Sunday, March 21
We woke up this morning to find a howling snow storm all around us…so much for Mineola being a great winter destination!
Mother and TJ had planned to drive up to Yantis today to be present for David Bagwell’s first Sunday as the new pastor at First Baptist Church, but after seeing the snow and the forecast for more of the same, they begged off. Mother stayed at home and TJ went to First Methodist in Mineola, her home church.Barbara and I bundled up and drove on up to Yantis, even though the snow was blowing so hard in some places it was hard to see where we were going. We thought the crowd would be a little off because of the weather, but we had trouble finding a parking place in the church lot…a really good sign.
After attending our Sunday school class, I went on to choir practice and Barbara stayed around the front of the church to meet our friends Gene and Carolyn Neyer, who had agreed to join us for the morning.
David was in great form this morning, pulling out all the stops and giving the congregation a good understanding of what he stands for and what lies ahead for the congregation.
When the service was over, Gene and Carolyn followed us back to Holiday Village where we had lunch at the clubhouse and got caught up on some visiting.
We had planned to stay in Big V during the afternoon and then return to Yantis for evening services, but the snow continued to blow, so we decided we’d change our plans and return to Mother’s house for the rest of the day.
As it turned out, the snowstorm passed and it cleared up about time for church, but we decided we’d just stay with Mother for the evening.
We found out today that Leah and her Odyssey of the Mind team had their photo in a previous edition of one of the Liberal newspapers; so we went online to see it and to get a copy. We realize we are just a tad prejudiced, but thought this was a really cute pic of Leah!
Today was dedicated to working around the house. We set to work painting a large iron pot that has been in the family for well over a hundred years. Our family got possession of the pot in the fall of 1959 when we drove from Artesia to Pittsburg, Texas, for the funeral of one of my great-uncles. While we were in the area, we came to Wood County to look at the old family farm. It had changed hands, but the new owners allowed us to look around as much as we wanted.
When Mother found the old pot, she asked the owners if they wanted to keep it. They said they didn’t have any use for it and that we could have it if we wanted it. So, Daddy loaded it with fresh-fallen black walnuts from the trees on the farm and we carted it back to Artesia where he cleaned it up, painted it, and had a tripod built to hang it from.
The tripod and pot stood in our back yard on Hank Street until Mother sold the house after Daddy died. Ernie and Billee “inherited” it, since Mother was moving to El Paso to take care of my grandmother, Ernie moved the pot and tripod to Hobbs, but somehow lost the tripod in transition. They brought the pot back to Artesia when Mother moved back there several years ago and we once again moved it to Mineola when Mother bought the house here.
The pot has been just taking up space in the garage for the past year and a half, but when Barbara and I started painting all the other decorations, Mother said she’d like to have it cleaned up and repainted, and that became our main task for the day.
While we were waiting for the paint to dry, we went to Walmart and bought a bunch of English Primrose sets to put under the tree in the front yard. Mother is taking a real interest in getting the outside of the house fixed up and said she’d like to have some flowers to go along with the shrubbery.
The request seemed reasonable and easy enough, but we didn’t count on finding a massive root system all around the shrubs, and had to pattern the placement of the primroses a little differently than we had originally planned. Still, with all the leaves raked out and the plants in place, the front yard took on a different look (and Mother was very pleased with it).
Tuesday, March 23
While Barbara worked around the house this morning and continued with our painting projects, TJ and I took Mother to see Dr. Bankhead, Mother’s GP here in Mineola. There wasn’t anything to be concerned about, but one of Mother’s prescriptions was running out and Dr. Bankhead needed to see her before renewing the prescription.
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Jim: Dr. Bankhead was very pleased with Mother’s condition (she’d gained a couple more pounds, which according to the doctor, she needed, and all her vital signs were well within the appropriate range. I didn’t know it until we left the office, but Dr. Bankhead had gone out to the waiting room to tell TJ how good Mother looked and how pleased she was with her progress.
When we all finished our running around, TJ came back to the house and we had lunch before Barbara and I set out to complete some more chores. We finished painting some flower pots to hang on the porch walls and then I moved a concrete bird bath from the side of the house to a place in front where it will be more visible and maybe even useful. Barbara bought some fake flowers and arranged them to fit the newly decorated holders on the porch as well as the newly painted black pot, bringing new splashes of color to the front of the house.
Wednesday, March 24
Today was housecleaning day and laundry day, and that’s about all that can be said for it. The agenda included dusting, sweeping, mopping, and everything else that goes with a top-to-bottom “spring cleaning.” Luckily, Maria came today to clean Mother’s room while we took care of the rest of the house and ran loads of laundry, so everything was clean and shining by the time we were all finished; and, we had all clean clothes in the closets and drawers.
We were thrilled today to receive an email from volunteer friend Ken Hogan from Alabama. We have shared many hours of volunteering time with him at Tococa, but last year we met up with him again when we went to Tennessee to help build a church. Since Ken lives right across the state line, he volunteered throughout the entire project. Today he sent us photos of the completed church building.
Thursday, March 25
Happy 30th Birthday to Becky Terpening in Artesia!!!
Having cleaned the inside of the house yesterday, we turned our attention to the garage today. When Mother lived in Artesia, Ernie assembled several sets of large storage cabinets for the garage, so most of Mother’s treasures that didn’t fit in the house were at least in the cabinets.
Since moving to Mineola, everything that didn’t fit in the house (which is much smaller than the house in Artesia) has been in boxes that line the garage walls or in the attic storage. Mother has missed seeing some of her things, so she agreed that we could start looking for storage cabinets so we can get things out of boxes and onto shelves where we can easily find them.
Once the reorganizing was completed, Barbara and I went to Lowe’s in Lindale to check out cabinets for the garage. While we were there, we went across the street to Wal-Mart to get our badly needed haircuts and then did some browsing that took the form of buying when we found the perfect birdfeeders for Mother’s yard. (When we had painted and moved a hummingbird stand to the porch area of Mother’s house, she came out to see the final results…took one look and said, “I need a hummingbird feeder to hang from his beak.”) So…with feeders in hand, we journeyed back to Mineola to complete this feeder assignment.
Friday, March 26
While Barbara and Mother stayed home this morning, I took TJ to a doctor appointment in Tyler. On our return trip we stopped at Lowe’s in Lindale to take a look at the cabinets we wanted to purchase (three for Mother and one for TJ). Unfortunately, the cabinets weren’t in stock and had to be ordered, so it will be at least another week before we can start that project.
When we got back to the house, Barbara and I did more work in the garage. Knowing that the cabinets were on order gave us a little more impetus for the project and we started going through boxes with an eye on what could be saved and stored, and what really needed to go to the landfill.
The mail today included a wedding announcement for John’s stepson, Khris and his girlfriend, Taryn. We also had phone calls from Gene and Michelle Young, who have returned from a trip to Kansas, and from Bob and Mary Royar, who will be returning to Holiday Village on April 2 after wintering down in the Rio Grande Valley.
Saturday, March 27
Happy 80th Birthday to Jean Terpening in Artesia!!!
I had a 3-hour choir rehearsal at church this morning, so while the choir members were getting ready for our Easter Cantata, Barbara elected to spend the morning working around Big V.
When the rehearsal was over, I drove back to Holiday Village so we could have lunch at the clubhouse (Mother and TJ were enjoying fine dining at the Mineola Dairy Queen).
We ate lunch and then did some more work on Big V and around the lot before shutting everything down and returning to Mineola for the afternoon and evening. While I was working in the gully, I noticed that one of the younger trees (with three small trunks) had been attacked, probably by the beavers that used to stay around the pond on the area behind and to the north of our lot. The height of the markings and the chips at the base of the trunk gave every indication that we had some night visitors, so we asked Gary, our closest neighbor if he would keep an eye on things when we aren’t around.
Leah called us from Manhattan, Kansas, this afternoon to let us know that her West Middle School Odyssey of the Mind team placed third at the state competition at KSU today…a major achievement because there were more teams doing that problem than any other.
Barbara: It really hit me once again this afternoon when Leah called just how strange and rewarding our lives can be. All of the years (10 of them to be exact) of coaching Leah through Odyssey has borne fruit in a way I never imagined. To find that she, too, is bringing home a trophy to West is such a blessing! How many schools can say that they have Odyssey of the Mind trophies from a mother’s teams and then 10 years later a daughter’s team? Way to go, Leah and her WMS team!
Tonight K-State played against Butler; Jim who is an ardent K-State fan, did his best to help the Wildcats pull through, but to no avail.
It’s always amazed me that this usually quiet, self-controlled man changes into some kind of wild, vocal sports nut when he gets totally involved and has a “vested” interest in a game.
Tonight it just seemed appropriate for me to document his anguish as he watched (very closely as the photos will show) his beloved Wildcats come out on the short end of the stick.
Happy Anniversary to daughter Whitney and Jim Farnham in Olathe, Kansas!!!
This was a typical Sunday for us…up early to help get Mother ready to go to her church, and then off to Yantis for Sunday school and the Sunday morning worship service.
When church was over and we had finished our visiting, we went to Holiday Village, ordered a couple of chicken-fried steak dinners from the clubhouse, and took our food to Big V to eat and then settle in for the afternoon.
When we finished eating, I looked out in the gully to see if our critter had finished gnawing through the tree that was down yesterday. Surprise, surprise, surprise! Not only was the tree cut through…it was completely gone! At that point, I knew that we had something more than an animal chomping on the tender trunks…after all; I don’t believe a beaver ever carried away the entire tree after felling it.
A few minutes later Barbara spied a young boy, maybe ten years old, walking across the exposed water main that crosses the gully close to the road. He expertly crossed the pipe, hopped down on our side of it, and began walking up the gully toward the trees. He had something that looked suspiciously like a hatchet in his hand, but we don’t know that for sure because Barbara leaned out of the window, and said, “No, you need to get back on the other side of the creek.” As soon as she did that, the boy did a quick about face, ran to the pipe and climbed up on it, and began running across it toward the other side. About three-fourths of the way across the pipe (which is about three feet above the ground), the boy’s feet slipped and he fell, perfectly (and I’m sure, painfully) straddling the 6-inch water main before sliding off to one side and landing on the ground. It was painful for me to watch, but he jumped back up and started climbing out of the gully and the last we saw of him, he was putting feet to the pavement as he got away as quickly as he could.
It took me a while to find the tree that the boy had chopped down, but I did find it across the street on the clubhouse property. We are guessing that he chopped down the trees and took them over to the condos for firewood. In any case, we haven’t seen the young man since we saw him running away from Our LITTLE Lot.
We did call Josh and ask him to stop by our place so he could see what had happened. Josh knows how important trees are to us and promised to spread the word to the village employees to be on the lookout for a ten-year-old boy with a hatchet and a pronounced limp.
With the excitement of the day over, we closed down Big V and drove back to Yantis so I could take part in our final rehearsal of the Easter cantata and then attend the business meeting that was scheduled in place of an evening worship service.
Monday, March 29
Mother went with TJ this morning to Frankston, south of Lake Palestine, to meet with Michelle and get Aletheia, one of Rob and Michelle’s daughters, so TJ could keep her for the week.
It was an absolutely gorgeous morning, so Barbra and I decided to saddle up the motorcycle and go for a ride. We set our sights on Troup, a small town about sixteen miles south of Tyler, because we found out from a man we met at Walmart last week that there was a manufacturing plant just outside of Troup that installed trike kits on motorcycles, something we’ve been interested in for quite some time. Of course, my interest was that we could trike the Voyager that we now have so Barbara could ride it, and I could buy a new Kawasaki Nomad.
The ride was beautiful, if a little cool, and we eventually made our way through Tyler (not one of our favorite cities for either riding or driving) and on to Whitehouse and Troup, where we got directions to Motor Trike Incorporated, about six miles southeast of the town.
When we got inside the plant, we saw an assortment of Honda Gold Wings that had been converted to trikes, along with a rig that we had never seen or heard of, a Stallion. The Stallion is a three-wheeled machine that is powered by a Ford Ranger engine and transmission; but, it is still classified as a motorcycle. Instead of handlebars, there is a standard steering wheel, and the transmission is a five-speed automatic with reverse.
Barbara was really smitten with the Stallion, but I am still more in favor of the Gold Wing as a more traditional cycle. One of the first things we learned was that while the company used to trike the Voyager, they no longer do so. Our options would be to search high and low around the country for someone who could and would install a trike kit, or look at a Gold Wing or some other brand of cycle that could be converted to three wheels.
We got a great tour of the complex while we were there and saw cycles and Stallions in various stages of assembly. At the end of the tour we even had the opportunity to test drive one of the triked Gold Wings, but declined for the time being. However, we do feel another ride to Troup coming on one of these bright and beautiful days.
We left the plant and returned to Tyler where we stopped at El Chico’s for lunch. It seemed like a really good idea at the time, but our eyes were bigger than our bellies (probably because we spent a lot of time munching from the large bowls of chips, salsa, and relishes) and we ended up taking more food home with us than we ate in the restaurant.
The next stop while we were still in Tyler was at the Sprint Store to get information about upgrading our phone plan to include new phones and texting (we’ve put off moving into that phase of the technology world). Since our current plan went into effect last April, we’re not eligible for a full upgrade on equipment, but we did find that we could add texting to our current phones for a nominal fee. We decided that we’d just add it to Barbara’s phone for a trial service and left the store with her punching buttons and sending messages, even while riding on the back of the cycle. In fact, she said it increased the value of the phone because she could text, even though she can’t talk on the phone, while we’re riding.
We got back to Mineola in time to cook supper for Mother and us and run a couple of loads of laundry as we whiled away the evening.
Tuesday, March 30
Today we had visitors coming for lunch. David and Lorri Bagwell met Mother when they were in Yantis last December, but hadn’t been to the house yet. We decided to go all out and prepare a Puerto Rican meal for them, which meant that Barbara and I spent the entire morning fixing Puerto Rican chicken, black beans, and potato salad, along with my recipe for homemade garlic toast to accompany the meal.
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Tonight Barbara went to her Bridge meeting at the church while I went to the lot and worked around Big V for a couple of hours.
Wednesday, March 31
Birthday wishes go out today to Cousin Angela Thompson in Mineola!
I worked at Big V this morning while Barbara went to her Bible Study group at the church in Yantis and then we returned to Mother’s house and tackled the yard, mowing and trimming and generally getting the yard ready for more visitors this weekend.
Thursday, April 1
Watch out…It’s April Fool’s Day!!!
This week marks our 16th wedding anniversary and we decided to celebrate by going on a motorcycle ride up through Sulphur Springs and Paris (I couldn’t get discount flights to Paris, France, so I opted for Paris, Texas instead. Quite the romantic I am!)
With uncertain weather on the horizon, Barbara drove the Vibe up to our lot while I rode the cycle. In case of bad weather this evening, we could leave the Voyager with Big V and get around in the car. Mother agreed that we needed some time off (or maybe she needed some time off from us) and said she would be just fine if we stayed over at Big V tonight.
The cycle ride was wonderful as long as we were riding north. Of course, a strong south wind helped with comfort and the gas mileage until we had to turn around and head back toward home.
We’ve found two things worthy of note for fellow motorcycle riders…unless it is absolutely necessary to ride through Sulphur Springs; it is a much smoother and quicker ride to take the short loop around town. That requires two or three miles of Interstate 30 travel, but it is far preferable to the stop and go traffic on rough city streets. Travel around or through Paris is much the same…the streets take a real toll on motorcycles. I’m probably exaggerating, but I’d say that one ride through Paris, Texas, is the equivalent of 2,000 road miles.
We completed our trip around 6:00 pm, arriving back at Big V in time to unload the car, set up housekeeping for the night, and get the charcoal grill going for steaks and baked potatoes…a great way to celebrate.
Friday, April 2
Happy 16th Anniversary to Us!!!
Happy Birthday to our friend Betty Boone in Longview, Texas!!!
We woke up to a steady drizzle outside and were grateful that Barbara suggested bringing the Vibe out to the lot yesterday. After having my morning coffee, we started packing the car and going through the checklist to close down Big V again.
We got back to Mineola around 9:30 to find that Lowe’s had delivered the four cabinets we ordered last week. Our immediate problem was that they offloaded the pallet of cabinets (each cabinet weighed more than 200 pounds) with a fork lift, but weren’t able to get it all the way inside the garage; so, our first order of business, since it was beginning to rain, was to get the shrink-wrap off the cabinets and move each of them inside so we could close the doors. In retrospect, we should have seen right away that this project was not going to be as easy as we thought.
Barbara: Once the rain began to come down steadily and rather hard, I noticed that there was yellow paint running down the curbs, collecting in front of Edith’s house. Since Jim had gone inside a minute, I hurried in to get him to show him what was going on. Imagine his glee when he explained to me that no one had dumped paint as I thought…instead, what I was witnessing was the washing away of pollen! Can you tell that I’m definitely not an East TX girl?
This afternoon we decided to tackle assembling the first of the three cabinets that Mother bought (TJ bought the other one, but taking it to her house would incur another $65.00 delivery charge, so we just had it dropped at Mother’s house until we could find a way to get it to TJ’s).
With Barbara reading the directions and both of us moving the “puzzle pieces” around, we eventually got one of the cabinets put together (minus doors), but not without some very interesting moments (and discussions). It was after the cabinet was assembled (with wood glue applied so it wouldn’t come apart) that we discovered we had made a few slight mistakes. Oh well, we always said that students learn best by doing, and that was our process for today.
Saturday, April 3
What a day we had on tap for today!
First, we got everything squared away around Mother’s house to get ready for a visit from Heather, Andy, Alexander, and Abby, who were driving over from Richardson for the day. When TJ found out that Donnie and Rob were bringing their families to Mineola for the weekend to celebrate her 70th birthday (which will be on Monday), she asked if I would call Heather and invite her family to come to town also. The cousins hadn’t seen each other in nearly 20 years, so there would be a lot of catching up to do.
We were being a little selfish ourselves since it has been a while since we saw the kids and grandkids, so we arranged to have them at Mother’s house for some visiting, an Easter egg hunt for Alexander and Abby, and a little gift-giving.
While we were waiting on the kids to arrive, Barbara and I continued to work out in the garage laying out the second set of cabinet pieces so we could tackle that tonight, if we chose.
We were delighted to discover around 11:30 that Mother was standing on the porch surveying her domain. The day was such a beautiful one that she decided to sit at her wrought iron table.
Once Alexander and Abby arrived we started the Easter egg hunt which we got so involved in, we didn’t even take one photo!
However, we remedied that situation as soon as we went inside to check that all eggs were accounted for. At that time, we let the kids have Sharpies and add a face or two to the eggs. (We went simple this year…no dyed eggs…just faces drawn on one side which left a blank side for their artistic expression)
When Spike and I returned to the house, we got everyone in the cars and, drove over to TJ’s house to get ready for the meal. Donnie and Rob were busy grilling hamburgers, hotdogs, and brats in the backyard and the rest of the place was bedlam. There was Rob, Michelle, and their three children (6 and under), Donnie, Lynette, and their daughter, Caitlin, Heather, Andy, Alexander, and Abby, TJ and Mother, and Barbara and me. The five little kids were all over the place while Caitlin tried her best to be a babysitter, and the adults had multiple conversations going on.
We thought we’d just rest, but the sight of the awaiting cabinet pieces got our attention and Barbara and I decided we’d tackle part two of the project. Luckily for us, we did learn from last night’s mistakes and the second cabinet went together much easier and quicker than the first (although not without some more awkward moments and scintillating conversation.)
“Stop telling God how big your storm is. Instead, tell the storm how big your God is.” – Unknown
From Mineola, Texas,
Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams
