Sunday, October 18
Even though we woke up early this morning, we somehow lost track of the time and just barely got to church on time after almost deciding to not go. Boy, were we ever glad we were there! Pastor Rick was back in the pulpit with a powerful sermon (he’s a top-notch Bible teacher) and the music was just out of this world. Rick is giving a series of sermons entitled “What in the World is Going On,” and today’s message included a brief history of Islam and the contrasts between Islam and Christianity.
After church we returned to Big V where I worked on last week’s journal entry (Barbara had written the previous three weeks, so I figured it was my turn to hit the keyboard for a while) and Barbara fixed lunch. We ate our meal and watched another episode of Monk before going to bed and reading and napping for an hour or so.
Jerry and Nancy have gone to Albuquerque for a few days so Jerry can have some stress tests. They asked if we would look after their dog, Benji (who doesn’t know he is a dog), while they are out of town. We were, of course, more than happy to help out. We went over to their house around 5:00 and found Benji sitting on a chair and pouting. I sat down with him for a few minutes while Barbara fixed his dinner dish and then we got out the leash to take him for a walk before he ate.
All it took to bring Benji out of his funk was to show him the leash…he was out of the chair in a flash and ready to run outside and explore the neighborhood.
After about a half hour of walking (and sniffing and other things-speaking of Benji, of course), we went back to Jean’s house to visit for a few minutes and then took Benji back to his house. As soon as I took the leash off him, he bolted for the doggy-door and was inside wolfing down his dinner before we could get inside.
We left Benji to guard his house for the night and returned to Big V where Barbara made some sandwiches for me to take over to Jean’s house. Barbara stayed in Big V to edit pictures and paste them in the journal/blog while I went to Jean’s to help her watch Sunday Night Football.
Monday, October 19
Happy First Anniversary to Mike and Kelly Little in Midlothian, Virginia!!!
This was another “early riser” morning for me. I don’t know why I was awake so early, but I used the time to do some internet reading and starting on this week’s journal until Barbara woke up.
Benji is used to early morning walks…Nancy takes him for the ½ mile loop around the neighborhood every morning before she goes to work, so I decided I’d take him out this morning. All I had to do when I got over to the house was reach for the leash and he was headed for the door and ready to run!
Barbara baked up a batch of biscuits and we had breakfast (and another episode of Monk) before I finally headed out to do some more raking, pecan sorting, mowing, and various other chores around Jean’s place and Big V. While I was outside, Barbara was busy experimenting with recipes for chicken salad. She’s tried several different mixtures, and they are all delicious.
I came in around 1:00, after the wind got up so much that it wasn’t fun to be outside any longer, and we had lunch, another episode of Monk, and then took time out for some reading and a short nap.
After taking Benji for his evening walk, feeding him and getting him settled in for the night, we went to Jean’s house, grilled some steaks, had a wonderful meal and spent the rest of the evening watching the end of the Angels/Yankees baseball game and the Broncos/Chargers football game.
Tuesday, October 20
Some days are just days, and that’s pretty much what can be said of today. We started the morning by driving to town at 7:00 to do the laundry; then, we returned to take Benji for his morning walk, feed him, and water some of Nancy’s potted plants. Back in Big V, we decided it was time to do some serious cleaning and straightening, a job (or series of jobs) that took us until lunchtime.
I went over to Jean’s this afternoon to clean out under another of the pecan trees…that’s 8 down and 6 to go.
Barbara took Benji for his evening walk about the time that it started sprinkling (we had empty promises all day of thunderstorms, but it looked as if not much, if anything, was going to happen), so I hopped in Little Red and caught up with them to give them a ride back to Jerry and Nancy’s house.
.JPG)
Later, when it appeared that we might at last get some serious rain; Barbara went back over to check on Benji. She said he was whining and nervous because of the thunder and lightning, so she brought him back to Big V…guess he felt comfortable enough here, because he finished his meal and hunkered down with us as the thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, and the rain started pouring down.
For the rest of the evening we just stayed inside and listened to the rain pouring down on us and all around us…what a welcome blessing, as this part of New Mexico has been in a severe drought for some time. I discovered that we can get a Fox channel out of Albuquerque, so I watched the Yankees and Angels battle it out in the ALCS…even got to hear some of it when the rain wasn’t drumming too hard on Big V’s roof.
Wednesday, October 21
After waking up several times during the night due to the thunder, lightning, and drumming rainstorms (Jean reported that we got 1.4 inches of rain here at her place), we were a bit sluggish getting around this morning. Still, we managed to get quite a bit of totally uninteresting stuff accomplished.
We made one trip to WalMart to buy some groceries and other necessaries and then returned to Big V to put everything away and give me a chance to get cleaned up. When that was done, we drove back to town to make stops at K-Mart, the dry cleaners, the bank, the post office, Honey Depot (to exchange a candle that didn’t burn properly), and finally to Chaos for our Wednesday Lunch Bunch with Jean, Susie, Jerry, and Nancy.
Jerry and Nancy surprised us with a gift (unnecessary, but very much appreciated) for taking care of Benji while they were gone to Albuquerque…a can of ‘sipping chocolate” mix and a 7-CD set of Garrison Keillor reading one of his novels, Liberty.
They also let us know that Jerry did well on all of his stress tests and the doctors gave him a clean bill of health…news that was welcomed by all of us.
While the others returned to their work, Barbara and I came back to Big V, checked our email, and then retired to the bedroom for a short nap before continuing with our day.
We returned Benji to his home and then returned to Big V for supper. Barbara wasn’t feeling good, so while she went to bed early, I went over to Jean’s house to watch the Tulsa and UTEP football game before calling it a night.
Thursday, October 22
This must have been one of the laziest mornings we’ve had in a long time. We go up late and did nothing of consequence until noon…doesn’t get much lazier than that!
Since the ground was still damp along the west fence line, I decided it was time to finally get to work out there. The grasses and weeds had grown very tall from the fence out about three feet, so after hoeing all along the line, I got the mower out and started cutting down the tall stuff. One thing led to another, and by 6:00 pm I had mowed the two acres on the west side of Jean’s house, including our “front yard.”
While I was “hoeing and mowing,” I found some stray cactus plants right next to the fence and we decided to dig them up and transplant them along the edge of our concrete pad. We’re hoping they will take hold and more or less fit in with the native grasses that we are allowing to grow there.
Friday, October 23
With only a couple of exceptions, today was a repeat of yesterday morning; which is to say, not much to write about.
I got up early and went to the Friday morning prayer breakfast…brought a takeout breakfast back to Barbara, and then we decided (with a little arm twisting) to go back to town and do a load of laundry. Because of the mowing I’ve been doing, I have managed to pile up some really dirty jeans and shirts.
After we returned to Big V, we just vegged out for the rest of the morning…played computer games, worked on the journal, and read online papers and assorted email. The afternoon was more of the same, with a long nap for me while Barbara read a novel.
Barbara fixed lunch/supper around 3:00 and we watched the pilot episode of Reba (we’ve finished the first seven seasons of Monk and now have to wait until next summer to get the final season),
We did venture out later in the afternoon to do some shopping and shop-looking at WalMart, then returned home and visited with Jean for a bit. Then, it was time for me to get ready to go to tonight’s football game between Artesia and Moriarty.
Jerry and Nancy picked me up at 6:30 and we went to Bulldog Bowl for the game. It turned out to be a mismatch from the beginning, with Artesia leading 34-0 by halftime. We took the second-half kickoff and within a minute and a few seconds were up 40-0, triggering the NMHSAA “Mercy Rule,” under which the clock can only be stopped by timeouts called by coaches or officials. Needless to say, the second half moved along at a much faster pace than the first half and the game ended at 50-7 in favor of the hometown Bulldogs. Now, on to district play beginning with Roswell High School in Roswell next Friday.
Barbara: I’ve tried to figure out lately why I don’t go to the Friday night games with Jim, Jerry, and Nancy. At first I thought it was because I’ve gone to games ever since I was in junior high and “played” (really just held and faked the clarinet), then went with Henry when he refereed games, and later games with Jim as he directed the band or later supervised as an administrator. But…then I realized Jim has attended many more games than I; so that excuse won’t work. So, after much more reflection, I decided the simple truth is this…I just don’t want to go watch football at this point in my life. Guess that wasn’t worth a paragraph, but then what else do I have to do while I listen to the game on the radio?
I did receive some good news tonight while I was keeping the home fires burning. Barradine and Harold, our good friends from the J Bar J Country Church in Ruidoso, will be passing through Artesia Sunday morning and are planning to stop for a short visit. We had discussed the possibility of this happening the last time we were in Ruidoso and told them we’d treat them to breakfast if they wanted to come by our place.
Saturday, October 24
Barbara: Well, Jim certainly had a bee in his bonnet this AM because first rattle out of the box, he was cleaning house! Now, for us common people, that means vacuuming, dusting, etc. But, for him, it was wash down the walls, clean every mirror, picture frame, etc. I thought maybe he was under the impression that it was time for what us ordinary folks call spring cleaning.
I had already “cleaned” the living room…at least I thought I had…until he went into action. So, with instructions on how to really spruce up the area, I got with the program! I’m telling you…Edith certainly taught that man how to work!
Once the house met with Jim’s approval, we headed to Wal-Mart for some necessary items for tomorrow’s breakfast. Then it was back to the house for a leisurely afternoon as we basked in the cleanliness of Big V!
Nothing is on the agenda for tonight so we’ll end the week with a few photos from around Jean’s homestead and our on-loan homestead…Pretty place!
We are called to be witnesses, not lawyers and judges. – Church Signs
From our “Little” house on the prairie,
Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams
