Lost in the New Year

I don’t remember much about November 30 but we did work at the hospital as usual and had our catfish dinner for supper.  Saturday was a football day and New Year’s Eve.  We went to the dance and sat with Rose and Armand.  We had planned to sit with a couple we had met in Lafayette, LA but they had separated.  He was there with another woman but sat with the band.  We left the dance at 11 and went directly to bed.  I was a bit “happy” and went to sleep quickly.  I woke around 6 and reviewed the message.  We went to worship and were blessed with Holy Communion even though my message was very mediocre.  I had planned to nap in the afternoon, but several friends were Packers fans and couldn’t get the game at their homes.  Ed and Nona Drews from Wisconsin Rapids came first.  Sue Hamel followed closely after and John joined us during the 2nd quarter.  I didn’t get to sleep but had fun.  We snacked and drank beer—that is they did.  I didn’t have any, an astounding event.  They left after the game, and we invited Judy Kruse for popcorn so she could tell us about her trip to Chicago to visit family for Christmas.  We went to bed early since I had not napped as planned.

Monday was a slow day until the afternoon when we went to Hamel’s to watch the Rose Bowl game featuring the Wisconsin Badgers.  This time I joined in the cerveza libations and snacks.  I rode to Bauknecht’s at half time to ask if they wanted to go to the German dance at our park.  They paid me cash for 10 tickets since the people in charge of the dinner/dance are Canadian too and have no checking account.  I returned to Hamel’s and we played a game of dominoes and had pizza for supper.  We left there around 9 to come home.  I discovered that the sermon I planned to use for next Sunday was one that I had given a bit more than a year ago, so I have to find another one.  I am recycling sermons.  Tuesday was a bicycle day.  I had to go get our tickets for the German dinner and then deliver them to Bauknecht’s so I rode my bike to Ranchero Village to make sure they had theirs.  I tried Hamels but they weren’t home.  I rode back to the hospital to tell Imelda I would work the information desk in the afternoon.  Then I rode home, ate lunch and rode back to the hospital. (All this riding might have totaled 8 miles—not far).  I worked until 3 and then came home.  I had to continue to work on creating the sermon all evening.  Wednesday we went to the Silver Sneakers class and then shopped for more groceries.  We came home, unpacked the bags and had lunch.  Armand came over and we left for golf shortly after 1.  I wanted to play but had to endure some pain due to some problem with my left thumb.  I must have torn a ligament or something because virtually any use of it is painful.  I blamed my poor game on it.  After our post game beer, Armand left for his supper.  We had wanted him and Rose to join us for the jambalaya Evelyn had made this afternoon, but Rose can’t eat spicy food.  We invited Mitzi and Roger Pederson instead.  They had just arrived from Iowa yesterday.  They had a tragic summer: their adopted daughter hanged herself in their garage and their son died of esophageal cancer two weeks later.   We were blessed that they were willing to trust us with  so much of their pain.  They talked for over an hour and a half after dinner.  It is difficult to understand what God had in mind during their ordeal. We prayed with them before they left.  We cleaned up the dishes and relaxed in the evening.