Sunday, August 8
This may have been one of the more uneventful Sundays in a long time. We went through all the regular activities during the morning…got everyone up and ready at the house, Barbara and I drove to Yantis for the fellowship breakfast, Sunday school, and another powerful sermon by David Bagwell…went to Holiday Village and stopped at the sales office and the clubhouse to hand out Vacation Bible School posters for the church, then went to Big V for the afternoon (we had turned on the air conditioner last night, so it was comfortable when we got there today), took a nap and then had lunch (had to throw in a little variety), visited Gary and Linda Fox for a few minutes, went over to see Bob and Mary Royar for a few minutes, and then went back to Yantis where I had choir practice and Barbara found a quiet place to read before the evening service.
We returned to Mother’s house around 7:45 and got her through the evening routine; then we decided to let Sonic fix a light supper for us. Back at the house we settled in to snack, work at our computers, watch a little TV, and then go to bed and read before falling asleep…how much more basic can one get?!!!
Monday, August 9
Birthday Greetings go out today to a great Odyssey of the Mind friend, Kim Liu, in Kansas!!!
I was up at 6:30 this morning and Barbara and Mother followed sometime between 7:00 and 7:30. I don’t think any of us slept particularly well, so our start was more like a crawl.
Mother had an appointment scheduled with her ophthalmologist at 11:00 this morning, so we were soon moving around to get the three of us fed, cleaned, and dressed for the ride to Tyler, getting away from the house at 10:00.
We decided that we’d be too hot and tired to cook lunch when we got back to Mineola, so we stopped at Long John Silver’s in Lindale and ordered lunch to go. When we got home, we wasted no time in getting to the table and chowing down before going to our rooms for some quiet time. It was supposed to be nap time for Barbara and me, but multiple phone calls kept us awake until we finally decided to get up and start moving again around 2:15.
Aside from the Tyler trip, our activities for the day included a drive out to Holiday Village to get our installation disks for Microsoft Word, a drive back to Mineola to stop at the computer hospital and get Barbara’s HP laptop back (did you hear that “HALLALUJAH” wherever you are?), a run across the street to Walmart to buy groceries and other necessities, and then back to the house to put away the purchases, feed the puppies, and settle down to an evening of not much of anything…too hot to get out and work…the dog days of summer are heavy upon us!
Tuesday, August 10
Happy Anniversary to friends Danny and Charlene Plett in Liberal, Kansas!!!
John was doing some mowing at his place across the street and as he got down into a woodsy area to the north of us, his blade kicked out a snake. John thinks it was a brown rattler, but by the time I could get pictures of it, it was a headless some-kind-of-snake.
The biggest thing for us this morning was to go to the rehab center with Mother and learn how to physically help her. We knew we must be doing some things wrong, and boy, were we right about that! Rob took about 45 minutes explaining how to lift Mother, how to get her in and out of the bed, recliner, and chairs, etc. With just a few adjustments in the way we were doing things, and a little bit of practice, we were able to help Mother get up, down, and around without hurting either her or ourselves.
When we returned home we got Mother to her recliner and TV and then we turned our attention to getting things ready for lunch. Andy was bringing the kids around 2:00, which meant we had only a couple of hours for me to get the grill ready to barbecue pork chops and sausages, and for Barbara to head to the kitchen and put together the rest of the menu.
Barbara’s part of the meal came together just the way she planned, but I was a little late getting the grill fired up. Luckily, Andy and the kids were a little late, so the meat got done just the way I wanted and we got everything on the table as soon as our guests arrived. Then, we spent nearly an hour and a half eating and talking, and watching Mother get some renewed pep.
While I bought the DQ certificates, the kids and Barbara decided to hold a photo session in the parking lot. She said that they received quite a few smiles and nods from the folks both inside and outside while the kids posed and found new places to confront the camera. Also, Alexander felt the need to show off his injured thumb from the last visit. His nail is still trying to heal from the clash with the door of Big V.
When we were making arrangements with Andy for this visit, we told him that the Voyager was in the shop for repairs, so the kids wouldn’t be doing any motorcycle riding this time. Andy then said he would bring the kids bikes as well as his new bike so I could ride along with them.
When it finally came time for a ride, the kids put their helmets on, climbed on their bikes, and started to ride. I got on Andy’s bike and started down the driveway and both kids started yelling that I didn’t have a helmet on and that I had to have one to ride (they are well-trained).
I went back and put the helmet on and started riding and Alexander asked if I was acting goofy or something. Barbara looked at me and started laughing…seems I had put the helmet on backward.
Since I’d never in my life worn a bicycle helmet, I didn’t have a clue about it, but thought that the way I put it on was correct. So, I had to stop once more to fix the helmet and THEN we began our ride, making several loops around Heritage Square while Barbara documented the grand excursion with our camera.
Wednesday, August 11
Happy Birthday to Mother’s sweet next door neighbor, Addie Pavlow…86 and counting!!!
After breakfast this morning, Alexander and I climbed on our bicycles and rode down to the civic center (after Alexander checked to see that I was wearing a helmet). The center and all the parking lots were deserted today, so Alexander and I rode all over the place until we were too hot and sweat-drenched to enjoy it anymore.
When we had all returned to the house and cooled down a bit, Barbara and Abby went to the kitchen to do some baking (can you say zucchini bread? Abby certainly can!). Meanwhile, Alexander and I took the car and rode around town running errands and paying bills.
This afternoon and evening were relatively quiet. We are in the midst of a terrible heat wave and it was just too darn hot to get outside…bicycling and yard work were out of the question, although we did leave around 5:00 to go out to the Holiday Villages swimming pool for an hour or so to get a little respite from the scorching temperatures.
After doing out “late-night decorating,” we returned to the house and loaded Shrek in the DVD player for the kids to watch until they fell asleep.
Thursday, August 12
Happy Birthday to our across-the-street neighbor and good friend John Garrett!!!
Since yesterday was Addie’s birthday, John’s today and Wanda’s the 18th, I decided to line the three of them up this morning for an August birthday photo! (Addie’s in pink and Wanda is in green)
Around 2:30 we drove out to the church at Yantis to help put together bags of school supplies for students who can’t afford all the necessities at the start of a new school year. First Baptist Church of Yantis is amazing in the way it supports the community organizations. We don’t know how many years the church has been involved in putting together the supplies kits, but it has become an annual event.
Alexander and Abby joined Brenda, JoAnn, Barbara, and me as we sorted out pencils, pens, crayons, packs of notebook paper, folders, glue sticks, bottles of glue, and all the other assorted items that were on the supplies lists that were provided by the schools. After an hour or so we had piles of bags packed and sorted for grades K-2, 3-4, 5-8, and high school. Both kids were a big help as they each picked up certain supplies and placed them in the bags.
Then Brenda took the kids to the gym and the fellowship hall while Barbara and I visited with David for a little longer.
When we prepared to leave, we found Alexander busy in the gym playing basketball and Abby trying her hand in the fellowship hall playing the piano. Actually, we were pretty impressed that the music Abby was playing was pleasing to the ears.
Friday, August 13
Happy Birthday to Cousin James Wright in Niceville, Florida!!!
Hey…What can you say about Friday the thirteenth, except that this is the only one this year, thank goodness.
It was a full day with a lot of activities. We started with me getting up at 5:00 to go to the church in Yantis and cook breakfast for the Yantis teachers. The church hosts a back-to-school breakfast each year and I got to be a part of it this time. Barbara and I had both planned to be there, but with the downturn in Mother’s health and the need for additional care and supervision, Barbara decided to stay home with Mother, Alexander, and Abby.
My job this morning was to bake biscuits and cook sausage patties. Luckily, the experiences at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in Toccoa helped prepare me for this sort of thing, and since we fed only 70 or so people this morning, it wasn’t difficult at all.
When I got home, I found that Addie, our next door neighbor, had come over with a beautiful bunch of cut flowers to say “thank you” for remembering her birthday this week.Barbara had breakfast cooked for our bunch, so we all gathered around the table and had a meal together. The rest of the morning was spent in getting the kids ready for Heather to come pick them up this afternoon. We looked over, under, and in all the furniture and other possible hiding places for toys, clothes, etc.
When most of the kids’ things were packed away and the house was more or less restored to its original condition, Abby and I made the morning run to the bank and post office and then returned to the house where Barbara and I started on lunch.
David Bagwell called from Yantis to let us know he had found our camera that I left in the family life center this morning. It’s a good thing he called, because we hadn’t missed it yet and would have been looking for it as soon as Heather arrived so we could take pictures. When things got to where I could get away, I drove out to the church (about 25 minutes if the traffic moves at the speed limit), grabbed the camera, and drove straight back, arriving at the house about 15 minutes after Heather.
Barbara had everything ready for lunch, so we all gathered around the table and ate and talked and then ate and talked some more.
Saturday, August 14
The first thing on our to-do list this morning (after breakfast, of course) was to start some serious housecleaning. It had been a while since we had the time and/or opportunity to do the job right, and this morning seemed perfect.
While Barbara dusted (and there’s a lot to dust in Mother’s collection of antiques), I swept and mopped all the wood floors. I even took the little carpet out of the living room, vacuumed it, and then cleaned it with water and detergent before hanging it over a table to dry in the hot sun.
Barbara decided that we needed to change the furniture around in the living room and she was very right in doing so. We used an arrangement we’d never thought of, and now the room seems more spacious and brighter than ever. Now, if we could only do something about getting those windows clean!
We checked around and TJ got us the name of a lady who has helped others through some of the same situations we are finding ourselves in, so we gave her a call and asked her to come meet Mother, see the house, and listen to us tell what we thought we needed as far as help is concerned.
Sophie, a Filipino lady, arrived promptly at 11:30 and we were immediately impressed with everything about her. We told her that we were just getting information, since we didn’t really know anything about hiring healthcare assistance and she provided us with both questions and answers. Mother was as impressed with Sophie as we were, and by 12:30 we were pretty sure that Sophie would be the one we would call when we needed assistance or respite care. We’ll interview representatives from a couple of healthcare companies, but they’ll have to have some strong credentials or very special services to match Sophie!
When Sophie left, we sat down to lunch and talked about the things we learned this morning and we all agreed that Sophie appeared to be an excellent match for our needs.
After a sort nap, Barbara and I went out and did some shop-looking, trying to find a wedge shaped pillow that will allow Mother to sit up better when she is in bed. We saw some in Walmart a few weeks ago, but they were really ugly colors…much more suited to a college dorm room than Mother’s bedroom. The folks at Walmart said they had sold out and wouldn’t order any more until the Christmas season…go figure!
We decided this evening that with a full day of activities at church tomorrow, we would ask Sophie if she would come watch Mother from 8:15 – 10:15 tomorrow morning. That way we could get breakfast over with and have Mother underway in getting ready for church. Sophie can then leave when TJ comes to pick Mother up. We went to Sophie’s house and visited with her about it and she said she’d be glad to give it a try.
The rest of the evening was spent doing absolutely nothing of consequence.
“The best vitamin for a Christian is B1” – Church Sign
From Heritage Drive in Mineola,
Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams
Photos that wouldn’t fit above, but that we must include!
