Thanksgiving week

Wednesday was spent mostly in preparing for tomorrow.   Evelyn made some cheese dip with Rotel and made dressing for the turkey.  I went to a neighbor/widower and invited him to join us tomorrow.  He accepted.  I worked on the order of service and the message for Sunday.  We went to Whataburger to use our final chilecheeseburger.  It was sad to use our last one, but the coupons expire Saturday and we have too many activities scheduled before then.  Evelyn still has pain that comes and goes.  When it comes, it hurts a lot and she can’t sleep well. 

We put the finishing touches on the dinner like making mashed potatoes.  Don and Janice arrived a bit early and helped with the finishing touches.  We had appetizers and drinks for a while and got to know Ted, the widower neighbor.  We then joined for our prayer.  I tried to emphasize the blessings we have in our spiritual lives.  The blessing of being able to pray together and meet together for worship. I didn’t forget the physical gifts but emphasized the spiritual ones.  The 3 men gathered in the Texas room to watch football.  I did get to know Ted even better.  Don and I have good times together all of the time.  They left around 3:30 even though the Dallas Cowboys were playing on the television.  Evelyn rested for awhile and then we took a walk in the evening.  It was a beautiful day and evening, and we enjoyed being outdoors.

Friday we got some good news.  One of the rolfing therapists called and made an appointment with Evelyn for 4:30 next Wednesday.  This would be better, but we have to drive to San Antonio.  That was the bad news.  The good news is that we will stay with our friends, Tom and Luann Jones.  We will get to catch up on information with them.  We have enjoyed traveling to South America and Israel with them.  We look forward to being with them.  This is our day at the hospital, but Evelyn’s work station was unmanned so she stayed at home.  I went and enjoyed it the afternoon with my male friends that I always work with.  We were busier than expected but did have time to have deep discussions.  Doctors avoid scheduling any surgeries during holiday weeks.  I offered to take Evelyn out to dinner, so we went to a local predominately Hispanic seafood restaurant in town.  We shared a Mexican plate that offered the worst French fries in recent memory.  The rest was good at Ciro’s.

Saturday was small business shopping day.  American Express offered a $10 reward to those who spent $10 or more at a designated small business.  We wanted to go to McAllen anyway, so we decided to go today and eat lunch out.  On the way I stopped at the dealership to learn whether the oil and filter had been changed.  I was assured it had, but the electronic record had not been reset.  They have been very compatible, so I was comfortable taking their word as truth.  We went on to Target to spend the remainder of our gift card.  I wanted to spend it on a dehumidifier, but they didn’t have one.  We did spent the $20 that was left on the card.  We went on to Best Buy looking for what I learned is a wireless stereo headset.  It was more than I had paid before, so I didn’t buy it.  I may have to anyway because I have about $70 on another card for that store.  We went to Costa Messa for lunch.  We have eaten at the original many times but went to the second this time.  It was not as homey as the first but served good food.  We returned home in time to view most of the IU/Purdue football game.  Purdue lost the Old Oaken Bucket for the first time in 4 or 5 years.  I then watched some more football while Evelyn rested albeit in pain most of the time.    I also spent some time finishing the worship service for tomorrow.  Earlier I had heard a man talking about a product that had helped his wife’s sciatic condition.  The product was a script item in the states but not in Canada or Mexico.  We will go to Mexico tomorrow so we can see if it will help.

We were up early and at worship by 8.  Some people from their park had set up the chairs last night.  We would have helped had we been needed this morning.  21 people attended and seemed to be uplifted through my presentation of God’s Word.  We came home, changed clothes and drove to Nuevo Progreso.  We went to my friend Victor, the pharmacist, for the medicine ROBAX Gold.  It contains ibuprofen and some other muscle relaxer.  The pharmacist, Victor, recommended a cream that was to relieve pain within 5 minutes.  I was rightly skeptical but it may work on some people.  We bought 2 bottles of vanilla as well as the medicine and were home for lunchby noon.  I watched football.  Evelyn was hurting and tried to relax most of the day.  I also worked on next week’s message.  Evelyn tried the cream that didn’t work to no one’s surprise.  In the evening we watched an Anderson Cooper special, To Heaven and back during the evening.  It featured 3 people who had been dead for long periods and described their experiences.  The first lady, an accomplished surgeon, and the last young boy both shared their faith in Christ after meeting Him.  The doctor, no backwoods UFO chaser, was especially powerful in the way Christ had changed her life.  I remember when His presence became real in my life back in the 80s and shared the same feelings as she.  Evelyn was in agony most of the day and evening.  I prayed for her several times, but God knows best.  We went to bed around 11, and she went to sleep, getting some relief at last.  I had spent a delightful time during the afternoon talking poetry with the Beeli girls concerning a poem I had read to the class on the day in 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated.  It was called To an Athlete Dying Young, and had influenced one of my students at the time to commit to being a teacher of English for a career.  The girls did well in our telephone exposition.