A Little Divided Time

Sunday, May 16 – Saturday, May 22

Sunday, May 16

Jim: Today started out as a typical Sunday morning. We all got up and ginned around to get ready for church and once we had Mother ready, Barbara and I took off for Yantis. I got called a couple of days ago to teach the Sunday school lesson for our class, so we thought that maybe we should be on time.

The class went well and then I had to leave to get to choir practice while Barbara visited with a few people and took our lesson materials out to the car.

When the choir entered the choir loft, I immediately sought out Barbara so I would know where to go when we went out for the preaching part of the service. But, when the time came for us to leave and I walked around the sanctuary to where I thought Barbara was, I found another couple sitting there instead. I made my to one side of the church and slid into the pew where Barbara was sitting (same pew…different place) and noticed that the couple sitting next to Barbara was our friends Gene and Carolyn from Mineola. They had just decided to come out and hear David preach again and we ended up sitting together for the duration of the service.

We thought we might all get together for lunch, but Jean and Carolyn needed to get back to Mineola right away, so Barbara and I went back to Holiday Village, ordered a take-out meal from the clubhouse, and retired to Big V to eat and take a little nap.

As tired as I was, I only dozed for about a half hour and then I got up, put on some working clothes, and went outside to do some yard work. My goal for the afternoon was, if at all possible, to finish cleaning dead vines out of the tree at the front of the gully…the tree that is immediately visible to all who pass by “Our Little Lot.”

We’ve written a lot over the past year about the vines and how they cling to the trees and stunt their growth. Over the course of the year I was able to cut out most of the green vines, but the years-old dead vines created an entirely different challenge. For one thing, because the vines are dead, they break relatively easy when one pulls on them, just making them farther out of reach. The final clump of dead vines that I was after were entangled on a limb 20 feet off the ground. The only way to get them was to run an extension ladder as high as it would go, hook the top rung over the stub of a broken limb, and climb to the top and start pulling individual vines. I doubt very seriously that anything I did this afternoon would be acceptable practice as judged by OSHA, but since the only remedy I ever got from OSHA about the decibel level in band rooms was to have the director and students wear earplugs when rehearsing or performing, I decided I’d just go ahead and do this my way. Besides, I don’t think OSHA has much interest in our neck of the woods.

After a couple of hours of balancing on top of the ladder and stretching a far as I could to pull on the vines, I finally got all but one or two stray vines that will eventually blow down in a good wind…mission accomplished!!!

When Barbara got up from her nap she came outside to see how I was doing and to take pictures to document the occasion. I wasn’t sure if she was standing by to take video of a great u-tube moment if I fell, but she said she wasn’t.

While Barbara had the camera in hand, she walked over to our neighbors, Gary and Linda, and got some shots of them. Time and circumstances just haven’t allowed us to get current pictures of our neighbors at Holiday Village, but this was a great day to get started again.

It was while I was taking a shower and getting ready to return to church for choir practice and the evening service that our well-planned day took a different turn and we became a housed divided.

Barbara got a phone call from her sister Carol that she would be passing through Lindale this evening with her son Gary and his family. We had already discussed the possibility that this might happen sometime during the day, so we quickly shut down Big V, threw our stuff in the Vibe, and drove back to Mineola where I made a quick change of vehicles, hopped on the motorcycle, and rode as fast as I could back to Yantis for choir practice and the evening service.

Unfortunately, I forgot to get my cell phone out of the car before I left (I thought it was in my pocket, but I didn’t really check) and when I got to Yantis, Pastor David asked me if I had forgotten something. I didn’t know what he was talking about until he told me that Barbara had called and asked him to call her back if I didn’t show up at church tonight.

Barbara: What Mr. Little failed to say in the above paragraph is that I asked him before he zoomed away on the cycle if he had his phone and he said, “Yes.” Normally I don’t worry too much when he’s off in the car, but…the cycle is different; so it was a relief to be able to call David so someone at church would be expecting him.

Once Jim took off, I pointed the Vibe south and got to Lindale just a few minutes before Carol and Gary’s family pulled up.

No one who knows us will be shocked to find that the first item of business after getting hugs was taking photos.

The time for visiting was short since they needed to get to Mansfield where Carol’s daughter Connie was visiting a friend. Besides all that the kids knew that a motel swimming pool was waiting for them…now figure out which was more important…standing around at a service station while Grandma and Aunt Barbara visited or hit the road so they could go swimming. You can imagine which they felt was high priority.

However, though the time wasn't very long, it still was a blessing to see my sister and know that she had had quality time with Gary and his family in Louisiana.

Monday, May 17

Jim: Today was just another “taking care of business day” as we worked on the journal/blog, made the usual post office run, checked online billing, etc.

I did see a hummingbird flitting around the feeder in the front porch flowerbed. I’m pretty sure it was the same one I’ve seen at the other feeder, so maybe she will tell others about this great “watering hole.”

This afternoon we needed to take some mail to the post office. As we went through the driveway to drop the envelopes in the outside box, we spied our friend Carolyn Neyer walking into the building. We yelled at her, but she didn’t hear us, so we drove around to the parking lot, found her car, and when I noticed that the space on the driver side of her car was vacant, I decided (in a moment of juvenile pranksterism) to pull in to the parking place and park as close as I could to Carolyn’s car so she couldn’t get in the driver side.

I let Barbara out of the Vibe, since she wouldn’t be able to get out of the car when I parked next to Carolyn’s car, and then edged into position. I hopped out and we hid behind Carolyn’s car until she came out of the building. She had a really puzzled look on her face and decided she’d just wait there until the idiot driver of that blue car came back and moved so she could leave.

We let Carolyn stand there (in the hot sun, no less) for another minute or so and then walked around to her and made some comment about rude drivers. She was dumfounded for a moment and then we all started laughing about it. For Carolyn, it was a much-needed moment of levity as she was preparing to take Gene to Tyler tomorrow to get a pacemaker. For us, it was a chance to have a laugh with a good friend.

Tonight we went over to TJ’s house for a few minutes to meet her brother-in-law who was visiting from Alabama.

Tuesday, May 18

Our best wishes for a successful medical procedure and quick healing go out today to Gene Neyer, who is having a pacemaker implant in Tyler today.

Job one today was to get Jean Terpening’s Birthday and Mother’s Day gift in the mail (finally). We knew along what we wanted to do for Jean for her 80th birthday, but just hadn’t gotten around to it…also had no idea how extensive a plan it was.

Back in March as Jean’s birthday approached, we began our birthday shopping; but daily life and living, interfered; so it wasn’t until our trip to Artesia last week that we became serious again. We began stopping at gas stations and truck stops to buy more of the eighty $1.00 scratch cards, one for each year (we actually started in Richardson several weeks ago when we went to see Alexander play soccer). There is absolutely nothing we could buy Jean that she needs, but we thought the novelty of a variety of scratch cards would occupy her time and (hopefully) give her a little payback. After many stops between Mineola and Artesia and all around Wood County, we finally achieved the goal, got the cards organized by game name and the place purchased (Barbara came up with a chart for all the data so Jean could track her cards), and got them in the mail along with a jar of sweet potato butter that we found during out travels.

When I got back from the post office, I started mowing and trimming the yards while Barbara went to work cleaning floors, doing the laundry, reorganizing the kitchen cabinets, and cooking meals for the day. Everything came together around 12:30, so there was nothing else to do but sit down and eat, and then head to our rooms for what we thought was a well-earned nap. It was way too hot to continue working outside (although there was more than enough left to do), but the cool air-conditioned rooms beckoned to us.

Barbara’s Bridge meeting at the church was cancelled tonight because Lisa wanted to spend time with one of her sons who was in town from Arlington. We usually just stay at home on Tuesday nights when Barbara doesn’t have a meeting, but I had a lot on the agenda for our lot, so I drove on out to Holiday Village and did as much of the weekly mowing as I could.

When I got back from the lot I took a shower to knock off all the dirt and grime and then we watched a little television before heading for bed and a good night’s sleep.

Wednesday, May 19

We got around early this morning, got Mother fed and ready for her day, and then drove back north so I could continue my work at the lot and Barbara could participate in her Wednesday morning Bible study group.

My job this morning was to burn off as much of the grass, leaves, tree trimmings, and other assorted detritus as possible in the short amount of time I had. There is no place where we can dispose of the branches, leaves, etc., so the only thing we can do is build a burn pile and then torch it every now and then.

Luckily, the fire burned quite nicely and I was even able to bring up several more wheelbarrow loads of leaves, twigs, and small branches from the gully to help keep the flames going. When I reached my limit (time and inclination), I started putting away all the tools and straightening things up before soaking the ashes and embers to put them out before Barbara returned to pick me up. I also worked out a little flower bed and planted some seeds, but only time will tell if we can keep it sufficiently watered so something will grow.

We returned to Mineola for lunch and a short nap, but the nap was even shorter than usual; we had just laid down when the phone rang…it was a call from the local appliance store wanting to come out and look at Mother’s oven.

A couple of weeks ago Barbara used the auto-clean feature of the oven. When we tried to turn the oven on the next morning, neither element would warm up. So, we called on the friendly folks at Hughes Appliance and they said they’d get someone out here as soon as possible, but it would take at least a week.

What we found from the repairman this afternoon was that this particular model of oven (Whirlpool), while it has the auto-cleaning feature, gets too hot during the cleaning process and burns out a very expensive thermostat. Jimmy, the repairman, said that he’s had to replace several thermostats around town and that he didn’t know of anyone who has had the nerve to try the auto-clean feature again. We agreed that we probably wouldn’t either, although it seems ridiculous to have paid for a feature that doesn’t work.

Since we were already awake, Barbara and I decided we’d go to Sonic for the Happy Hour special (diet Coke for her and a cherry limeade for me) and then go for a ride out in the country to see if we could locate someone who could design and build a metal cover for Big V. May is proving to be a very hot and dry month this year and while our time in Big V is limited, we’d like to get a handle on the inside temperature so we can use our home when we’re out there.

Alas, we couldn’t find the places that Barbara had seen advertised, but it was a nice ride and we discovered a couple of back-country roads that we’d like to use for motorcycle rides one of these days.

As if we hadn’t done enough yard work the last couple of days, Barbara was talking to Addie, our next door neighborhood this evening, and she told Barbara that we had some vines growing through a tree in the corner of Mother’s back yard and we needed to think about getting the vines out. So, we went out back with about 30 minutes of light left and began cutting away and removing the vines. Barbara found a blackberry vine that she tried to retrain by setting it in a trellis she found in another flower bed and we even found an abandoned birdhouse that had been hidden from view by tree limbs and vines.

With that little bit of work done and night falling quickly, we finally decided to get inside and call it a day.

Thursday, May 20

Tonight was our church’s turn to host the monthly association meeting and dinner. Our Sunday school class was asked to provide bread and beans, so Barbara put together a new recipe of pork and beans while I baked a loaf of white bread and a loaf of jalapeno bread to take to Yantis later this afternoon.

While Barbara was taking care of our business (bank statements, bills, and other online business tasks), I started to work on the journal/blog, trying to keep us from getting any further behind in our publishing endeavors.

TJ invited us to lunch at her place, so at noon we got Mother in the car and drove to TJ’s house for a delicious dinner of chicken-fried steak and all the trimmings. One of these days we really do need to go on a diet, but it’s hard to think of that with all the good food around!

Jean called to let us know that she had received her birthday and Mother’s Day gifts. She had already scratched 43 of the cards and had $26 in winnings…probably not bad, all things considered. In any case, the present served its purpose of being a fun and unique gift.

This afternoon we received a call from one of Jimmy Clint’s friends telling us that Jimmy had gotten dizzy and fallen and was taken to UMC in Lubbock and kept until he was stabilized.

This evening we took our beans and loaves of bread to Yantis First Baptist Church and stuck around to help with the serving. We had been told that there would be around 120 people for the dinner and the meeting, but there were only around 65 that came through the line and helped themselves to brisket, barbecue sauce, several variations of potato salad, a couple of different recipes of beans, and our bread (not to mention a wide variety of desserts). I don’t know how much gets accomplished during the business meetings, but I know that everyone there is well-fed!

We stopped by Big V on the way home to see how much rain we received during some scattered thunderstorms today and found .45 inch of water in the gauge…not bad, but we sure could use some more.

Friday, May 21

This was a day for taking care of quite a few odds and ends around Mother’s place…household chores, mail to be read and answered, finishing up the latest edition of the journal and getting it posted, etc.

TJ came over to the house at noon and joined us for lunch…guess that diet thing for all of us will just have to wait for another day.

Jaycie called us this afternoon to let us know that she had made the seventh grade JV tennis team for her middle school next year; we thought that was quite an accomplishment since she has only recently taken up the game and there were 35 or more girls trying out for 15 0r 16 positions on the varsity and JV teams. Way to go, J-Bird!

This evening we drove up to Lake Tawakoni, a large fishing lake about 45 miles northwest of Mineola. Ryan and the men from his family have an annual fishing retreat and the last couple of years it has been at Tawakoni. Ryan wanted me to join them for a couple of days of fishing and camping, but it just wasn’t in the cards for this week. However, we told him we’d drive out to visit for a bit and do some exploring since we hadn’t been to that lake.

We took the Vibe (along with some beanie-weenies and cookies) and had time to visit with Ryan and his dad as well as several uncles and cousins. Before we left, while we were taking pictures, Ryan again invited me to come out for tomorrow and do some fishing. I knew I couldn’t stay all day and take part in the end-of-trip fish fry tomorrow night, but we agreed that if the weather cooperated, I could ride the motorcycle out to the lake and use some of Ryan’s fishing gear. But first, I would have to go to Walmart and get the fishing licenses that I promised I was going to get two years ago.

So, after saying goodbye to Ryan and his dad (and to the uncles and cousins who had already gone through all the cookies we brought), Barbara and I headed back to Mineola with a stop in Alba to take some pictures of Gene and Michelle’s new house.

We learned from Gene that because they were having the house built instead of buying it through a real estate agent, they have to have pictures of various stages of the construction process to submit with their income tax return for 2010…we learn something every day! Because Gene and Michelle have been spending more time in Kansas trying to do something with their property there and haven’t been here to oversee the progress on their new house, we have been their “eyes,” sending regular updates and lots of pictures of both the exterior and interior of the house.

The fun part of watching Gene and Michelle’s house grow for Barbara is being able to call in reports to Michelle. This time reporting on the beauty of the backsplash seemed to dominate Barbara’s conversation. Gene is more interested in the practical side…like are the gutters up, etc.

When we finished with the photo session, we continued on our way to Mineola with a brief stop at Walmart to get my senior citizen’s all-water license. Now I can drown worms and minnows and lose tackle in any river or lake in Texas, as well as the Gulf of Mexico!

Saturday, May 22

This was yet another “house divided” day as I got up early, had breakfast, and then hopped aboard the motorcycle for a trip to Lake Tawakoni and my fishing experience.

Ryan and two of his cousins were waiting for me when I arrived. The wind was high and the lake was too choppy for the boats, so the four of us got in cars and drove through East Tawakoni, across Lake Tawakoni, and through West Tawakoni (not a lot of creativity going here) to a crappie fishing shed. It was, literally, a shed that had been set on pontoons in what was supposed to be a “wonderful” crappie fishing location (note the disclaimer, “supposed to be”).

With rods and reels in hand and a large bag of minnows that were willing to sacrifice their lives so that we could enjoy the day, we walked to the shed, choosing to drop our lines from the outside deck rather than the inside room, and commenced to drown minnows at a fairly regular rate. One of the cousins and I caught the first two fish, small white bass that even I knew were undersized. I had no more than re-baited my hook and dropped it back into the lake and turned around to get a drink of water, than my fishing rod started jumping. I was pretty certain I had caught a large wad of wandering moss at the bottom of the cove, but when I reeled in the line, I found that I had a nice-sized white bass, well worth keeping and adding to the catch for the group.

The rest of the time was a total wash for me, but the other cousin eventually had a hit on his line and pulled out a crappie that was about the same size as my bass. Unfortunately, that was the high point of the morning as none of us even had a nibble the rest of the time we were there.

Around 12:30 I told Ryan that I needed to get back to Mineola so I could get things ready for Sunday…I had a scheduled rehearsal with the pianist to work out an arrangement of Battle Hymn of the Republic for piano, trumpet, and snare drum, as well as get my working clothes ready for tomorrow afternoon.

Barbara’s plan for her part of the “divided family day” was to go to Lindale and look through all the clothing shops to find some new outfits. But, as she was taking care of chores around the house and getting ready to go, Mother received a call from the daughter of an old family friend from Artesia. Nancy (formerly Wilcox) and a friend were in Tyler and wanted to stop by to visit Mother for a while.

Barbara at that time decided that she should stay put long enough to document the occasion for Edith with a photo. Since she had an hour before Nancy was to arrive, she did some touch-up dusting and sweeping to the living room and then went to check the mail and visit the used book store.

Once Nancy and her friend Diane arrived and the photos were taken, Barbara headed over to Lindale for some serious shopping (something neither of us do very often.)

Her shopping venture ended just about the same time as my fishing excursion so she brought back dinner for the three of us from Long John Silver. I think it’s great that there are some good fish restaurants around, since we obviously wouldn’t eat much if we relied on what I catch.

For some reason, Mother wanted to watch Giant tonight. She has the 2-tape set of the classic movie, so after we completed our evening chores, Barbara and I got the VCR set up in Mother’s room and Mother and I sat down to watch the almost 4-hour movie. I’ve seen Giant several times, but never get tired of seeing it again and bathing my ears in the beautiful soundtrack…they just don’t make them like that anymore!

“Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.” – God’s Post-It Notes

From Mother’s house on Heritage Drive,

Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams

A Little of This and That

Sunday, May 9 – Saturday, May 15, 2010

Sunday, May 9

Happy Mother’s Day to Mothers everywhere!

Awakening fairly early this day, we quickly prepared to make the journey back to Mineola and by shortly after 5:00, we were on the road again. We wandered through Big Spring to find Walmart to gas up the Vibe, but were evidently too early to use the 24-hour gas pumps…go figure. So, we made our way back to I-20 and headed east to Sweetwater where we stopped for gas and McBreakfast before continuing our waltz across Texas to Mineola (although not without a few “comfort” stops along the way.)

We got back to Mother’s house in time to unpack the car, put everything away, start a load of laundry, and even get in a short (and much needed) nap.

When I talked to Johnny Banister yesterday he told me that they should arrive in Mineola sometime during the afternoon, so I waited until I thought they should be in town and called the number for his aunt and uncle’s house. No one answered, but Johnny had given me directions to the house, so I drove over to see if his car was there. Sure enough, there was a car with Mississippi tags, but it didn’t appear that anyone was home…at least no one answered the door when I rang the bell.

We figured the family had gone out to dinner, so we waited a while longer to give them time to get back to the house before I called again. This time we were in luck…they had returned to the house and Johnny asked if we could come over there to meet his wife, aunt, and uncle. They were busy packing for an early start toward Artesia tomorrow morning, so we readily agreed.

In just a few minutes we pulled up to the house and were greeted by Johnny. He introduced us to his wife, Barbara, and then we went inside and met his uncle and aunt, Don and Jean, long-time residents of this area.

We spent about an hour visiting with Johnny’s family and then we said our goodbyes. Johnny and Barbara will be coming back through Mineola after his Mother’s funeral, so we agreed to get together again and visit when he could have time to see Mother.

Max Johnson called tonight to make sure we got home okay; he and I talked for quite a while and Barbara spent the evening fielding Mother’s Day calls.

Monday, May 10

Today was a really different day for us. After doing all the early morning stuff and getting Mother settled in for the day, Barbara and I drove out to Holiday Village for a couple of meetings.

Some time back Josh, the sales manager for Holiday Village, asked if I would be interested in serving on the board of directors for Holiday Village. There was an opening for the year, and he thought that Barbara and I could bring some new and fresh ideas to the board. We told Josh that we would think about it and then he called over the weekend to say that Jack, the majority owner of Holiday Villages of Lake Fork, wanted to talk with us about the position.

We arrived at the sales office around 9:00 and found Josh, who told us that Jack hadn’t arrived, but he would call us at our lot as soon as Jack did get to the park. Around 9:45 we got the call that Jack was at the clubhouse, so we walked across the street to meet him and get some information.

What we found was that there is a three-member board of directors for the park, with Jack and his attorney serving in two of the positions. The third member is a more or less at-large member who represents the interests of the park residents.

After hearing what Jack had to say, I decided to take on the role if I was elected. Since no one else had been proposed for the position, I was the only candidate unless there was a floor nomination. All seemed to be quite in order until the meeting of the property owners was called to order and we got to the part of the agenda where Jack announced that I was the candidate for the board position. All of a sudden you would think that I was the village leper…some of the residents shouted (yes, actually shouted) that they didn’t know me (even though we all sit together and talk during bingo nights and POA dinners), one thought that since we live in a motorhome we aren’t really residents (although we are property owners and that is the only qualification), and others wanted the former board member re-elected, even though he didn’t want the position…it was just like attending school board meetings again! One thing I have learned in life is that it doesn’t matter whether a person deliberately kicks a hornets’ nest or whether he accidentally stumbles over it, the hornets get just as stirred up and angry.

After a short called break in the meeting we again came back to order, Jack called for a vote, and I was elected by a show of hands to serve on the board for the next year…now all I need is an unlisted telephone number and a shroud of invisibility around Our Little Lot!

One really nice thing that happened to us this morning was that we met some new friends, Roger and Pat, a couple who have just traded a lot for a couple of lots in our “neighborhood.” Unfortunately, they have to return to Oregon for a while before moving back down here to build their place, but we are looking forward to getting together with them. In the course of our conversation with Roger, we found that he is originally from Albuquerque and used to make business trips to Artesia…another “small world” note.

We also found out today that our friends Jimmy and Barbara from Cairo, Georgia (we met them at Toccoa at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center) arrived today in Houston for another series of tests for Jimmy at M.D. Anderson. Prayers for this very special couple are much appreciated by the family and their many friends.

Tuesday, May 11

This morning was taken up with the usual household and yard chores. Barbara tackled the laundry, cleaning, trash-gathering, etc. while I took care of the outside duties like mowing and trimming. All in all, we managed to fill the morning with our efforts, but had to call a halt (thankfully) so we could go to lunch at Cousin Angela’s house.

Angela and Ladd are so busy at their jobs (she’s a nurse at Trinity Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler – he’s an engineer for TXDOT with an office in Mineola, but he has to travel to Tyler nearly every day) that we almost never get to see them. However, Angela had a rare day off today and Ladd got back from Tyler in time for lunch, so we joined them and Madelyn, their daughter, for a delicious soup and salad lunch (and gorgeous and delicious strawberry shortcake) at their beautiful home here in Mineola.

After an hour or so of eating and getting caught up on everyone’s lives during the last month or so, we helped clear the table, say our goodbyes, and then returned to Mother’s house for the afternoon.

After resting a bit, Barbara and I went outside to do a little more landscaping in the front yard. When we were working in the backyard a couple of weeks ago we found some sections of wrought iron fencing in one of the flower beds. We decided that the wrought iron would be more decorative somewhere else, but we just hadn’t taken the time to do anything about it. This afternoon we dug up two layers of bricks that lined the flower bed on the north side of the driveway and, with some effort and creative bending, got five sections of wrought iron set in their place. We also decided that we liked the weathered look of the fencing, so we left them as we found them, rather than painting the gloss black like all the other iron work.

Tonight we treated ourselves to a rare evening of television watching. The Biography Channel had specials on Don Knotts and Andy Griffith, both favorites of ours, so we parked ourselves on the couch and watched them until time to go to bed.

Wednesday, May 12

TJ invited Mother to go to lunch with her in Lindale today, so after fixing breakfast and getting our “glad rags” on (Barbara was dressed for Bible Study group and I was dressed for work at the lot), we drove north to Holiday Village. We unloaded the lawn mower, electric weed eater, blower, and tools, and I set about doing the weekly mowing and trimming to keep Our Little Lot looking loved, while Barbara went on to Yantis to meet the other ladies at the church.

Our plan was to stay at Big V and have lunch there, but after Barbara got to Yantis, she got a text signal on her phone but couldn’t read it because her screen went blank. That immediately changed out plans for the day because the nearest Sprint store is in Tyler and we needed to get there as soon as possible after Bible Study.

When Barbara came back to Big V, I had all the equipment and tools stored away so we wouldn’t have to take time to load them in the car, drive to Mother’s house and unload them, and then go to Tyler. Instead, we called Mother to let her know that we had to go to Tyler and wouldn’t be coming to the house until later in the afternoon; then, we set our sights on getting to Tyler and the Sprint store as quickly as possible (but, with a stop at a Sonic along the way for some lunch on the run).

We arrived at Sprint and waited in line for an attendant, associate, sales person, or whatever they are called these days. There were quite a few customers ahead of us, so we cooled our heels and looked at different styles of phones (that we can’t get upgrades on for another six months, but that’s another story for another time).

Finally, one of the associates took a look at the phone and agreed with us that the screen on the phone had died and there was no way to read texts or any other functions on the unit. She checked our account and found that we did have insurance, so they would give Barbara a new replacement phone. The only problem was that they couldn’t get another phone until after 4:00 pm tomorrow…not what we wanted to hear, but we had no choice but to return to Mineola and make the trip back tomorrow.

Thursday, May 13

Barbara said she thought I ought to go out to the lake this morning and work around the lot and she would stay at the house for Mother, take care of some household chores, and prepare a ladies lunch for Mother, TJ, and her.

With a “to-do” list as long as my arm, I took Barbara up on the offer, put on my working clothes, and headed for the lot. When I got there, I decided that Job 1 would be to get all of our “stuff” out of the screen house that we set up in a secluded, wooded corner of the place. It had been a great idea to put the screen house there and it was a wonderful place to store the lawnmower, wheelbarrow, and various and sundry other items. What we didn’t count on was the recent storms causing dead branches (huge branches) to break and fall off a large tree that branched over the screen house. By this morning, the screen house had much more air than fabric around it and there was no way it could be repaired. So, I took everything out, ripped out the stakes and guy wires, folded up all the shock-corded poles, and bagged everything up to be hauled off to a dumpster.

Once I had everything out of the area, I started cutting down about a kazillion new briar vines (thank goodness they are young and not very tall), and spraying Round-Up on the stubs. Then, I raked out the area and hauled all the clippings to a spot on the lot behind us to be burned on another day. By the time that was done, I was inspired to keep on raking and hauling, but the spirit was less willing than the body, so I straightened everything up and returned to Mineola in time to pick Barbara up and make another trip to Tyler.

Barbara: Since Jim opted to eat peanut butter sandwiches out at the lake, Edith, TJ, and I chicken fettuccini, green beans, and salad. Go figure other people’s taste! Anyway, we did have a great hen party and I certainly used the before and after time getting some boring chores handled. Enough said!

Jim: While we still had to wait our turn at the Sprint store, the outcome was much better than it was yesterday and in an hour or so Barbara had a new phone with a screen she could read. The girl who waited on her assured her that all data and files from the other phone were transferred and installed on the new unit, but we soon found that wasn’t true when Barbara searched for a couple of text messages she had missed and they weren’t there. But, she had a phone and was back in touch with the world.

Friday, May 14

We voted this morning that today would be as simple and uncomplicated as possible…no major chores or activities, just some simple home living.

After breakfast, Barbara took care of the household chores (doing laundry, preparing lunch, working on the journal/blog), and some of our daily/weekly/monthly personal business (thank goodness for online transactions that save driving and standing in lines) while I went to the vet to get a new six-month supply of medications for Spike and Bonita. I also took a large load of old newspapers with me, as we found that the “doggy hospital” shreds them and uses the shredded paper to line the kennels.

When I returned to the house, I went outside to do some work in the back yard. There is a flower/shrub bed that runs along the fence line between Mother’s house and the house next door. We’ve been so busy mowing and trimming that we really haven’t paid much attention to the flower bed except to remark about how grass and weed infested it is (except for the time we set a hydrangea plant in one of the sections).

Today I just plopped down and began weeding each section of the bed…very simple and mindless work, which suited me just fine for the day. In an hour or so I had pulled out most of the grasses and weeds, giving us a clear view of the plants that were supposed to be there. While I was at it, I went ahead and put pine bark mulch around each of the large plants, hoping that in time we will be better able to control the things that we really don’t want growing there.

Johnny Banister called this afternoon to say that he and Barbara were back in town for a couple of days after going to Artesia for his Mother’s funeral and sticking around there to help take care of business. We invited him and Barbara to come to the house around 4:30 so he could see Mother and we could all visit for a bit.

When Johnny got here, he was by himself…seems that Barbara and Aunt Jean had gone shopping for some things that they just couldn’t live without. For the next hour and a half we visited and got pretty much caught up on each other’s lives over the past 40 years. TJ came over around 5:00 to visit. She had lived with us in Artesia for the last two years of high school and, since we were next door neighbors with to the Banisters, we had a lot of common ground. TJ, being five years older than the rest of us, was the neighborhood big sister (we thought of her more as a watch dog) and knew all the kids around us.

When Johnny left, amid hugs, handshakes, and vows to do a better job of keeping in touch, we had a light supper and then whiled away the evening doing mostly nothing which, after all, had been our plan for the day. About 8: 30, while I was working on last week’s journal, Barbara came in and said Johnny was back.

Sure enough, in came Johnny carrying a large and very beautiful day lily as a house gift for Mother. Mother was in her room watching TV, so we went back there with Johnny. Her eyes lit up when she saw the plant and we told her that we knew the perfect place for it.

After more hugs and goodbyes, Johnny left to go back to his aunt and uncle’s house and we prepared to call it a day and go to bed.

Saturday, May 15

TJ and Mother agreed to come out to the Holiday Village clubhouse for lunch today and that allowed us to plan the biggest part of our day away from the Mineola house. We took care of breakfast and a few chores (including planting the day lily that Johnny brought to Mother last night…once we read that day lilies were good to attract hummingbirds, we just knew that we had to clear out a little patch and set the plant right beside the hummingbird feeders at the end of the driveway). With that done, we hopped in the car, drove to the post office to check for mail, and headed north for the rest of the day.

Our first stop was at David and Lorrie’s house in Yantis to pick up some teacher guides and commentaries for tomorrow’s Sunday school lesson. Fred, our teacher, had called Thursday evening to say that he and his wife would not be there Sunday morning and asked if I would teach the lesson. I said I would if he would leave the necessary materials at David’s house so I could pick them up.

After getting the books and exchanging a few words with David, we went to The Tomato Shack to buy some fresh produce and then on to the sales office at the village to see Josh, our friendly sales manager, and Karen, his secretary, to take care of registering our motorhome for the coming year.

Once we got to the lot, we hit the ground running, finding more than enough weeds and vines to clear and places to rake. I finished clearing what we called our tent area; cutting out more vines, raking up debris, and spraying Round-Up on all the green things that we didn’t want spreading around (like poison ivy, poison oak, etc.).

It took a good part of the morning to clear that part of the lot and haul the clippings, leaves, etc. to the burn pile on the lot behind Big V, and by the time that was done, we were ready for lunch. Mother and TJ arrived in time to get out and see what we have done with the lot (it’s been a long time since they have been out there) and then we went across the street to choose our meal. While we were waiting for our orders, Bob Royar came in to pick up takeout orders for him and Mary. Since the order wasn’t quite ready, we all sat around and talked (and, of course, took a few pictures).

One of the main jobs I wanted to accomplish this week was to rip out as many of the dead vines as I possibly could from the tops of the trees toward the front of the lot. I’ve spent a year cutting and pulling the green vines, but there are great gobs and snarls of dead vines that were wrapped around the upper limbs and branches. There are basically two ways to handle the situation; the first is to wait 50-100 years for the ravages of weather to break them apart and scatter the pieces wherever; and the second is to find a ladder long enough to reach the branches, climb the ladder, and hang on to something with one hand while pulling at strands of dead vines with the other.

Figuring that I probably don’t have 50-100 years to stick around and wait for nature to take its course, I borrowed a 20-foot aluminum extension ladder from Bob Royar, found a couple of reasonable level (all right—not too unlevel) spots to set the base, and proceeded to climb to a spot as close as possible to as many vines as possible and start pulling them down. Barbara guided me verbally at times when I couldn’t see where I was going and handed me a rake that I could extend to try to snare some of the vines.

The work was tedious and sometimes painful…even good leather gloves aren’t perfect protection against the briar thorns, but working together we did manage to get about half of the job done today and ended the afternoon with two large piles of dead vines on the ground.

With tired and torn hands and shaky knees, I put away the ladder for the day and went inside Big V to take a shower and get cleaned up for the POA (Property Owners Association) dinner tonight. Each month the POA has a dinner that is free to all property dinners and their guests…just another perk of life at Holiday Villages of Lake Fork. This morning we invited David, Lorrie, Ashley, and Amber to be our guests for the evening and they readily accepted (as long as they didn’t have to stay for the karaoke session that follows the dinners).

Bob and Mary were also there, so the eight of us snagged a table in the back of the commons room and enjoyed our chicken fried steak dinners and lots of conversation.

While we were eating, we realized that Karen (in blue) from the Holiday Village office and Brittney (in gray), a sales rep, were there taking photos for the HV Facebook page.

Since both girls are favorites of ours, we decided that having a photo of them would just add more “flavor” to this week’s journal.

By 6:00 pm the dinner was over and we all had places to go and things to do to get ready for Sunday morning, so we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

“If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.” – Unknown

From Mineola with love,

Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams

Another Little Week of Traveling

Sunday, May 2 – Saturday, May 8, 2010

Sunday, May 2

There was no great excitement today, but we did hear a couple of great sermons at Yantis First Baptist Church…David was in rare form and delivered just the messages we needed to hear.

After Sunday school and church this morning, we drove back to Holiday Village, had takeout lunch from the clubhouse, and ate lunch in Big V while watching another episode of 2 ½ Men.

After a short nap I went outside to water the plants and do some minor work around the lot. Several branches and limbs fell during the storms last weekend and I finally got around to picking them up and moving them to the woodpile. Barbara wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed inside to rest and read a book.

As we were getting ready to leave for choir practice and the evening sermon, Bob Royar rolled up in his golf cart. He had loaned me his 20-foot extension ladder last week but needed it back for some work at his place. I hopped on the golf cart and held on to the ladder while Bob drove back to their lot as Barbara drove over in the Vibe.

Barbara and I then drove to Yantis and I went to choir practice while she returned to Big V to pick up the leftovers from lunch.

David was spot on again this evening with his message taken from Philippians 1; 21-26. It seemed to hit us at just the right time, proving once again that we are just where we are supposed to be.

When we returned to Mother’s house we sat down and watched the Extreme Makeover show that was taped here in Mineola a couple of months ago. It was a very interesting show and we got a different perspective on the family that what we got from the local and regional media.

Monday, May 3

Barbara: Laundry seemed to be an all day affair today for some reason. Maybe I was just in slow motion! However, we also tackled the general housecleaning which tends to divide one’s time and attention. During this process, we were delighted to receive an unexpected visit from our friend Carolyn who was making a Wal-Mart run when she decided to take a short detour to check on us. Her visit was certainly a welcome break from the humdrum of indoor work that neither Jim nor I seem to readily adapt to!

Once Jim’s part of the indoor chores were finished, he headed outside to “play” in the yard while I got things ready for lunch and did some paperwork which needed attention.

Tonight we received two messages which brought different emotions to the surface. First, was a call from a friend of Jimmy’s who had gone to visit him the night before. Jimmy is blessed to have 3 really dedicated friends who continue to stand by him during this difficult time and who are willing to keep us informed on how he’s doing. Words alone cannot begin to express our thankfulness to them for being so steadfast.

The second news was much more painful as Jim received word via email that Max’s wife Marion had finished her three-fold and five year long battle with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and pulmonary fibrosis. In a very short note Max wrote, “Marion Johnson completed her journey at 7:36 pm today.”

We’ve written several times about Max and Marion and will write more at another time, but tonight the words are overpowered by our great love for this couple and their family and conflicting emotions about how Marion’s journey ended.

Tuesday, May 4

Barbara: Nothing particular stands out this morning. However, while TJ, Edith, Jim, and I were having a really late lunch…just couldn’t seem to get every pulled together earlier…we were pleased to find Michelle and Gene stopping by for a short visit. They joined us around the table (though no amount of wheedling could convince them to join us in eating or even dessert!) for a lively bit of conversation. With their trips to Kansas and our unexpected jaunts, we haven’t seen much of each other.

We did find out this afternoon that Marion’s service would be held Thursday in Santa Fe and another one Saturday in Artesia. Therefore, we began making plans to attend the Saturday service. First on our lists of things to do was to contact Cathey and see if we could visit Jaycie for an hour on our way back from NM even though it was Mother’s Day.

There were many things to do in preparation for another trip, but since it was Bridge night, we decided that there was always tomorrow!

While I went to Bridge, Jim tackled the mowing and trimming of Our Little Lot.

Wednesday, May 5

Even though we had a million things needing to be done, we decided that nothing was more important than Barbara going to Bible Study and Jim working out at Our Little Lot! Talk about priorities!

Once back in Mineola, the work began in earnest for both Jim and me. Mine was to prepare meals that Edith could have with a minimum amount of preparation for breakfast and dinner since TJ always takes care of her lunches. First, was to use the zucchini we had bought from the Tomato Patch last week by making zucchini bread. Then I fixed chicken salad while Jim washed the car and got it prepared for another flying trip.

We did hear from Cathey offering to let us visit with Jaycie on Friday evening. However, since the funeral was in Artesia on Saturday and Jim was planning to visit with Max’s family on Friday night, this could not be an option for us. Jim did email Cathey with an explanation of our situation and a request to see Jaycie for an hour Sunday evening, but to no avail.

Thursday, May 6

This morning began with Jim taking the Vibe to Wal-Mart to be serviced and me packing our bags in preparation for the trip. During this time, I received a call from Gary, the head of East Texas Ministries for the penal system. He had been contacted though our friends Gene and Michelle about finding someone in the Lubbock area to minister to Jimmy. We continue to be amazed and blessed with God’s Hand throughout this ordeal!

TJ had asked us earlier in the week to bring Edith over today for lunch so rather than cancel, we decided that we’d do that and then drive partway to NM, which would be a little easier on us old folks (we just don’t do 10-hour trips very well anymore!)

Finally around 2:00 we had Edith settled down in her home and we pointed the Vibe in a westerly direction once again.

Our friend in Abilene, Dandy, had left this morning for a jaunt to Lake Anna in Virginia to spend Mother’s Day with her daughter and family at their lake home (same lake our friends Rod and Ruth live on…small world! But, Rod & Ruth are in New Hampshire now volunteering, so there is no chance for Dandy and them to meet). So, Jim and I found a motel on the interstate and called our travels to a halt around 7:00.

After walking to Subway for an evening meal, we decided we had had all the fun we could have for one day and headed for bed as we wanted to be up early tomorrow.

Friday, May 7

Our plans for an early start didn’t quite make it to fruition, but we still arrived in Hobbs in time to go by Susie’s house to visit with her. She suggested that we have lunch with James and her at a favorite local restaurant of theirs before we continued our journey. Since we haven’t seen James in quite a while, this sounded good to us!

We got to Artesia in time to drop by the funeral home to check in with Jean and Jerry before heading out to Jean’s to unpack. Once the car was unloaded, I quickly headed back into town to meet my sister Carol at Ruth’s for a short visit. Carol was in town since she was spending Mother’s Day with her daughters Connie and Theresa and their families out at Loco Hills (small dot in the road outside of Artesia).

Once at Ruth’s I was delighted to find that not only Carol was there to greet me, but also her daughters Teresa and Connie as well as Teresa’s daughter, Tamara, and Connie’s son Barney. So…for a while it was old home week! Finally, we shooed the kids away so that Carol and I could have some alone visiting time.

Jim: While the girls were having their “hen party,” I stayed at Jean’s house to rest and check email. I did call my brother Jerry in Roswell to invite Jane and him to come to Artesia tomorrow morning for coffee/breakfast and some chit-chat, but Jerry said that they were expecting an appliance repairman at their house tomorrow morning and didn’t think they could make it. I told him that I guessed we’d just have to meet up another time since the 600-mile trip and the schedule for tomorrow wouldn’t allow for the 35-mile trip to Roswell.

I also called Max to find out where he was and when he expected to be in Artesia tonight. Jerry Terpening had already told me that Max was bringing his motorhome for this trip and would be staying around for several days next week. Max was about three hours away from Artesia and had his grandson and godson with him; he promised to give me a call as soon as he got to Artesia and had the motorhome set up at the local RV park.

Barbara: After a short rest period, I got up and joined Jean and Jim as we all waited for Becky, Jerry, and Nancy to arrive since we were all going to La Fonda for supper. As always, the food was good and the conversation never lagged.

Eventually, it was time to mosey back out to Jean’s and call this “party” to a halt. While Jim went over to see Max, I watched a little basketball with Jean before calling it a night at 9:00 NM time…which was 10:00 on the time we started this day! So…by the time Jim arrived back to the casa, I was sound asleep.

Jim: Max called as we were entering La Fonda with the family. Since he and his family were going to another restaurant to eat, we agreed that I’d just go out to the RV park when we finished eating and got back to Jean’s place.

Max was by himself when I got to his motorhome and we spent about three hours reminiscing about Marion and years past. I’ve mentioned in earlier writings that Max and I go back to the time when I was in junior high band and he was in the high school band. Through summer band activities and, I’m sure at the suggestion of our band director, Mr. Bradbury, Max took me under his wing and guided me to the high school band experience, even as he was preparing to go off to ENMU as a music major.

When I graduated and went to ENMU, Max was there and again served as a mentor and guide (and sometimes as the social director, but that’s another story). I even traveled to Borger, Texas, with Max when he interviewed (and got) his first band director job at Borger Junior High.

Max met Marion in El Paso during a summer session when he was taking the dreaded Texas Government and Texas Constitution courses at UTEP (then Texas Western College) to complete the requirements for a Texas teaching certificate. He introduced Marion to me shortly after that, so in truth I’ve known Marion almost as long as Max has, and even served as an usher at their wedding in El Paso just a few days before I entered the USAF. Over the years we have kept in touch through the many moves and job changes that we have each experienced.

Marion was a very talented and special person…far more intelligent than Max and I put together, but such a kind and loving lady who accepted each person she met as a new friend.

One of Max’s sons and a grandson came back to the motorhome after three hours of our talking. We didn’t realize how late it was, but with a full day ahead of both of us tomorrow, we decided it was time to end the day and for me to return to Jean’s house for the night.

Saturday, May 8

Something that I failed to mention in yesterday’s entry was that when Jean got home from work at the funeral home yesterday, she asked me if I was the one who had talked about the Banister family. I told her that it probably was me because the Banisters were our next door neighbors when we moved into town back in 1954 and I continued to try to see Mrs. Banister whenever I was in town.

Jean then told me that they had been called to come to the hospital late this afternoon to pick up a Mrs. Banister, but since there are several families in town by that name, she didn’t know which one it was. Later, Jerry and I went to the funeral home office to check the file and sure enough, it was our neighbor and close family friend, Geri Banister, who had passed away yesterday. John, her husband, died several years ago while I was assistant principal at Liberal High School and I took time off to return to Artesia for the funeral because John and Geri were second parents to me. Unfortunately, I would not be able to attend this funeral as it will be next week sometime and we have to return to Mineola.

I did find that the Banister’s daughter, Marysue, would be at the funeral home this morning, so I went to the office and got to see her for a few minutes and give her condolences from our family.

1954…That was back in the days when every adult in the neighborhood had authority over every kid in the neighborhood…doors were rarely ever locked, and it wasn’t unusual for neighbors to give just a cursory knock on the front door before letting themselves in to someone else’s house (after announcing themselves, of course). The Banisters had three boys when we moved there and there were three boys of similar ages in our family, so it was only natural that we would all team up. Visitors to the neighborhood didn’t know whether we were six brothers or if we came from two different families.

When Marysue was born, she was the first girl in the neighborhood and nobody knew what to do with her, so we all treated her like our baby sister until she was old enough to be one of the guys.

After returning to Jean’s house from the funeral home, I called Johnny, the oldest of the Banister boys (my age) and talked to him for a few minutes. He and his wife live in Mississippi and were planning to leave tomorrow morning to return to Artesia for a few days. I asked if they were going to try to drive straight through, and he said that they would split the trip up and stay with an aunt and uncle (his mother’s oldest brother) in Mineola tomorrow night…talk about a small world! Not only that, Johnny’s aunt and uncle live only a couple of minutes from Mother’s house!

Barbara and I had already decided (after talking to Mother Friday night) that we needed to leave town after Marion’s memorial service and get back to Mother’s house as soon as possible rather than extending this trip an extra day by going to Lubbock, so Johnny and I agreed that we’d try to get together for at least a few minutes tomorrow night after we returned to Mineola.

Jerry and Nancy had invited us over for a cookout tonight, but because we needed to get back to Mother’s house and because it was a 600-mile drive, we called Nancy and begged off, telling her we would leave town immediately after the memorial service and drive as far as we could tonight and then go the rest of the way tomorrow. Everyone understood the situation and wished us well on our travels.

Marion’s service was conducted at the local Episcopal Church, the church that she and the boys had attended when they lived in Artesia. The officiating priest is now retired, but had served as the priest at the time; in fact, Marion had been his warden (which I don’t understand), evidently a part of the lay bureaucracy in the local church.

Father Herb delivered a beautiful, if somewhat offbeat service. It was obvious to all in attendance that he knew Marion very well as he captured her very essence in all he said about her. It was truly a celebration of Marion’s life and faith and those of us gathered there alternately cried (a little) and laughed (a lot) as Father Herb told the stories about her.

In the end, those of us who knew Marion the best felt that we were even closer to her than ever before. Marion touched so many people through her life, her talents, and her work. She was a beautiful and gracious lady, a wonderful wife to Max, and a doting mother and grandmother, and a lifelong friend to those who called her a friend. All who came in contact with her were changed for the better.

When the service was ended and we had visited with others around us, we once again hopped in the Vibe and headed out of Artesia, hoping to get as many miles as possible behind us before we had to stop for the night.

All went well until we got to the end of the cutoff road that goes from near Loco Hills to the Hobbs/Carlsbad highway. (Sister-in-law Carol who was returning from Hobbs with her family and Barbara texted each other along the way, as we were sure to pass them. She also warned us that there had been a wreck near the cut-off.) However, as we got to the final mile marker on the cutoff road, we could see cars and trucks lined up ahead of us and on the main highway leading to Hobbs…something B-I-G was going on.

When we got even closer, we saw every imaginable law enforcement and emergency vehicle, including a helicopter, smack dab in the middle of the part of the highway in the direction we needed to drive. After a few minutes, I made the executive decision to turn around and take an old (but paved) oilfield road that Ernie had taken me on once upon a time. Barbara was opposed to the idea and was certain we were going to end up in Lovington, but after following the meandering road for about 45 minutes, we were right where I thought we should be and were soon headed to and through Hobbs on our way toward the Texas border.

We stopped in Seminole, Texas, for a McMeal to go and ate on the way to Lamesa. We had wanted to go as far as Big Spring tonight, but the detour we took earlier used up a lot of our travel time, so we stopped in Lamesa to shop around for a place to spend the night. Our first stop was at a fairly new, but way overpriced Best Western. After hearing their rates, we drove toward the south end of town and found a very clean and reasonably priced (less than half of the Best Western) motel that was reminiscent of the tourist courts of our (much) earlier days.

With our stomachs full and a clean and comfortable place to lay our heads, we settled in for some reading time and a good night’s sleep.

“Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.” - Unknown

From Lamesa in the great South Plains of Texas,

Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams

Just Another Little Week

Sunday, April 25 – Saturday, May 1, 2010

Sunday, April 25

We were back on the road again today as we continued our trip from Lubbock back to Mineola. We both had a thousand questions but no answers about what had just happened and what the future would bring. We only had the belief that with God anything is possible and He is in control...not us.

We had heard from Bob and Mary that there had been a bad storm at the lake and there was some damage. Although Linda and Gary checked on our lot and said there was no damage to Big V, we stopped late in the afternoon to see for ourselves. There were a few broken tree branches and some scattered small limbs and leaves, but for the most part, we came out of the storm in great shape. We were glad though that we had closed all three slide outs a few days ago.

We continued the trip to Mother’s house, unloaded the car and unpacked our luggage and whatever else we had in the car and then settled in for the evening. We were both wrung out emotionally and physically from the trip and all we had gone through, so we decided we wouldn’t try to drive back out to Yantis for choir practice and church. Instead, we filled Mother in on the details of the trip, let the puppies welcome us home, and then went to bed and crashed.

Monday, April, 26

Whether working or retired, there is still business to take care of, and that’s what today was about. The internet has made some things easier, but sometimes one just has to deal with others either in person or on the telephone. Today we spent close to six hours talking on the phone to question bills and make sure all our accounts were in order. We both felt like we had cauliflower ears after the marathon session of paging through web displays and asking service representatives about what we were seeing. It was probably all worth it in the end, but it didn’t do anything to raise our spirits, except that the agents we talked to all seemed to be the angels we needed to walk us through banking, Big V insurance, and telephone account problems. In fact, after taking care of Jimmy and Jaycie’s telephone account in a very manageable fashion, Jason, the phone rep said, “Would you please convey this message to Jimmy. I was sitting where he is 12 years ago and know that he can hold his head high. There are better things to come.” His words proved as a reminder once again God’s grace and mercy are available to each of us!

This afternoon I tackled the little desk in our bedroom closet. When we were living fulltime in Big V, there just wasn’t any space to let paperwork pile up, so we got in the habit of (most of the time) filing away statements, receipts, etc. as soon as we were through with them. Now, with the luxury of a desk hidden out of view in the closet, it has become way too easy to just let things pile up…guess we’d better work on that aspect of our lives.

Since we (I) tore up the lawnmower out at the lot last week, and because we normally mow Mother’s yard on Tuesdays (and it was looking today as if it wouldn’t hurt to go ahead and get it done now), we went to Walmart tonight to buy a new mower. We use the mower at both places, and Mother agreed to go “halfies” on a new mower, so we just got that job over with and took a few minutes away from the house.

Once we returned from Walmart, we checked our email, started working on the journal for last week (it quickly became evident that we would have to collaborate more than usual), made a few phone calls, and then called it a day.

Tuesday, April 27

After all the excitement of the last few days, we all three ended up sleeping in later than usual this morning.

While Barbara worked on our brunch (way too late to call it a breakfast), I took the new lawnmower out of the Vive, unpacked it, and got it assembled and fueled.

When breakfast was ready, we called Mother in and fortified ourselves for the day before tackling other chores. Mother finished reading her newspaper and then spent a large part of the day straightening her room so it would be ready when Maria comes to clean it tomorrow.

I tackled the journal/blog writing and Barbara went outside to break in the new lawnmower by mowing the front yard. I usually use the weed eater to trim, but everything was looking good and besides, the weed eater and most of the other equipment was locked in the shed on our lot at the lake.

After doing some cleaning and straightening in the garage, it was time for a late lunch and then a short nap (still trying to catch up on sleep we missed last week).

When we were refreshed and ready to go again, we drove out to Gray’s Nursery, about a mile north of town toward Quitman, to look for more plants for Mother’s yard. Mother had mentioned the other day that she would like some Hydrangea plants for somewhere in the yard as well as other colorful small plants. When we got to the nursery, we found three Hydrangea plants that we liked…not yet flowering, but good, healthy plants. We also found some Persian Shields (never heard of them before). They have dark purple leaves and can be kept in the sunroom during winter. We were also impressed with several pots of Hibiscus and finally bit the bullet and bought a medium-sized plant to set in the big black pot (once we finally decide where we are going to put the pot).

We came back to the house and set out the Hibiscus and the Persian Shields, but couldn’t decide on a place for the Hydrangeas. The places we thought of putting them in front don’t receive enough sun, so we’ll just have to find somewhere in the back yard for them.

After setting out the plants, I took my turn at the lawnmower and mowed the backyard (first removing all of Spike’s little landmines…Spike, Mother’s Boston terrier, must have been an ordnance specialist in a previous life. He is an expert at setting one of his landmines in plain sight, while hiding another one where it will be stepped on while I maneuver to get in position to pick up and disarm the first one. Now, if Spike could only learn to remove and disarm the landmines himself, Mother would have a kinder and gentler backyard).

With the backyard cleared and mowed, I turned my attention to the vacant lot to the north of Mother’s house. We’ve cleared an area about 60 feet by 120 feet and keep it mowed to try to keep critters large and small from encroaching on Mother’s property. It takes time and effort to do that extra lot, but it really improves the overall appearance of the property. Our across-the-street neighbor, John, does the same thing on his side of the street so each of us has a great view as we come outside and look at our lots.

One really exciting thing that happened while I was mowing and Barbara was talking on the phone to Cousin Cindy in Tallahassee was that Mother came outside to see her new plants and find out what we were doing. I didn’t know it until later, but she stood out there for about thirty minutes watching me mow and talking a bit with Cindy. That was at least the fifth trip to the front of the house for Mother today, so we KNOW that she got plenty of exercise today!

Wednesday, April 28

We had a lot going on this morning, so we all got up early and hit the deck running. While Barbara was outside and I was inside getting my first cup of coffee, she called for me to come outside. I grabbed my coffee and went through the garage and she told me she had just seen our first hummingbird of the season. We’ve had feeders set out since the first of the month, but haven’t seen any hummingbirds. Maybe the word will get out that this is the place for sweet treats and sustenance…sure hope so!

Mother had an appointment for a perm at her beauty shop this morning. Since Barbara goes to Bible study and I work on the lot on Wednesday mornings, TJ agreed to take Mother to the beauty shop while she was running some errands of her own; then, they would go out to lunch.

Barbara dropped me off at our lot so I could unload the lawnmower and my tool kit (never know when something is going to need fixing) and then she headed off to the church in Yantis.

I fired up the lawnmower and mowed the entire lot before firing up the electric weed eater and doing the trimming. I even had to resort to using old-fashioned grass clippers to trim around our solar lamps and some of the smaller plants, but the time and effort were well worth it. When all that was done, I cleaned off the concrete pad and then watered all the plants we set out recently.

The place was looking really great when Barbara called to say she was late getting out of Bible study but would be back at the lot in just a few minutes. We had planned to stay and do some more work in the gully, but I was hot, tired, and very sweaty, and Barbara was feeling that it was too late to start another project, so we put all the lawn tools in the Vibe, close up Big V, and left the park.

Instead of coming right back to Mother’s house, we drove north a mile or so to check out the produce at a little roadside shed called The Tomato Shack. The lady who ran the stand was very pleasant and the produce was really fresh, so we ended up leaving with yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, jalapenos, and some fresh roasted Virginia peanuts. If the produce is on the shelves, can summer be far behind?

From the produce stand we drove to the other side of the lake to check out the progress on Gene and Michelle Young’s new house. Workers were busy inside and out, installing door and window trim inside and setting bricks and stonework outside. It is really taking shape and is going to be a beautiful home one of these days. Barbara called Michelle to let her know we were taking pictures and going on a self-guided tour of the place. Gene and Michelle were still in Kansas, but will return to East Texas early next week.

We returned to Mineola and just whiled away the afternoon and evening, doing very little of significance.

Thursday, April 29

Happy Birthday to Stephanie Francis in Lewisville, Texas!!!

This was another “up ‘n’ at ‘em” day around our place. Mother was scheduled for some tests at Tyler Cardio-Vascular clinic and we were told to be there by 9:45. TJ came over to the house and then she and I took Mother to Tyler while Barbara took care of the puppies and planned the lunch menu. Usually when we go to Tyler for one of these things, we stop and have lunch on the way back, but since the appointment was so early, we figured it would be easier to just return to the house for a home-cooked meal.

When we got to the clinic and checked in, we found that they wanted Mother there for the test at 9:45, but her appointment with the doctor wasn’t until 11:15, so I called Barbara and told her we’d be later than we had planned, but to just delay getting everything into the oven and we’d eat when we got there…surely we could be back in Mineola by 12:30.

The staff at the clinic must have had on their best running shoes, because it didn’t take nearly as long to do and read the tests and then get us into another room where they ran an EKG on Mother. When the doctor came in he asked if Mother was still having the dizzy spells and falling that she was suffering from this time last year. She said that she wasn’t, and then he read off the results of the tests, which showed everything about Mother’s cardio-vascular system was in great shape. The doctor even said that Mother had the heart of a 50-year old; she just had 87,000 miles on her odometer.

Before he left and we got ready to go, the doctor told Mother that whatever she was doing, she should keep it up and that he didn’t think he needed to see her again until next year’s checkup…good news for all of us.

We made the trip back to Mineola without incident (unless we count the six cars that pulled out in front of us as if we were invisible) and found that Barbara had a great meal waiting for us…leftover roast and meatloaf, mixed vegetables, and a new recipe for squash casserole using the yellow squash we bought yesterday at The Tomato Shack…yum-yum!

While we were eating, Barbara shared that she had visited a bit with neighbor John this morning. He told her that Wanda had been out looking at a birdhouse just over the fence from their yard when she called for John to come out there. When he got there, he found a 5-foot chicken snake waiting for lunch to come home. John got a hoe and chopped the snake’s head off and then carried the remains out to the adjoining field. When he returned to the bird feeder, he found a SIX-foot snake that he dispatched in the same manner. He didn’t say whether he went back to look again.

When the meal was over, TJ was gone, and Mother was settled into her easy chair with Bonita, we retired to our room for a short nap before getting back up to start a new round of yard work in the backyard.

The backyard has gotten short shrift so far this season. Other than retrieving and disposing of Spike’s landmines and mowing and trimming, we haven’t done very much with it. That was about to change, as e decided we would set the Hydrangeas back there.

After checking several likely places for good sun, we decided to set two of the plants in line with the back fence and the third in an existing flower bed that is wildly overgrown with weeds, new tree saplings, and various other growths. The two plants along the fence were simple to set; with all the rain we’ve had this spring, it took only a minute or so to dig each hole and not much more than that to set the plants in place and pack the dirt around them.

The flower bed was another story. We finally decided that the best plan of attack was to just pull out everything in the immediate area of where we wanted to set the Hydrangea. That included a lot of bending and stooping to grab all the saplings as low as possible and pull them out by the roots; off course, there was a multitude of different grasses and weeds that also had to be pulled out by hand.

After 20 minutes or so, I dug the hole and we set the third plant in place and then I went back and set mounds of pine bark mulch around each of the new plants.

Next, we turned our attention to the hedge and overgrown flowerbed that is against the wall of our room. Barbara and I decided that the area between the hedge and the sidewalk would be a good place to plant Zinnia seeds, so we cleared out all the existing growth and then I got the trusty hedge shears and trimmed the top and front of all the bushes…also cut off dead limbs of a large bush/small tree that is growing in the corner by the fence.

When that was done, Barbara asked Mother if she’d like to come out and help plant the seeds. I had already drawn the row for the seeds and Barbara was going to cover and tamp them after Mother dropped the seeds in place. Instead, Mother came out, set the seeds in place, and then covered them herself. We laughed and started telling her that when the plants started to grow and bloom…, and then she interrupted us and said, “I can say that I planted those!” What a thrill it was for us to see here not only excited about her yard, but also participating in fixing it up!

We cleaned up our mess, watered in the plants and then, feeling every muscle and joint in our bodies calling out in protest, we retired to the house to clean up and settle in for the afternoon and evening. It had been a long day and a lot of effort in the hot sun and blowing wind…yes, real wind, just like in Southeastern New Mexico or Southwest Kansas, with strong gusts and blowing dirt. The only difference between Mineola and Artesia or Liberal today was that we had lots of trees to look at as the wind howled around us.

Tonight we just took it easy…Barbara double-checked all our online accounts and I started working on this week’s journal/blog in hopes of actually getting it posted on time this weekend.

Friday, April 30

Our original plan for this morning was to get to Lindale as quickly as possible and find Leslie at the Walmart Style Shop for much-needed haircuts…it has been w-a-y too long since our last session.

We did make it to Walmart, only to find that Leslie wasn’t working today and we would have to come back tomorrow after 9:00. Since haircuts were out of the question for today, we went ahead and did some shopping in Lindale rather than driving back to Mineola. It was good that we made that decision, because the Lindale store carried some items that we’ve been looking for in Mineola for over a month.

When the shopping was finished and the groceries were in the car, we drove across the parking lot to look at Lowe’s for a trellis for one of the rose bushes in the back yard. We settled on one and bought it, but found it was too short when we got back to the house. Oh well, you never know until you know.

We got back to the house and unloaded the car. Barbara worked at putting all the groceries away while I drove the Vibe to the county tax assessor in Quitman to register Big V for another year. The registration for the current year didn’t expire until midnight tonight, but I didn’t want to be one of those who wait until the last minute.

I returned to the house while Barbara was fixing lunch for Mother. We had both had a late breakfast while we drove to Lindale, so we weren’t hungry. Instead, I used the time to get the ingredients for jalapeno bread together and start the bread maker. While Mother was eating, Barbara started on a cake…quite a little bakery we had going there!

The reason for all the baking was that our friends Bob and Mary Royar were coming to dinner tonight, so we needed to get our parts of the meal put together and then wait until they arrived with the chickens for me to throw on the grill.

The rest of the afternoon was fairly easy-going. We had a very short nap and then began preparing for company. Barbara came up with a cole slaw dressing that was absolutely yummy and both the cake and the loaf of jalapeno bread turned out beautiful.

TJ and her friend Cherry came by for a few minutes to visit. Actually, they really came by so Cherry could sell us some raffle tickets for a homemade quilt that is being used by her church for a fund raiser for a local student. Cherry must have spotted all of us as easy marks, because she walked away with ten dollars and we ended up with 12 tickets that will also double as bookmarks after the drawing is held.

Bob and Mary called to say that they were running a little behind schedule, but that didn’t really matter, since all we have is time anyway. When they did get here, I seasoned the chicken and threw the pieces over the hot coals in the grill. It took time to get the chicken cooked properly, but we used that time to visit with Bob (Mary was a little under the weather at first, but soon was feeling better) and get caught up on all that had happened with them since they left to go to the Rio Grande Valley at the end of December.

When the meal was finally on the table, we dug in like none of us had eaten in a week. Soon we were able to get the conversations going again and the talk went on for a couple of hours as we moved from the kitchen to the living room and then back to the kitchen.

Around 9:00, with all of us yawning, Bob and Mary left to go back to Holiday Village and we came back inside to check on Mother, Bonita, and Spike. All was well in their room so I got out my computer and start writing today’s entry of the journal/blog while Barbara worked on some of her business. Then, it was time to go outside for some fresh (we hoped) air. Instead, we found warm, heavy, and very oppressive air…sure hope that’s not a sign of bad things to come tonight.

Saturday, May 1

Happy 67th Birthday today to our good friend Marion Johnson in Santa Fe, New Mexico!!!

Once again we set our sights on Lindale and a chance to get our hair cut. It was either that or go to the vet and get shots and dog tags, as we were well past our scheduled time to, as Mother said, “get our ears lowered.”

This time we did find Leslie at work; we also found that she had a couple of folks ahead of us, so we just took our seats and waited, and waited, and…

Finally, Leslie got to us and got us both presentable to the public. We’ve said it before, but Leslie is the only stylist we’ve met since we left Liberal who can cut my hair and cut and shape Barbara’s hair the way we like it…sure are glad we found her last year!

While at Walmart, we bought an electric hedge trimmer. I’ve been using a set of scissor clippers, but it is too difficult for me to cut and shape the bushes and hedges, so we decided we’d splurge and get something to make the job easier. Besides, when we started working in the back yard this week, we found that the hedges and bushes were way out of control and I didn’t want to take all the time and effort necessary to get them back in shape.

When we got back to Mother’s house, we fixed lunch for the three of us (baked potatoes, and leftover slaw, jalapeno bread, and barbecued chicken…yum-yum…just as good as it was last night.

Then, after a short nap, it was time to finally get some work done around Mother’s yard for the day. We started in the backyard with both of us working to retrain a rose bush on a new trellis…not an easy job and one that gave new meaning to blood, sweat, and tears in the work.

Next, I broke out the new hedge trimmer and started shaping up hedges along the back wall of the house. Boy, was I ever glad that Barbara made the executive decision to buy the trimmer this morning…it would have taken hours to shape those hedges by hand!

I moved the extension cord and the trimmer to the front yard and managed to clean up several hedges there. Some had been given only a lick and a promise with the hand clippers a month or so ago, so they were as much in need of a “haircut” as we were this morning.

Later, I moved to the back yard and put the hand trimmers to good use by cutting out a bunch of ivy vines that have overgrown the sidewalk between Mother’s house and the house next door. Of course, that only made some of the other places stand out as being in need of help, but that will just have to wait for another day.

The rest of the evening, what was left of it was spent in relative peace and quiet. Mother and the puppies got situated in bed, Barbara got caught up with some folks through phone calls and then went to the kitchen to do her Bible study homework, and I headed to the living room with my laptop to finish off this edition of the journal/blog.

“Leave it in God’s hands and enjoy the ride.” - Church sign in Nocona, Texas

From Mineola in the heart of the Texas lake country,

Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams