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.