for a nap. We didn't eat supper at 6 but went to the square dance lessons. We are getting better but just need to practice more. Some bad news: our square dance teacher's wife will likely die within the week. He was very courageous in calling the dance tonight. There will be a benefit dance for him next Sunday afternoon. We came home for a small bowl of chili and an evening of "Dancing with the Stars". We also want to have our neighbor, Doris, to come for dinner this week because she will leave for Hawaii next week and won't return until after we leave for Texas. She is fun and neighbors well with us. So does our neighbor, Gene Ford. I gave him a 30 pack for lending us tools and letting us park our trailer on his property.

Eating German food.

We went to church and enjoyed the service. We had to come home and prepare for the afternoon. Evelyn helped me set up the house for the wine party and then left for church because she learned that she was needed for the entire dinner hours. The guests arrived here shortly after she left. I served boudin and wine to all 6 of them. They drank 3 bottles and were happy when they left. I caught a ride with one of the couples because Evelyn had our car. I served hot German potato salad and red cabbage for an hour. Our friends ate and entertained each other. One of the ladies had drunk too much wine and was quite tipsy. The crowd cleared out by 6:30, and we began to clean up. I helped collapse the tables and put them away. Evelyn had been cutting and serving cake all afternoon and was tired. I should have stayed and helped more but didn't want to force her to stay away from home. We brought 2 carry out dinners home, and she ate some of hers. I had snacked a bit and wasn't hungry. We will enjoy our dinners tomorrow sometime. There was a big turnout as usual, and many people were very complimentary. We watched a movie and went to bed early.

Lovely weather

We had a good night's sleep Friday on the air mattress Tom had bought for us. We were up and on the road by 8 the next morning. It was a gorgeous colorful day to drive through the mountains. The peak of color should be next weekend, and we hope the much needed rain will be gentle enough that the leaves will not be knocked off the trees. We had hoped to stop and have lunch at a recommended restaurant in Franklin, but it hadn't opened. We stopped at Pizza Hut instead for a personal pan. We did stop at the Food Lion there and bought some Matthew Fox wine that I like. We can take it to Texas. It is strange to say that because it is so close to the departure date. During the afternoon Evelyn finished the cake and iced it for tomorrow's German dinner. I unloaded the car and loaded the refrigerator with beer for our guests tomorrow while watching Purdue crush Minnesota in football. I sure hope they can win 3 more games, making them bowl eligible. We relaxed some of the afternoon and went to the square dance in the evening. Evelyn spent much of the dance time talking with Emily, but I danced with other women. I tried to check some of our credit card receipts, but my air card was not functioning. I did get to watch Nebraska pummel Ohio State. (sorry, Tom) Now I must see if this will publish.

Lovely weather

We had a good night's sleep Friday on the air mattress Tom had bought for us. We were up and on the road by 8 the next morning. It was a gorgeous colorful day to drive through the mountains. The peak of color should be next weekend, and we hope the much needed rain will be gentle enough that the leaves will not be knocked off the trees. We had hoped to stop and have lunch at a recommended restaurant in Franklin, but it hadn't opened. We stopped at Pizza Hut instead for a personal pan. We did stop at the Food Lion there and bought some Matthew Fox wine that I like. We can take it to Texas. It is strange to say that because it is so close to the departure date. During the afternoon Evelyn finished the cake and iced it for tomorrow's German dinner. I unloaded the car and loaded the refrigerator with beer for our guests tomorrow while watching Purdue crush Minnesota in football. I sure hope they can win 3 more games, making them bowl eligible. We relaxed some of the afternoon and went to the square dance in the evening. Evelyn spent much of the dance time talking with Emily, but I danced with other women. I tried to check some of our credit card receipts, but my air card was not functioning. I did get to watch Nebraska pummel Ohio State. (sorry, Tom) Now I must see if this will publish.

Beautiful night at the ball game

We had a beautiful drive to Roswell today. We wanted to see Peter march and play in the band, and this was the only weekend we could make it. The weather was perfect and Olivia went with us. We were slightly overdressed, but the temperature declined enough to make us comfortable. We left before the end of the 3^rd quarter having seen the band perform at half time. We came back to Tom and Stacy's to spend the night there for the first time in several years. We normally go to the local La Quinta Inn. We have to drive back in the morning to finish preparations for the German dinner Sunday.

Visiting the Centennial band

We are leaving now to see Peter play and march at a football game.