What a night.

After everyone was gone last night, I tried to sleep without much success.  Around 2:30 I woke up coughing a dry cough that really hurts my throat.  I tried some Chlorosceptic spray without success.  I took some Nyquil too, but nothing helped.  I finally coughed enough that I went to the Texas room to sleep on the couch.  I continued to cough so hard that I brought up some of the delicious chili from hours before.  After that things calmed down, and I was able to sleep the rest of the night.  The new couch is a sort of leather and was a shock to my bare back.  I had not worn a T-shirt but didn’t want to go back into the bedroom to bother Evelyn.  When morning came, I discovered she had never been able to return to sleep.  She went to exercise during the morning and then shopped a bit.  I returned to bed until she returned to make lunch.  We both napped after that and then sat outdoors in the warm sun which is supposed to be good for the lungs.  We watched some recorded programs and then a Purdue basketball game before going to bed again.  I sure hope all this rest will kill these colds.

Many blessings

Saturday was a lazy day because Evelyn was tired, and I was beginning to have cold symptoms.  It was still cold and a bit drizzly but we went to the Christmas Eve service.  We sang with the choir and read as part of the skit.  We stayed for tamales afterward.  Sunday we celebrated our Lord’s birth in our worship service.  We had 27 again but continue to pray for more.  We came home to rest before going to a local Chinese restaurant for dinner.  We were joined by 10 others from our park.  We played some quiz games and had fun.  We returned home and watched the Packers play.  We just lay around most of the day since we were both hit with colds: hers was diminishing; mine was accelerating.  Monday was mostly a day in bed for me.  I finished my Zycam program and began taking Coricidin.  Stacy had suggested EmergenC also, but I just continued the vitamin C pills I had been taking.  I wanted to check out flat screen TVs, so I went to the outlet mall.  I didn’t see any bargains but did find some clothing.  The skies had cleared, and I enjoyed being out but returned home to nap again.  Tuesday was the day Purdue played in a very minor Bowl game.  We had 4 other couples come to watch and had a good time.  1 of the couples stayed for a chili supper.  It was almost 8:30 by the time we were left alone.  The day was lovely and we took a walk in the early afternoon before the party.  Oh, yes, Purdue beat Western Michigan.

An exciting idea

Thursday was a gorgeous day.  We had an engagement with the kitchen band at one of the nursing homes nearby.  We sang Christmas carols for them.  I had the privilege of playing our version of a base fiddle.  It is a tall stick attached to an upside down 5 gallon can.  After lunch I asked if Armand wanted to play golf again saying, “The Lord is probably saying, ‘I gave you this perfect day so why are you at home?’”  We enjoyed our round again.  We always walk so it is good exercise too.  John Hamel called and asked me to go to a play in the evening because Sue is still sick (as is Evelyn).  We saw “Sylvia”, a play about a man who finds a poodle and loves it so much that it causes family conflict: his wife doesn’t like it.  It was very funny but made me think of bestiality.  I must have a sick mind.  Saturday was cold and drizzly.  We took Armand and Rose to the seafood buffet at Remington Steak house.  It was excellent as usual.  We came directly and went to bed.  She is still sick and I don’t want to get sick.  Now for the excellent idea.  When I went outside this morning, I found a decorative gift sack that had some goodies in it and a note “You have been decked and jingled.” and a request that we make 3 more sacks, reprint the message, and deliver them to neighbors.  There was another note to put on the door stating we had been decked and jingled to prevent duplication.  That was an excellent idea that motivated both Okells and us to pass the gift along.  We don’t know where ours came from and assume our recipients don’t either.  I hope we remember to do that again next year.  Actually, we might do it again during Epiphany season this year.  Christmas is 12 days long, you know!

Where is the heat?

Monday Evelyn began to feel a cold coming on.  She began taking Zycam without success.  As I write this Wednesday, she has spent most of the day in bed.  But Monday she was still functioning.  She went to the park meeting while I used the word processor to compose the sermon for next Sunday, Christmas Day.  I recruited Armand to follow me to the shop where the car was to be worked on, but Mr. Wright didn’t show.  He forgot and left town.  We returned home. I thought of going to the square dance lessons in the afternoon.  It turned out is was a “workshop” and cost us $8.  When they are called lessons after 1/1, they will be free.  We watched our program that I like, The Closer.  We went to bed as usual.  Tuesday I went to ask Armand to take me to the shop again.  He wanted to play golf, so I went to see if Wesley had come this day.  I waited and called Armand when Wesley came.  I left the car and rode with Armand to the golf course.  While I was waiting, I tried to do some catching up on my daily Bible reading.  It was cool and slightly windy.  The south was from the north, making it possible to par the 9th hole which I did.  I also parred number 1.  We won’t talk about the ones in between.  We picked up my car and were home by 4:30.   Evelyn invited our neighbor, Judy, for dinner.  She is alone now but has been very active in the park.  We have not been able to work ourselves into her schedule until today.  Evelyn’s cold was worse and went to bed early.  Wednesday was the 20th, 7 days from the end of the current phone month.  Since a new month will begin soon, I have begun to use the phone during the day.  I called Don Waters to see if he and Janice could come for dinner before next Tuesday.  He will get back to me.  I also called the church about the real address of our Angel Tree kids.  The secretary finally found the address, and I delivered the gifts on the way to choir at 7:30.  Today was the day we were scheduled to have our pictures taken for the new park directory.  We went but never buy any pictures.  We have too many of us as it is.  We get a copy of the directory and a free 8X10 for just participating.  We watched TV until Evelyn went to bed early.  Cold’s really hit her hard.  I hate to see her so ill but know how she reacts.  I try to avoid being the next infirm members of the family. 

I get far behind

We had a drizzle all day.  We went to exercise and then came home.  It was too windy to play golf so most of what we did was go to Advent worship service.  We had planned choir practice afterward, but many members were sick so it was cancelled.  We went to Joe and Bonny’s for ice cream and a visit.  Thursday I went to recycle materials and renew our car license plate.  I have misplaced my driver license and could not renew the plate.  I had to take Evelyn with me because she has hers.  We left from there and went to visit Shirley Pierce, the teaching colleague who was instrumental in our visiting the Valley years ago.  We used our Papa Johns coupon and took pizza back to her house.  We spent about 3 hours visiting with her and went to Hobby Lobby afterward.  We bought some yarn for Evelyn to add as a fringe to a shawl a friend from Trail’s End had made for her.  We spent the evening at home.  Friday we worked at the hospital.  Evelyn also went to see Dr. Sander, the orthopod that she wants to give her a shot in the knee.  He refused, saying that her knee wasn’t bad enough yet.  She will keep monitoring it.  I worked at the information desk until 4 when we worked at the hospital Christmas party for the children of the staff members.  It was fun doing crafts with the kids until it closed at 7.  I then went to the Elks lodge for their Friday night catfish dinner that we shared for our dinner.  We really like their fish dinners.  I imagine we will get into the habit of doing that after our work.  I began to work on becoming familiar with the materials for Sunday’s sermon.  Saturday was the HEB Feast of Sharing, a free lunch for the entire population that wants to attend.  There are likely 30 of them on different days throughout Texas and northern Mexico.  We like to serve in some way each year.  We try to remind the people we serve that Jesus provides the meal through HEB.  I had recorded the Purdue/Butler basketball game and watched it when we returned home.  Purdue lost in the final seconds but played a good game.  We then went to Joe and Bonny’s for supper.  We had expected a large salad but were surprised with a chicken dish.  We also chose some restaurants to attend prior to attending the concert series in McAllen.  I have some coupons that we can use.  We have a good time with them.  I worked on the message for Sunday when we returned home.  Sunday was worship with Holy Communion.  We had 27 again today, the same as last week.  I was disappointed but more concerned that we might run short of money for expenses.  If I think the worst, I will suggest having my salary reduced.  I must remain alert to the situation.  We spent the afternoon preparing for next week’s sermon and the choir caroling.  Around 3:30, we took some soup to Sue Hamel who missed church because she was ill.  We continued to Pastor Edge’s open house and then on to caroling at 4.  We rode with Joe and Bonny to more than 10 different homes to carol shut ins.  That made us get to the after caroling party around 8:30.  We don’t think we will do that next year.  It is too frustrating to see how things are organized.  There were people on the list to visit that were not really shut-ins, making the evening too long.  We had a nice party at Ken and Debbie’s and got home after 10.  It was an extremely long, frustrating day.  We didn’t get to talk with our daughters very long but will try again during the week.

Cool, busy days

We had a blessed worship service Sunday.  It was the 3rd Sunday in Advent.  We are up to 27 worshippers.  After lunch we picked up John and Sue to attend a musical, Cinderella, by Rodgers and Hammerstein.  We had never heard of it and the reason became obvious shortly after the beginning.  It was not vey good.  We went to the Texas Roadhouse afterward because I had a Groupon.

We went to Silver Sneakers Monday instead of the park meeting.  The people in this park treat us coldly, so I don’t have much interest in keeping up with activities.  We came home and I got a bug about cleaning the shed.  We have many of our Christmas decorations there and will have to take everything out again after Epiphany.  In the process, I caught my shirt on a nail and ruined it.  I was not going to paint anything so I didn’t think to change into work clothes.  We just stayed home during the evening because I like to watch “The Closer” on television. 

Tuesday morning I got up earlier than usual to go to the flea market in our park.  I had printed a picture of our old couch and love seat, so I took it for people to see.  2 people expressed an interest and 1 came to see it.  The woman was short, like Evelyn, and thought it was too deep for her.  That is why Evelyn wanted a new one.  I returned home and dressed to join Frank Richards in “Bibleing” 3 motels in Edinburgh.  2 of the 3 didn’t want us to go into the rooms to check the Bibles because they did it when needed.  We are not sure they do but always try to respect their wishes.  I was home before Evelyn left on her lunch date with a friend.  I planned to ride my bike to a local Subway for a sandwich, but the south wind had picked up so much that I decided I didn’t need one that much.  I came home and had a bowl of cereal.  Evelyn returned and we took a nap before our afternoon party.  Armand, Rose, John, Sue and we went to the Mustang Lounge to dance and eat supper.  We all had a good time and were especially excited to see Armand so interested in dancing.  They are such good neighbors and friends that we want to have fun with them.  We had planned to go to the Mercedes welcome back party but decided we had enjoyed enough partying for the night.  We came home and watched “The Help”, a movie about life in Mississippi during the 60s.  We were both pretty tired but finished it.

Happy times

Friday was the day for our annual Christmas party given for the staff and volunteers at Knapp Medical Center.  We always work on Friday afternoons and had to leave our posts for a while to attend the party.  There is a buffet and veggie trays and a big dessert table.  We had just used our last free lunch card at noon, so we ate at the hospital all day.  While we worked, Evelyn tried to make an appointment to have her knee treated.  She had an X-ray taken for the orthopod to examine.  She will learn next week when she will see him.  There are 2 brothers who were raised here.  they are in practice together.  She saw the younger last spring and didn’t like him.  She will see the older next week.

Saturday we tried to deliver our gifts to the children of prisoners.  Immanuel participates in the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree program.  The idea is to provide gifts to their children as if they were from their dad.  The first place we visited was likely the wrong address, but the families move around quite a bit.  I don’t know how we will find that child.  The second one was a challenge.  We drove north of Mercedes, the town where Immanuel is located, and out to a colonia full of dwellings.  Some of them are quite nice but most are old trailers and junk houses with boarded windows.  It was a drizzly morning, making for mud all around.  I slid up to 3 houses before finally finding the trailer where the baby lived.  2 women were there with at least 5 children including our 1 year old.  Surprisingly, the young women spoke English and seemed grateful.   I am sure one was the mother but likely not the wife.  There were 2 sheriff vehicles likely looking around the neighborhood for some other criminals.  We had not eaten but couldn’t find a restaurant acceptable, so we came home.  I had to clean much mud from my shoes and made it into the house just before the deluge began.  The Valley gets very little rain and this one was a gift from our gracious God.  It is still raining at least 45 minutes after it began.  I will work on tomorrow’s message for the rest of the day, except when I watch the Purdue basketball game.

Life in the Lord

This is Thursday and we just returned from the Gideon’s Christmas party at Rio Farms.  The major research scientist opens his home to the local camp each year.  It is always a carry in and features delicious food.  It is quite a joy to gather with brothers and sisters in Christ to celebrate His birth.  The week has been cooler than usual requiring that we bring some of our flowers into our shed and covering our new hibiscus.  I had tried to get Armand to play golf Tuesday, but it was too cold and windy so he refused to play.  It was strange that a Canadian would be weather shy.  It was likely because he was too familiar with the cold.  It did calm and became sunny, so we played Wednesday.  It is fun to play with him.  He confessed that he tries to beat me on every hole but I guess he should do that if it gives him incentive to play better.  I just like to play against par.  I like golf because it is more conservative:  we root for each other because his playing poorly will not result in my playing any better and vice versa.  I can’t take any of his strokes or his good shots from him.  We get what we earn.   We often enjoy a beer after the game and did that time.  Evelyn has been working on baking cookies for the Gideon party we just returned from.  She also spends much time reading and shivering.  She is almost always cold and loves to put her hands on my neck.  We have been busy exercising, etc. and were unable to go to the square dance and lessons this week.  We will try to do better next week, but our lives are pretty cluttered until Christmas.  Tuesday was errand day.  We recycled items (did you know that we are stewards of God’s earth?) shopped at WalMart and returned the rope lights that were defective.  The strand is 18 feet long and developed a 4 foot dead gap in the middle.  No one can understand how that could happen.  How can the electricity jump over that gap? 

It’s beginning to feel a lot like….

I wakened at 4:45 this morning and could not return to sleep.  Evelyn had been awake a couple of hours and slept a bit later.  I finished some of the scripture references and the rest of the text later in the day.  I will have to do a great deal of tweaking during the rest of the week.  We skipped the park meeting and went to Silver Sneakers instead.  It was really much cooler today to add to the spirit of the season.  We came home and had lunch before I showered.  Evelyn took a nap after lunch but Armand and I planned to go golfing.  Unfortunately he had a project he had to finish and had to cancel.  Evelyn wakened and we rode our bikes to the local Tower theater to get tickets for a play in January.  We then rode back to see tell John and Sue we had them.  John and I had a couple of beers, and then we rode home.  Armand was waiting and wanted to have another beer so I did.  We ate supper and watched some episodes of The Closer before going to bed early.  The weather is going to be cooler than usual for the next few days.  We will be down to close to freezing tomorrow night.  But the bike ride was very refreshing and enjoyable.  But much needed.

Completing the weekend

Saturday was windy again.  It is, on and off, most of the time.  25 MPH winds are nothing unusual.  Evelyn attended an LWML brunch at which they delivered plates of cookies to the shut ins from Immanuel.  We didn’t know too many of them, but they all appreciated the gifts.  The ladies of this group are very active in serving the Lord by serving others.  I just worked at home after the regular trip to Wal-Mart.  We entertained the Bauknechts, our friends from Winnipeg, for dinner and cards.  Evelyn had made a pot roast and a delicious sauce to add to it.  It has been pleasant enough to serve guests on our screened in porch.  We also talked with another couple on Sunday evening.  They had returned from Israel not long ago, and we wanted to pick their brains about their trip.  We had 22 in worship and Communion in the morning.  I am praying that the numbers will increase as we go, but that is not something I can do anything about what is God’s job.  I will praise Him in any case.  I spent most of Sunday afternoon working on making orders of service for future Sundays.  That is the most difficult part of preaching.  The woman in charge of getting scripture readers and accompanists needs the information far in advance to make the needed arrangements.  I have things ready up to February 12 but am really perplexed about the message coming up next Sunday.  I must get to work on that immediately.

Se Habla Espanol?

We skipped exercise and went to Mexico Friday.  We needed pedicures and teeth cleaning.  Things are much cheaper there ($9 and $20)  We were there by 9:30 and eating lunch by noon.  We went to a nice restaurant and 1 of the dishes we ordered was good, the other only ok.  Evelyn is very paranoid and wouldn’t even drink the ice.  This despite being in Mexico for several years and eating and drinking things there.  I vowed to never take her to eat there ever again.  We went to visit our friends from Winnipeg, Heinz and Alice. They were ill and couldn’t come last year but seem to be fairly well now.  We also stopped to see how Hamels were.  They are both still a bit ill but on the mend.  We returned home to plan our Christmas dinner at a local Chinese restaurant.  Another family had organized it 2 years ago but didn’t want to do it again.  We will do it this time.  We will get help from our neighbors and others.  I worked with Armand in his learning to email pictures and then we came home.  We spent the evening here.  I must get busy on the service for Sunday tomorrow.

Our old couch and love seat we want to sell

Our new couch looking rich against our rust wall

Our new love seat  It rocks and tilts