Professional football frenzy.

Thursday morning we left with the bike club for South Padre Island.  We have a large flatbed trailer that holds 40 bicycles, and it is towed wherever we are planning to ride.  Evelyn always loves to go on the SPI ride.  It was a breezy day and especially difficult riding back north.  The sun made it somewhat warm until we rode into the wind.  We finished the ride around noon and went to the Pelican Station Restaurant.  It serves large delicious shrimp, and Evelyn loves shrimp.  We finished lunch and left for the park because we were scheduled to serve at the happy hour.  That is a dance during the afternoon that lasts 2 hours.  We geezers love this because we can still get to bed early yet have fun.  Everyone brings drinks, and we serve sodas, popcorn and ice.  Diego is a young man that is extremely popular at these events.  He plays a computerized keyboard and includes a great variety of music.  He just passes the “hat” for pay.  He got $275 this afternoon.  We enjoyed serving and got to dance a few numbers as well.  We spent the evening at home.

Friday afternoon is our time to serve at the hospital, and we went to dinner with the Zopfis.  I had a coupon for a Mexican seafood restaurant named Gambas which is shrimp in Spanish.  This was the second time in 2 days that we had shrimp.  I am only tolerant of shrimp but shared a dinner with Evelyn.  It was interesting in that it was grilled with peppers and onions then covered with melted cheese.  I enjoyed it somewhat but would not return because the interior was unappealing.  Paul and Donna came to our house for a beer and Baileys before we went to bed. 

Saturday is practice the worship service and watch sports.  Today was the second round of the NFL playoff.  The 2 games were the best pair I have ever seen.  Nearly both went into overtime and were very close throughout.  We had thought to go dancing, but the Hamels were sick and we didn’t want to go alone.  We just watched a movie.  While we were gone Thursday, Armand worked at removing the viney growth from our pergola.  I had asked him to help me on Saturday, but he went ahead by himself.  All left for me to do was to drag the vines to the cub where the park workers pick it up.  The residue was so thick that I could get it to the curb quite easily.  It did take 4 trips.  We had to cut it down because our neighbor who has had the vine for several years warned us that spiders would invade and take over the entire nest.  The sad part of the day was that the Packers lost their game.  We have several friends that are from Wisconsin and love the Packers.  Their season is now over.

Sunday was worship.  We have a nice core group, but it doesn’t seem to grow as much as last year.  Perhaps this is because there aren’t as many people in the Valley this year.  Those that do attend seem to be blessed by the messages the Lord Jesus gives me.  This morning was especially powerful dealing with the Holy Spirit.  We came home and called to invite Joe Winston for lunch because Bonny is in central Texas with their grandchildren, one of whom is quite ill and recovering from some sort of gastrointestinal problem.  Joe had not listened to his messages and was driving another couple to McAllen for lunch.  We ate a delicious casserole Evelyn had made.  I usually begin preparations for next week’s message and found that I can use the message from several years ago almost without much change.  I usually have to tweak them to bring them up to date.  This gave me time to take a long walk and watch more football games.  The first was good but the second was an overmatch.  We then watched the 70s movie “Airplane”.  That is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen.  We loved it and laughed our way through it.  I also recorded the sequel knowing it will not be nearly as good but will watch it during the coming week.