A Little Halloween Week

Sunday, October 31 – Saturday, November 6, 2010 - Sunday, October 31
Happy Halloween, Everyone!!!


We went through our usual Sunday morning routine today as Sophie came over to stay with Mother for the day. TJ is still incapacitated by her wrist surgery, so since she is limited in how she can help Mother, they can’t go to church.

When Sophie arrived, we headed off to Yantis for Sunday school and church and then went to Our Little Lot to spend the afternoon. There wasn’t much in the way of rest though, as we started building the first of seven window frames to install on the south wall of the awning that covers Big V.

We have tried several different ways of covering the open spaces, but none of them held up to the wind and weather that we experience in East Texas, so I decided to build wooden frames out of 2 X4s and cover them with the material that we liked.

This was all well and good, except that I don’t have much in the way of woodworking tools, and have even less experience at it. That didn’t stop us though, and the afternoon found us on the concrete pad outside of Big V cutting away at lumber with a small hand saw.

After taking a l-o-n-g time to cut through the first piece of wood, I decided to take Barbara’s advice and go ask one of our close neighbors, both of whom have about three of every kind of tool ever invented, for some help.

Our closest neighbors are Gary and Linda, but when we walked over there, we found that they were already gone to Winnsboro where Linda’s paintings were going to be hung for a month at a museum there. We turned around and saw that Bubba, another neighbor who has been building a house for a year, was home, so I asked if he had a small power saw I could use. Bubba is a really nice guy and always ready to help a neighbor, so he got the saw and even cut the boards for me.

Along with that assistance, we got a grand tour of the new house as Bubba and Margaret took us through it. To say that we were impressed with the work Bubba and Margaret have been doing would be an understatement. The inside of their new home is both spacious and gorgeous!

After walking through Bubba and Margaret’s place, I gathered up the cut boards and the saw that Bubba said I could borrow until I finished the window project and we returned to Big V to see if my idea was going to work. It took some extra trimming on all the pieces, but after the fourth attempt to get the frame in place, it finally fit…in fact, it fit so tightly that if the rest of the building comes down, it will still be wedged between the first two steel posts on that side of the lot!

Once the frame was in place, we cut the sunscreen material, stretched it over the frame, and stapled it to the 2 X 4s and then covered it with some trim strips. We were satisfied with our first effort and could see that it will eventually work out, but our time ran out for today, so we packed everything away and headed off to church.

Tonight was the annual church fish fry, with the community invited to participate. About 200 people (Yantis has a population of 231) showed up to eat fried crappie and all the trimmings. Afterward, there were games for children of all ages in the gymnasium. Barbara and I pitched in and helped in different areas.

Since she is the expert on running the popcorn machine, Barbara was recruited by David to pop up a big batch of the stuff. Meanwhile, as I was busy taking pictures of all the people and activities, I saw that Lorri needed some help serving iced tea, so I worked behind the counter at that until everyone went through the serving line. Luckily, Barbara and I managed to get a few pieces of the delicious fried crappie before it was all gone. We had a great time and saw once again how Yantis First Baptist Church is impacting the community in positive ways.

The youth group was setting up in the gymnasium where Barbara and Darlene were making popcorn.  While they worked hard most of the time, I seem to have caught them during their "break" time with the above shots.

When we eventually made our way back to Mother’s house, we found a pleasant surprise waiting for us. Amanda, Jerry and Nancy’s elder daughter, had sent us photos of her boys (well…Zeke’s, too), Daniel and Jonah in their Halloween costumes. We haven’t seen the boys in at least a year so the photos once again emphasized how quickly young ones grow!

Monday, November 1

Can you believe it…November is here already!

Today was just a time of taking care of mundane chores…the stuff of everyday life. After mowing the front yard, Barbara came back inside and began a morning of baking and cooking while I took the mower and trimmer and attacked the back yard and the lot to the north of us.

When we felt the need to get out of the house for a bit, there were errands to run and a trip to Walmart, just to make it an official day.

Later this afternoon we put together a “goodie bag” for our next door neighbor, Addie, who will be leaving with a group of church ladies tomorrow morning for several days at Branson, Missouri. No bus trip can be taken without a bag of goodies to munch on is our philosophy!

Tuesday, November 2

It’s Election Day, 2010…Hope everyone got out and voted today!


Welcome home from East Asia to Mike and Kelly, now back at their place in Virginia!


Happy Birthday to Jonah Duke in Knox City, Texas!!!


Happy Birthday to Cousin Danny Wright in Tallahassee, Florida!!!

While Barbara stayed at the house to watch after Mother, I made the trip up to Yantis for our weekly prayer group from 7:00 – 8:00. I had planned to go work around Big V this morning, but it was pouring rain when I came out of the church, so I went to Lowe’s at Sulphur Springs, got the lumber I needed for three more window frames, and then returned to Mineola for the day. I did stop at Big V along the way home to see if there was anything I could do around the lot, but it was just too soggy for outside work.

There wasn’t much excitement around the place today, which was just fine as far as we were concerned. Most of the day was taken up with just piddly stuff.

This afternoon we drove up to Quitman to vote and pay our annual property taxes on the lot at Holiday Villages. Since the tax office is next door to Sonic, we took a little extra time to get our favorite afternoon drinks, a Diet Coke for Barbara and cherry limeade for me.

Late this afternoon I picked up TJ’s car from the Ford place and returned it to her so she will be able to drive when the doctor clears her. Luckily for TJ, they were able to do some repair work on her air conditioner during the time that she has been out of commission.

Tonight we began going through our storage buckets to get out winter clothes and move them to the closet…looks like winter is going to come around this year, and we thought we ought to be prepared for it.

Wednesday, November 3

This morning was Bible Study time for Barbara at Yantis. I stayed at the house to watch after Mother and do some housework.

We had lunch with Mother when Barbara returned and then spent the rest of the afternoon doing uninteresting, but necessary chores…paying bills, going to the post office, etc.

Kendra, Mother’s health care nurse, came by this afternoon for her weekly visit. Mother was scheduled to go to Tyler tomorrow to have her sutures removed, but Kendra called the doctor and got permission from her to come back next week and remove them. That was a real blessing for us, because none of us wanted to make that trip to Tyler!

I went out this afternoon and got a haircut and then around 4:00 I took the Vibe to the GM place for routine service. When I got back to the house from having the car serviced, we took a little anniversary gift across the street to John and Wanda. Their 60th anniversary is really tomorrow, but we knew they would leave early in the morning for a celebration luncheon (and doctor visit) and we wouldn’t see them; so decided to spring it on them a little early.

After visiting with John and Wanda for a few minutes I drove out to Yantis to practice with Lisa for some special music we will be playing Sunday. It was dark when I returned to Mineola and Barbara and I were tired from the activities of the day, so we just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Thursday, November 4

Happy 60th Anniversary to John and Wanda, our wonderful neighbors!!!

With our scheduled trip to Tyler cancelled, we just spent the day doing a few things around the house…nothing of any real consequence, but all things that we’d been putting off until we got around to them.

Tonight I went into full production mode with the window frames for Big V. With all the measurements carefully noted, I was sawing, gluing, stapling, and nailing away, just as if I knew what I was doing. Barbara was my head cheerleader and hung around to give a helping hand when necessary.

By the end of the evening, I had three sets of windows fully assembled and loaded into the car, ready to take to the lot tomorrow and be installed in the existing steel framework.

Friday, November 5

Today we began solidifying our plans for a trip to New Mexico for next week.

We’ve decided that every two or three months we need to get away for more than a couple of days, especially since most of our family lives so far away and we rarely get to see them. We decided that the first trip would be back to Artesia because it has been so long since we had a chance to have a real visit with the Terpenings, and because Jean hasn’t been feeling well for the last month or so. But, there was a lot of planning to be done.

We spent a large part of the day planning and preparing meals for Sophie and TJ to feed Mother next week while we are gone…just trying to keep the meal routine running smoothly.

I went out to Big V and installed the new window frames. Luckily, most of my measurements were true enough that I was able to place the frames where they belonged and get them sealed in with caulking compound. When all of the windows are finally in place, I’ll screw the sides into the steel frames of the RV cover.

Sophie came over for a while this afternoon and Barbara went over the schedule and showed her everything that we had put together. Since this will be the first time in a long time that we’ve left Mother for several days and nights, we wanted to make sure that everyone knew where everything was and what needed to be done.

Tonight it was time to clean up the mess that I made in the garage…sawdust and end pieces from the boards and trim were all over the place…plus, my tools were scattered from one end of the garage to the other. It would be very obvious to a real carpenter that I was a real novice in this particular arena!

Saturday, November 6

Today was just a continuation of yesterday’s activities. We tackled housecleaning and cooking while going over all our lists of things that had to be done before we could leave for New Mexico. And, of course, there were the lists of things that we needed to pack to take along with us. It seemed that we were alternately straightening up and messing up throughout the day as we tried to get it all together.

This afternoon we went over to John and Wanda’s house to give them their “boodle bags” for a trip to Branson. They won’t be leaving until Tuesday, but since we will be leaving early tomorrow morning, we needed to get the goodies delivered.

It seems that everyone in the neighborhood but us has either been to Branson or is going in the near future…or both. We’ve never been, but that is a place that is definitely on our wish list for a future trip.

The only other thing out of the ordinary was that I was able to work in a practice session on my trumpet. That’s more difficult than one would think because of the dogs in the house. Neither Spike nor Bonita is a lover of trumpet music, so I have to go out to the garage to do my practicing, preferably when they are occupied in Mother’s room.

Aside from the mentioned activities, it was a quiet day around the place as we spent most of our time getting ready for the upcoming trip…as short as it will be, there is still much to be done.

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” – Dr. Seuss

Finishing another quiet week in Mineola,

Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams

Two Little Weeks

Sunday, October 17 – Saturday, October 30, 2010

Sunday, October 17

Jim: After a fair night’s sleep last night, I got up early this morning, packed the car, and prepared to leave Lubbock to return to Mineola.

Leah was still asleep when I left, but since she didn’t have to drive nearly as far as I did, she could afford to sleep in.

The plan that Barbara and I had was that if Jimmy Clint was going to be held in the hospital for any further length of time, one of us could return to Lubbock on Tuesday or Wednesday to continue putting the house together so Jimmy could make an easier transition. Little did we know at the time we made the plan that it was just wasted time and energy (the plan, that is).

Anyway, I spent the day driving as fast as the law allowed from Lubbock to Sweetwater to Mineola, making only three short stops along the way and completing the trip in only 7 hours and 15 minutes, a new record for me.

I had been in the house only a few minutes when we got a call from Jimmy Clint telling us that his cardiologist had released him from the hospital because they needed that room for another patient, even though Jimmy was supposed to be examined Monday morning by his neurologist and internal medicine specialist. After talking with a friend who is very familiar with the system, we found that this is not an uncommon occurrence, and that the admitting doctor can dismiss a patient, even though another doctor might disagree with that decision…go figure!

Luckily, one of Jimmy’s friends was available to pick him up and take him to the house where he could start getting settled in by himself. We spent the rest of the evening staying getting my stuff unpacked and put away and in staying in touch with Jimmy to see how he was doing.

Barbara: Since Jim had the car, I was left without wheels to attend church; so after getting Edith ready for church with TJ, I tackled the beginnings of moving knick-knacks, books, etc. out of the hallway and the hutch in the living room. Between this activity, checking on Jim’s travel progress, and preparing lunch for Edith and TJ, I kept myself pretty busy.

Once lunch was over and the kitchen cleaned up, Edith and I decided that a nap was in order. As I told Jim, it was my duty to take one for him also since he was behind the wheel and not able to get one in at that time. Don’t really think he appreciated the sacrifice I was making for him. Go figure!

Monday, October 18

Today was the beginning of a huge house cleaning operation as we prepared to have new carpet laid in Mother’s living room and hallway. Barbara did a lot of dusting and together we hauled all of Mother’s knick-knacks and assorted treasures to the garage. Then, the heavy work started, as every piece of furniture had to be picked up and carried to the garage as well. After a few hours, it looked as if we were having the garage sale to end all garage sales!

When the living room and hallway were cleared out, we dusted and swept every corner and crevice and then I wet-mopped the floors before laying down a swath of insect repellant along the baseboards. By the end of the day, the place was sparkling (and very empty, except for one of the couches, which we left until we could have some additional help tomorrow morning).

Visitors today included Keith, Mother’s physical therapist, and Ann, the occupational therapist from At-Home-Healthcare. Both of these folks have worked wonders with Mother in helping her to regain some mobility and the ability to do more for herself. As a bonus, Ann and Keith are very pleasant, very professional people who help to brighten our day, as well as Mother’s.

Tuesday, October 19

While Barbara stayed home with Mother, I got up early and drove to Yantis for the weekly prayer group. When I returned, we did some last-minute dusting and cleaning in the living room and hallway, and then waited for the carpet layer to arrive.

Around 9:30 the carpet man arrived and went to work after helping me move the couch to the garage. It was interesting to watch him work (by himself), as he measured, cut, and did all the different things necessary to get the carpet down. He worked very quickly and efficiently, and by 12:30, all the carpet was laid and secured and we had all the furniture moved back in place.

When the first sections of carpet went down, we began to have our doubts about the color…it looked much too dark, but by the time the furniture was placed, we knew that Mother had selected exactly the right shade for the room…what a difference it made!

We were going to take our usual nap during the afternoon, but decided instead to start moving all the “treasures” back to their appointed places. Barbara wanted to change some things around and as usual, she was right about what needed to be done. By the time she was finished, all the knick-knacks were set in the hutch so they made sense (there is history involved with every piece, and now each section tells a story).

We also changed some of the furniture around, moving a couple of pieces from our bedroom to the living room and exchanging them with pieces that had been placed in the living room when Mother first moved in…suddenly, the furniture placement in both areas made a lot more sense.

We finished up the rooms in time to get ready for Sophie to arrive and watch Mother while Barbara went to her Bridge Club at the church and I went to Our Little Lot to do some work in and around Big V. I had in mind to do some mowing, but with the days getting shorter, I found that there was little time to work outside, so I made myself useful by doing some much-needed cleaning inside.

By the time we got back home, we were worn out from all the day’s activities and spent an hour or so watching TV and checking email before putting Mother to bed and then crashing in our own bed.

Wednesday, October 20

Happy Birthday to Cousin Michelle Sandley!!!

This seems to be a week of plan changes…We started out the day with the idea that Sophie would be over to stay with Mother from 9:00 – 12:00 and Barbara would go to Bible Study at the church while I did yard work at Our Little Lot. But, we didn’t get very far into the early morning when Barbara suggested that we go looking for a new bed for Mother.

We have been talking to Mother about getting a bed that would allow her to change mattress positions…not a hospital bed, which is too confining, but a bed that has many adjustment features of a hospital bed, but which is more comfortable and functional.

Barbara did some research and found that a company in McKinney makes such a bed and has an outlet store at Canton. Since Canton is a city that we have only passed through (at 70 mph), we thought this would be a great opportunity to see what is there and maybe even see the site of the Canton First Monday event, undoubtedly the largest flea market in the state.

After checking our mail and then getting breakfast at Sonic, we made our way to Canton through a series of back roads out of Grand Saline. When we got to Canton, we immediately found the grounds for First Monday (and they are huge and sprawling…will have to go there someday to see what it is all about, but Heather and Andy and others have told us that a person can find anything there). But, we had no luck in locating the store we wanted…later, we found that the “store” is a stall that is open during First Monday days, so we’ll either have to go back to Canton during that time, or take a day to go to McKinney to the big store.

Unable to accomplish what we set out to do, we took some more back roads to find the community of Van, the site of Lindale’s next football opponent. Now, we’re not particularly football fans of anyone these days, but our friends Heidi and Curt have invited us to come watch Hannah’s drill team perform, and our options were to go to Van this Friday or wait another week and go to a Lindale home game.

We didn’t make any firm decision about which game we will attend, but after seeing how small the stands are at Van (not very many and all on the same side of the field) and the narrow, winding roads leading to Van, we are inclined today to go to the game in Lindale on Halloween weekend.

We found our way back to Lindale and then decided that we had time left in the morning to find the ranch where Heidi is the food service manager. It took us a couple of stops and some telephone book searching to figure out where we needed to go, but the trip was more than worth the time.

The Rocking C Ranch is a Christian-based working ranch that provides for a variety of camp experiences and also teams with the Lindale schools to provide ranch experiences for elementary school kids. It is located in a beautiful setting northwest of Lindale and south of Hawkins on Texas 14.

Once we arrived, Heidi gave us a grand tour of the cookhouse and dining hall and showed us some of the sights around the ranch. She didn’t have time to give us the full tour, but promised to do so when we all had time to visit again. And...next time, we'll make certain we have our trusty camera along, too!

After our delightful visit with Heidi, we returned to Mineola to while away the afternoon and evening with the usual household chores and activities…nothing exciting, but Barbara did get to find time to visit Leslie at the beauty shop and get her hair cut.
Thursday, October 21
The big news of the day was a phone call from Mike letting us know that they were boarding a plane and beginning a two-week visit to East Asia…Our thoughts and prayers, as well as those of many others, will certainly be with them as they travel to visit old friends and meet new ones during this time.

Outside of that phone call and my visit to Dr. Bankhead’s office to let one of the local vampires draw blood for some tests; this was an uneventful day…just the usual chores around the house until we took time tonight to beginning burning CDs of yesterday’s Bible Study class.

Friday, October 22

After getting the day started, Barbara and I decided we’d go to Staples in Mt. Pleasant to get CD labels that we needed for a church project that we do. Our friend Lisa records her Bible Study lesson each Wednesday morning and then Barbara brings the recorder home and we download the lesson to our computers, edit it, and burn anywhere from 16 – 19 CDs to be distributed to class members who want them. We’ve gotten the process down pretty well, but we wanted to do a little extra, so Barbara designed a label that I print and then stick onto each CD. Last week we ran out of labels and had to find some more and the closest place we could find the Memorex labels we like was Mt. Pleasant.

We got Sophie to come over and stay with Mother for a couple of hours while we made the drive to Mt. Pleasant to buy labels and then do some quick shop-looking next door at Dollar Tree, one of Barbara’s favorite stores.

When we returned to the house, we had lunch with Mother, rested for a bit, and then went to work on this week’s edition of the Psalm 23 CDs. Later, we had a visit from Ann, Mother’s occupational therapist.

Around 4:00 the UPS man showed up with a package…Mother’s new bidet seat that we had ordered a couple of days ago. We weren’t expecting it until Monday, so this was quite a surprise. As soon as we got the package inside we opened it and decided to start the installation process in Mother’s bathroom, including removing the old toilet seat and cover, cleaning the toilet thoroughly, installing a new set of handrails, and then installing the bidet seat (fastening it to the toilet and hooking up the water and electric lines.

Between the two of us, Barbara and I finally had the newly remodeled toilet ready for Mother to try out. Without going into details, we’ll only report that Mother was very satisfied with her new purchase!

Later, we went over to TJ’s house to see how she was doing after having hand surgery this morning in Tyler. Her friend Marge and taken her to the doctor and brought her back home. We decided TJ could probably use a little supper, so Barbara cooked up a grilled cheese sandwich for her while we were over there.

When we returned to Mother’s house we just chilled out for the evening, watching a little TV and doing some computer work.

Saturday, October 23

Today was very unremarkable…just a day of housework, cooking, and laundry, followed by an evening of producing the CD’s for the church Bible study group…not very exciting, just life at Mother’s house.

Sunday, October 24

Since TJ couldn’t get out or drive because of her wrist surgery, Mother wasn’t able to go to her church this morning. Barbara and I hired Sophie to spend most of the day watching after Mother and we went ahead with our regular Sunday schedule…attending Sunday school and Church at Yantis First Baptist Church, spending the afternoon working around Big V, and then returning to Yantis for choir practice and the monthly business meeting.

Right at the end of the business meeting we received notice that a storm was brewing in the area and a tornado warning was sounding. While many went on to the Family Life Center for shelter and the game night that was scheduled for the evening, Barbara and I decided we would head south as quickly as possible so we could get back to Mother’s house.

We faced a lot of wind and some rain until we crossed the 154 bridge over Lake Fork. From there on, the rain gradually diminished. We made a quick stop at Holiday Villages to check on Big V and close the windows and then drove on south. We were completely out of the rain by the time we got to Quitman and it was dry as dirt in Mineola. Mother and Sophie didn’t even know there was a warning out.

The rest of the evening was fairly quiet except for a brief rain shower that was quickly followed by clear skies. We finished the day by watching a little TV and then going to bed to read before falling asleep.

Monday, October 25

This ended up being a very full day for the three of us. Mother and I both had dermatology appointments in Tyler. My appointment was at 10:40 at one of the Tyler Dermatology Associates sites, and Mother’s was at 1:30 at the other site across town.

It didn’t take nearly as long to get to Beckham Street as we thought, so we arrived quite early for my appointment. While I went inside, Barbara and Mother drove across the street to fill the Vibe’s gas tank. What none of us knew was that the P.A. who was working on me was ready as soon as I got inside, so it didn’t take any time at all to have the examination, schedule another follow-up appointment, and get back outside.

With time to kill before Mother’s appointment, we decided to go to Dollar Tree on the Loop to see what we couldn’t live without. Mother was in an adventurous mood, so we got her into her wheelchair and wheeled her through the store aisles where she could see what was available. And, sure enough, she found several items she thought we needed around the house. This was the first time to go out shopping with the new wheelchair and it was so successful that we are now looking forward to more adventures like it.

We were all hungry by the time we left Dollar Tree. Mother suggested going to Red Lobster, so we got directions to the restaurant…found when we got there that it was only a couple of minutes from the site of Mother’s appointment, and went inside to enjoy a great meal in a wonderful atmosphere.

We got to the dermatology clinic right on time, but unlike my visit this morning that got rushed through, Mother’s appointment went way longer than we were told it would. Mother was there to have a squamous cell cancer removed from her arm. The procedure was supposed to take only 45 minutes or so, but we ended up staying until nearly 4:00. We never did find out why we had to wait so long for the procedure to begin, but all went well in its own time. When they were done with the surgery, we made an appointment for a follow-up date to have the sutures removed and then headed back to Mineola.

Mother had stayed awake for the entire day, so she was one tired puppy when we got back to the house. We had a quick bite to eat and then Mother decided she was ready to go to bed for the night.

Gene and Michelle were guests at our house tonight. They are in town for a few days before returning to their place in Kansas.

When we found out that they were here, we invited them over for finger foods, conversations, and a couple of hot rounds of Rummi-Cube.

In the past, our conversations centered around our past school adventures, but now we’ve settled into an easy camaraderie that is based on just being friends and sharing what is going on in our current lives…with, of course, the occasional reference to the current state of public schools and the realization that we all did the best we could and passed the torch when it was time.
After a lot of talking, eating, and good-natured jibes at each other for our varying styles of play, we decided that we were all weary with well-doing and called it a night. And…as the bottom photo shows, Spike spent much of the evening just checking on us!

Tuesday, October 26

After all the activity yesterday, I completely forgot what day it was and missed the weekly prayer meeting at Yantis FBC…don’t know what was going through my feeble mind.

The only other big ticket item on the agenda was a trip to Quitman to take Mother to see Mr. Roberts, her attorney, to make some adjustments to her Will.

While we were there in Quitman, Mother decided that she wanted to absentee vote which was really great! That didn’t take much time and when we returned to the house; Barbara had a late lunch waiting for us.

The rest of the day was spent just doing some normal household chores…nothing exciting, but all of it necessary (at least we thought so at the time).

Wednesday, October 27

Birthday Greetings go out today to Cousin Paula Wright in Graceville, Florida!!!

Hey…This was a date day for us…the first we’ve had in a long time. We got Sophie to watch Mother for the day, fired up the motorcycle, and headed off to see parts of East Texas north and east of us. We were hoping to see some fall colors, but it’s still a little early for that. There were a few patches of early color changes, but the real sights will be coming along in another couple of weeks. But, we thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the time to get away for a few hours…Thank you Mother and Sophie!
Thursday, October 28

Barbara spent most of today working around the house and checking recipes for some meals she wanted to make in the near future. We did go to Walmart together to buy a bill of groceries, then brought them home and got everything put away…really exciting stuff!
As we approached the house, we were blown away with the abundance of color some fall flowers have given the front of Mother’s house. We’re not sure why we hadn’t noticed them before…guess we just took them for granted. Not a good thing!

While Barbara stayed at the house, I took the car and went out to Holiday Villages to take care of some business at the clubhouse, then on to Yantis for a stop at the church to get the recorder so we could start downloading yesterday’s Psalm 23 lesson from the Bible Study group. No one at church could find the recorder, so I drove on up to Sulphur Springs to get some more supplies for building the window frames for the cover over Big V.

By the time I returned to the church, I was able to get the recorder and return it to the house…and that was about the extent of the activities and excitement for our day…just another “normal” (whatever that is) day in Wood County.

For the second time in a week we had visitors at the house…we’re getting to be real social gadflies! Tonight our guests were Ken and Donna Good, who have just returned to Holiday Villages after spending several months working at a Corp of Engineers campground in Idaho.

We met Ken and Donna back in the spring, just a few days before they were to leave for Idaho. They had spent some time in a campground south of Artesia at one point in their lives and had even attended First Baptist Church in Artesia, probably at the same time we were there…talk about a small world!

Anyway, Ken and Donna came over tonight and we got re-acquainted and caught up on all our adventures of the past few months…and, of course, got in a couple of hands of Rummi-Cube to spice up the night…don’t remember what the scores were, but it sure was fun to renew the friendship.
Friday, October 29

We spent the morning cleaning and cooking…regular activities around here. We had to make another run to Medicine Chest for a prescription for Mother. The folks there have become like long lost friends to us and it’s always fun to start out the day receiving their smiles and conversations!

We are really glad that we re-thought our position on facebook access as we’ve thoroughly enjoyed catching up with the life and times of family, friends, and former students. Another plus we have found is that we can catch glimpses of the grandkids from others’ walls which is exactly what we did to capture Jimmy as a crayon, Abby as a witch (how can someone so precious be called a witch?) and Randi sporting her new school athletic jacket. Now that is what one calls a definite plus!

I took Mother to the beauty shop this morning for a wash, cut, and set. Then I dashed over to TJ’s, since she too was getting a hair repair from Leslie. (Barbara was at home preparing lunch for all of us.)

Since it was Halloween weekend, all the beauticians, stylists, operators, whatever the commercially correct term may be, were dressed in costumes and their theme for this year was The Wizard of Oz. Leslie, our friend who we first met at the shop in Lindale, but who has now set up a booth in Mineola, was outfitted as the Wicked Witch. I told Leslie that I had heard some of those stories about her, but she was polite to me anyway (and did a beautiful job with Mother’s hair.

After I got Mother back home, I went back to the shop where Leslie had completed her wonders on TJ. The next duty on my chauffeur assignment was to bring TJ over to Mother’s for lunch. Barbara had spent a big part of the morning creating some new recipes, and they were very well received!

This evening we had Sophie come stay with Mother while we drove to Lindale to watch a football game. Well, we didn’t care that much about the game, but we did get to see Hannah perform with the LHS drill team.

We had a lot of fun sitting and visiting with Curt, Heidi, Jared, and Olivia, as well as with Curt’s parents, who came over from Canton, and Jerry, a good friend of Curt and Heidi. And, right before the pre-game started, one of Heidi’s interns and his friend showed up. We were quite a cheering section for Hannah.

Heidi had even made each of us a sack lunch complete with hotdog, homemade potato salad, chips, dessert, and candies as well as a drink. Now you can’t beat service like that!

Tonight’s game would decide the seedings for the playoffs, and Lindale, at 5-3 (the three losses coming against schools from a higher classification) gave Canton (8-0) all they could handle and then some.

I was particularly interested in watching the halftime show which featured the Lindale High School band, a very traditional military style band and the Canton HS band, a decidedly corps style band. Both of the bands performed well and were good representatives of their respective schools.

Halftime went extra long tonight, but we were still able to get back to Mineola and Mother’s house within a few minutes of the time that we had told Sophie to leave. We sent the rest of the evening catching up on email and other correspondence before heading to bed around midnight.

Saturday, October 30

Barbara decided that today would be a great time to try out another round of new recipes, so after a quick trip to Walmart for a few items, we went to work in the kitchen. By the time we were finished, she had made homemade applesauce, pear sauce, sweet potato soup (yum-yum) and a couple of batches of cookies.

In between recipes she also took care of laundry duties as I tried to keep up with the dirty dishes which were piling up by the minute.

This afternoon I tackled some yard chores, trying to stay even with the mowing and trimming…just an awful lot to do around here to keep up with things.

Tonight was just quiet time for us as we watched a little TV, checked email, and did not much of anything else…did have two trick-or-treaters show up tonight. Luckily, we had a dish of candy in the living room so we could share with them.

“The test of love is in how one relates not to saints and scholars but to rascals.” - Abraham Joshua Heschel, Warsaw-born American rabbi and Jewish philosopher

From Mineola with love,

Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams

A Little Bit Behind!

Sunday, October 10 – Saturday, October 16, 2010

Sunday, October 10

Happy Birthday today to Barbara’s sister, Carol Crenshaw, in Roswell, New Mexico!!!

Today was a really fun day at church as our friends Gene and Carolyn Neyer joined us for the morning service. We had visited with our music minister, Danette, about having Gene play the special music some morning on one of his accordions, and today was the day!

We thought our friends were going to be with us during the breakfast and Gene would play some background music while we dined on our omelet’s and other goodies, but as we were approaching Holiday Village and Big V on the way to church, Gene called to say their plans had changed a bit and they would see us around 10:30.

We went ahead and dropped some things off at Big V and then went on to Yantis for the fellowship breakfast and Sunday school and then met with Gene and Carolyn before the service started. The church praise band was also warming up and practicing for the morning’s music selections, so Gene just joined in on a couple of the songs. Of course, we had cameras at the ready for just such an occasion.

David had another powerful sermon for us this morning and then after church Gene and Carolyn returned to Holiday Villages with us for lunch in the clubhouse (where Gene gave an impromptu accordion recital for those in the building), and we sat around and visited with each other and a few of the property owners who drifted through the room.

When lunch was over, we adjourned to Big V to just sit outside on our “patio” area and talk, and talk, and talk, all the time enjoying a beautiful fall afternoon.

After an hour or so, Gene and Carolyn went back to their home and we turned in for some light reading and a short nap before returning to Yantis for choir practice and the evening service.

We did have a "little" excitement as we stepped out of Big V to prepare to go to church. That's when we spied our latest visitor...let the photo do the talking...

As one can tell, this critter wasn't a bit concerned about being around us...guess he found us friendly since he posed so nicely in the big photo!

More pics than words to this day, but that’s okay…pictures are better!

Monday, October 11

Happy Columbus Day! (Well, according to Congress, anyway).

This was a rare day of not much of anything going on at Mother’s house. The occupational therapist and one of the nurses came by for visits today, but other than that, it was a nice quiet day on Heritage Drive.

Tuesday, October 12

Happy Birthday to Cousin Ty in Graceville, Florida!!!

After yesterday’s holiday of sorts, we swung back into action today with some light housework…also had a visit by one of the guys from Wood County Carpet in Quitman, who stopped by to measure the living room and hallway for new carpet.

The physical therapist came to the house at 1:00 to give Mother her workout and then we had Sophie come in for a couple of hours while Barbara and I drove to Lindale to do some shop-looking at Lowe’s for some possible purchases for the house.

When we were finished at Lowe’s, we went over to Sonic for the Happy Hour special (Diet Coke with extra ice for Barbara and a cherry limeade for me), and then Barbara called our friend Heidi to se what she was up to. As it turned out, Heidi and the kids were at home for a while, so we drove out to their place at Hideaway for a quick visit. Heidi had to get the girls to a drill team practice, so we stayed for just a few minutes and then returned to Mineola to go to Walmart for a few items before returning to the house for the evening.

When we got to Walmart, we saw that some group was giving away hotdogs and drinks, so we decided that would be our menu for the night. We supplemented the basic hotdogs with some sauerkraut, chili, and onions, and had a meal fit for a king!

Tonight was just another quiet night at Mother’s house.

Wednesday, October 13

Happy Birthday to our good friend Becky Roark in Lubbock, Texas!!!

This morning we had Sophie come in and stay with Mother while we went out for the Wednesday activities…Barbara dropped me off at Our Little Lot and I worked there for a few hours while she went on to church for the weekly Bible Study group.

When she returned to pick me up, she was delighted with the way I had cleared the rubble around this beautiful purple bush, tree, whatever it is!

The afternoon was relatively quiet as we just piddled around inside the house and did a little yard work outside during the evening hours.

Thursday, October 14

We went into full-blown chef mode early this morning to prepare a special brunch for Mother, TJ, and some of TJ’s friends. TJ and her friends get together for meals from time to time and we had decided a couple of weeks ago to have a brunch for them at Mother’s house.

Barbara has been combing through the magazines and recipe books for several days and came up with three different quiches that she wanted to make. Now, we know you aren’t supposed to try out recipes on folks like this, but it just seemed to be the thing to do.

While Barbara was in charge of putting the quiches together and getting them baked so they were all three ready at the same time, I helped prepare the ingredients and was also in charge of the bacon and gravy. The whole operation took a lot of teamwork and we managed to pull it off and have everything on the table only a few minutes after our announced serving time…the food looked (and tasted) delicious, the table was beautiful, and the ladies really enjoyed our efforts as they sat down and dug in.

We were kind of tired of being in the kitchen after several hours of that kind of work, so while everyone else was eating and visiting, Barbara and I took a few minutes to get some fresh air and drive downtown to take care of paying some bills and making the post office run.

When we got back to the house and the ladies finished their meal, we all pitched in to clear the table and soon we had the dishwasher running and another stack of dishes and silverware waiting to go in next. And…time for one more photo before the party came to an end.
All of that finished just as Kendra, Mother’s nurse, arrived for her weekly visit and to administer a B-12 injection.

When Mother and Kendra finished their business, we shut the house down and headed to our room for a well-deserved and much-needed nap…with NO apologies to anyone!

Tonight we learned that Jimmy Clint was back in UMC with heart problems…his blood pressure was fluctuating between very high and very low and the doctors were having trouble getting him stabilized, so we began making some contingency plans about whether one or both of us should go out to Lubbock.

Friday, October 15

Jim: After talking to Jimmy Clint this morning and then spending time in prayer and talking to each other, we decided that I would hurriedly pack and go to Lubbock for a few days to check on Jimmy and do some work on the house that he will be living in when he is out of the hospital.

A friend and business acquaintance of Jimmy’s has a vacant house that he is going to let Jimmy use, but it has been vacant for a few years and needs some serious cleaning before anyone can live in it.

Randy, another friend of Jimmy’s has volunteered to move all of Jimmy’s things from a storage unit to the house and then help move it into the house…he is to have everything at the house by the time I can get to Lubbock.

We told Leah what I was doing and she said that since she was finished with coaching volleyball, she could leave right after work and drive to Lubbock to help with the house. What a blessing!

With all that done and Barbara staying behind to take care of Mother while I’m gone, I took off in the Vibe at 10:00 am and drove, and drove, and drove (took a route that we hadn’t taken in a long time, and now I remember why’ U.S. 380 between Denton and Greenville is a very s-l-o-w and dangerous highway.

I got to Lubbock around 6:30 pm, went to see Jimmy at the hospital, and then went to the house to begin cleaning. Leah got there an hour or so later and we worked until about 12:30 am cleaning floors and carrying in things from the trailer. We were pleasantly surprised that together we were able to unload everything except a large chest of drawers; by the time we got there, the adrenaline was all gone and we were ready to turn out the lights and crash.

Barbara: As a mother of a son, who is mighty ill with no answers in sight, it was hard to say good-bye to Jim; but…I knew in my heart of hearts that right now Edith needed my help more than Jimmy did. He knows, and understands why it is important for me to be here for Edith’s daily care and that’s all that is important to my way of thinking.

After lunch today, I talked Edith into going with me down the street to the mailbox. It was a gorgeous day and since I would be pushing the wheelchair, all she had to do was enjoy the fresh air.

As soon as we got to the bottom of the drive, we were greeted by a young teen who was selling popcorn for the Boy Scouts. We told him we’d be glad to help him out if he’d come back after we checked the mail.

Then after getting the mail, we saw Addie was in her garage and her “customers” (most of the neighborhood was having a garage sale…we decided our plates were full enough without having to deal with that!) were gone; so Edith and I went in to browse and to visit.

We had a really, really good time! Though I vowed that next time we would walk in the street as the wheelchair and the driveways didn’t get along too well. Oh, well…live and learn.

The disposal chose today as the day to quit working so I had to call Roger over to take a look at it. While he was here, Lisa came by to bring me the recorder so I could work on the CD’s for Bible Study. This was a good thing since I needed something to keep me busy!

To finish off our list of visitors today, we had Ann the occupational therapist and the nurse both come. We could have put a revolving door in…that’s for sure. This “old house” was a beehive of activity!

Saturday, October 16
 Jim: Today was a full day of work at the house in Lubbock. Leah and I got up early and continued our cleaning from last night…first on the agenda was to pull out all the carpet pads in the living room and dining room areas…then it was more sweeping, mopping, scrubbing, etc.

Jimmy’s friend Randy and his wife and another friend showed up to help. Randy and Noel rip out and install flooring, so they were particularly helpful in taking up the tack strips that were nailed to the floor…nothing like having the right tools and someone who knows how to use them! Randy’s wife helped Leah and I clean out kitchen cabinets and work on the floor in there while Randy and Noel were finishing up in the living room and hallway.

The next door neighbor, George, and his brother Ernest came over and hauled away trash, distributing it among three dumpsters out in the alley. Leah and I nearly had a fit when George rolled up the garage door and we saw everything that was stored in there, but George explained that he and Ernest were just going to empty the garage and throw everything away unless we saw something we thought Jimmy Clint might be able to use.

By mid-afternoon Leah and I were getting tired and hungry…no breakfast OR lunch, so we took a break, got cleaned up, and went out for a meal at El Chico before going to the hospital to spend a couple of hours with Jimmy Clint.

This evening I installed new locks on the kitchen door and then Leah and I did some more cleaning and straightening around the place. The bedroom furniture was all set up for Jimmy Clint’s return and the house was clean and straight enough for him to set up housekeeping.

I called Barbara and told her that Leah and I had done about all we could do for the time being and that we would leave in the morning…Leah would go back to Liberal and I would drive back to Mineola. If necessary, Barbara and I (or one or the other of us) could drive back to Lubbock when Jimmy Clint is released from the hospital and help out for a couple of days.

Barbara: I failed to write down anything on the calendar so have NO idea what Edith and I did except I do know that the walk to the mailbox went a lot better with us walking in the street. Thankfully, Edith’s home is on a dead-end so we didn’t have traffic and the garages were all sold out from yesterday so didn’t have customers driving around the street.

“Nobody's family can hang out the sign, "Nothing the matter here." - Chinese proverb

From Lubbock and Mineola,

Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams

The Lake…394 Geronimo (911 address…not our address)…Taken from the street showing Big V hidden by the gully and the trees…

One Little Month

Sunday, September 12 – Saturday, October 9, 2010

You know sometimes life serves you lemons one day and you make lemonade; other times you forget what to do with the lemons and you just suck on them letting the bitterness soak into your system. That’s basically the way things have gone around East Texas for a while; so we decided that the better part of valor at this time is just to lump four weeks into one journal entry.

So many blessing have occurred…

*I (Barbara) was re-baptized on Sunday, September 12th, for all the right reasons this time! And…that same Sunday our friends Heidi and Curtis Hays (Heidi was the pastry chef at Toccoa and I was her right hand (ha!) when we volunteered there. Now the Hays family lives right here in East Texas! Small world!) attended church with us and their daughter Hannah played the offertory. Boy, is that girl talented!

Edith and TJ also attended the service this morning in support of Barbara as did Bob and Mary Royar from Holiday Villages. David really likes it when we are involved in something special at the church because we bring so many visitors with us.

Edith and TJ decided to not join the gang for lunch and returned to Mineola for the afternoon, but Bob and Mary, the Hays family, and us all went to the clubhouse at Holiday Villages to sample their delicious Sunday specials. After eating, we took Curt, Heidi, and the kids to Big V to show them Our Little Lot and did some reminiscing about our camping adventures at Toccoa. Later, we gave our guests the grand tour of Holiday Villages.

*Mike and Kelly found out that they will be having a baby girl sometime in February!

*We have reconnected with many students, friends, and family members through the dreaded facebook. Barbara has found many of her students from her Lubbock days even remember aspects of their time together. Kind of a cool thing!

Not only did we find former students and friends; but we found that by checking out fb, we could see photos of our family that we hadn’t seen before…such as this one of Keylin, our great-niece who lives in Cleburne!

Or…how about this one of granddaughter Randi in San Antonio sitting in a field of bluebonnets!

*Heidi and Barbara found time finally to have a girls’ lunch day.

*Jim has spent many an hour out at the lake getting the yard into the shape he wants it to be!

*Between having Sophie come spell us with Mother and At Home Health Care Services, things are moving smoothly around her house.

*Jimmy Clint served his time, and more, and was released to go to CRTC. But, before he could get there, he wound up in the hospital with major problems in three areas…heart, nerves, and internal. They have done every test they know to do so now it’s a matter of waiting for results to come back from Mayo Clinic. Until then, he cannot go to CRTC and was released to Home Health Care.

*Bible Study for Barbara started back up in September with an in-depth look at the 23rd Psalm. Wow!

*We’re getting to use our love for media by making CD’s for Barbara’s Bible Study class. Last night (10/08) were up until nearly midnight burning cd’s, using RealPlayer. I had it installed on my computer and once I figured out how to do the burning, we installed the system on Barbara’s computer and we were in business.

We needed 16 copies each of two master discs, so even with the 24/1 burn rate, it took a couple of hours. I managed to finish first, but only because I was doing disc 2, which was 29 minutes, while Barbara was burning disc 1, at nearly an hour in length.

When I finished my share of the burning, I moved to the desk in the bedroom and started up the label printing part of our production. There are surely better and faster ways of doing all this, but our “Little Media Productions” is still a mom & pop (or should we say, Grams & Gramps) operation.

*We’ve gone to the club house twice for Bingo and each time either Barbara or I have won a game, visited with friends, and gotten a Wal-Mart gift card and the thrill of yelling, “B I N G O!”

*Gene and Michelle made a flying trip down here from Kansas and brought us homemade blackberry wine which Jim has enjoyed (it really was for Edith, but since she’s been on antibiotics, she hasn’t gotten to participate yet.) and some apples from their orchard. Michelle gave Barbara instructions on how to make applesauce and she was able to make 3 pints which we’ve all “forced” ourselves to eat with relish – well, maybe with gusto, since we don’t have any relish!

*Gene and Carolyn have come over several times for short visits which always brighten our days…AND Gene and Jim even got to go dip some worms in the lake one day!

*Jim started a new crop in the front yard…haven’t figured out what to do with this bounty; but did make a good photo! In fact, we decided that maybe we’d sell them to Roswell, NM, since they are the “alien/flying saucer” capital of NM. They could package them as miniature saucers!

*Our Sunday morning breakfasts at church have been fun and well attended…in fact, attendance at these functions have increased immensely since the first one offered! There are always all kinds of wonderful food and the most popular line is the one by Mike, who graciously spends his morning whipping up the omelets!

There’s always something new and different to discover there, too. In fact, Barbara learned that these awesome peach and strawberry jellies that everyone loves and that are furnished by Shirley, is, in fact, made with figs and either peach or strawberry Jell-O! Now how cool is that…and delicious, too?

Shirley says that next year when her fig trees start to produce, she’ll holler at us so that we can try our hand at this awesome treat. Who knows…maybe with all this country influence, we might become quite the cooks!

*Jim’s aunt, Glennis, from Florida was here for two weeks. The three sisters got to spend some quality time together, sharing meals, coffee, and just good old reminiscing time!

* We all attended a Sunday morning reunion at the Smith Family Cemetery between Big Sandy and Hawkins. (That’s clear as mud now, isn’t it? Now, I still haven’t figured out the Smith angle since they are Faulks and Davenports. But…since the ancestors are buried there, I guess that’s all that is important! And…as we found out during the shared meal time, everybody there was related to everybody there one way or the other…even if it was 4 or 5 generations back! Still, it was a fun time for the sisters and that’s what was important! Edith even got to ride over there with TJ and Glennis which was quite a treat for her.

*Edith’s cousin Martha Jo and her daughter and son-in-law came over from Rockwall one day for a cook-out. Jim was in charge of the meats which he cooked out on the grill while I took care of the indoor veggies. With the food the others brought, we had quite a spread!

*Ladd and Madalyn joined us (Angela was working); so with the sisters, there were 10 for lunch that day.

*With the help Edith is getting from Home Health Care, she is getting more and more independent every day. It’s a very slow process and sometimes the Parkinson’s gets in the way; but…inch by inch we’ll take what we can get!

*Edith and TJ had a hen luncheon over at TJ’s. It’s the first time in many months that she’s been able to get out like that. Though she slept the rest of the day, she declared the whole experience quite fun!

I didn’t attend; but Jim took a pic of Edith and me as we were getting ready to leave the house to take her over to TJ’s.

*After getting the cycle out of the cycle hospital, Jim spent many man-hours pampering her!

*Edith had a biopsy done on spot on her wrist that came back as squamous cell cancer; so she and Jim had to go to Quitman to see about having surgery on it. The surgery is scheduled for October 25, the same day that Jim goes back to the same dermatologist for a check-up and review of his procedures. Edith didn’t let the business of the day slow her down a bit! (Especially since in the right top pic she was headed to her chair where she and Bonita could take a much needed nap!

*Barbara and I finally got to take a long awaited motorcycle trip after we attended See You at the Pole in Yantis on September 22. We went up to Arkansas and Oklahoma and rode the Talimena Skyway. 477 miles…which Barbara says gave her not only the sense of freedom but a tired butt and swollen ankles!

When we left Mineola on Tuesday, we went straight to the lake and Big V, where we got to spend the night! It was super to be home.

The next morning, Wednesday, we took time to show off our See You at the Pole shirts which we decided would be our travel clothes for the day.

*See You at the Pole was a wonderful start to what turned out to be an even more wonderful day! Chandler, who is a senior at Yantis High, did a great job at involving the kids. Something we had never seen done before was having chalk available and letting the teens write down on the sidewalks a prayer, things they were thankful for, whatever…

*Another very touching moment about that morning was the fact that a young lady arrived with tears running down her cheeks and students rushing to meet her. Her father had died the night before; but she didn’t want to miss this morning of showing the world that she loved the Lord and was relying on His strength. What a silent message she sent this day to all who were gathered there.

Once the students and teachers scrambled to their classrooms, Jim and I spent a few minutes visiting and jawing with David and our friend, Mary. It was David’s idea for Mary to sprawl down in front of the cycle in an attempt to capture Jim running over her! T’was great fun! And…it was really nice of David to take photos of us getting ready to leave.

Obviously, our attire doesn’t qualify us a Motorcycle Mama and Papa of the year; but it really just doesn’t matter…all that mattered was that we were “on the road again!”

Actually, we didn’t make it too terribly far before we had to stop as we had to make a Wal-Mart run in Sulfur Springs to get a tire pump. Ours died the night before and Jim was NOT a happy camper. But…we found one, he aired up the tires, and who pulls up beside us…David. His wise remark was something like…Boy, you guys didn’t make it very far, now did you? Duh!

Once on the road for good, I entertained myself enjoying the different scenery (once we got off I-30) and trying to take photos of myself through Jim’s helmet. It’s amazing how difficult that is. I still don’t have it down to perfection; but hope I get many more opportunities in the future! (No, in the top left photo I am not saying, “Halt!”…that is supposed to be a wave…)

The day was absolutely perfect for a cycle ride as the puffy white clouds show!

And…of course, no trip would be complete without a stop or two for road construction. Wasn’t that bad this time since the weather was cool and the sun was covered by the clouds. On a cycle when one has to stop on the pavement for any length of time, the feet and body can become quite hot if the sun is blaring down!

We revised our travel plans as we went since we had spent so much time in Yantis and then the Wally stop; so we would stay in Oklahoma the whole way. However, the navigator…me…made a slight, or maybe not so slight mistake, and the next thing we knew we were lost on some country road!

Jim mentioned turning around; but, I took a page from Mike’s (Jim’s son’s) book and said…”No turning around! We’ll come out somewhere and what does it matter?” So…miles and miles later we wound up in Arkansas! Oh, well…we weren’t in a hurry.

And…as the top left photo shows, Jim always takes me to the fanciest places to have a picnic! Since we didn’t know the roads and what might be ahead, hunger won out and we just pulled over by a lake or stream or something we couldn’t quite see for the trees.

Eventually, we ended up on the Talimena Scenic Byway and took some very gorgeous view shots.

The Talimena ride was fun and interesting, but it wasn’t something we plan to do again. For one thing, unlike rides through the Rockies, the Blue Ridge Parkway, or the Shenandoah Valley, the views never changed much, and none of them were extraordinarily dramatic. After stopping at a couple of pullouts to admire the scenery of the valleys below us, we realized that they all looked the same,,,nice and green, but not much variety.

Still, it was more about the ride than the scenery, and with partly cloudy skies and a semi-cool breeze most of the time, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

After completing the Arkansas section of the Byway and riding a few miles through the eastern Oklahoma section, we decided we’d change our original destination, leave the Byway for a faster road, and return to Broken Bow to find a place to spend the night.

Almost as soon as we got back on a real highway we ran into a little thunderstorm, but before we could decide whether to stop and put on raingear, the rain stopped. We rode a little farther and then decided we need a comfort break…found a little country store with all the amenities we needed except that their drink machines were all out of order, so we did what we stopped to do, got a couple of almost cool drinks out of the ice chest, and then headed down the road toward Broken Bow.

It wasn’t very long before I noticed that the gas needle, which had shown more than enough fuel to get us to Broken Bow, suddenly dropped like a rock. I didn’t mention it since Barbara tends to get nervous about such things, but at some point she looked at the gauges and saw that the needle had bottomed out and we weren’t seeing any signs of gas stations ahead.

Fortunately, we made it to a small community about 8 miles north of Broken Bow and found a quick stop place where we could have a little break and take on a tank of gas before finishing our ride for the day…just another blessing along the way!

After a quiet night in Broken Bow, we took our time getting around before saddling up and heading back to Wood County and Holiday Villages to spend another night in Big V.

While at Our Little Lot. Barbara got to see Linda’s paintings before they are taken to a museum in Winnsboro to be displayed. Linda, as one can see, is quite talented!

I, in the meantime, worked the land which brings me much joy and comfort. Barbara likes to mow the front, back, and side portions of our lot; but after that she’s ready to hunker down, read a book, and watch the birds from our patio. (You’ll notice that we look quite rough in many of these photos during our time away from our daily duties; but enjoying our life, our time together, and the freedom to plan our days was much more important than whether we looked like fashion plates! No Ken and Barbie are we!

The lot is gradually taking shape again after a grueling, hot summer. There was no way we could afford to pour the water to it that was necessary to keep it looking the way we’d like, but cooler weather has helped make it easier to maintain it. Like any home, Big V and the lot just need attention, and we’re just not able to give it as much of that attention as we’d like. But, we enjoy the heck out of it when we are there…there’s certainly no chance that we will be taking it for granted!

As was mentioned earlier among our blessings, our friends Gene and Michelle were back from Kansas for a few (very few) days. We haven’t had an opportunity to visit them in what seems to be forever, so to night we took a step toward correcting that by riding with them to Sulphur Springs and enjoying a great meal and lots of conversation at Chili’s. It’s been so long since any of us have been out in civilization that we weren’t sure we’d know how to behave, but we managed to pull it off okay.

After our “big city” outing, we returned to Holiday Villages where Gene and Michelle dropped us off at Big V. As soon as they drove away Barbara remembered something she was supposed to get from them, so she drove over to their lot while I went inside and got Big V ready for the night…it looked like a perfect night for sleeping with the windows open while the fresh air wafted gently through the room…another wonderful blessing!

On the last day of our “mini-vacation,” we got up early to enjoy the sunrise while I sipped a cup of hot coffee and Barbara started her day with a Diet Coke while we sat beside Big V.

When it was light enough and some of the fog had lifted, we went for a long walk around our “neighborhood,” During the walk we got a chance to try out one of our latest gifts from the property owners association, a set of binoculars that is also a digital camera. They are good only at distances of 40 feet or more, but they worked really well for what we were doing this morning. The park is very beautiful and quiet that time of the day!

*Another real blessing is that (it appears) summer has finally given up its power over the area and we are enjoying beautiful fall weather. I hate to mention it, but I’ve even had thoughts some evenings of sitting in the bleachers somewhere and cheering the home team during a football; but, I take a Tylenol and a couple of Tums, and the feeling goes away.

Still, the cool evenings and the crisp mornings are a welcome relief from those continuous days of 100+ temperatures and humidity readings that almost matched the temperatures. We know that in a couple of months we’ll wish we had some of those days back, but we are gladly accepting what we have now.

*Another blessing (and we even have a photo of it) was that the weekend Jimmy Clint was released was Jaycie’s 13th birthday party, and he was able to attend and get this photo of them together for the first time in over five months. Needless to say, both of them were thrilled!

We’ve written about the lemonade we’ve made over the last month; but what about those lemons we chose to eat raw? Well, we just spit out the seeds and turned everything over to the Lord who is better equipped than we to handle the disappointments, hurts, and feelings of inadequacy.

“Life is full of ups and downs. The trick is to enjoy the ups and have courage during the downs.” – Unknown

From Mother’s house in Mineola,

Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams

Happy Birthday shout-outs for this edition of the journal/blog go to:

Wednesday, September 22 – Mary Royar at Holiday Villages

Wednesday, September 29 – Francisco Camacho in Puerto Rico

Friday, October 1 – Jaycie Colwell in Lubbock (now a teenager!)

Sunday, October 3 – Cousin Cindy Wright in Tallahassee, Florida

Saturday, October 9 – Jan Jividen (Kelly’s mom) in Gilbert, Arizona