A Little Month of Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 1 – Wednesday, November 30, 2011

A “Little” Overview of November

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November was a month of thanksgiving for us, but it was also a month of somber reflection as we faced the anniversary of the days that led up to Jimmy Clint’s untimely death last December 8.  One thing that we remembered clearly, and have regretted deeply, is that the last time we saw Jimmy Clint alive, we were spending a day with him in Lubbock.  We had the camera with us, but believe it or not, we didn’t take his picture, probably because he wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t in a mood to have his picture taken.  For whatever reason, we don’t have a picture of Jimmy at that time.

There is an object lesson here.  Those of you who are good friends and have seen us in action since retirement know that we almost always have a camera with us to capture photos of new friends or to record our adventures.  A few of you, who shall be unnamed at this point, have made semi-snide remarks about Jim and Barbara and their cameras.  Please know that we aren’t trying to embarrass you or put you through an ordeal…we just want to have a record of the time we spent with you, and we never again want to have to say, “Oh, how I wish we had taken a picture of them that time when…”

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 Mother continues to do well at Wood Memorial Nursing Home, though her memory tends to play more tricks on her.  One morning I was visiting her when one of the aides came in to do something for her, as the aide went out the door, Mother turned to me and asked if I had her checkbook.  I told her that I didn’t have it with me, but that it was at the house and everything was up to date.  Then she turned slightly, pointed at the door, and said, “We need to pay, we need to pay, uh, what’s her name and her husband for the nearly three weeks we’ve been here.”

Now, where Mother thought she was is beyond me.  Sometimes she thinks she is in the hospital and sometimes she’s just not sure where she is.  Almost always, though, she is able to carry on a conversation as if we were sitting in the living room at the house.

There is no set behavior pattern for Parkinsonism.  One generally thinks of Parkinsonism in terms of the tremors, but Mother exhibits very few of those.  Instead, her form of Parkinsonism is slowly eating away at her brain and killing parts of it.  Physically, Mother is quite healthy in terms of appetite, blood pressure, body temperature, and almost all regular vital signs, but she is totally incontinent, will never walk again and will probably lose control of her arms and hands in the next onslaught of the disease, although that is being held at bay currently by physical therapy.

Mother was able to come home for a few hours on the 23^rd, and we celebrated an early Thanksgiving with family members.  She had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and her appetite was definitely in high gear, but she did get tired as the afternoon wore on and asked to be taken back to her room at the nursing home.

We don’t know what the future holds, but we will continue with our commitment to provide Mother with the fines care possible and to maintain her house, property, and especially her favorite children, Spike and Bonita (the “puppies” who are as old as Mother is).

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 Life for us during the month was fairly normal, but we did have visitors as our adopted family Jerry and Nancy Terpening came to see us, Barbara’s sister, Carol, came the weekend before Thanksgiving and Leah and Ryan were here for a couple of days to share in the Thanksgiving celebration.  We also got to see Abby and Alexander in a program at their school in Dallas.

Other than that, our daily lives are not unlike those of so many others we know except for the restrictions on being here most of the time to take care of the house and puppies and visit Mother at the nursing home.

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 We remained as active as possible in our church activities, although there were times this month when, for various reasons, only one of us could be present.  Our men’s Monday night fishing group was active at the beginning of the month, but dropping temperatures and lake wind advisories caused us to bring that activity to a halt after the second week.

It has been exciting to watch as attendance continues to grow at Yantis First Baptist Church and the activities thrive (well, except for the fishing part).  Of particular excitement is the growth of the youth program under the direction of our new youth minister, Jeremy Durig and his wife, Emily.  What blessings we have received from our dedicated staff members!

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We were also blessed with several inches of rain during the month.  We are still well behind the average yearly rainfall, but every little bit helps, and we can tell the difference by looking at fields that are greening and flowers that are blooming after being dormant during the terrible summer drought.

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 Birthday greetings this month go out to the following: (2^nd) Cousin Danny Wright in Tallahassee, Florida, Special Nephew Jonah Duke in Knox City, Texas; (10^th) James Francis in Hobbs, New Mexico; (16^th) Son-in-law Ryan McQuitty In Pampa, Texas and Sister-in-law Billee Little in Harrison, Arkansas; (17^th) Granddaughter Randi Colwell in San Antonio, Texas and Niece Brandi Boley in Cleburne, Texas; (25^th) Son Jimmy Colwell (deceased, December 8, 2010 in Lubbock, Texas) and Daughter-in-law Carol Colwell in San Antonio, Texas; (26^th) Son Mike Little in Midlothian, Virginia; (28^th)  Let’s have a drum roll please, for Barbara C. Little in Mineola, Texas.

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 That’s the background story for November, 2011.  Now, on with the pictures and descriptions of some of the special days and activities we shared with family and friends…

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Tuesday, November 1

Jim: After going fishing last night with some of the men from the church, I spent the night in Big V and then went to the weekly prayer session at Yantis First Baptist Church.  When the prayer session ended, I drove back to Mineola.  Along the way, I noticed that I had received a text from someone, but didn’t try to do anything about it while I was driving.

As I pulled into the garage and stopped, I looked at my text screen and read, “Armadillo is back with a vengeance!”

I got out of the car, walked the few steps back through the door, and sure, enough, an armadillo and spent considerable time in the front yard last night, doing considerable damage to a lawn that was slowly recovering from the last attack.  All I could say was that the ghost of the dead armadillo had returned for Halloween night.  But, it is obvious that he/she/it had a partner in crime that is seeking out some food.  Our yard was the only one hit last night, but the North 40 also had a lot of damage…guess it’s time to dig out the trap (that we just put away) and hope we can catch this one before it does anymore damage.

Since Mother moved into her new house nearly 3 ½ years ago, we have complained about the lighting in the kitchen.  There is a very attractive ceiling light fixture, but it has only two 60-watt bulbs and is located so that anywhere you stand to work at a counter, a shadow is cast in front of you.  I’ve often said that when both bulbs are burning, you can almost see the bulb, that’s just how dark it is.

While returning from a trip to Dallas a couple of weeks ago, we stopped at Lowes in Lindale to look at some things for Our Little Lot.  While we were there, I checked out fluorescent lighting, since we were going to eventually need some for the new storage shed.  As we was looking at the stock of lighting fixtures, we found what we thought would be perfect for the kitchen, so we bought a 2’ X 4’ fixture and four fluorescent tubes and brought them back to the house to wait for a good time to install them.

With time on our hands this morning, I decided I’d tackle the lighting chore.  I checked the instruction manual, found all the tools I should need, turned off the power to the current fixture (a very important step), and within a few minutes, I had removed the fixture and had three wires dangling from the ceiling.

The instructions for installing the fixture were not very clear (I later learned that some of the steps really didn’t apply to this particular model), but with some help from Barbara and a balancing act worthy of a circus performer, we finally had the fixture wired and fastened to the ceiling.

Then, it was time for the moment of truth.  I gave the fixture one last tug to make sure it was securely fastened to the ceiling, told Barbara to hit the light switch, and hallelujah, the kitchen was flooded with bright light (with NO shadows)!

It took a few minutes to clean up the mess (with my projects, there is ALWAYS as mess), take the trash out, and put the tools away, and then come back inside and enjoy and appreciate the new look of Mother’s kitchen.  Now we wonder how we ever survived with the old fixture and low lighting.

The next thing on our agenda for the day was to straighten the house and get ready for visitors.  Our good friends and adopted family from Artesia, Jerry and Nancy Terpening, are on a bit of a road trip and had called to see if they could come see us while they were in the “neighborhood.”

We, of course, readily said that we would love to see them, so we spent the day getting ready.

When Jerry and Nancy arrived, we sat and talked for a while, just trying to get caught up on all that was going on with them since our last visit to Artesia.  Then, we got into Jerry and Nancy’s car and drove over to the nursing home to see Mother.  Jerry and Nancy haven’t seen Mother since late June of 2008, just before she moved to Mineola, but they never fail to ask about her whenever we talk.

Surprise, surprise, we just “happened” to have the camera along with us so we could document this great occasion.

After visiting with Mother for awhile, we took the Terpenings on the grand tour of our part of Wood County before going somewhere to eat.  Our first stop was at Our Little Lot at Holiday Villages of Lake Fork.  We’ve shared pictures with Jerry and Nancy and have talked a bunch about our lot and what we have done with it, but words and pictures don’t really do it justice, so they had to have the first-hand experience (and, have their pictures taken again).

When we were finished at the lot, we made a trip around Lake Fork and then started looking for a good place to eat.  Jerry said that they wanted to sample some basic East Texas fare, but we couldn’t think of anything that was particularly “East Texas.”  We finally settled on Big Smith’s Barbecue, a place I had eaten with a group of men from the church one night…they have wonderful barbecue and all the trimmings, but the entire time you are eating your meal, you are also watching the front door to see if the health department officers are coming in to shut it down.  Let’s just say that they take “rustic” to a whole new level.

Well, we got to Big Smith’s, but found it was closed.  While I was trying to find out the operating hours, Barbara made the acquaintance of the next door neighbor.  She asked where there was a good barbecue place, and before she got an answer, she got a whole lot more information that she wanted.  We won’t go into details here, but the next time you see Barbara in person, just ask her about her first and last experience at Big Smith’s Barbecue…we’ll just say that Jerry and I laughed until we cried at the exchange between Barbara and the neighbor.

We finally decided to continue up Highway 154 to Sulphur Springs and try our luck at Bodacious, a part of a chain of barbecue restaurants in the region.  We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and the conversations that went along with it, but soon it was well past dark and time to return to Mineola so Jerry and Nancy could find their motel and get checked in for the night.

Wednesday, November 2

Jerry and Nancy came back to the house this morning, refreshed and relaxed after their night at the local Best Western.  We fixed breakfast for them and spent an hour or two visiting and talking family matters until it was time for them to say goodbye and strike out on the next leg of their journey.  We had such a good time with them…just not enough time, so we’ll just have to go back to Artesia one of these days for another visit with the Terpening family!

Thursday, November 3

Today was beauty shop day at the nursing home.  When we went over to make sure that Mother had gotten in for her “do,” we found that she was sitting up watching TV and was in great spirits.  Since we had the camera, we decided we’d get a shot of Mother and her fresh new look.  The nursing home has a room that is designated as a beauty shop, and Tammy, an area hairdresser, comes in two days each week to get the ladies looking sharp.

Friday, November 4

Today was pretty much a “nothing” day until we got a phone call from our friends Gene and Carolyn Neyer, inviting us to come out to their place near Lake Holbrook to visit and play games.

We first met Gene and Carolyn the summer that we moved Mother to Mineola and they were staying at the civic center RV park on the lot next to ours.  Our paths continued to cross (they even spent an evening visiting us when we were living on Jean Terpening’s place in Artesia).  Like us, Gene and Carolyn eventually settled down close to Mineola and have a lovely home out in the country.

After getting caught up on each other’s news, we settled in for a rousing game of “Sequence,” a game that utilizes a game board and a double deck of cards.  It took a while for Barbara and me to catch on to the intricacies of playing, but we finally got the hang of it and had a few exciting exchanges of cards before Gene and I won the game.

We were much later than we intended when we left the Neyers, but we thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with them.

Saturday, November 5

Aside from taking care of a few household chores, there wasn’t much going on around our place today.

It was a really pretty day, not too cool or breezy, so I decided I’d ride my bicycle to the post office to check the mail.  It’s about a three-mile round trip with a couple of interesting hills, but a nice enough ride on a good day.

When I was teaching in North Carolina, back in the early 70’s, I bought a bicycle and rode it all around the countryside for exercise and fresh air.  When we moved to Bovina, Texas, I rode the bike to and from school on occasions (one of the benefits of living in a very small town), and when we moved to Perryton, it was pretty much my primary source of transportation when the weather was even halfway nice.  The school was about a half mile away from our house and it was a straight shot, so I would use the opportunity to get in my exercise and have my heart pumping up to speed in time for first period band.

One morning, as I was riding up the street, a lady pulled up at an intersection, stopped, and as I was pedaling through the intersection, she started moving again and ran into the rear wheel of the bike.  Luckily, I saw what was going to happen, so I maneuvered to where I could hang on to the bike and not hurt any body parts.  Well, that was the end of my bike riding days, since the entire rear assembly of the bike was bent beyond repair.

I don’t remember now whether it was at Christmas or at our spring concert that year, but the band kids surprised me with a brand new three-speed bicycle to replace the one that had been damaged…wow…what a thoughtful bunch of kids and what a great gift that was.

I still have that bicycle, but it was stored in Artesia and I wasn’t able to bring it to Mineola until our last trip to New Mexico.

As I was riding down the street toward the house, I noticed that the trees in the North 40 were beginning to show some fall colors, so when I got inside with the mail, I grabbed the camera and went back outside to take a few shots.  The red tree in the center is showing its fall colors.  The smaller cluster to the right is poison oak that grows in the area where we believe our armadillos have their homes.

Sunday, November 6

Several weeks ago I arranged a brass trio (trumpet, euphonium, and tuba) for a group of us to play at church.  The arrangement was of “It Took A Miracle,” a favorite hymn that I first heard during a youth revival at First Baptist Church in Artesia.  One of the students in the church plays tuba, and Aaron, the husband of our choir director, plays euphonium, and I play the trumpet.  And, of course, we have our trusted Lisa accompanying us on piano and keeping us on track

Today was our day to perform during the offertory and Barbara was there to document the occasion.

After church, we stopped by “Our Little Lot” to have a short meeting with our good friend Bob Royar, who is our consultant on all things electrical.  Bob and his wife, Mary, will soon be leaving the park to go to the Valley for a few months, so I asked Bob if he could stop by and help me make a shopping list of things I will need to hook up the electricity to the new shed and patio.

While we were waiting on Bob, we decided to take advantage of a beautiful day for taking pictures while we were all dressed up.

Monday, November 7

We had more company today as Gary Dan Little, son of my brother Jerry, stopped by on his way from Abilene back to Georgia after taking care of some family business in Abilene.  Gary Dan and his brother-in-law, Ed, were bringing a truckload of things with them and arrived in time for a visit with “Granny” at the nursing home.  Mother is always glad to receive visitors, but she absolutely loves it when her grandchildren and great-grandchildren come to see her.

After the visit with Mother, Garry Dan, Ed, and TJ all came to the house for a wonderful lunch that Barbara had prepared.  Even though the boys had a long ride ahead of them (they were hoping to drive straight through to Georgia), they took the time to sit and talk as we enjoyed the meal (and took pictures)..

Once everyone left and we got the table cleared and the kitchen cleaned up, I decided to tackle a chore that I’ve been putting off for way too long, trimming the big tree in the front yard.

Nearly every home in this addition has at least one non-bearing Bartlett pear tree in the front yard.  I’ve noticed since we moved in to take care of Mother and her house, that several of the neighbors have hired professionals to trim back their trees.  I’ve also noticed that our lower tree limbs are hanging down so far that I have to duck my head to push the lawnmower under them, but I’m also too cheap to pay someone for what I think I can do.  So, I broke out a couple of saws and started cutting away at the lower hanging branches until the tree started looking as good as others in the neighborhood.  The sawing wasn’t very easy, and the hauling away to the North 40 of the cut branches and limbs was a pain, but the tree had a brand new look to it when I was finished.

Tuesday, November 8

I went fishing again last night and then stayed over at Big V so I didn’t have to go so far to prayer meeting this morning..

After prayer meeting, I went back to “Our Little Lot” to do some landscaping work, but the clouds suddenly built up and it started raining.  Barbara texted to say that Wood County was under a tornado watch for the rest of the day, so I put away my tools, locked up Big V and the storage shed, and headed back to town to spend the day at the house.

Almost any day that we have rain is an occasion for breaking out the camera, and today was no exception as we shot a few pictures to show some of the nearly 3 inches of very welcome rain we received during the day.  We even got industrious enough to take the house plants outside for a fresh drink of water.

Wednesday, November 9

This was a day to take Spike to the doggy hospital for his weekly laser treatment for arthritis.  When we were finished at the vet’s place, I drove over to the nursing home so Mother could see her favorite son (Spike, of course).  If there’s something Mother loves more than seeing her grand children and great-grandchildren, it’s having her “puppies” with her.  Bonita is a real handful to take in the car, but Spike is the perfect riding partner, and he loves sitting in his mama’s lap.

We also had a plumber come to the house today to reseal and seat a toilet, but decided that wasn’t anything that we needed a picture of.  After all, we do have the receipt for the payment we had to make.

Thursday, November 10

While we were busy doing house and yard chores today, Barbara decided to go to Walmart to see if she could find new beds for Spike and Bonita.  Spike’s bed was falling apart from years of use, and Bonita has chosen to sleep either on the couch, on a blanket behind Spike’s bed, or, on the rare occasion, in Spike’s bed with him.

Barbara found a couple of pallet-style cushions that she thought would work…one just the right size for Bonita and the other, a little larger, for Spike.  Both dogs seemed to be a little wary of their new beds at first, but it didn’t take Spike long to figure out which bed was his and what it was for.

It wasn’t until later in the evening that we checked on the puppies and found that both of them had crawled onto the little 13-inch cushion Barbara bought for Bonita and found a way to almost fit.  These two dogs can sure bring smiles to our faces (sometimes).

Friday, November 11

Today is Veterans Day in the United States of America.  It is one of the few “holidays” that is actually recognized and celebrated on the day for which it was originally named, Armistice Day.

Today I send out my appreciation to all brothers and sisters in arms who gave, and those who currently give, honorably of their time and service to protect our country and the ideals upon which it was founded.  Many came home wounded in body and spirit and some were shunned and even despised by those whose freedom to express hateful and dissenting opinions was guaranteed by the selfless actions of our military personnel stationed around the globe, far from their family and friends.

I encourage all today to remember the freedoms that you enjoy and quietly offer up a prayer of thanksgiving for the men and women of our uniformed services, past and present who answered the call to service for their country.

“A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America for an amount of up to and including my life.’ That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it”

May God continue to bless America and protect our men and women of the armed forces.

Veteran’s Day was remembered in many ways throughout East Texas today, with parades and memorial services in many of the smaller communities.

I went outside tonight and saw a full moon rising directly in line with the flag in our front yard and just had to take a series of photos…not the greatest quality, but still some amazing sights.

Wednesday, November 15

Today wasn’t memorable for very much, except that I had to take the motorcycle to the shop in Tyler.  The choke cable finally rusted through and snapped.  That wasn’t such a huge issue, since I could manually adjust the choke while starting the engine, but the biggest problem was that whenever I made a hard right turn with the handlebars, the entire electrical system would shut down and the engine would stop.  It’s not very often that one makes that kind of turn, but there was obviously something wrong with either the wiring or the ignition switch, and the problem had to be fixed before we could think about riding again.

Barbara followed me to Tyler to make sure I got there safely, and after we dropped the cycle at the shop and finding that it would be three to four weeks before they could look at it, we decided to go across town and do a little shopping of our own.  We had just finished looking at things for Thanksgiving in Dollar Tree when the clouds that had been building up decided to release their contents in a downpour of rain.  Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, we decided to not follow through on all of our shopping plans for Lowe’s and headed back to Mineola as quickly as possible.

The temperatures have been falling quite low lately, so we have moved all our “summer” plants into the garage and set up the heat lamp that we had out at Our Little Lot.  The lamp has been so effective that, along with the showers we’ve received, the plants are doing quite well in the garage.  In fact, the Hibiscus plant that had quit blooming outside put on two beautiful new blooms today and is showing several buds that should be blooming soon.

Also pictured with the Hibiscus is a Crown of Thorns plant that was given to Barbara by Wanda, our neighbor across the street.  The plant had a prominent place on the front porch during the spring and summer and is now brightening up the garage.

We’re also experimenting with a beautiful Peace Lily that Jerry and Nancy Terpening gave us last December when Jimmy Clint died, but believe now that it will have to be kept in the house, rather than in the garage.

Sunday, November 20

Because we were expecting Barbara’s sister, Carol, and Tamra, one of Carol’s granddaughters sometime today, Barbara stayed home from church to wait for their arrival while I went on to church.

When I returned after the morning service, we worked together to get the house ready for our visitors and then found that Carol and Tamra wouldn’t arrive until later this evening, so I went on back to church for choir practice and the evening service while Barbara remained at home.

Carol and Tamra arrived shortly after I returned from church and we began the visit with bringing in their luggage and getting them set up in Mother’s room here at the house.  Soon, we were chattering away, getting caught up on all the latest from Carol’s family.

At some point, I decided to break out the camera and shoot whatever I saw that looked like it should be shot.  The first photo of the evening was of Spike and Bonita.  They had already had their dinner and decided to forego the social activities and just go on to bed.  The dogs can’t seem to make up their minds where they want to sleep; tonight they decided to share Spike’s bed, at least for a while.

It seems that no matter which bed they sleep in, Spike gets shorted on the space and has to hang over the edge.

A few minutes later, I got this shot of Barbara helping Carol set up her new laptop computer.  It was the Toshiba computer that I had been using, but that was causing me a lot of grief, particularly when working on the journal and blog, so when Barbara ordered the new Dell for my birthday, Christmas, Easter, and whatever other holidays may come up in the next year, I dumped all the data and programs from the Toshiba and we gave it to Carol, who will use it for correspondence and playing games.

Meanwhile, Tamra went to her corner and entertained herself by checking her Facebook page on the Notepad that we got from Holiday Villages.

Monday, November 21

While Carol, Tamra, and Barbara continued their visit this morning, I took care of some of our regular business and then we all went out to the lake to show off Our Little Lot.  Carol and a couple of her other grandchildren had stayed out there during a visit last year, but Tamra had never seen either the lot of Big V, and Carol hadn’t seen the new addition.  Of course, pictures were called for, so we all took turns photographing each other.

Tamra enjoyed looking around the lot and showing off some of her acrobatic moves.

After showing our visitors the lot, we drove them across Lake Fork, since Tamra had never been here to see the lake.  Then, we returned to Mineola and went to Wood Memorial Nursing Home for a short visit with Mother.  It has been quite awhile since Carol last saw Mother and Tamra has never met her until today, so it turned out to be a really nice visit.

One of the nice things about taking family and other visitors to see Mother is that we not only get their pictures, we can also have them take pictures of us with Mother…a rare occurrence.  Mother was in great spirits today, so we managed to get a couple of really good shots while we were there.

So, after showing Carol and Tamra the motorhome and lot and then visiting with Mother, all that was left to do was take them back to the house, feed them some lunch, help them pack their car and make sure they had everything they needed for their trip to Shreveport, and send them on their way with our best wishes for a great Thanksgiving celebration with Gary (Carol’s son) and his family in Louisiana.

Once Carol and Tamra were on their way, we went back inside to do the dishes, straighten up the house, and not do a whole lot of anything else during the afternoon and evening.

Tuesday, November 22

Instead of me going to prayer meeting this morning, Barbara and I got into the car early and drove to Dallas to watch Alexander and Abby perform with their respective classes at the annual Grandparent’s Recognition Concert at their school, Lakehill Preparatory School, where Heather works as a college-prep counselor.

We attended the program with Mother last year and had such a good time that we were looking forward to this year’s program, but were afraid that it would be on Wednesday.  Instead, it was today, leaving us free to go to Dallas and then be back home for a big family Thanksgiving tomorrow,

The pleasure of attending the program this year was enhanced by Abby also being a performer (she is in kindergarten this year…Alexander is in the second grade) and by having Andy’s parents present.  They traveled from the Boston area to be with the kids for Thanksgiving this year and were able to be here in time for the program.

Alexander and Abby and their classes did a wonderful job of presenting their musical selections, and we, along with Andy’s folks, Len and Marilyn, had to agree that our grandchildren were definitely the best looking and most talented of all the students on the stage.

When the program was completed, we all went to Alexander and Abby’s rooms to see some of their handiwork and meet their teachers, and then were able to find someone to take a photo of all of us together.  Andy, unfortunately, was teaching at his school, so we weren’t able to get the entire family.

After the photo session, we had to leave to return to Mineola to await the arrival of our next round of visitors and start preparations for tomorrow’s family feast.

Shortly after returning to Mineola, Ryan and Leah arrived from Cleburne, their new home after being transferred there from Pampa, Texas.

While Barbara worked on supper, Leah, Ryan, and I went over to the nursing home so they could see Mother and visit with her.

As we were talking and reminding Mother that we would be bringing her home for a few hours tomorrow for the family Thanksgiving, she asked me if I had her credit card.  I said that I did, and then she said she wanted to make her apple and pecan salad and that I needed to go to the store tonight to get all the ingredients.  She named everything she needed for the salad, and when we finished our visit, the kids and I drove to Brookshire’s to get the things from Mother’s shopping list, along with a few other things we decided we couldn’t live without.

Tonight, we just spent some family time together, with the kids telling us all about how they were decorating their new apartment and how they were getting settled in to their new town and Ryan’s job.

Wednesday, November 23

The alarm went off at 2:15 this morning, alerting me to the fact that it was time to get up and build the fire for the smoker.  Luckily, last night I had arranged all the coals in the fire pit and had started soaking a couple of large cups of mesquite chips, so all I had to do was move the fire pit out to the sidewalk along the street, pour on the lighter fluid, wait 3 minutes, and torch the whole mess.

While the charcoal was blazing and burning down to coals, I went back inside to clean and season the turkey and finish getting it ready to put in the smoker.  Barbara came in just in time to help me carry the turkey out to the smoker, throw a cup of wet chips on the coals, and set the turkey in the barrel to smoke for the next ten hours.

Once we were satisfied that the temperature inside the smoker was where we wanted it, we came inside and mapped out our plans for the rest of the morning (part of which included getting a nap to make up for the early wakeup call).

The rest of the morning was spent getting our part of the meal ready for the 11 family members we were expecting at 1:30.  I got a loaf of jalapeno bread ready and baking and prepared pitchers of various kinds of tea, Leah chopped the apples, celery, and pecans for Mother’s salad, Barbara started working on the potatoes, dressing, cheese grits, mixed squash, pecan pie, and Ryan helped wherever he was needed, especially making the dressing as Barbara gave the instructions and as we moved tables and chairs around to have two dining areas.  We put a spiral ham in the roaster out in the garage around 11:00, and then set back and monitored the progress of all the different pots and pans.

At 1:00, Ronnie, the medical transportation driver for the nursing home, brought Mother to the house and helped us get her inside.  After Ronnie left, Leah and Barbara sat down with Mother and watched (and helped a little bit) as Mother mixed all the ingredients.

TJ, Aleathea, Arianna, Ladd, Angela, and Madelyn arrived around 1:30, bringing more plates and platters of side dishes and desserts.  TJ told us that Rob, Michelle, and Joseph would be late, if they got here at all, because they were still loading things at their house downstate and would be late getting away.

Barbara had decided that this Thanksgiving she would use dry eraser boards as place cards and that each person would write or draw what they were thankful for and share them before we ate our meal.

After sharing our thankful lists we proceeded with a group of conversation starters Barbara had found and that I then typed out and printed off.  Each person drew a slip with a conversation starter on it (What was your first job…What is something special you remember about someone here today…etc.). Mother drew “What was your most embarrassing moment.” She thought a little bit and said, “I can’t think of one.” TJ popped off with, “I thought sure you would tell of a time I embarrassed you!” Just as quickly, Mother said, “There’s too many of them. You’re a constant embarrassment.” What a hoot! Everyone rolled in the floor over that comeback.

When we had finished with the conversation starters, I read a passage from Psalm 136, Ladd offered the blessing, and then we started loading our plates from the buffet setup and finding our places so we could proceed to chow down in a manner befitting the finest of Thanksgivings.

For the next couple of hours, the house was full of the sights, smells, and sounds of a family gathering around the banquet tables.  Mother proved that her appetite was up to par with the rest of us, as she polished off a large plate loaded with at least one helping of everything on the menu and not one, but three different desserts!

Next came the picture-taking session, followed by the inevitable clearing of the tables and washing of the dishes.  Even though we used large paper plates, plastic utensils, and plastic cups, there were more than plenty of serving dishes and pots and pans to be done.  Angela was our chief angel of the day; taking her place at the sink and preparing things for the dishwasher of scrubbing those items that were too large to fit in it…don’t know what we would have done without her.

At 10 minutes until 4:00, Mother asked Barbara when Ronnie was coming to take her back to the nursing home.  Barbara said he was supposed to come at 4:00, but asked Mother if she wanted to call them right then.  Mother said that she thought she was ready to go back and go to bed, so Barbara called the nursing home and in just a few minutes, Ronnie was here to get her back in the van and take her back to her room.

The rest of us continued hammering away at the kitchen and dining room until all the leftovers were sorted out and enough of everything was packaged for TJ to take back to her house to serve Rob, Michelle, and Joseph when they returned.

When everything was put away, we shared hugs all around and our guests departed, leaving Leah, Ryan, Barbara, and me to sit down and think of doing absolutely nothing for the rest of the evening.

In the end, pictures say much more than words, and boy howdy, do we ever have pictures for you.

The following photos are included in the above collages, but we thought sharing them here will help our readers identify some of our cast of characters (with “characters” being a key word).

Back: Angela (TJ’s stepdaughter) & TJ

Front: Ladd (Angela’s husband), Mother, Madelyn (Angela and Ladd’s daughter)

Back: Barbara, Ryan, Jim

Front: Leah & Mother

Alaethea, Mother, & Arianna

The girls are TJ’s granddaughters

Mother and Bonita

Thursday, November 24 (Thanksgiving Day)

Ryan and Leah didn’t have to leave as early as we first thought they would, so we were able to enjoy a leisurely morning before we got into high gear.  While I fixed breakfast, Barbara and the kids sat at the table and played games with each other on their computers.

Later, Ryan and I left the ladies to do their thing while he and I drove out to Holiday Villages and Our Little Lot so he could see the new addition.  Leah saw it last summer, so she elected to stay at the house with Barbara.

When Ryan and I returned to the house, we had lunch, then got their car packed for their return trip to Cleburne, and saw them off, but not before getting one last picture of them in the driveway.

I followed the kids over to the nursing home so they could say their goodbyes to Mother (Granny).

With it being Thanksgiving Day and all the stores being closed, Barbara and I decided that there was nothing to do except spend the rest of the day reading and napping, and that’s exactly what we did!

Friday, November 25

This was a difficult day for us.  Had he lived, Jimmy Clint would have been 40 years old today, but he died last December, shortly after his 39^th birthday.  We couldn’t help but go over the memories, some very happy about his life, but others sad, about a life cut short.  Still, we celebrate the wonderful changes in Jimmy’s life as he began a new relationship with Jesus Christ, his Lord and Savior, prior to his untimely death.

This is one of our favorite pictures of Jimmy & Jaycie

Saturday, November 26

Special birthday greetings go out today to son Mike in Midlothian, Virginia.  Mike graced this world with his presence 36 years ago at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Happy Birthday, Son…We love you very much!

While I was rummaging around through some old treasures last night, I found six "It's A Boy!" cigars left over from the box I bought the day Mike was born...we just had to have a little fun with them today.

After doing some work in the house and garage, we drove to Lindale to have a brief meeting with Carol and Tamra, who were on their way back to New Mexico after spending Thanksgiving in Shreveport.  In the oddest of circumstances, we all arrived at McDonalds at exactly the same time…could never do that again even if we planned it.

When Carol and Tamra left and headed west on I-20, Barbara and I got back in the car and drove back to Mineola.  It was a cold and wet day, perfect for just hunkering down and doing nothing on a Saturday night.

Sunday, November 27

It is part of our local tradition that TJ takes us out to lunch or dinner somewhere to celebrate Barbara’s birthday.  When she called last week to see when we would be available, we said we needed to think about it because of the travel plans we had for the week.  We decided that a fun thing that would also include Mother would be to have a pizza party in Mother’s room at the nursing home; so, after our respective church services this morning, we all gathered at Wood Memorial Nursing Home in Mother’s room and feasted on salad and Pizza Hut Supreme Pan Pizza, our favorite item on the menu

With good food and good company, we began a nearly week-long celebration of the 67th anniversary of Barbara’s natal occasion.

Monday, November 28

Happy Birthday today to Barbara Ann Perry Colwell Little, who is officially older than me!

I won’t come right out and say how old Barbara is today, but she was born in Houston some 67 years ago, which would make her, let’s see…okay, I’ll just leave it up to our readers to do the math.

Our birthday present to each other today was to get the Christmas decorations out and decorate the house.  Because Mother has so much furniture and a relatively small living room, we don’t have a large tree to put up, but Barbara does a beautiful job of taking the decorations we have (which are quite a few) and really sprucing up the living room, dining room, and the front of the house.

Luckily for us, it was a pretty day outside, so we were able to take out time and experiment with getting the outdoor decorations just where we wanted them and (we hope) where the December winds won’t damage them or blow them away.

The puppies helped by (mostly) staying out of the way, but they had a definite interest in the goings-on.  However, their interest in the decorating process did seem to decline as the clock moved closer to din-din time.

Tuesday, November 29

After placing the puppies in the Doggy Hotel, straightening the house, and loading the car, we took time for a portrait (Barbara had taken a bunch of practice pictures to see how things might work), and then headed off to see Mother before we left on a three-day adventure to Shreveport and Bossier City, Louisiana, for fun and shopping.

The trip across East Texas was fun and leisurely, and when we arrived in Bossier City, we sent straight to the Louisiana Boardwalk to check out the place.  We had been there once before, on July 4^th, but we had John, Randi, and Leah as well as friends Joyce and Gary with us and there were about a kazillion other people hanging around for the day, scouting out places to watch the fireworks display.  Today was a much easier and nicer visit.  We were pleasantly surprised to find very few people in the mall area, with no crowds in the stores.

Our time today was spent in strolling around the mall to see the sights along the Red River and to scout out the different shops.  Since we had a list of things we wanted for specific family members, we decided to go ahead and start buying and found that without exception, the sales people were all very friendly and helpful.  Who knows, this Christmas shopping season might be fun after all!

After leaving the mall area, we went to the Spring Hill Marriott and checked in and then went to the race track/casino complex for a short time of fun and a great meal at the buffet.  Barbara sampled several items on the menu, but once I found the Cajun section, I loaded up on plates full of shrimp and bowls full of gumbo…meals just don’t get any better than that!

Wednesday, November 30

We slept in late this morning, got a meal from the hotel breakfast bar, and then set out for another day of fun and shopping in the area.  Once again we drove to the Louisiana Boardwalk to check out even more stores, since we had added more people and more presents to our list.  It was a beautiful day, again with no crowds, so we just strolled around, took pictures, and even found a fellow shopper who happily agreed to take a picture of us beside the river.

We wrapped up our day of sight-seeing and shopping with another trip to the Louisiana Downs buffet.  Barbara again sampled from several different stations, but I stuck with the Cajun food, putting away all the shrimp, rice, and gumbo I could hold.  Life is short and trips to Shreveport are few and far between, so I’ve learned to make the most of the culinary experiences!

And so ends a month with a specific time of thanksgiving.  Our list of things to be thankful for would run many pages, but high on it is our beautiful grandchildren, a gift from God through our children.  Pictured below on the top row are Abby Dondis (daughter of Heather & Andy), Jaycie Colwell (daughter of Jimmy Clint & Cathey), and Randi Colwell (daughter of John & Carol).  On the bottom row are Ava Little (daughter of Mike & Kelly), Jimmy Farnham (son of Whitney & Jim), and Alexander Dondis (son of Heather & Andy).  Not pictured, but forever in our hearts and memories is Jamison Dudley McQuitty, stillborn son of Leah and Ryan (May 16, 2008).

“Love finds a way; indifference comes up with an excuse.” – Anonymous

 Giving thanks for our many blessings,

 Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams

October - With a Little Travel and a Lot of Fun

Saturday, October 1 – Monday, October 31, 2011

A “Little” Overview of October

October kept us busy with mostly our usual routine of life in Mineola.  There was no great excitement this month, but maybe that was our blessing.

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Our church activities keep us busy on Sundays and some Wednesdays, and Barbara has taken on a new responsibility as the unofficial “official” photographer.  This month, the church began work on a new pictorial directory.  Several days were set aside for folks to come to the church to have their pictures made by photographer.  However, there were a number of people who, for one reason or another, could not come to any of those sessions.  Pastor David realized that there are several shut-ins and homebound church members, so he asked Barbara if, when the opportunities arose, she would go with him to take pictures at the homes so those members could be included in the directory.  We did find that to be a very satisfying and heartwarming experience.

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A church-related event that I began this month was to start going to Lake Fork with the Monday night fishing group with David, Jeremy, and a few other men from the church.  We generally meet at 4:30, get into two or three boats, and fish until around 8:00 (well after dark), and then go to the home of one of the ladies in the church (who allows us to use her rights to the boat ramp) for fellowship, coffee, and whatever new treat Mary has come up with while we were on the lake.  I can’t say that I have done great at fishing, but I haven’t been “skunked”…yet.

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Mother continues to do well at Wood Memorial Nursing Home here in Mineola.  A couple of concerns that we have are that she is slowly losing weight, just a little each week, even though her appetite remains strong, and that she is having more days when she doesn’t know where she is.  She is comfortable in the setting of her room, and we will be having a perfectly normal conversation with her, when she will ask where she is.  Each time that happens, we remind her that she is at the nursing home and that she is there to receive the care and attention she needs to stay healthy.  Even though most days are good, it is difficult to watch as the Parkinsonism continues its inexorable march through her brain, taking away her memories and reasoning capabilities.

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One of the main activities of the month was to try to get caught up with our journal/blog writing and posting.  We had gotten so far behind that we almost decided to forget the whole thing, but decided instead to try a new format.  For five years, we have written the journal in a day-by-day format, and that was well and good when we were travelling or involved in a lot of interesting activities.  Since we are now “town folks” with a somewhat limited range of activities, we decided to try something different.  We still have a lot of pictures to share, so we came up with the idea of giving a general overview of the month and then adding in pictures and descriptions of any special events that occurred during the month.  Luckily, we have kept our calendar current, so it wasn’t too difficult to construct a written account of the three months we had “lost.”  But, it was a time consuming project.  With the posting of this writing, we will finally be up to date with our entries.

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After a long, hot, and very arid summer, it was refreshing to not only begin experiencing slightly cooler and much easier to withstand temperatures, but we also received three very nice rainfalls during the month.  We are still way behind on our annual average, and the predictions for the winter aren’t all that favorable, but we cheerfully accept rain in any amounts and at any time.  Unfortunately, area lakes remain anywhere from 6 – 8 feet below average, so prayers continue for the rains that will return East Texas to its prime state.

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For part of the month, we remained under siege by our local armadillo, who continued destroying our lawns each night.  We tried everything we knew to do to catch him, but nothing seemed to work until Barbara and I constructed a makeshift fence across the end of the street. That seemed to keep the armadillo away from the yards, but we knew it would be only a matter of time before he would figure another way in. John (across the street neighbor) and we set out our traps next to the fence, but had no luck catching the critter until one Saturday morning when we had given up our efforts, went to get the traps to put them away, and John found the critter in his trap.  Hallelujah, the siege was broken and our yards were safe again!!!

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October also provided us with opportunities to visit some children and grandchildren and to renew acquaintances with friends, some from many years past.  God provided us with His traveling mercies as we continued to log the miles on the new car and make our way through Dallas/Fort Worth and San Antonio, two of our non-favorite cities in which to drive, as we made our journeys.  We did find, however, that as we became more like the drivers in those cities, we were able to negotiate the traffic much more easily.

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After watching me struggle through writing previous issues of the journal/blog on my aging Toshiba laptop, Barbara decided that I should think about getting a new laptop.  She did some research and came up with a Dell laptop that I really liked, so she ordered that and now I am preparing this issue of Little Times on my combined birthday and Christmas present.  I must say that it has made writing and browsing much easier and more fun.

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That’s the background story for October, 2011.  Now, on with the pictures and descriptions of some of the special days we shared together and with family and friends…

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Sunday, October 2

We visited with Mother this morning and told her we would be staying at Our Little Lot this afternoon, so we wouldn’t be back to visit until tomorrow.  Then, it was off to church and then to the lake.

Our most recent gift from the developers to the property owners was a folding picnic table with an umbrella (along with a nice Igloo ice chest and small propane grill).

We spent the afternoon cleaning up the pad and patio and rearranging the carpets and furniture to include the new picnic table in the setting.  It is so nice to have the new covered patio area for lounging in the solitude of our property.

Monday, October 3

The armadillo has made a couple of particularly vicious attacks on the lawns lately, digging even deeper holes than before in John’s, Addie’s, and our front yards.

Barbara decided that we had to do something to try to keep the armadillo away from the yards, so we gathered everything we could find to form some kind of barricade at the end of the street.  Luckily, there is already a large hedge in the center of the area, so we just had to find something to reach from each end of the hedge to the fences on either side.

Using our Odyssey of the Mind skill sets, we placed ornamental wrought iron fence sections that used to line the driveway, and even a folded card table and a six-foot school cafeteria-style table to fill in the blank spots.  It looked like an Arkie/Okie project, but it extended from fence to fence across the street at the edge of the North 40 and appeared, at least, capable of keeping the armadillo away from the yards until we could come up with something more suitable.

Tuesday, October 4

After going to the weekly prayer meeting at Yantis FBC this morning, I went to Our Little Lot at Holiday Villages of Lake Fork to continue working on a three-day project that I started in July.  This morning, I wanted to get as far as I could with tying in a water line that will run from the existing line to the new shed.

The work was tedious, mainly because the ground is so dry and hard-packed from the drought, but I managed to expose the water main and dig under the existing sewer line so I could install the final four feet of water line.

I found that because of the way I had to lay the line, I was going to need a couple more connecting joints, but at least I knew I was much closer to finishing this part of the project than I was before.

When I returned to Mineola, I went to the post office, stopped at Ace Hardware to buy the PVC joints I needed, went to O’Reilly’s Auto Parts to get a new battery for the motorcycle, and then returned to the house.

After a quick breakfast, we crossed over our barricade to look at the damage inflicted by the armadillo last night.  Fortunately, he didn’t get across to the yards, but he did do some major digging on the other side.

Not at all satisfied with the aesthetics of our barricade, we went to Walmart to see what they might have in the way of decorative fencing that would serve the purpose we had.  Luckily, even though they were at the end of their summer lawn inventory, they had a couple of boxes of white decorative fence sections that looked as if they might work for us.  We bought every piece they had, returned to the house, tore out the barricade, and began arranging the fence pieces so they would stretch from the ends of the center shrubs to the fence on John’s and our property.

The job wasn’t as easy as it might seem, mainly due to the hard ground and the contours we had to follow, but after an hour or so, we had a solid, if not highly aesthetic fence line stretching from one side of the street to the other

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After making sure that everything was placed as wanted and needed, we reset the traps, one in each of the drainage ditches that John and I dug last year, and then sat back to hope for the best.

This afternoon I took the motorcycle to Lindale for its annual inspection…one of the few rides I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy lately.

Barbara had her ladies meeting at church in Yantis tonight.  We decided that since she had Bible study tomorrow morning and there was work for me to do at Our Little Lot, we would treat ourselves to a night away from the house and stay in Big V tonight.  So, after finishing our daily chores and feeding the puppies, we drove out to the lot.  Barbara dropped me off at Big V and then went on to church, returning after the ladies group and we then enjoyed a nice evening in our own home.

Wednesday, October 5

After a very pleasant and restful night in Big V, we lounged around a bit this morning and took advantage of the time to take a few pictures of Our Little Lot.  The drought this summer has taken a heavy toll on the trees around us.  What appears to be the beginning of fall colors are really leaves and branches that have gone into nature’s “self-defense” mode of dropping leaves to conserve the available moisture needed to keep the trees alive.  We’ve been told that trees can do this once in a lifetime before succumbing to the forces of nature and eventually dying.  We just hope that this is the first time for this to happen to the trees around our lot. And, in answer to the inevitable question, that is not an outhouse in the center picture; it is the small storage unit where we keep flammable fuels and some garden tools…we are highly civilized and have all the comforts of home in and around Big V, even if we don’t have many opportunities anymore to enjoy them.

While Barbara went to Bible study this morning, I stayed at the lot to finish connecting the waterline.  Working in such a confined area was difficult, but I finally had all the pieces cemented and connected and ready to test (or so I thought).

I went to the cutoff valve, turned on the water, and returned to the ditch to check for leaks.  I immediately saw that water was building up in the ditch, not a good sign.  Then, I saw the problem…there was one joint, the most difficult one to access, of course, that I had neglected to prime and cement.

So, I cut off the water, struggled to disconnect the PVC at the bad joint (giving myself a mud bath in the process…it’s amazing how much pressure had built up in the line), and finally got the joint cleaned, dried, primed, cemented, and reconnected.

After waiting a few minutes for the cement to dry, I opened the waterline again, checked the joints, and found that all was working exactly as it should.  Now I have two of the three phases completed…laying the electric and the water lines.  Phase three will be replacing the existing sewer line and replacing it with a fitting that will allow me to tie in a drain line from the storage shed, where we hope one of these days to have a washer and drier.

When we returned to Mineola, we went through our normal activities…went to the post office, visited Mother, and spent the afternoon mowing and trimming the yard.

We noticed that the hummingbirds hadn’t been around for several days, so we declared the season closed and took down the feeders, washed them, and put them away until next year.

Thursday, October 6

When we got up this morning, we found that the armadillo had breached the fence we put up Tuesday, probably by climbing on top of my trap and stepping over a low spot in the fence.  We remedied the situation by putting another section of fence along the side of our trap.  Now we just have to see if that works.

After going through our early morning routine, I took Spike to the vet to get his weekly laser treatment to ease some of the pain and stiffness from his arthritis.  Spike is a great traveler and really enjoys the car rides.  A few years ago, he would stand up in the seat and stick his head out the window to enjoy the breeze, but now he just sits and watches the world go by.

When we left Dr. Bradshaw’s clinic, I took Spike to Wood Memorial for a visit with Mother.  Mother loves to see her puppies, and Spike is very well behaved, so it was a very nice visit and I was able to get a couple of good shots of Mother with her favorite son.

Spike and I said our goodbyes to Mother and returned to the house where we all spent a very average and unexciting afternoon and evening.

Saturday, October 8

When we went outside this morning, we noticed that the armadillo hadn’t paid a house call, but didn’t pay any attention to the North 40 or the traps.

John came over later and very excitedly said, “You’re not going to believe this!”

We went across the street with him and saw that the armadillo was caught in his trap.  John hadn’t even looked for it; he was just going to get the trap and put it away, since we hadn’t had any luck with it.

The armadillo wasn’t a bit happy about being caught.  Barbara took a few pictures of it (Jaycie said she had never seen one, so we promised we’d send a picture as soon as we caught the critter).

Once we were done with the picture-taking session, John and I quietly carried the cage down to a copse of trees in the North 40, where the animal died of “sudden onset lead poisoning.”  We then returned to our respective houses and informed neighbors that the two-year armadillo siege was now over and it was safe to come out in our yards again.

Monday, October 10

We had made arrangements to go to San Antonio to visit with John and promised that we’d bring him some food, so we spent most of today cooking up some of our favorite dishes.  Barbara cooked and froze several packages of hamburger and chicken to be used as the base for different dishes, and I made up three pans of meatloaf and a large batch of spaghetti sauce.  Needless to say (but we’ll say it anyway), the kitchen smelled beyond wonderful all day.

Barbara also baked a cake to take to the staff at Wood Memorial as a bit of thanks for all they do for Mother.

This afternoon I joined the East Texas Patriot Guard Riders for a funeral service here in Mineola for John James Herbert, Age 94, a veteran of the U.S. Army Cavalry, Fifth Division (1938-1941) and the Army Air Force (1941-1947).

In addition to 30 Patriot Guard Riders, Mr. Herbert was surrounded by his loving family during a beautiful and moving service at Roselawn Memorial Cemetery north of Mineola.

Tonight, we spent our time getting things ready and packing for our trip to San Antonio tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 11 – Thursday, October 13

Some San Antonio Time

Tuesday, October 11

I got up early this morning to go to Yantis for the weekly prayer meeting.  When I returned, I got the puppies ready to take to the veterinary clinic’s “Doggy Hotel” for a couple of days while we went to San Antonio.

Once the puppies were taken care of, we began packing the car and closing up the house. When all was done, we drove over to Wood Memorial to visit with Mother for a while and then headed out of town, pointed in the general direction of San Antonio, with our route taking us west on I-20 to Dallas, and then south on I-35 E until we joined I-35 W at Hillsboro, and then on to San Antonio with the always delightful carnival ride through Austin.

As we were preparing to make a comfort stop along the way, I received a call from Jack Roe, corporate president of Holiday Villages of Lake Fork, in Dallas.  Since I am the chairperson of the committee that is overseeing the transition of management of HV/LF from corporate management to property owner management, Jack wanted to set up a conference call for me to talk about some of the legal and financial responsibilities that we would be taking over on January 1.  Barbara explained that I was driving through Austin and told Jack that I’d call him back later to set up the call sometime tomorrow.

Barbara: For some reason as we were travelling along the interstate, I decided to look at the map as I recalled friends who lived in the San Antonio area. To my surprise, I found that every time we’ve gone to San Antonio we have passed the towns where two of my dearest Lubbock friends lived. One is Barbara Curbo Pirch, who is battling cancer right now. Once I realized that we drive right through her town of Cibolo, I texted Leah Renee (who is my own personal directory assistant), and within minutes, she had a phone number for me. I was able to call Barbara and to her shock and mine we were able to make arrangements to meet at the Texas Roadside Park which was on her way home from radiation and our way to John’s. After a quick hug, a snap of the camera, and plans for breakfast on Thursday, Barbara and I said good-bye reluctantly, but with happiness, knowing that we would soon see each other again!

Jim: Following the brief, but very pleasant meeting with the two Barbaras, we continued our drive down I-35 to Anderson Loop, where we left the interstate and drove the final 25 miles to John’s house. During that time, Barbara had reached Carol Armstrong thanks to Leah’s efforts and she was busily working out plans to see Carol and her husband Terry the following day!

John, who works out of his house most of the time for AT&T, met us at the door (after a brief wait while he finished a conference call), and helped us unload the car and get us set up inside.  We visited for a while, and then John called Carol and Randi to see if they would come to the house and join us for dinner, featuring John’s famous smoked chicken.  We had already decided that we wanted to eat at the house, rather than at a restaurant, so Carol and Randi agreed to come over for the evening to join us.
While Barbara got some things ready at the house, John and I made a trip to the grocery store to get a few of the things that we would need to fill out the dinner menu.  We ran into Carol and Randi at the store and they followed us back to the house where we visited while John, Barbara, and I got the meal ready to serve.

The company was fun and the food was delicious.  I’ve talked about smoking chicken in our new smoker, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.  After tasting the chicken thighs that John had prepared, I’ve decided that someday soon, I’ll have to give it a try myself.
We spent the evening eating, talking, and generally getting caught up on things that have happened since we last were all together.  And, of course, there were pictures to take…lots of pictures.

Wednesday, October 12

Jim: We spent the morning just lazing around the house.  John was at work on his computer and Barbara and I used the time to catch up on some of our mail while I waited to get on my conference call from Dallas.

When Jack Roe finally called me, the projected 30-minute conference call lasted nearly an hour; my arm was tired from holding the phone that long and my ear hurt, but I had a lot of valuable information to share with the other committee members when we returned to Mineola.

Barbara: While Jim was talking to Jack, I called Carol to finalize our plans as Jim wanted to come, too, if Terry was going to be there. He had met Carol several years ago when we were returning to Liberal from spending time with mom and Dad, W.T. and Virginia Perry, in Mission one summer.  But, he had never met Carol’s husband, Terry, who is retired from the air force and with that love in common, he was certain they would hit it off!

But…before we get into the visit with them, I must write down a part of my history with Carol. I first met her in the early 70’s through another teacher friend Judy Clemmons. The two of them helped raise my sons as back then Henry travelled a great deal and we only saw him on week-ends. Therefore, we spent a great deal of time with Carol (this was before Terry, too!) and Judy.

However, after John and Jimmy became men, anytime I mentioned either Judy or Carol and did they know who I was talking about they both would say, “Hey, they are the ones who took us to the park and wound up sitting on the picnic table crying!”

Why were they crying? This particular day was August 16, 1977, and as the boys played in the park, we three were listening to the radio, talking, and laughing when we heard the news that Elvis had died! Carol and Judy broke down in tears and the boys noticed and were worried about them! Because I wasn’t crying, the boys thought I had made them cry…LOL!

Anyway, there are a million more stories I could tell; but that one has to be written down for the grandkids to hear.

Jim: After a trip to Walmart for gasoline and Dollar Tree to look for some specialty items for John’s house, we returned to the house, talked with John for a few minutes, and then headed back around Anderson Loop to get to Carol and Terry’s house.  We had guestimated it would take 35-40 minutes to get to the house from John’s place, but the traffic was good and we were there in just a little over 20 minutes.

As soon as we got close to Carol and Terry’s house, we noticed a lot of deer in the street and yards.  Terry later said there were deer all over the place and that they finally quit growing a garden because they were only feeding the deer.

Terry and Carol live in a beautiful home and were extremely gracious hosts.  While Barbara and Carol did the grand tour of the house (Barbara had seen it only when they were in the building stage several years ago), Terry and I retired to the living room and talked, and talked, and talked.  It was almost as if we had known each other for years, rather than having just met.

We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent together, but all too soon it was time to say goodbye and work our way back across San Antonio to John’s house to get ready for a big family dinner.

On the way back to John’s house, we stopped at Walmart to pick up a few things for the spaghetti dinner that we were planning.  Then, when we arrived back at the house, we waited for John to complete his work assignments before bringing him into the kitchen to observe how we prepared some of our favorite recipes.

John and I got the spaghetti sauce all put together and simmering so that we could eat at 6:00.  Carol and Randi arrived in plenty of time, but Kris (John’s stepson), Taryn, and Rhett (John’s step-grandson) got tied up in San Antonio traffic and didn’t make it until 6:30.

Thursday, October 13

We got a fairly early start from John’s house this morning and stopped at Abel’s Diner in Cibolo to have breakfast with Barbara Pirch before continuing our journey back to Mineola.  We didn’t get any new pictures of the two Barbaras, but we do have some good memories.

+++++

Monday, October 17

This morning felt like the first real day of fall in our area.  We awoke to find fog developing and descending all around the neighborhood, providing some great photo opportunities.

Tuesday, October 18

Yantis First Baptist Church has decided that it is time to have a new pictorial directory of the church families.  Today, the photography team from the company doing the directory arrived at the church to begin taking pictures.

Our appointment was scheduled for 5:15 this afternoon, but we were dressed and ready to go well before that time, so we drove on out to the church to get our portrait made, hoping to get worked in early if no one else showed up.

The session went well enough and we were soon headed back to Mineola.  As we got close to town, I suggested that we stop at a little rest area just north of the city limits to take some pictures of ourselves, since it will be quite awhile before we get to see the new portrait.

We had a few difficulties finding a place to set the camera for the time-delay shots, but ended up being very pleased with the results.

+++++

Wednesday, October 19 – Thursday, October 20

A Little Time with Grandchildren

Last week, Andy called from Richardson and asked if we’d be able to help out with Alexander and Abby this week while he and Heather had parent conferences at their respective schools.  We said that it wouldn’t be any problem and that we’d love to do it, but suggested that it might be easier overall and more fun for the kids if we picked them up and brought them back to Mineola with us, also giving them a chance to see Granny.

So, after visiting with Mother for a few minutes this afternoon, we took off for the drive to Dallas and Heather’s (and the kids’) school, Lakehill Preparatory School, near the SMU campus.

When we arrived, we went in to find Heather and she took us to the after school activities room where Alexander and Abby were decorating pumpkins to give to a local children’s shelter.  We visited a bit and then gathered up the kids and their backpacks, loaded them into the car, and began the journey back to Mineola.  We stopped for McSupper in Terrell and then drove on home, stopping first at Wood Memorial so Mother could see her great-grandchildren.

One of the effects of Parkinsonism on Mother is that it has robbed her of much of her facial expression, leaving her with what some would consider a permanent frown or scowl.  However, when Alexander and Abby walked into Mother’s room tonight and she saw them. Her face broke into an expression of joy that we haven’t seen for a long time.

Both children visited with their Granny for a bit and then demonstrated their reading skills by reading aloud passages from the book that Mother is currently reading.  She couldn’t believe it that Alexander, a second grader, and Abby, who is in kindergarten, could read passages from such an adult book.

We left the nursing home and went on to the house, got everything unpacked and put away, and spent the evening visiting and playing games until it was time for a tired Alexander and Abby and a very tired Grams and Gramps to call it a night and go to bed.

Thursday, October 20

We were all so tired from the activities and travel yesterday that we managed to sleep in this morning.  Barbara and I got right to work on a favorite breakfast for Alexander and Abby, bacon, eggs (cooked to order) and pancakes.  Abby and Barbara like their eggs scrambled, but Alexander and I like ours fried and over easy.  Even during breakfast, we managed to keep up the conversation and joking as we continued to enjoy our short visit together.

After breakfast, we got the dishes washed and the kitchen cleaned.  The kids then decided to do their part to help by gathering up all their things and loading them in the car so they’d be ready to go when it was time.

The kids and I drove to the post office to check the mail.  We flipped a coin to see which of them would open the box and which would get to take out the mail.  Alexander won the toss and got to open the box, but there wasn’t any mail, so we quickly changed the rules and had Abby close and lock the box.  Then, it was back to the house to play some football in the warm morning sun before having a light lunch.

After eating lunch and resting a bit, we loaded the car and drove over to Wood Memorial for another visit with Granny.

Today was Mother’s day to get her hair done at the shop in the nursing home.  We got there just as she was finished and waiting for an aide to wheel her back to her room.

Instead of waiting for the aide, Alexander pushed the Geri chair while Abby held Granny’s hand and walked beside her.

When we got to the door of Granny’s room, she wouldn’t let go of Abby’s hand, so it was a tight squeeze to get them both through the door without squeezing them too much.

With Mother safely back in her room, we all said our goodbyes, loaded up the car once again, and took off down U.S. 80 toward Grand Saline, where we stopped for a few minutes to show the kids the newly remodeled Salt Palace.  The Salt Palace was one of their favorite memories from a previous trip, so we were all glad to go through it again and see the changes that had been made.  We didn’t have time this trip to watch the movie of how they mine the salt, but promised the kids that the next time they come to visit we will take more time and see everything.

The rest of the trip back to Dallas was uneventful, thankfully, and we arrived at the school right at 4:00 p.m., just as planned.  While Barbara got ready to transfer the kids’ things to Heather’s car, I took Alexander and Abby over to the entrance to the school grounds to take their picture and then we went inside to find Heather.

We all went outside, made the transfer of kids and luggage, said goodbye, and then Barbara and I got back in the car and made the drive back to Mineola, tired, but happy to have had some time with Alexander and Abby.

The trip back was every bit as uneventful as the journey to Dallas.  We arrived back at the house exhausted and ready to spend the evening doing as little as possible.

Tuesday, October 25

Our friends Gene and Michelle Young, from Inman, Kansas, called last week to say they needed to come to Mineola for a few days to look for a house.  We offered to let them use Big V as their home base while they were here.  When they accepted our offer, we went out last Friday to clean and straighten Big V for the new tenants.

Gene and Michelle arrived Saturday evening and spent most of Saturday looking at different properties, but did have time to stop by the house and join us for a meal of Barbara’s famous chicken salad.  Our friends also presented us with a gift of some of their home-grown peppers of different varieties and sizes.  Michelle taught Barbara how to core, clean, and freeze the bell peppers they brought.  She also warned me that the chili peppers they gave us were very hot and to be careful how I handled them ( they were, I was, and they made wonderful salsa!!!).

We didn’t see the Youngs again until tonight (Tuesday), when they had finished their search for a house and were hoping that an offer on a place in Yantis would be accepted.

We wanted to go out and celebrate with a steak dinner, but realized that none of us knew a good place for steaks, so we decided instead to go to the East Texas Burger Company to see what kind of meal we could find there.

We hadn’t been able to get a picture of the four of us since Gene and Michelle arrived, but as I was getting ready to take a picture inside the restaurant, another customer came over and offered to shoot the four of us together (along with our meals).

Wednesday, October 26

Barbara had volunteered to take treats to the weekly Bible study group this morning, but when her friend Heidi called and said she needed to visit, I took the treats out to the church and then went to Holiday Villages to meet with the transition committee to conduct some business.

Our meeting went about two hours, and when it was over, I went to Big V to check on some things.  While there, I received a text saying that Barbara and Heidi were taking advantage of the lunch buffet at Pizza Hut.

Shortly after I returned to town, Barbara and Heidi came back to the house.  We talked a little and then I shot this picture of the two of them before Heidi had to leave and take care of other business in town.

Tonight was our night to keep the nursery during Wednesday evening activities, so we made the trip out to Yantis, arriving a little before 5:30 to start out duties.  During the course of the evening we took turns watching Jeremiah in the nursery, took pictures of the various youth groups and activities, downloaded and organized church-related pictures that we had taken as far back as February, 2010, and I worked in some practice time on my trumpet…lots of things going on at YFBC on Wednesday nights!

Friday, October 28

Leah and Ryan recently found that Halliburton was transferring Ryan to their yard in Alvarado, a little south of Fort Worth on I-35 W.  We combined a trip of picking up Abby and Alexander with checking out an apartment complex in Midlothian last week.

This weekend, Leah and Ryan were on a housing search in the area.  They were staying in Joshua, but we agreed to meet them in Alvarado and help them look, if necessary.  So, we put the puppies back in the puppy hotel this morning, went to visit Mother for a bit, and then headed back to the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex yet one more time.

As we neared Alvarado, the kids were just finishing up signing a lease at an apartment complex in Cleburne which, incidentally, is where Leah was born.  They came to Alvarado (about ten miles) to pick us up and take us to see the model apartment, since the one they will live in currently has a tenant.

After looking over the apartment complex, we realized that we were only a few minutes away from the neighborhood in which Barbara’s sister and brother-in-law, Nancy and Tom, live.  Barbara had already called Nancy to let her know we were in the area, but she and Tom were committed to a production at their church, so they wouldn’t be able to see us this trip.

We decided that we’d show the kids where Tom and Nancy lived and, as we came by it, saw Tom waiting for Nancy in their pickup.  We very quickly stopped, got out of the car, and shared quick hugs and handshakes (and took a picture, of course) before Tom and Nancy had to get on to church.

After a little more sightseeing in Cleburne, we returned to our motel in Alvarado to settle down and watch game 7 of the World Series.  Ryan and I went to a nearby restaurant and got takeout dinners and we all gathered in the breakfast area of the motel to watch our Rangers lose their second World Series in a row.

Still, a good time was had by all as we were joined by other folks who were interested in the game and shared running commentaries with us throughout the evening.

The following collage shows how Leah, Ryan, and I watched the game, and how Barbara spent her time while we watched.

Saturday, October 29

This morning was one of the laziest we have spent in a long time…just took our time getting up and around and having breakfast from the motel breakfast bar.

We eventually got around to showering and getting dressed, then loaded the car and made a leisurely trip back to Mineola with stops in Lindale to shop at Walmart and Lowes, and to check at the motorcycle shop to see if my new choke cable had arrived (it hadn’t).

Sunday, October 30

What a beautiful Sunday this was!  After getting everything ready to spend the day at church and Our Little Lot, we went to Wood Memorial to visit Mother for a few minutes and then headed out to Yantis, stopping first at our traditional breakfast spot in Quitman, Sonic, to get something to eat.

When we got to Yantis, we found that there were no parking places on the paved lot; once inside, we learned the reason why…there were 124 in attendance at Sunday school and we had around 170 in the morning service, including the 15 children and workers in the nursery, by far the largest number of folks in attendance since we joined the church a year and a half ago.  Jeremy, our new youth minister, baptized 4 youth as part of the service, a beautiful and joyous picture for all in attendance, including the four full rows of youth who were present.

Brother David was truly “on fire” this morning during the service (which, incidentally, was also the topic of his sermon), and there were few, if any, who didn’t both get their toes stepped on and gain inspiration from the message.

Since we were going to be involved in the annual fish fry and fall fair at the church this evening, we just spent the afternoon at Our Little Lot at Holiday Villages, just seven miles from the church.  It was nice to have a restful afternoon in our own home and enjoy the peace and quiet of our neighborhood.

Before leaving the park to return to church, we stopped at the home of our friends Bob and Mary Royar to pick up some frozen desserts that we had ordered from one of the students in the park and that they were holding for us.  We also wanted to spend a little time with them before they load up soon and head to the Valley for the next few months.

Unfortunately, Mary was a little under the weather, so we had to cut our visit short, but it was good to see the Royars again.  Bob has been our advisor on all things electrical as we have developed our lot and has been an all-around good friend to many at Holiday Villages.

As we were preparing to leave, our next door neighbors, Wes and Linda Mann, drove by and stopped to ask Bob about Mary’s health.  True to our basic nature, we took a few minutes to gather our friends for an impromptu photo session in front of Bob and Mary’s house before we had to leave and get back to the church.

When we got to the church, we immediately started in helping with getting things ready for the fish fry and fair.  There are almost always a large number of volunteers to get things done for church activities, and tonight was no exception.  By the announced time of 5:00 pm, the food was ready…piles of fried crappie, fried okra, hush puppies, and more side dishes and desserts than we could possibly count.

Pastor David blessed the food and the gathering, and the lines started forming.  Within minutes, the first wave of more than 300 people were sitting down and enjoying great food and fellowship.

Barbara was the chief photographer of the event and my job for the evening was to man the popcorn machine in the gymnasium during the fair that followed the meal.  We had a huge crowd that stayed until well after 7:00, the planned closing time, and the pictures show that a good time was had by all.  Yantis First Baptist Church is definitely THE place to be on Sundays in northeast Wood County!

Monday, October 31

Happy Halloween to All!!

It was a quiet day and evening.  I went fishing with some of the men from the church tonight and then spent the night in Big V while Barbara manned the home fires and waited for the trick-or-treaters that never arrived…all in all, a great way to wrap up another month of Little Times.

Birthday Greetings for October go out to granddaughter Jaycie Colwell (1^st), Cousin Cindy Wright (3^rd), Mike’s mother-in-law, Jan Jividen (9^th), Barbara’s sister, Carol (10^th), Cousin Ty Hodges (12^th), our special sister-friend Becky Roark (13^th), Cousin Michelle Sandley (20^th), Cousin Paula Wright, 27^th, and sister-in-law Jane Little (29^th)

“Facing an impossibility gives us the opportunity to trust God.” – Our Daily Bread

From Mineola, Wood County, Texas,

Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams