73 at last!

Thursday was my birthday, and Megan led the kids in singing to me.  I always lead the singing myself because it is easier than staring down at my shoes and weaving back and forth looking embarrassed.  The imagination project was a paper butterfly.  It was propelled by a rubber band inside it.  I had practiced last night but couldn’t get it to fly.  The kids were able to do it, however.  The theme was “no matter what people do…. Trust God.  People do many things to us, but we must trust God to protect us.  We didn’t do much the rest of the day but go to Shoney’s for a buffet lunch.  I had tried to go to a restaurant in Maggie Valley, but it was not open until 4:30.  We just spent the evening at home watching a movie. 

It is quite a surprise to reflect on being old.  I don’t think any of us can anticipate the feeling of being old.  I joke that I am approaching old age but know I have reached the plateau.  It is truly a gift from God to be old despite the aches I have in my left leg, the slow decline of my memory, and lack of energy.  I know that the friends I had when younger that are dead would rather be old—unless they are celebrating eternity with Jesus.  People will jokingly say that being old beats the alternative.  They have never thoughts much about the glories of being in Heaven with our Lord. 

Friday was the final day of VBS.  We had another experiment in blowing bubbles.  They kids enjoyed it more than we anticipated.  We had also thought we should have some backup activities, so Evelyn made some playdo.  We had them make something that reminded them of an event.  Unfortunately she had made different colors.  In our younger group, a trauma developed.  The pastor’s daughter and another 6 year old boy wanted the same wad.  She claimed the boy had taken it out of her hand.  We didn’t see it but know he could have done that.  She screamed and bawled for 20 minutes even though he offered to share it with her.  We finished our cleanup and came home.  It was very hot so we stayed inside most of the day and evening.  We had thought of going to the pickin in the park at Canton but decided to stay home to watch a movie because it was just coming down from a high of 97 in the shade.  The movie was an off the wall movie by Woody Allen.

Pictures from VBS

Evelyn and Susan preparing for the day.

Almost all of the VBS group.  The pastor’s wife, Megan, in the top center.

Our eldest attender.

Two of our youngest members.  The one in blue is a hugger!

Some of the choir awaiting the cake.

This is the Black Forest Tort baked for my 73rd birthday.

VBS

Monday was our first session with the VBS.  The kids were pretty attentive and cooperative.  The new program is called SKY and is new to us.  We are leaders in the “Imagination Station” and we get encouraging games and projects.  We have a science theme and I am Dr. Bob.  I even had to make a certificate of graduation because the kids got into the theme.  Evelyn is Assistant H2O.  The first illustration was making a “hoverball” float over a hair dryer.  They thought that was cool.  The program emphasizes that we can trust God no matter who we are, how we feel, what people do, etc.  Each day, the kids can take home the project for the day to show to their friends and families.  It was a nice, cool day but we came home for lunch.  I thought Marty might want to play golf, but I remembered we had a meeting at the soup kitchen where we volunteer.  It was good to review the procedures.  We returned home to relax for the evening.

Tuesday was the most exciting project.  .  Feelings get bottled up and we nearly explode.  To illustrate feelings that cause us to lose our trust in God, we used a small camera film like plastic can with a tight lid, 2 tsp of warm water, and a small pill that fizzes like Alka Seltzer.  Within 30 seconds, the container will explode over 25 feet in the air.  It takes about the same time as it takes to pray for God’s strength.  They were fascinated.  This year’s VBS is in the morning instead of the evening as in the past.  One problem is that it seems every church in our county is using the same program.  But if the children have their faith strengthened, we are all blessed.  We just relaxed during the evening. 

Wednesday the project was sort of odd.  The experiment was a “tubaloon”.  It was a long sleeve of plastic that can be inflated by gently blowing toward it.  They were able to throw them through a hula hoop.  The program is going well even though we have only 12 children in attendance.  It is great to serve our Lord in any way possible.  We left the church and went across the expressway to the hospital to volunteer.  We had our lunch and went to the 6th floor.  We had a light day with 1 problem.  There is 1 nurse that doesn’t like me.  I was waiting to see if a patient wanted a drink when she told me to go sit down and get out of the way.  I was quite hurt and disgusted.  I feel like never going back.  I really need to pray about what to do concerning her.  We came home and made plans for our Independence Day party.  Linda and Gary are hosting it because they have a back yard.  We went on to choir practice and took a Black Forest Tort Evelyn had made for my birthday tomorrow.  We shared it with the 4 others who were there.  The cake is delicious and very chocolaty. We have 2 more mornings of VBS.  The pastor’s wife does a meticulous job in running the program.  The Crumes are a great blessing to this congregation, but I don’t think they can save it.  Our congregation is small and old.  We don’t have many children.  In fact most of the VBS kids are not from families that attend our church.

Days of fun

Wednesday was our first afternoon at the hospital. We had our complimentary lunch that is always good.  There was little activity on our floor.  In fact the endoscopy/colonoscopy was entirely closed.  We had some post surgical patients that needed some snacks and drinks.  One man drank 3 cups of coffee and some gatorade so he could urinate.  He couldn’t go home until he did.  We left before he did.  We went home before he did.  We went to choir practice in the evening and made final plans for tomorrow evening with the choir director.  We worked on preparing our room for VBS next week.

We met Rosalind and Herb at the rec center Thursday and boarded the bus to go to the baseball game.  We had made arrangements with a small restaurant for us to eat supper before the game.  Rosalind has a bad back, so we had the bus driver drop all but me off at the bottom of the long hill we have to walk up to the stadium.  I rode the bus to the top and waited for the driver to park the bus and get our tickets.  When he did, I took our 4 tickets to the restaurant where we ate our Paninis.  The coupon included 6 beers that had to be taken home.  I had brought our Playmate cooler with us so we would have a way to get the beer back home.  I checked the beer in the gift shop until after the game.  We had  a good time and safe trip back.  We really appreciate Rosalind, but Herb is quite the liberal thinker.  We get along but don’t talk politics.

We took care of watering our plants and made a pizza before going to the Friday noon Bible study.  We took the pizza we made to share with the other attenders.  The study is a survey of the Bible and is over in 1 hour, so we came home for the afternoon.  It had rained about half an inch in our area, so we rested during the afternoon but went to the downtown street dance in the evening.  There was a brief shower during the dance but not much.  The leader of the band made the joking comment that he hoped it didn’t rain much or “we would have a big biscuit”.  The street is covered with corn meal to make the shuffling of the feet easier.  We had a good time there.

Saturday was another hot day requiring more plant watering.  We thought we would be too hot, so I engaged the air conditioner.  We went to a craft show at the local fairground after going to the farmer’s market in Waynesville to buy a plant.  We can’t remember the name of it.  Evelyn had made baked French toast in the morning and invited Marty and Sandy to help us eat it.  Doris had already eaten and wouldn’t come.  The ladies had a nice visit after eating.  We went to the square dance in the evening.  We talked with Tom and Melanie and made a tentative plan to go to a brunch for lunch tomorrow.  We have to check with a couple from church that we had made plans to go with tomorrow.

Sunday was another Communion Sunday and worship service.  We go to a Bible class prior to the worship.  The class is led by the couple we went to lunch with.  They wanted to go to a different restaurant, so I called Tom to cancel our meeting with them.  We went to Bridget's Bistro at the Herron House.  There is a different chef there, and we enjoyed the food.  But it was mostly breakfast featuring egg dishes that Evelyn doesn’t care for.  She seemed to be able to tolerate the offerings because hers had crabs Benedict.  We talked a lot about Bible study resources during the meal.  We came home and took naps before returning to the church to finish preparing our room for tomorrow’s VBS.  We spent the rest of the evening eating popcorn and watching movies.  We talked with both girls during the evening, always a blessing.  We are blessed to be able to remain close to them and their families.

Rolling along.

Monday is geezer day at Iron Tree Golf Course.  Geezers can play 18 holes with a cart for $14.  I is only a 9 hole course but is lovely.  There is a new owner, and he has worked extremely hard at improving the greens and fairways.  I think he is a retired military officer and probably has a good pension.  He has 2 children who help him run the course during the summer.  I doubted we could play because of the huge rainstorm last night, but it must have remained dry up there.  I had trouble again.  I just can’t get my swing right, especially from the tee box.  Marty hits the ball well but still scores high.  Evelyn went to exercise and then worked on lunch.  We weren’t able to eat until 2.  We rested in the afternoon before going to the square dance lessons.  We may have to pay next week after 2 free weeks.  We have really learned to enjoy dancing.  There is a dance this Saturday evening.  We stopped for a free milk shake we had got at a Tourists game. 

Tuesday we both went to Silver Sneakers exercise.  I like that one because I get an aerobic workout.  Evelyn needed to return a book to the library.  After that we went to the local funeral home to check on prices for a funeral.  We don’t know where we will die and have an insurance plan that will fly us to our home for burial or to a hospital.  We have to be more than 100 miles from home, and our home address right now is Weslaco.  I tried to find some prices at funeral homes in Weslaco on line, but they don’t have websites.  We had leftovers for lunch and just laid around during the afternoon.  During the evening we watched the Cubs play the White Sox.  Tomorrow we return to the hospital to resume our volunteering. 

Father’s Day blessings

After worship and Holy Communion, we went to Frankie Bones for my Father’s Day dinner.  We sent to Harbor Freight Tools to look for a power washer but didn’t find one at a price I wanted to pay.  We cashed a Groupon at Play It Again Sports and came home so Evelyn could rest before going to the monthly band concert in Maggie Valley.  As an additional blessing, it rained very hard, bringing some much needed rain to our tomato plants.

I want to talk about how much God has blessed me with my girls.  My wife who gave birth to my daughters is a real gem.  She has been committed to Christ and me for many years.  She always tells me such uplifting things about me and my skills.  She does many wonderful things for me everyday.  I wish I could say the same things about my treatment of her.  Both daughters are also committed to Christ and makes me very proud.  The elder daughter has 2 children, a Christian husband, and has a Christian business that ministers to parents of special needs children.  What a blessing to our family!  Our younger daughter has 5 children, a Christian husband, home schools her children and serves many positions in home school organizations.  She is a marvelous family manager but has time to maintain a very active life with her children.  I am blessed to be the father and husband to such outstanding women.  Thank you, Jesus.

Continued blessings

We went to the rec center Friday.  Evelyn went to the class, but I worked on the machines.  I must have them set for a stronger person because I began to have muscle ache.  It progressed on Saturday.  We had lunch and decided to go to Asheville to check on our Groupons to Adam Dalton Distillery.  We want to use the Groupon next Thursday when we go to the Tourist game with the rec center.  I had called the place without a return call.  We arrived and were delighted to learn that the owner was willing to register our certificate on the expiration date—the 20th—and allow us to eat on the 21st.  That was very kind of him.  We went on to get a piece of foam for a pillow and continued to a restaurant we had used last year.  It is in a hotel.  The meal was good, and I have 2 more Groupons that must be used this summer.  We came home and dressed for the ballroom dance.  We haven’t been able to go to the dance club since we returned to the mountains.  We met some friends we had hoped to invite to dinner and a ball game.  They will check their schedules.  They take many cruises and will be sailing to Europe in August.  We had a good time dancing to Steve Whiddon’s live music.  We came home and slept soundly.  We were both tired and slept until 9 on Saturday.  After a late breakfast, we did some work around the house and planned some of our strategy for the VBS a week from now.  We didn’t have supper until 5 and went to the church to do some partial organizing of our VBS work area.  We decided to use a table from our house and had cleaned it earlier.  We came home and talked with the girls.

Evelyn’s handiwork on our deck

With a fabric remnant, Evelyn made the table cloth, the cushions, and chair pillow.

Exciting day of golf

Marty and I played golf at Smokey Mountain Country Club on a lovely summer day.  We left here at 8 and began play at 9:30.  The course begins much like any other but changes at hole 3.  There are many large patches of weeds followed by Tee boxes high above the green.  The cart paths are twisty and steep.  We played faster than we had anticipated and ate lunch a bit earlier than anticipated.  We were finished by noon and back on the course.  The second 9 is a bit easier, but I often play better then.  Marty gets tired after 15.  We returned home by 3 to find Evelyn changing some of our living room decorations.  We still had autumn décor.  She had cleaned many of the curtains in the bedroom.  We got some rain in late afternoon and evening.  We hadn’t had any for a while and still didn’t get too much.  Our garden needs more.  I watched the season premier of one of my favorite TV shows: Burn Notice before going to bed.  We have also been collecting items of science for use in our vacation Bible school next week. 

Living without predicted rain

We slept in Monday—really in!  I think it was near 10 when we crawled out.  We were not out of bed until after our normal exercise was finished.  We remembered we were to work at the soup kitchen, so we skipped breakfast and drove to Frog Level.  When we arrived, we learned that they were overbooked.  Some churches volunteer large groups making it unnecessary for more—if they all show up.  They did today.  We went to a jeweler for Evelyn to have another set put into a ring and then went home for lunch.  It was an overcast day off and on tempting me to see if Marty wanted to hit a little white ball.  I was able to fight off the urge.  The office manager at the Open Door has rescheduled us for a different day so that we might have some action when we go instead of leaving.  Next week we return to our volunteering at the hospital and will see how that works out.  We rested during the afternoon.  I delivered an invitation to the neighbors that don’t live in our addition.  We would like them to come to the Independence Day party.  In the evening we went to the square dance lessons at the armory.  We were pleased that the organizers didn’t treat us like students.  We always enjoy meeting with Tom and Melanie while dancing.  We met a friend of theirs named Blair Yount who is just learning to dance. 

Tuesday we wakened to see that it had rained a bit during the night.  Throughout the weekend up until last night, the weather forecasters had predicted huge amounts of rain and even some storms.  The chances were 100% Monday (we had none) 80% today (small amount for us) and 30% tomorrow.  I don’t think I will go buy a rain suit.  We did go to the Silver Sneakers exercise, my favorite because it is exhilarating and structured for geezers.  Evelyn rested before heating leftovers for lunch.  She wanted to clean the woodwork and did one room while I took our long duster to clean any cobwebs from the ceiling and corners.  I also cleaned the 5 ceiling fan blades.  Once again she rested.  She has had 2 minor dizzy spells during the past days.  By minor I mean she has just felt dizzy but hasn’t fallen.  I make her lie down when that happens.  They are short lived and infrequent but are still something to watch.  She walked around our loop with the neighbor ladies in the evening and had no further dizziness.  (Have you noticed how infrequently you use the “z” on  your keyboard?  It is sort of fun to drop the left pinky down to use it.)  She went to bed a bit early, and I followed after the 10 o’clock news.

I was up at 7 today disappointed that we had not been blessed with rain during the night.  I had to water the tomato and pepper plants.  We also have some beets and squash plants growing but aren’t sure they will make any fruit.  The ones we planted in Texas didn’t this past year. 

Fun with friends.

Thursday was a temperate day with little overcast.  Evelyn leads a Bible study at church on 2 Thursdays per month, so Marty and I play golf many of those days.  We went to Iron Tree at 8:30 to play 9 holes.  We were behind a young man I worked with at Taco Bell a few years ago, but he and his partner let us play through.  We weren’t playing much better than they were but managed to keep ahead of them.  I really thank God that Marty is willing to play with me.  It does get lonely out there alone.  Besides, if I ace a hole someday, who would witness it?   We finished and were home before Evelyn.  We rested until 5:30 when Brent and Susan picked us up to go to the Bavarian restaurant.  This was the 3rd time we had been there since our return.  I had bought 4 Groupons for that place.  I noticed I had 3 remaining but had eaten there 2 times.  The waiters checked and found they were all unused.  A previous waiter had not registered one of them.  Brent and Susan enjoyed the ambiance and their meal.  We had a good one too.  We had enjoyed a glass of wine before leaving our house and enjoyed a lemon meringue pie Evelyn had made with a glass of Bailey’s Irish Crème.  We also played a short game of Phase 10 before they left.

Friday we decided to go for dinner and a baseball game, so we called Phil and Joan to see if they wanted to go along.  Phil has been working on some plumbing problem and needs a break, so they went with us.  We went to Frankie Bones to collect my birthday dinner.  We had good meals, but Joan didn’t.  She complained about her lasagna and was comped the meal.  I got to meet the manager who sold me the 2 for 1 card during the winter.  He was very kind.  We went on to the ball game and saw a very good one.  There was only 1 error and many great plays.  It was a cool but dry night and the game went into extra innings:6 to 6.  Everyone wanted to leave so we did after the 10th—still tied.  Later we learned the Tourists won in the 11th.  We had a good time.  During the morning, Evelyn had her annual mammogram at the hospital before we went to the Divine Drama Bible study.  We were late and ate our lunch we had brought from home.

Saturday was Appalachian Day in downtown Waynesville.  We went down about 11 and stayed until 2.  It was overcast but did warm up later.  There was plenty of food and many entertainers singing and dancing on the street.  We didn’t eat anything because Evelyn had put a chicken in the crock pot for our lunch.  We heard 2 bands, one female soloist, and saw some cloggers before going home.  We ate, picked the remainder of the chicken carcass and rested before dressing for our square dance at the armory.  We met with many old friends and did fairly well in our dancing.  We have a difficult time in doing the calls, and I have trouble hearing and understanding them.  We don’t “break the square down” any more than some of the others but are definitely not the only ones with problems.  We also met with Tom and Melanie who invited us for hamburgers tomorrow afternoon.  He wants to show me “the most beautiful golf hole” he has ever seen.  We agreed to go after church tomorrow.  They live in Sylva near Western Carolina University. 

We worshipped this morning.  It was my day to read the Old Testament and Epistle readings.  I love to read God’s Word and thank Him for allowing me the privilege.  We began helping set up the basement for VBS week after next.  We came home and changed clothes to go to Tabor’s in Sylva.  Evelyn had made rhubarb crunch with the rhubarb we got from Phil’s house last night on the way home last night.  We arrived at 1 as planned.  Tom had planned to barbecue the hamburgers but was out of propane.  He and I went to get a new tank so we could cook the burgers.  He did and then we ate before going to the golf hole.  It was a rainy, foggy day, but the hole was beautiful.  The biggest problem was the loooong drive up to the golf course.  Tom had taken a few balls for us to hit.  I hit 1 of 4 balls onto the fairway.  The feat was not as simple as it might seem.  The fairway was deep in front of the Tee box and was narrow.  There was no place to go with the ball but the fairway.  Jungles surrounded the fairway.  I hit 3 into those areas.  We returned to their home after 5, ate our dessert, and left.  We weren’t home until after 8.  Evelyn was especially tired and went right to bed.  She watched a movie I had recorded while I watched a different one in the living room.

Beginning a cool week.

After Monday exercise, Marty and I played golf at Iron Tree.  It was a cool, breezy day.  I played poorly on the first 9 (it is only a 9 hole course) but very well on the second round.  Marty is still awaiting her doctor to report on her CT scan from last week.  She had the reverse experience.  It is a real blessing to have someone close to play golf with.  We seem to get along well.  Evelyn and I made plans with the Ramseys to have dinner at the Bavarian restaurant.  We have been there 3 times since we returned to NC.  We have too many friends that enjoy German food.  I was surprised to learn that I had bought 4 coupons, used 3 counting today and had 2 remaining.  One of them must have not been called in previously.  We made plans for tomorrow evening.

We went to the real Silver Sneakers exercise class this morning.  It is more of a workout for me—at least I work up a sweat.  There was a new man there who had moved from Portage, WI just yesterday.  I tried to make him welcome but learned that he has no interest in worshipping anywhere.  He said, “I don’t worship.”  He wanted to talk about backpacking, making me realize that he worships the creation instead of the Creator.  We returned for a light lunch, shower and nap before Brent and Susan came to get us at 5:30.  We had a small glass of wine and then left with them to go to Asheville.  The meal was similar to the others we have had, but we did order a different item.  This time it was beef roulade.  They enjoyed the interior decorations.  We returned home and had a piece of Lemon Meringue pie Evelyn had baked in the afternoon.  After eating that we enjoyed some Bailey’s Irish Cream and played 3 rounds of Phase 10.

Wednesday was a relaxing day for me.  Evelyn went to exercise alone because she wanted to try the water exercise.   I am not very interested in swimming any more so I stayed home to work on the computer.  I have been trying to complete an order for a mattress to be sent to Emily.  I am having a terrible time.  I get instructions from the company, follow them, but am unable to complete the order.  I have even tried sending the instructions to Emily.  If things continue as they have, I will either print the order to send to Emily or cancel the order.  Evelyn returned with more satisfaction than expected.  The water was 80 degrees (too cold for me) and she exercised well.  The big problem was dressing to come home.  She can never get dry enough while standing on a wet floor.  I don’t know whether she will return or not.  We had a terrible soup for lunch and then rested before starting the bread making machine.  I had made a prototype of an invitation to our Independence Day party here in our housing development. 

There are many things that have entered our minds this past week.  We are unreasonably blessed.  We saw an ad on TV about what to to get out of debt.  We have no debt.  Another about saving a house that was mortgaged.  We have no mortgages.  Thoughts of suffering various terminal illnesses.  We may have one but don’t know it right now.  These are just a few of the blessings from Christ we enjoy.  We thank God for His mercy most of the day.  

Beautiful weekend

We had a nice weekend.  The weather was gorgeous.  We went to the monthly flea market at the fair ground.  We only found some friends selling in a booth and someone else selling tomatoes and bread.  We went to a farmer’s market but didn’t find anything we wanted.  We returned home for lunch and a nap.  I had thought we would try to do something during the evening, but Evelyn had some projects she thought more important.  I made some plant cages and trimmed some of the branches on our River Birch trees.  I was disappointed to watch Purdue lose a game in the rounds leading to the college world series.  They hadn’t qualified to play since 1984.  Evelyn just ironed and watched a movie. 

Sunday was fun.  There was a substitute preacher at church and Holy Communion.  Our choir sang.  I had a difficult sharp note to hit but did it.  I am the only tenor.  Our director was pleased.  We left there and shopped at a Dollar General before going to the annual cancer survivor dinner sponsored by one of the local oncologists.  The event always ends with the singing of “You are the wind beneath my wings” and the releasing of some small butterflies for “luck”.  We were there until around 3 and then home for a nap.  Around 5:30 Gary and Linda came to play games and eat popcorn.  We learned to play Rummicube and had a good time.  We talked with both girls and caught up with their lives.  Andrew is trying to get justice for Noah in a writing contest he should have won, but Noah is unwilling to challenge the injustice.  In Roswell Peter is enjoying his job.  Stacy is trying to get justice from a company that ruined some shrubs and garden while doing some tree trimming.  They all have legal problems.  The Beelis have other problems with the now failing installation of the engine in their Suburban.  We are happy that we, despite being old, are past many of these problems.  Thank you, Jesus.

A nice week

We have had several welcome rains this week.  But we also had some very temperate days.  Marty and I played golf at a country club mountain course on Wednesday.  It was High Vista Country Club.  We played again at our local Iron Tree course.  I played poorly Wednesday but very well on Thursday.  Evelyn was leading the Bible study at our church.  We also made appointments with Dr. LaFata for the end of July but hope to get in on a cancellation.  We didn’t have our Friday Bible study because the pastor attended the district convention.  We were blessed with strawberry pie free from Shoney’s one day.  We decided to return the faulty mounted ring to Cherokee and had to pay $50 more to have the prongs lengthened and strengthened.  On the way home, we met Shirley and her friend.  We brought them home for lunch that I had bought at a barbecue restaurant in Maggie Valley.  I also gave Shirley her Kahlua and vanilla.  We did pull some of the creeping Jenny from our front yard garden because the ground was saturated.  We spent the evening at home.  We have been exercising nearly everyday during the week.  We also heard more of Andrew’s plans for his time at UK.  It has been a very productive week for us.