Sunday, March 1
Happy Birthday to our "adopted" brother, Jerry Terpening, in Artesia, New Mexico!!!!
Happy Birthday to our "adopted" brother, Jerry Terpening, in Artesia, New Mexico!!!!
We woke up to yet another cold, rainy morning in San Antonio...March isn't looking so good at this point...thinking that someone should not have allowed that groundhog to see the light of day last month!
After getting dressed and eating some breakfast, we broke out the camera for one last photo session before going to church with John, Carol, Randi, and Nick.
When the morning service ended, we said goodbye to the kids and started the long trip back to Mineola. First, though, we made a stop in Cibola to see Barbara Pirch and her daughter, Chantel.
Then, it was time for serious traveling as we headed north on I-35, but not without a brief stop at Long John Silver in Buda to get some "lunch on the run,"
Except for the occasional rain shower and the usual mass of backed-up traffic on the perpetual I-35 construction between Georgetown and Hillsboro, the trip was pretty much without incident. We stopped at a barbecue place in Balch Springs, east of Dallas, for some take-home to enjoy when we finally got back to Mineola.
While we were driving this afternoon, we received an email from granddaughter Jaycie with some photos that she had taken of the snow storm in Lubbock...maybe a preview of what was to come for us.
We managed to get home a little before dark, unpacked the car, and settled in for dinner and a quiet evening.
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Monday, March 2
Not only did we not leave the cold and rain behind us in San Antonio, we got even more of it here in Mineola today...which was okay by us, since we had so much work to do inside that we didn't even get outside to walk down the street and check the mail.
We ran several loads of laundry and then while Barbara paid bills and balanced the bank statements, I worked to get caught up on the February journal/blog.
After a lunch of left-over barbecue and trimmings, we settled down to a Netflix presentation of a couple of episodes of House of Cards, Season 3.
Later (after a short nap, of course), Barbara worked on supper while I went back to the office/music room to get in some practice time on the trumpet.
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Tuesday, March 3
Happy Birthday to our "adopted" niece, Barbara Francis Yehl, in Roswell, New Mexico!!!
I got up early this morning to go to Yantis for the weekly prayer meeting. I wanted to work at Our Little Lot at Holiday Villages, but it was just too cold and wet to be outside, so I drove back to Mineola.
We delivered bread to our friends Addie and Jenny at the Autumn Wind assisted living facility, and then wandered over to Walmart for some serious shopping. Which meant, of course, that we then had to go back to the house and put everything away.
This evening we drove to Lindale to look at Lowe's for some items for future projects around the house. Since Wally World was right across the parking lot from Lowe's, we went over there to see what they had that we couldn't live without, and then returned to Mineola to work on the journal/blog and watch another episode of House of Cards.
While Barbara watched a couple of her shows tonight, I got in another hour of practice time on the trumpet, getting ready for an upcoming concert with the Lake Country Symphonic Band.
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Wednesday, March 4
Another cold and rainy day in Mineola! We spent the morning working in the kitchen...Barbara played with a new crock pot chicken soup, and while that started cooking, she gave me a recipe for mayonnaise biscuits that she had found and I mixed and baked them. Both recipes were a success, and were deemed worthy of a winter's day.
The rain continued throughout the day, providing much-needed moisture for the land and lakes, as well as a few photo opportunities...
Because of the weather, I decided to not go to Yantis tonight for praise band rehearsal, so we stayed at home to complete and publish the February journal/blog.
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Thursday, March 5
As if to underscore last month's Groundhog Day prognostication of an extended winter, today began with snow and ice on the ground and more coming down. This early, early morning scene sent us back to bed for some extended sleep...
When we awoke again and finally got to ginning around, we found that the snow had continued falling...
We were supposed to have an appointment with Leslie to get our hair cut at 10:00 this morning, but due to the delayed opening of the schools, we had to reschedule for noon. By that time, the snow had pretty much melted off the streets and sidewalks, so it was no problem to get out and about for a while.
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Friday, March 6
The day dawned bright and shiny, but oh, so cold. With winter continuing to linger, we stayed inside this morning; Barbara paid bills and made sure our finances were in order, and I took time for a couple of trumpet practice sessions. Barbara said she thought the cold weather was giving me far more time to practice than if it was nice outside. Note the photo of the closed door in the collage; if I'm working on etudes and exercises, the door remains closed, but when I start playing hymns, it is open so she can listen to them.
We finally got out of the house to run a few errands this afternoon, but due to the cold, we didn't stay out long.
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Saturday, March 7
Happy 9th Birthday to granddaughter Abby Dondis in Richardson!!!!!
Another cold day with not-so-subtle reminders that winter was still in control. We just hung around the house this morning taking care of some chores and wishing we were somewhere warm and sunny.
Suffering from "cabin fever," we decided this afternoon to get out and take a ride in the car, just for the sake of getting out of the house. After a stop at Sonic for a drink, we headed south on Highway 69 and decided to try a new "back road," the Old Mineola highway. We weren't sure where it would take us, but we knew the worst case scenario would be that we would eventually come to I-20, and then we'd know where we were.
We didn't have the cameras with us, but Barbara was able to take a few shots with her cell phone camera of the scenery along the narrow, winding road. There were a few hints of spring approaching, but winter was still in control. It didn't take long for us to decided that this would be a great Taz ride (in better weather, of course).
The road ended in downtown Lindale, not at all what we expected, but at least we didn't have to drive all the way to I-20 to know where it went.
We considered driving on down to Walmart to do a little grocery shopping, but then decided to give the Lindale Brookshire's a try, since we had only a short list of "necessaries."
After our shopping, we drove back to Mineola, stopped at Subway for a sandwich, and then returned home to settle in for a quiet Saturday evening.
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Sunday, March 8
New rains joined the cold temperatures overnight and we woke up this morning to find 4/10's of an inch of water in the rain gauge.
We made the drive out to Yantis for the morning church service and then returned to the house to have lunch and take a long nap.
I went back to Yantis for a church nominating committee meeting at 5:00 and then drove back to Mineola to find even more water in the rain gauge...which meant that we would spend another cold, wet evening confined to the house.
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Monday, March 9
Same old story...more cold and more rain. Since we were going to be "confined to quarters," we spent the day cleaning house and getting ready to host a luncheon for some friends in a couple of days.
Occasionally, we'd step outside to take pictures of the rain...we figured these might be good memories in late July and August when it will be hot and dry. (I can't believe he published my "rain hat", clothes that don't match, and that make me look like I'm having a baby sometime soon! Oh, well...I am what I am...just didn't think you guys should have to see this. lol! )
While Barbara stayed home this evening to make preparations for our "get-together" on Wednesday, I went to Quitman for a band rehearsal. We usually rehearse only on Thursday evenings, but with a very challenging program for our upcoming concert, we had extra rehearsals scheduled for this week and next week.
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Tuesday, March 10
After prayer meeting this morning I stopped by Our Little Lot to see how the property and Big V were holding up after the rain. Everything was okay, but was obvious that it would be several days before I'd be able to come back out and do some serious raking and mowing.
With rain continuing to fall throughout the day, we stayed inside and made preparations for tomorrow's special meal with friends.
Since the kitchen was clean and we didn't want to take time to fix anything for lunch, we drove over to What-A-Burger to get something to eat. As we walked in, we saw our friend Bob Royar who told us that Mary was back in the hospital in Tyler. She had been at ETMC in Quitman a couple of days, but was transferred to Trinity Mother Frances.
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Wednesday, March 11
Happy Birthday to Cousin Darren Wright in Marianna, Florida!!!
We spent the morning getting everything ready for today's luncheon...Barbara worked her decorating magic to get a festive table setting...
A little before noon, I drove over to Autumn Wind to pick up Addie and Jenny and bring them back to the house, where we were soon joined by Dorothy, who bough Addie's house next door to us, John and Wanda from across the street, and Aunt TJ.
After a Bible reading and a blessing, we sat down to a feast of crock pot lasagna (a new recipe that Barbara found and improved), salad, Italian bread, and ice cream cake (made with ice cream sandwiches, Oreo cookie crumbs, and low fat Cool-Whip) for dessert. And, of course, there was lots and lots of talking as we all shared whatever was going on in our lives. We are truly blessed to have such special people not only in our lives, but right here in our neighborhood!
After taking Jenny and Addie back to Autumn Wind, I returned to the house to help Barbara get everything cleaned up and put back in place before we took a short, but well-earned nap.
Later this afternoon we drove over to Tyler to visit Bob and Mary at the hospital. Mary had been moved to cardiac ICU and was heavily sedated when we were there, but we did get to have a good visit with Bob and find out what was going on with Mary.
On the way back home, we notice flashing lights and backed up traffic at the intersection of U.S. 69 and I-20. It was obvious something serious had happened, but it wasn't until we got into the middle of the scene that we saw a car that must have been t-boned and rolled over. That particular intersection is "interesting" at best, and can sometimes be very dangerous.
After a brief stop at the house for supper, we drove out to Yantis for praise band rehearsal, documented by Barbara with a series of photographs.
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Thursday, March 12
Bon Voyage to Cathey and granddaughter Jaycie as they departed with the Monterey High School Spanish Club this morning on a trip to France, Switzerland, and Rome!!!!
I was supposed to have a dermatology appointment in Quitman at 9:00 this morning, but after waking up very early, I went back to sleep and then forgot all about it until nearly 11:00...just another "senior moment," I suppose.
We went to Tyler around noon to see Bob and Mary. While Barbara stayed with Mary, Bob and I went downstairs for lunch and a chance for him to get out of the room for awhile.
This evening I went back to Quitman for our regular Thursday night band rehearsal. As rehearsals go, it wasn't very good, but it did serve the purpose of reminding us that time was short and we needed to collectively regain our focus.
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Friday, March 13
Since Leah was on Spring Break this week, we had planned to meet her in Terrell today for lunch and some shopping, but she got sick, so we had to cancel those plans.
Instead, we drove over to Tyler this morning to see Bob and Mary at the hospital.
When we returned to Mineola, we stopped at Jalapeno Tree to get a couple of take-out dinners and then went home to eat, nap, and do not much of anything else for the rest of the day.
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Saturday, March 14
The only thing on our agenda today was a wedding shower for Cousin Maddey, and since that fell totally in Barbara's province, I stayed home and did nothing of consequence while Barbara attended the shower and took photos of the event.
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Sunday, March 15
This turned out to be a pretty lazy day for us. I played with the praise band at church this morning, and then we returned home, had lunch, and then did pretty much nothing at all for the rest of the day.
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Monday, March 16
We decided that Bob Royar needed some time away from the hospital today, so we drove to Tyler and Barbara stayed with Mary for four hours while I took Bob to Holiday Villages (after having lunch at the new Red Dome Smokehouse in Quitman), so he could do laundry and take care of household chores while I checked on Our Little Lot.
When we returned to Mineola this afternoon, Barbara started on our supper while I got in some practice time on the trumpet. Later, I drove out to Quitman for rehearsal with the Lake Country Symphonic Band.
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Tuesday, March 17
We really made a day of it today. While Barbara stayed home to take care of household chores, I went to prayer meeting at Yantis and then worked at Our Little Lot until noon.
After lunch and a short nap, we decided that it was a nice enough day outside for a Taz ride.
For today's adventure, we headed south and took the Old Mineola Road that we had explored in the car earlier. We were right in thinking that this would be a great cycle ride! The spring greenery was beginning to appear, although it was obvious that it would be another week or so before all the trees were leafed out and the plants in full bloom...just a reason for another ride on another day!
After we got to Lindale, we turned west on Highway 16 until we intersected with State Highway 110, where we bore south through the small communities of Carroll and Mount Sylvan before hitting Loop 323 in Tyler. Once we saw where we were in Tyler, we knew we were just a short distance from a Sonic, so we headed there (to make it an official ride, of course) and got a couple of drinks (and take some photos).
After getting our drinks, we got back onto Taz and rode around the loop to Trinity Mother Frances Hospital to spend a few minutes with Bob and Mary, who were still in the cardiac ICU ward.
Then, it was back on to Taz and into the infamous Tyler traffic (we'd rather drive through Dallas twice than through Tyler once) for the ride back to Mineola, where we had supper before settling in for a quiet evening at home.
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Wednesday, March 18
After all the activity yesterday, it was nice to spend a quiet day around the house. Barbara paid bills and made sure all our accounts were in order while I went to the kitchen and started a large pot of beans and a couple of loaves of jalapeno bread.
Later, we made a run to Walmart for some things we just couldn't live without, and tonight we drove out to Yantis for praise band rehearsal.
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Thursday, March 19
We seem to be heading back into another winter session, with heavy clouds and cold temperatures...certainly not a time for riding Taz, which inspired the posting of this meme on our Facebook pages...
Since it was too cold to be outside, I took advantage of the day to make a big batch of refried beans from some of the beans we cooked yesterday.
Tonight was the final rehearsal for the Lake Country Symphonic Band before Sunday's concert. Luckily, I only had to ride to downtown Mineola for the rehearsal at the Select Theater, the venue for our concerts.
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Friday, March 20
We awoke to a pounding rainstorm this morning...yet another (mostly) indoor day.
We did have to leave the house at 9:00 this morning to go to the Walmart parking lot where Barbara visited the Trinity Mother Frances Mobile Breast Clinic to have her annual mammogram. When she was finished, we made a quick run-through at Wally World to get some things that we missed in the last trip.
Back at the house, we did a little housecleaning, stopping occasionally to step outside and take photos for the rainstorm that, by midnight tonight, dropped well over 1 1/2 inches of rain. Lake Edith and Garrett Creek (our names for the neighborhood drainage that goes into the North 40) were running full today!
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Saturday, March 21
Our blog entries are beginning to sound like a broken record...today was more cold, and more rain, rain, rain.
We had no reason to get outside, so we spent the day cooking in the kitchen, watching TV, and reading.
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Sunday, March 22
We spent the morning at Yantis First Baptist Church. As soon as the service was over, we made a mad dash back to Mineola to have a quick lunch, change clothes, and get to the Historic Select Theater for the band concert (which was played to a standing room only crowd).
After the concert, we drove around the corner to Sonic, then to TJ's house for a short visit, and then back home to sit and do absolutely nothing this evening!
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Monday, March 23
Welcome Back from Paris, Cathey and Jaycie!!!!
We spent most of the morning just taking care of household business and preparing some mail to go out. While we were driving to the post office, we got a text from Cousin Angela saying that they were all at Jalapeno Tree for a birthday celebration for Logan, and did we want to come. Of course we wanted to come, so we changed course a bit and headed straight for Jalapeno Tree (Mexican food trumps the post office every time), and joined the family for a fun time...
The adult conversation was okay, but the real attraction of the gathering (aside from the food) was Baby Jarhett, who kept us all entertained...
After eating, we finally got around to the post office run and then returned to the house for our afternoon nap. Following that, we prepped Taz for an impromptu ride out east of town on Texas 49 to Holly Lake Ranch.
After riding through Holly Lake Ranch, we turned south on Highway 14 to Hawkins, where we got this photo for the local veterans park...
We made a quick stop at the Hawkins Sonic, and then headed west on U.S. 80 toward Mineola and the house, where we settled in and called it a day.
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Tuesday, March 24
I wanted to work at Our Little Lot this morning after prayer meeting, but one look at the property showed me it was too wet to rake or mow, and even if it hadn't been all that wet, it was way too windy to do the burn pile. So, I headed back to the house and called the Can Am shop in Tyler to see how soon we could Taz in for a tire transplant. The rear tire barely passed inspection a few months ago, and now it was too slick for even me to take a chance on it. They told us to bring it on in and we should be able to get it back this afternoon (yeah, we've heard THAT on before), but since it didn't really matter when we got it back, we told them we'd be over within the hour. I quickly got Taz ready for travel, Barbara got the car ready, and we headed off to Tyler.
We'd been wanting to go to Canton to check out the restaurants for a future mini-reunion with some of Barbara's former students from Lubbock, so we decided that's where we'd go. After negotiating the loop traffic, we caught the new 49 Toll Road back to I-20...
And then drove west about 20 miles to Canton, home of the First Monday Celebration (humonguous flea market). Luckily, this wasn't a First Monday weekend, so we were able to get through the town easily enough and find Buttermilk's, a quaint restaurant just off the town square.
We decided that Buttermilk's in Canton would be an ideal place for our mini-reunion. Barbara wrote the girls about our delicious salads and the sandwiches on the menu, and then sent pictures to them. We all agreed that we'd meet here on Friday around 11:30.
As we pulled away from the restaurant, we saw a church campus and this very imposing cross...
We took this as a sign that we were right where we were supposed to be!
We followed U.S. 64 back to I-20, pointed the car east, and returned to Mineola to rest and wait for the call from Tyler to come get Taz (the call that we didn't expect today).
Surprise, surprise, surprise!!! A little after 4:00 the shop called and said Taz was ready, so we hopped in the car and drove back to Tyler. After paying out (it was even a little less than they had quoted us), I rode Taz (on the new rear tire...with treads) back to Mineola while Barbara took the car. For my part, I decided that Taz must be invisible, because several times this morning and this evening, oncoming cars whipped u-turns right in front of me. Since there isn't room for any more lights on the front of Taz, I guess we'll just have to use our defensive driving techniques and assume that everyone is out to get us.
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Wednesday, March 25
Happy Birthday to our "adopted" niece, Becky Terpening, in Artesia, New Mexico!!!
We spent the morning taking care of day-to-day business and chores around the house, then this afternoon we decided to take Taz out to Holiday Villages to check on Bob and Mary (they had brought Mary home on Sunday). Several family members were at Bob's house, including a couple of his great-grandsons, who were more than a little interested in Taz.
While Barbara went inside to see Mary, I took the boys on rides around the park, and later told their uncle that they were natural-born riders.
When we finished talking to Bob and his family members, we rode back to Quitman, stopping first for a Sonic break (and some photo phun)...
Followed by a quick jaunt to the block behind Sonic to drop off some mail and buy some stamps at the post office (and have a little more photo phun).
We voted that instead of taking Highway 37 (the main highway between Quitman and Mineola) back home, we'd take one of the back roads (Highway 778 to Highway 1254, and then to Loop 564), always an interesting drive or ride. While I drove Taz, Barbara occupied the time taking pictures of sights along the way.
The area around and the narrow crossing over Lake Fork Creek presented particularly good photo opportunities this afternoon.
Barbara stayed home this evening while I went to praise band rehearsal at Yantis.
Sadly, when I got back to the house, we received a message that our friend Mary Royar had passed away this evening. The last two years have been very hard on Bob and Mary, but we know that she is now at rest and made whole again.
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Thursday, March 26
It was a good morning for working at our place...Barbara worked inside while I went outside to weed the flower beds and spray the yards to kill as many of the weeds as possible. We've been assured that spring really will make an appearance soon, and we just want to be ready for it.
This afternoon we visited with the local State Farm agent about bundling our various automobile and homeowner's policies. It took a couple of hours to get everything in motion, and the agent said she'd fine-tune the policies to our requests and let us know later what it will cost.
The Lake Country Symphonic Band usually takes a week of from rehearsals following a concert, but with an ambitious spring concert and "never enough" rehearsals ahead of us before the concert date, Mike decided we'd better tackle our first sight-reading session sooner, rather than later. So, I made the drive to Quitman again tonight to see what we will be working on for the next couple of months.
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Friday, March 27
Finally...The BIG day is here!!! After much deliberation and planning (and one postponement), we headed off to Canton to meet Shannon and Markay, two of Barbara's elementary school students from Lubbock many years ago. (I taught them at Wester in 1977-78...in fact, I also taught Markay in 1976-77 in 5th grade...many years ago, huh?)
As we got to Canton, the girls texted to let us know that they were running behind schedule. That was fine with us, as it gave us a chance to get a good parking place (right in front of Buttermilk's restaurant) and do some sight-seeing and shop-looking.
When we had seen all we needed to see, we went to the restaurant and got a table. We explained that we would have a couple more joining us and the wait staff was extremely helpful and understanding.
When the girls arrived, there were squeals of excitement (and a few tears) as the girls saw their teacher for the first time in more than 30 years. (What can I say? I had been so excited and now the moment was here...as I looked at these two beauties, I couldn't believe how little they had changed in appearance in 38 years! And, conversation wise...it was as though we had never parted. What a wonderful time! Now if I could just see the others of that class and some other former students...so many special kids I have been blessed to work with during my years as a teacher!)
The food was delicious and we all had a wonderful time getting acquainted/reacquainted and catching up on each others lives...the photos pretty much say it all...
After saying goodbye (which was no short-time event), the girls left and we pointed the car toward downtown Dallas for a surprise visit to Heather, Alexander, and Abby's school. We think we may have been the ones who were the most surprised when we found that school had been released at noon and Alexander had gone to a friend's house to spend the afternoon. Luckily, we learned that Heather was in an in-service in the auditorium, and Abby was outside on the playground.
Abby was surprised to see us and took time to show us around the school (and enjoy a little birthday with Grams and Gramps in Heather's office) while we waited for Heather to finish her day.
When Heather was done with her meeting and finished for the day, we took some more photos...
And then she drove to get Alexander while we took Abby down to Greenville Avenue, a very funky and somewhat trendy section of town.
While we waited for Heather and Alexander to arrive, we did some sight-seeing, including a visit to Dude, Sweet Chocolate, where Abby selected a couple of specialty candy bars and I got a couple of strips of bacon dipped in chocolate.
After our stop at the chocolate store, we crossed the street to Steel City Pops, an establishment that specializes in frozen popsicle-type treats.
We all sampled the frozen juice bars and proclaimed the delicious. As we sat outside to enjoy the nice weather and visit with each other, we got the camera out to record the event.
It was finally time to say goodbye, so after a walk back to the cars and a few more camera shots, we left and went our separate ways.
The Five o'clock Dallas traffic wasn't as harrowing as we thought it would be, and we made good time getting down I-30, making the transition to U.S. 80 to Terrell, and then onto I-20 East with very little frustration.
We stopped at Dukes Travel Stop in Canton to buy some barbecue sandwiches and do a little shopping (we WILL be going back there one of these days) and then drove the final hour to Mineola to have supper and crash for the evening...good times and great memories...what a day!!!
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Saturday, March 28
Happy Anniversary to daughter Whitney and Jim Farnham in Olathe, Kansas!!!
After all the travel and excitement yesterday, we decided this would be a great day to sleep in (which we did, but not as long as we had hoped), and do not much of anything during the morning hours.
This afternoon, we rode Taz out to Our Little Lot at Holiday Villages of Lake Fork, where the lot got its first mowing and trimming of the season. Up to this point, I'd been spending hours raking up a couple of year's worth of leaves and getting them to a burn pile. There's more of that to be done, but the mowing and trimming just couldn't wait any longer. It wasn't perfect when we were done, but it sure looked a lot better!
When everything was put away, we headed north on Taz with the goal of getting Chinese take-out at Panda Express in Sulphur Springs. We got sidetracked along the way when we decided to take a side trip to try to find some friends' house off the beaten path. We took a rode which may have been the worst ever (potholes that couldn't be missed, because they were all so close together). After bumping along for a couple of miles, we gave it up for a lost cause and turned around to hit the potholes from the other side (they weren't any better that way) and made our way back to Highway 154 and on to Sulphur Springs.
We made one stop at Beall's to see if there was anything we couldn't live without (there wasn't) and then motored around a couple of blocks to Panda Express, where we called friends David, Lorri, and Amber Bagwell to see if they could come see us while we were in town for a few minutes. David agreed, and while we ordered and then put our food in Taz's trunk, they drove over and we had a really nice time getting caught up with each other.
We didn't come anywhere close to ending our conversations, but we were burning daylight at a pretty good clip and had to just stop where we were and head back home, trying to beat sundown (which we did...just barely). And the Chinese take-out? Yum-Yum!!!
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Sunday, March 29
It was such a beautiful morning that we decided to load the trumpet, mutes, trumpet stand, music, and our Bibles into Taz's trunks and ride to Yantis for the service at Yantis First Baptist Church.
As we crossed Lake Fork Reservoir on Highway 154, Barbara broke out the camera for these shots...
During the sermon, we noticed a couple I had introduced myself to a few weeks ago. They were both wearing Christian Motorcycle Association gear, and had their bikes parked out in the lot.
While I was gathering up my stuff after the service, Barbara talked to the couple, Mike (Flash) and Janice. I found them outside looking at Taz when I came out. Janice had asked Barbara where we were eating and Barbara told her we didn't have any plans. Janice then invited us to ride to Emory to join them for lunch at Dickie's, a new barbecue place in town. Well, you don't have to ask us twice to go on a ride OR eat barbecue, so the three of us were soon riding the back roads toward Emory.
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Monday, March 30
Today was all about insurance. For several years, we've had to piecemeal our insurance policies, with different companies for each vehicle and the homeowner's policy. We wanted to get everything at least through the same agent, and preferably with the same company.
We had a meeting with the local State Farm agent last week and were scheduled to go back to see her this morning, but TJ (a retired independent agent) suggested that we talk to someone at another agency here in town. So, we cancelled our meeting with State Farm, gathered up all the information and policies we could find for the car, Taz, Big V, and the house/property, made a call, and got an appointment to see what either Hartford or Safeco could do for us.
We were very pleased with Susan, the agent who worked with us, and left all the paperwork with her to figure out the best possible deal, with the stipulation that it all had to be completed prior to May 1.
We rode out to Holiday Villages this afternoon to check the property and Big V. After a bit, we headed back home, but when we came up on Bob Royar's lot, we noticed an EMS vehicle backed up to the front door. We stopped and I got to the door just as Bob was being wheeled out. When I asked him what was going on, Bob said he was having chest pains and they were taking him to ETMC in Quitman. We were concerned for Bob's health and also for the fact that Mary's memorial service was scheduled for tomorrow morning, but there was nothing left for us to do but pray.
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Tuesday, March 31
Happy Birthday to Cousin Angela Thompson in Mineola, Texas!!!
Today was yet another cold, rainy day...we're beginning to wonder if true spring will ever get here!
After prayer meeting in Yantis this morning, I drove to Holiday Villages to see how the rain was affecting Our Little Lot. When I was done there, I stopped at Bob's house to see if he was back home from the hospital. Sure enough, he was in the kitchen pouring a cup of coffee and having a little breakfast. Bob said that whatever the problem was yesterday, it wasn't his heart, for which we were all greatful.
I then returned to Mineola to get ready for Mary's memorial service. We got away from the house around 9:40 made the drive to Lake Fork Baptist Church. While we were crossing Lake Fork on the 515 bridge, Barbara got this shot of a grey lake and grey sky. It somehow seemed appropriate for the occasion.
We got to Lake Fork Baptist Church around 9:45, giving us time to speak to Bob and have short visits with some of our neighbors from Holiday Villages.
When Mary's service was over, around 11:20, we made a beeline back to Mineola, stopped at Tractor Supply to get a birthday gift for Cousin Angela, and then drove to Jalapeno Tree for Angela's birthday lunch.
The lunch was for Angela, but as usual, it ended up being all about Jarhett, who kept us all entertained while we were waiting for our food.
After enjoying an hour or so of good food and good company, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Our way took us back to the house to put away our leftover food, and then to bed for a well deserved afternoon nap.
We did as little as possible this afternoon and tonight, as we finished a March that had provided us with several seasons, but mostly rainy, cloudy, and cold.
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"I love deadlines...I like the whooshing sound the make as they fly by." - Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (I thought this one fit me...Jim)
From Our Little Home in Mineola,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom Grams/Gramsy
