Cold in deep south Texas?!

Saturday, while better than yesterday, began too cold for the golf outing to be played.  It has been scheduled for next Saturday.  I decided we should go out for brunch since we had slept late.  On our way we went to Big Lots to look for some imported bread but couldn’t find any.  We also went to HEB to buy some other things.  Then we looked for the restaurant we had a coupon for: Rico y Saludable (rich and healthy) but couldn’t find it at first.  The location given on the coupon was wrong.  We did finally find it near the Big Lots location.  We went and enjoyed some Mexican food and some blended fruit juice.  This is what makes the restaurant healthful.  I enjoyed a blend of pineapple and mango juice.  We had planned dinner with Joe and Bonny so we could plan for a potential cruise and a certain trip to the concert series next Thursday.  One of our park residents had a reception planned for his 80th birthday so we went and took a card that told him we had bought 2 Bibles in his honor for Gideons to place. We rested  the rest of the afternoon and then enjoyed the dinner of pulled pork we had taken after the hospital party.  There was a great deal left over, and I didn’t want it to be discarded.  Bonny has many fresh vegetables from her garden for us to eat.  They didn’t want to play a game because I had to preach and she had to play the organ for church tomorrow.  We visited for an hour before they left.  I practiced my message before going to bed. 

Sunday we were blessed with 38 in attendance at our worship service.  Harvey and Edna came as did 2 other couples visiting people in Trail’s End.  I used a sermon I had used before in honor of the Transfiguration.  We came home afterward, changed clothes and planned to wash the car later when it became warmer.  We also went to CVS to get some antihistamine for  my sinus drainage.  I have to clear  my throat often, making Evelyn upset.  I don’t think the pills will be effective but bought them anyway on the advice of the pharmacist.  When it had warmed up around 4, we washed the car together.  It is difficult for 2 to wash a car without 1 soaking the other a bit.  We were fairly successful at staying dry.  I sprayed, Evelyn used a soft  bristle brush, I tried to dry the cleaner areas with a terry cloth towel. and used a small squeegee to clear the windows of water bubbles.  It worked out much better than I had expected.  John and Sue came in late afternoon to play dominoes until 9.  Evelyn still has trouble lining up her train but is playing better.  We watched a good Christian movie I had recorded yesterday.  It was a blessing, featuring fidelity and selfless compassion.  It was titled “Not Easily Broken”, a line from Ecclesiastes.  A strong marriage is a cord binding a man, woman and God together.

Monday we went to Silver Sneakers and were home to shower and get ready to go to Raymondville for therapy.  I slept some in the car and then went to the McDonald’s across the parking lot until 3:30, the normal 2 hours for the session.  Evelyn had been beaten up pretty severely, but the therapist, Dennis from the Philippines, called the spine surgeon to see if Evelyn could get a steroid injection into the know of her hip.  They were supposed to call us this morning, but we had not thought to bring our phone.  On the way back to Weslaco, I thought of going to his office in Harlingen when we passed through on the chance he might be there and might agree to administer the shot then.  The Lord saw fit to have him in Brownsville on Monday.  The office said they would call in the morning with some notice from the doctor.  We drove on home and rested during the afternoon before supper.  We are still eating leftovers.  It does seem that is the staple of our diet since most restaurants serve too much food, causing us to take some home each time we eat out.  We didn’t go out because the temperature had begun to drop while the wind began to pick up.  Rain has been predicted for this week, so I have been covering the bicycles with a trap to protect the gears.  We watched a couple of TV shows and went to bed.

Tuesday we were supposed to go with our park group to Peter Piper Pizza for lunch, but we had remembered that each week a local restaurant, The Blue Onion, has a soup special.  Today was chicken and sausage gumbo.  I am weak in resisting gumbo.  We went to have gumbo.  At least I did.  Evelyn makes delicious gumbo but  won’t eat any.  She had one of their gourmet pizzas and ate 2 of the 6 slices.  Remember the comment about eating leftovers?  I did my job in eating all of my 24 ounces of gumbo and rice.  We came home for a short nap and returned to meet some Canadian dancers from our park at the Mustang Lounge.  They do 2 things in the Valley: play golf and dance.  We have talked about playing table games with them without success.  They had never been to the Mustang, so I made arrangements for us to go dancing in the afternoon.  The Lounge has a wonderful wooden dance  floor and a performer each Tuesday from 3-5.  It is a woman named Ruthie who sings songs backed by a computer.  He selections are mostly country but are quite danceable.  She draws a large crowd there most Tuesdays but not today.  It was too cold and windy for many people to come out.  We came home for supper and spent the evening avoiding the State of the Union address.  The way the President lies and makes the same vacuous promises each time he opens his mouth makes it unbearable and unnecessary to hear.  We even enjoy reruns of some of our favorite mysteries more than hearing reruns of his State of the Union speeches.

Another cold front

Wednesday we went to Silver Sneakers again, but this time early enough for us to both get seats.  The workout was the same as usual but was a bit more difficult since it had been some time since I had done it.  The man who leads it welcomed me back in a friendly way by shaking my hand.  People are big in that in TX.  We were back home by 10:45 mostly because I stopped for gas.  The price has dropped to $2.99 but has been exhibiting the yoyo effect most of the winter.  We dressed for the Hawaiian luncheon given for the volunteers at the hospital each year.  It is one of 3 that we have while here in the winter: Christmas, January and March when the awards for time of service are given.  This time we were to wear Hawaiian shirts, and I won the best dressed prize for our table.  This was because I was wearing shorts as well as a shirt.  We went form there directly to Immanuel Mercedes so the pastor could put our pictures onto a power point presentation.  I was surprised to learn that I had that capability on my little computer but didn’t bother to learn how to use it.  I won’t be giving many power point presentations.  We came home for supper and returned at 7 for choir practice.  We have a young woman who is doing her student teaching in a nearby school district.  She is a music teacher but has a lot to learn about rhythms and conducting.  We are all trying to be encouraging to her because she realizes she is not very good at it yet.  The choir has 8 members and sounds pretty good—if we work on a song long enough.  Afterward we all went to the local Dairy Queen for a treat and fellowship. 

It was still warm Thursday.  I worked on printing some of the Synodical prayers for Wayne to use while we are gone to San Antonio in February.  before taking Evelyn to therapy.  I ran errands while she was being beaten up by the therapist.  I am trying to get the motorized golf cart to work but needed a wire splicing sleeve.  I went to the hardware store to get one.  I went from there to Bonny’s to put our latest silver coin purchase into the trailer with the other precious coins.  I will have to figure up how much they are worth some day.  I am not buying them for an investment but so that when the dollar based economy collapses, we will have something of value for negotiating for food, etc.  She and I also talked about a cruise through the Panama Canal in September as well as a Viking River cruise.  The latter is very expensive.  For the same money, we could cruise most of the way around the world on an ocean liner.  I brought Evelyn home hoping she had pushed the therapist to call a doctor to administer a shot for her sciatic pain.  He will do that tomorrow.  I don’t think Evelyn is aggressive enough in pursuing this relief.  I hate to be pushy because she should know what she needs for her own back.  The therapist thinks he has found the spot in the muscle where the shot is needed but needs a doctor to do it.  I would be camped on someone’s office doorstep.  She was sore and went to bed until the evening.  We ate a light supper and went to the church for the Mary Martha presentation on Bethlehem.  The power point went well as did the talk.  There were some extra people in attendance because it had been announced to the entire church.  Evelyn had held up very well and even served the dessert she was responsible for.  Bonny brought her home after the meeting.  During the late afternoon the predicted cold front began to come through.  The temperature dropped over 20 degrees and the wind picked up, bringing a light mist.  These are bone chilling conditions no matter what the actual air temperature is.

Friday was 37 for most of the day.  It didn’t rain nor sleet as was expected but was windy.  Of course this is nothing to the folks in the north but is cold for us.  I went to the hall to see if the kitchen band would perform, but the center called and asked us not to come.  I was up early to work on the computer, but at 8:10 the power went off.  It was off at the center too.  They have generators but were still uncomfortable with our coming.  I returned home to check on Evelyn still in bed.  She often cries at night when she goes to bed because of her pain and is up late sometimes.  Last night was one of the times.  I went to town to see about having our windshield replaced.  Last Monday we were hit by a stone but couldn’t see where even though we had both heard it.  By the time I noticed it Wednesday, it had developed into a long crack.  I new it had to be replaced, not repaired.  I went to the Mirror House and found it could be done today.  It cost $310.  I was brought home and had to find a way to the hospital while it was being replaced.  I arranged with our Christian neighbor to get a ride.  We were there on time but had not eaten because the power didn’t come on until we were just walking out the door.  We ate our last free lunch at the hospital.  The people at Evelyn’s work station were not there because they had worked their 40 hours.  The new owners do not allow them to work more than that.  She worked with us giving out information.  We came home at 5, she rested and went to get a Canadian couple to go to Casa de Marisco for dinner.  I had a coupon that we shared with them.  We had played card with them, Harvey and Edna, last Sunday and had been invited to their home for games.  I expanded it into dinner out.  We shared a seafood botana that was fairly good but not excellent.  We returned to their rented mobile home and played dominoes for a couple of hours.  We cut things short so Evelyn wouldn’t have to sit for a long period.  She had taken some pain medication before we left and seemed to be comfortable until we left.  We returned home where she took 2 ibuprofen before going to bed.  The therapist had been unable to connect with Dr. Dones, so we will have to wait until Monday to get the shot clock (pun) moving.

Sharing the love of Christ

Sunday was a real blessing.  I had brought Pastor Wayne to preach for me and distribute Holy Communion.  It was strange (and the first time) to be sitting in the front row listening to a sermon at trail’s End.  I was really blessed by his message and the Lord’s supper.  I was also blessed to learn he and Jean, his wife, had attended a Cursillo in Iowa years ago.  It is exciting to meet people who have been blessed in the same venue as I have been.  We went to the brunch in the park for our meal.   After eating, we went to visit a sick woman who had been instrumental in beginning our worship services about 10 years ago.  We thought she had been depressed and was becoming a recluse.  She had not become depressed but had reason to be when she told us what physical maladies she had.  We left her and drove home to rest in the afternoon.  I watched some of the NFL playoff games before having our evening popcorn and a movie. During the afternoon, Evelyn had talked with both Stacy and Emily.  Elizabeth and Rosalie wanted to talk also so that we knew what they wanted for their birthday gifts.   Most of the comedies are so ridiculous and vulgar that we can’t stand to watch them to the end.  We ended up just watching reruns of Duck Dynasty.  The blessing was that we hadn’t seen them. 

Evelyn wanted to go to the Silver Sneakers on Monday so we went—late.  The room was full and Evelyn had the last chair, so I just went to walk in the parking lot and visit some of the stores in the small mall.  We finished there and drove to Harlingen to meet John and Sue at the health fair there.  We went early but were still so far back in the line that we left.  Sue had been driven by the chance to get a T-shirt.  We weren’t disappointed to miss out.  We went to Wendy’s for a 99 cent sandwich special.  From there we drove to Raymondville for Evelyn to receive therapy.  I slept in the car and caught up with my Bible reading before coming home.  Evelyn was really bruised and sore from the treatment.  She doesn’t feel like doing much after the sessions and we didn’t.  We just stayed at home.  We also had a SKYPE session with Andrew from UK.  He wanted to tell us about his mission trip to NYC with the Navigators, the Christian group.  He told how he had prayed with several homeless people and met one of his Facebook friends he had not previously met.  He sent us a picture of her but I can’t find it to post.  She is an oriental girl that is studying at Harvard.  It is a real blessing for him and us to be involved of being a missionary for Christ.

Tuesday found Evelyn very sore.  Even thought the therapist told her yesterday that he thinks he has found the problem, she elected to not go to therapy here in Weslaco today.  I wanted to ride to Trail’s End to give some hymn titles to Sharon, but the wind was too strong forcing me to drive instead.  I spent more than an hour with them discussing worship, their spiritual walk and Cursillo.  Dan has refused to attend in the past partly due to the secrecy of it all.  I told him everything I could remember, hoping it would make him more open to it.  I came home for lunch to find that Evelyn had indeed cancelled her appointment.  The people who told us about the therapy location were very disappointed as was I.  We rested in the afternoon and went to the “Welcome Back” dinner at 4:30.  We had a good time visiting with the half of the park who decided to eat in the hall.  The other half opted to carry out their dinners because it was thought at first that there were not enough chairs for the people who wanted to eat.  We came home and entertained our next door neighbors for some wine.  They came.  One of the women was ill but he husband came.  We enjoyed talking until 8.  Evelyn was still hurting and went to bed after they left.

Cleaning the back yard.

Saturday got me up early and I began to work on cleaning up the back yard more.  I had let Evelyn sleep late because she had been up during the night.  I had to sweep up the leaves from the vines I had cut down yesterday.  We are supposed to take the loose trimmings to the dumpster ourselves, so I packed 2 5 gallon buckets full and took them.  After Evelyn awoke, we went to Jack in the Box for breakfast.  She had pancakes and I had eggs.  We went to the WalMart next door and did   for her food project for next week.  We also went on to the flea market to get some greeting cards for the 50th anniversary party that will be held later in the season.  We returned home and I chopped 2 pounds of dates and some cranberries for Evelyn to cook with.  I also tried to get the motorized golf cart ready to sell but found that the battery won’t charge.  We ate lunch around 3, so we skipped supper and popped some corn instead.  We learned that the woman who was interested in looking at our house has bought another.  So the Lord may want us to stay here.  We did, however, get some information about living in the Air Force Village II in San Antonio.  Our friends, Tom and Luann live there and had the material sent to us.  Heretofore only retired military officers were allowed to live there, but evidently not enough of the newly retired ones are settling there.  We think it is a great place to live albeit expensive.  There is great food and unsurpassed security.  We watched a movie, “Moulin Rouge” while waiting for a call from Tom so we could ask some questions.  Evelyn’s leg began to hurt in the evening.  We pray that this therapy—that hurts too—will soon correct the sacroiliac problems that causes the sciatic pain.

Beach Boys and Beatles

Today Evelyn had therapy here in Weslaco.  I had intended to do errands in the morning but decided to take her, and then run the errands.  I dropped her at 1:15 and went off to get my sport coat from the cleaners.  It was somewhat better but retained a small remnant of the white streak on the back.  While there I left my suede jacket to be cleaned.  When Evelyn washed it, some ink from a pen we had both missed being in a pocket.  It had made several spots on the jacket and the cleaner agreed to try to remove them.  She said she would not charge me if they weren’t removed.  I went from there to the recycle center, taking mostly large pieces of cardboard.  From there I went to see Bonny about some grapefruit spoons she never uses but Noah needs.  I had spent some time this morning boxing up grapefruit to send to him.  I had sealed the box but was able to slide the spoons in through the ends.  I took it out to the post office at Progreso where the worker is very loose in enforcing some rules.  He didn’t ask if there were perishables in the box, so I didn’t have to lie to him.  It cost over $27 to ship 22+ pounds.  I brought Evelyn home to rest before going to see the “Tribute to Beach Boys and Beatles”.  The “Beach Boys” were not very good in our opinion.  Their harmony sounded almost cacophonic, but I guess the harmony by the real singers was very difficult.  They were good singers and were dressed in blue striped shirts and white pants.  I don’t recall ever seeing the Beach Boys perform on TV but imagine they dressed in similar California style.  The “Beatles” were better.  They first dressed in black with page boy wigs.  They looked rather authentic even featuring a left handed Paul McCartney.  The funny thing was that we don’t think he played a note.  The George Harrison did plan and sing as did Lennon and Ringo.  They were entertaining and sounded good.  They did employ a great deal of taped music, adding to their good sound.  We had driven our golf cart to the park next door where the concert was held but had to drive back through some walking paths because the wider path had been shut off.  What nonsense!  It was open when we first went, but some dolt must have thought we would stay overnight in the other park.  We were home and had some popcorn while watching TV. 

Whipping the cold

I sniffled through the sermon Sunday morning but still had compliments.  We came directly home, and I did my normal arrangements for next Sunday although Wayne is supposed to substitute for me.  I just entered the attendance figures onto the calendar and gathered the readings, order of service and prayers to give him.  I took them over to his park model in the afternoon but just had to leave it since he was not at home.  I returned home for lunch and a nap.  I dozed in front of the TV while the NFL playoffs were held.  I decided I was not too ill and invited a couple from Canada to play cards.  We generally have popcorn for supper on Sundays and shared it with them.  We played Phase 10 until after 9 making Evelyn upset because she wanted to stop earlier.  She was worried about getting my cold, so she went to sleep in the front bedroom.  I took some Nyquil we had bought this morning and went to bed alone.

Monday I slept until 9.  I hoped this would accelerate my recovery time.  After breakfast I took another nap and then had lunch before driving Evelyn to Raymondville for her afternoon therapy.  I drove to the local post office to mail a letter and get a drink before returning to the therapy to read some Bible and then dropped off to sleep for about an hour.  I wakened to drive back to Weslaco and went directly to bed again.  We have both begun taking vitamin C tablets.  When I got up, we watched a movie called Damsels in Distress.  It was a slow moving artsy film encouraging us to both doze off.  I for most of the movie and Evelyn for some too.  During that movie, I recorded one of my favorite programs, “Major Crimes” so we could watch the movie and still see the final episode until summer.  Again I went to sleep earlier than usual.  I have been sleeping quite well, possibly thanks to the Nyquil.

Tuesday Evelyn had therapy in Weslaco.  Her therapist, Dennis, sent her there so we wouldn’t have to make the 30 mile drive again.  I stayed home and stayed in the house and finished watching “Zero Dark 30” until Evelyn returned.  She was not as sore as she was yesterday.  She made supper and then we watched last night’s recorded program and started 2 other movies.  The first was so gross that we dumped it after 15 minutes.  We normally select comedies, but they are often jus riddled with profanity and sexual depravity.  We tried another one starring Adam Sandler and got halfway through it.  It was borderline gross and we may not finish it—ever.  I was feeling better, but Evelyn was still worried enough to sleep in the front bedroom again.  She gets hit harder by colds than I do. 

Wednesday had no therapy, so Evelyn wanted to go to McAllen looking for a black wig for her princess Jasmine costume she will wear to our Mardi Gras party in March.  We found what seems to be the Hispanic section of McAllen’s business district.  It was a vey pleasant morning, allowing us to walk around for almost an hour but without success.  We went on to a party store where she bought a wig.  I had come up with a good idea for her to make a long black wig that would have been more like Jasmine’s hair, but Evelyn had previously determined she would not have less than a new wig.  “It would be nice to have.” she said.  I don’t know why I go down fighting over something that I know is a done deal long before we ever begin looking.  I don’t use the knowledge I have gained from living with her so long.  We went out for a delicious barbecue lunch and than drove back out of the way to go to a grocery to shop for some things needed for Evelyn’s hosting next week.  We were home in time to take a nap before supper of chili.  Our friend Bonny Winston had decided to resurrect the choir at Immanuel Lutheran.  I really didn’t want to go but think God gave me the voice I have to sing praises to Him, so we went.  It was still rewarding and finished on time.  We were home in time to watch the last half of the Purdue/Illinois basketball game.  Purdue won on the road. 

The cold attacks

Saturday the cold tracked me down.  I was sneezing all day but not coughing so much.  I began taking some CVS knock off of Zycam but never know if those things do any good.  We bought some before we went to Mexico to have pedicures.  It was a gorgeous day which was good for Evelyn because she doesn’t really like to go to Mexico anyway.  She is quite paranoid about potential diseases, lack of sanitation and many other things she can fancy.  We had our feet done in separate places thinking we would finish about the same time.  I was done at least half an hour before she was, so I went looking for good prices on vanilla.  It is the same price almost everywhere in town.  When we first went to the border bridge, we asked an agent if our copy of her passport would work for reentry and were assured that it would along with her driver license.  She has been using her expired passport without incident.  On the way out, the agent told us that it was illegal to make a copy of the passport, so I destroyed it when we returned home.  We were home for lunch (Evelyn refuses  to eat there even though she has in the past and enjoyed it) and enjoyed one of our many leftovers.  She worked at preparing the beef Wellington for dinner while I rested and put the finishing touches on tomorrow’s message.  John and Sue came for dinner half an hour early, so John and I ate quite a bit of the smoked salmon he had brought as an appetizer.  We ate the superb beef Wellington around 6.  I was keeping away from as best I could, trying to prevent spreading my disease.  We started a game of dominoes but didn’t finish because they saw that I was wearing down.  I went to bed alone because Evelyn slept in the spare bedroom as an attempt at protection.  She doesn’t deal well with colds.

On the way to a cold.

Wednesday we decided to go with John and Sue to the McAllen travel show.  There were few booths presenting deals and fewer people looking for them.  I spun a wheel and won a free night at a casino/hotel.  The problem is that it is about 300 miles away.  I tried to get 2 nights to make it worth the drive but couldn’t.  I will give it away to anyone who wants it. 

Thursday I began to work on next Sunday’s message and made great progress.  I had to retype it and spent a great deal of time doing that.  That was in the afternoon.  I had spent the morning cutting the small intrusive tree that grew between our chain link fence and the neighbor’s wooden privacy fence.  The space between them is only about 20 inches, making it difficult to maneuver.  I was successful in cutting it out.  We decided to eat out in the evening and went to try to use our double chile burger at Whataburger.  They have been discontinued, so we went to El Pato for a chicken guisido meal.  We came home early and went to bed.

Friday took the kitchen band to the Ramada Inn.  The new activity director agreed to sing Cielito Lindo instead of my doing it.  He speaks better Spanish but will have to work on his timing.  We spent the afternoon working at the hospital as usual.  Evelyn decided she wanted to have fish from the Elks, so we shared a catfish combo (includes shrimp).  I began to show signs of a cold that I am sure I got from one of the booths at the travel show.  I will have to get some Zycam or Coldeze tomorrow.

Juries and musicians

Sunday was Holy Communion Sunday.  We had only 24 attending but were happy worshippers.  God’s message was about how tomorrow, Epiphany is more important to us Gentiles than is Christmas Day.  I also learned that there were only 21 last week.  Perhaps the cold has kept some at home.  We are all old geezers, you know.  We came home to enjoy some jambalaya that Evelyn had made yesterday.  We relaxed during the afternoon, and then Bonny and Joe brought some ham for our supper.  We had gone to HEB to buy potato salad and cole slaw as sides.  Joe gets gifts from various towns that he does engineering work in throughout the Valley, and the ham was one of them.  We then played Hand and Foot until 10.  Evelyn was angry with me for letting it go so long into the evening.  I had begun to repack the cards when Bonny said just one more round.  That is all we had to go anyway.  I was chewed out anyway—probably justly.

Monday we were up and off to Edinburg, the county seat of Hidalgo County.  She had been summoned to jury duty, and I encouraged her to go to hear the pre-jury selection talk by a local judge.  I was able to go into the large auditorium despite having no summons and heard the filmed presentation about the importance of serving on a jury.  It is one of the things that makes this great country have a more equal court system than most other countries.  Of course there is corruption in the system (see the total depravity of man), but we citizens still have the right to be judged by a jury of our peers.  The room was full, so I had to stand in the back for a while.  There is a provision for some to avoid serving on the jury and age is one of them.  Evelyn decided to exercise her right to decline due to age.  I was a bit disappointed because she chose to leave before the judge came to explain the court system in Hidalgo County.  Instead we went to the tax office to pay our real estate tax.  We could have done it in Weslaco but were there.  Evelyn is hostess for a meeting of church women called Mary/Martha at the end of the month and will talk about our trip to Israel, especially Bethlehem.  Therefore she wanted to go to a restaurant in McAllen that might have access to Mediterranean food.  We went there but it was closed.  So back we went to Edinburg for lunch.  I had a coupon for a pizza place.  We had a minimum requirement and met it by ordering a pizza for lunch and one to carry out.  It was cold all day as was I since I only wore my heavy Purdue sweatshirt but took no coat.  Someday I may become smart.  We drove home and had John and Sue come for dominoes.  They had begun a diet that day and wanted no dinner, snacks nor beer.  We played and Evelyn finished 3rd.  Of course John and Sue have played many days for years and know how to win.  I nearly always finish last because of poor technique.  I was able to continue my streak. 

Tuesday I took items to recycle and bought some breakfast tacos for Don and me.  He came from Rio Hondo to pay for the Bose radio that I had bought on line for him before Christmas.  He brought $650 cash.  We talked for awhile before he left for Edinburg to pick up a branding iron he had ordered.   I worked on emails until lunch.  Evelyn had a therapy session at 1:15 but didn’t return home until 3.  She deposited the money Don brought in the bank.  She rested until 4:30 when she dressed for the concert tonight.  Joe and Bonny picked us up at 5 and drove to McAllen for dinner.  I had 2 coupons for Lansky and Brats, a very upscale restaurant.  We shared our coupons because the establishment allowed us to each use one for our meals.  On top of that they didn’t have a plate charge for sharing a meal.  The 4 of us shared 2 meals that were delicious and expensive.  Our bill was over $46 including the $25 discount from the coupon.  We went to the concert to listen to the DePue Brothers band.  They were all strings except for the percussionist.  They were entertaining. 

Starting a new year.

I checked on New Year’s Day morning and found 2 1/2 inches in our rain guage.  We tried to rest  and slept late.  We didn’t have our traditional corned beef and cabbage meal.  The temperature was higher but the wind had increased making it colder than yesterday in the rain.  Of course it was football day with the TV loaded with college bowl games.  Evelyn was vey patient in watching nearly 3 games.  The sad thing for  her was that we were not up for the Rose Parade she had wanted to participate in.  We just saw the finish.  As a concession, I watched part of a movie with her in the evening.  We watched the first half of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”.  We just couldn’t focus in the film because we were tired.

Thursday I went to talk with Wayne Wilken about replacing me 3 more times during this season.  He was playing volleyball at the next park, but his wife took the dates and thought they would be acceptable.  We also wanted to send grapefruit to Emily, so we picked 22 pounds from a neighbor’s tree and packed them to mail.  Evelyn also went to Immanuel to check on a method to show pictures from our computer onto a large movie screen.  We had thought we would need to put them onto a flash drive, but the pastor assured her he could do it on the day before her presenting the program for the Mary/Martha January meeting on the 23rd.  We had lunch and then I took her to therapy in downtown Weslaco.  While she was being treated, I drove to Progreso, TX to mail the grapefruit to Utah.  The price was $28.20.  We hope it doesn’t freeze anywhere on the route.  I came home and vacuumed the car before toing back to get Evelyn.  I thought she would want to eat out, but she wanted to go home to eat some of the jambalaya she had made.  It was delicious.  We watched some more football during the evening and went to bed early. 

Friday usually takes us to a nursing home with the kitchen band.  The residents of this one were mostly Hispanic, so I have the job of singing a very popular song with Hispanics.  It is Cieleto Lindo, a song most gringos know too.  I don’t do it very well but it is appreciated.  From there we come home for lunch and then go to the hospital to volunteer.  We were busier than we anticipated but had fun.  Evelyn’s department was closed, so she worked with us some and then went to work on Human Resources.  We were finished by 5 and came home to repeat the jambalaya.  The Beelis had mailed us a box full of homemade candy and pictures.  It was fun to open it in front of them using SKYPE.  They are certainly fun to talk to and very creative.  We thank God for them.   It was still good.  We finished the Button movie and enjoyed it greatly.  It is the story of a man who was born in the condition of a 90 year old and gets younger instead of older during the film.  The makeup was unbelievable.  We retired early but had bad nights.  Evelyn couldn’t sleep until after 2:30 and I wakened at 4:45. 

I just went to work practicing Sunday’s service while Evelyn slept.  I feel fairly good about the message because I had tried it out on Evelyn for the first time in quite a while.  I let Evelyn sleep until she wakened around 11.  We had lunch and then both struggled to stay awake until time to go to a farewell party for a good friend from Immanuel Lutheran.  She will move to Napa Valley, CA to live with her daughter.  We stopped at  Bonny for a short visit, making plans to have dinner with them tomorrow evening.  We went to the Wal Mart grocery for some supplies and came home.  We had a pizza from our freezer for supper.  I had been fighting sleep most of the afternoon but wanted to see some of the Saints playoff game.  I went to bed shortly after 8, hoping to make it trough the night.

Looking for the Ark and Noah

Late last night the rain began.  It rained all night and then all day.  We just snuggled in until 1 when Evelyn had to go for therapy.   I just sat in the car and caught up on my daily Bible reading.  I have only 2 days to finish the year.  I finished the year one day early.  Oh, did I mention it was still raining?  I had taken my computer and was able to work on the message for Sunday next.  The appointment which had started at 1:15 was not finished until 2:45.  From there we went to HEB for some items needed for the beef Wellington that Evelyn wants to make this week.  We will try to find someone who will come for the gourmet dinner.  Did I mention that it was still raining?  We brought our groceries home and snuggled back in.  During one gap in the rain, I went to the hall to get our mail and our neighbor Judy’s.  She has been really sick all week. She coughs and wheezes when I deliver her mail.  We keep offering to bring her some food, but she says others have brought her many things.  We stayed indoors and listened to the continuing rain while watching TV New Year specials.  Oh yes, we went to bed during the rain.

New Year’s Eve day greeted us with–your guessed it: rain.  This is drought country most of the year, but that has changed since November.  I heard some foolish native say that they had enough rain.  I wonder where he spends most of his days during the summer.  These people need every drop they can get.  We slept late and then went to the second day of therapy.  Yesterday they had hurt Evelyn by twisting her legs and spine.  She had also learned yesterday that the therapist, Dennis from Philippines, said he thinks she has inflammation of the sacroiliac, causing her sciatica.  Today she wasn’t hurt like she was yesterday.  I drove to San Juan to get our license plate and ask some questions about how to make some of the bells and whistles ring and whistle.  I also had some coffee and brought a couple of cookies home.  I thought I would be late but was half an hour early.  We left came home and watched the news while waiting for time to go to the New Year’s Eve worship service.  We were blessed by the joy of ending the year by partaking of Holy Communion—the Lord’s Body and Blood.  We noticed our friends, Ed and Nona Drews, and invited them to our home for a late supper of lasagna.  They accepted the invitation and joined us.  We all got hooked on watching “Johnny Football Manziel” play football for Texas A&M and watched until after 10:30.  We had decided last week to dkip the party at the hall for the first time in recent memory.  We were awake until almost midnight but didn’t watch any of the national celebration.  By the way, the rain had turned to drizzle but had stopped by 8 PM.