Sundry things...

Well, summer hasn’t quite let go of us yet!  Temperatures are back up in the 100° range.

Dennis went to Spur last Saturday night and took the Young guys with him.  They put up a deer feeder and did a little scouting.  This will be Ryan and Parker’s first time to hunt…and they are pretty excited!  I think all the guys enjoyed their trip.

I’ve decided to start bowling regularly.  I really enjoy the game, but I am really bad at it!  I definitely need more practice.  Ricky and I went last week and I bowled pretty good (for me!) on my first game…a 114.  I went this week by myself to practice and bowled a 104 on my first game.  (I refuse to disclose the scores of my second games to avoid self-incrimination.)  I’m hoping, with time and practice, that I might actually learn to bowl consistently!

I’ve discovered a way to get a “good” core workout…contract food poisoning!  I came down with a case Tuesday night and hugged the toilet for about 2 ½ hours.  My stomach, side and back muscles are sore today!  I don’t even get this sore doing situps!  I really don’t recommend it though.  As much as I dislike doing situps, I would much prefer them to the other!

Dennis is actually getting his long weekend this week…tacked onto a Monday holiday!  I don’t know if that has ever happened before.  We decided to take advantage of it and take a little mini-vacation.  We loved our 1-night stay in the town of Alpine last year on our trip out west, and I’ve always wanted to return for a longer stay.  Dennis suggested taking this opportunity to do just that, so I made reservations.  We have an appointment on Friday morning, but plan to head out as soon as we finish.  We’ve never visited the church in Van Horn, so we plan to do that on Sunday.  Sure looking forward to revisiting the lovely Davis Mtns. and exploring the sights of Alpine!  Also looking forward to some restorative time with just the two of us!

Tuesday was Jessica’s birthday.  She and Sheila came over for her birthday supper of shrimp fajitas and angel food cake with berries.  (Hopefully, I’m the only one who developed food poisoning from the shrimp…think I contracted it while handling the raw seafood!)  Later that night, she went downtown to wait for the filming of the zombie movie.  Unfortunately they had postponed filming, but the word hadn’t made it out to the public.  A lot of people showed up and stood around for nothing.  She was really hoping she could be an extra in a movie on her birthday.

Fall softball season is about to start.  Ricky formed a new team out of those from their spring team that wanted to come back, plus scouted out strong players from some of the other local teams.  Their first game is in a week or two.  I look forward to watching…hopefully they will win some this season!

Take care and try to stay cool during these last dog days of August!

Mt 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Travels and Rain

We enjoyed our trip to Paris last week.  I usually DO NOT like to discuss financial stuff, but it was fun to watch Stephen and Dennis in action.  (I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging, but Stephen is quite good at his chosen profession.  He sure didn't get it from me, tho!)   I understood the basics of what they discussed, but much of it was way over my head.  It was good to see Stephen and Mandy’s house and Stephen’s new office for the first time.  (Yes, it has been a LONG time since we were last there.) 

We had a bit of excitement coming home.  We could tell on the trip up that we had a problem with one of the truck tires.  (We took the truck to bring home some furniture for Sheila.)  As we headed west on Wednesday afternoon, it continued to get worse.  We had decided we needed to stop in Bonham to look things over real well before progressing on towards home.  (Dennis had looked over the tires in Paris and couldn’t see a problem.)  Well…we didn’t make it!  All of a sudden, BOOM!  The truck was going ALL over the road with Dennis trying to hold on and get control.  I thought for sure that we were either going to roll or run into something.  Thankfully, God was watching over us and we were able to safely maneuver to the shoulder!  The rear tire on the driver’s side was stripped of tread and had beaten up the fender and scratched the side of the truck.  Dennis changed the tire and then we motored on home with no further problems.  (Sheila’s dresser got bunged up a bit, too, where the restraining strap dug into it.)

Saturday morning , Layne and Heather threw a graduation/going away party for Rebecca.  There was a good turnout, lots of goodies, and perfect weather.  Later that evening, several groups went to the Ranger’s game.  It would have been nice if they all could have sat together, but I think all had a good time. 

We were all saddened by the passing of Donna Rue last week.  This was such a loss for Diane… especially so soon after the death of their dad.  There was a very good turnout for the visitation Monday night.  It was nice to see so many dear friends show up to support Diane.  Ken did an outstanding job at the funeral Tuesday morning!  Mary F. rode with me, which made the drive much more pleasant.  We weren’t able to go to the cemetery, as I had an appointment in Weatherford at noon.

We were blessed with 6” of rain last week!  It rained all night on Tuesday, while we were gone.  Then there came a big storm early Friday morning…lots of thunder and lightning.   I can usually sleep through storms, but not that one.  I love lying in bed and listening to the rain and thunder though.  It is a very peaceful sound to me.  Our grass loved it, too!

Guess that’s about all for now.  Take care and God bless!

Pr 30:5 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

Third time's a charm?

Well, my nest is empty…again.  Ricky moved into his new residence last night.  Sure is going to be weird.  I am used to either seeing him every day…or every few months (when he lived in Ark.).  Having him living in the same town but only seeing him once or twice a week will take some getting used to!  He started working a second job last week.  With him working day and night, we probably won’t see a lot of him.  I have to admit that this time (the third); I’m actually feeling pretty good about having the house to ourselves.  We are just 15 months from retirement, Lord willing, so it is about time to have all of our “little nestlings” out on their own.  Guess I’ll spend today getting the “guest room” cleaned and organized.

I was pleasantly surprised last week by a short visit from Ken and Kelli!  Ricky was home between jobs when we heard a knock at the door.  I don’t get in a hurry to answer the door, since it is usually just solicitors.  When I finally arrived, Ken was standing there!  Unfortunately, Ricky could only visit a few minutes before having to head off to work again.  I enjoyed having some time to catch up with them though.

I heard last night that Donna Rue went home from the hospital.  Poor thing was sure relieved to finally leave that place…she ended up staying 12 days.  She has a long, difficult road ahead of her.  I’m not sure when she will be starting her chemo.  She and Diane will continue to need our prayers for a good long time.

Dennis just worked an 8 hour day on Saturday.  He decided he still had energy enough to do something that evening, so we (and Sheila) decided to go bowling.  First time he had been bowling in about 8-9 years!  I have always really enjoyed bowling, even though I’m not good at it.  I’ve been several times in the last year or so with the kids.  It finally paid off Saturday night…I broke 100!  (I know for those of you who actually ARE bowlers, that is pretty pathetic.  But it was the first time in YEARS for me!)  I’m thinking about finding out what day the bowling alley has discount rates and starting to go regularly to practice.

Dennis finally has the day off tomorrow, so we are leaving when he gets off today for a short trip to Paris.  We will actually spend the night on the road.  The kids gave me a gift card for Marriott hotels for Mother’s Day, so we decided to use it to break up the drive.  We have an appointment with Stephen first thing in the morning to go over our investments and “fine tune” our retirement plans.  We will also be picking up the dresser that Sheila got from Grandmother’s things and bringing it back.  (We didn’t have room for it after the funeral, so Stephen took it to their house for us.)  Looking forward to seeing Stephen and Mandy.  I got to see Mandy at Leslie’s wedding, but Stephen was spending the weekend with Rick for his birthday.  (It was exciting to see Mandy’s “baby bump!”)

Well, the day is warming up so I’d better get my running done while I can!  Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Ps 92: It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:  2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night

The dog days of summer

Summer is definitely in full swing...temps in the 100's every day!  Having entered into August, at least we know we only have about another month of this before cooler weather starts tiptoeing in.  SO thankful for air conditioning!

Dennis started out the week sick.  Went in to the clinic Monday after work (had to spend 4 hours!) and got a couple of shots for infections in his throat, ears and sinuses.  He didn't have to miss any work, but he felt pretty lousy for a couple of days before the meds started kicking in.  He is pretty much back to normal now.

I had to be in court Tuesday morning for one of my cases.  Then I went to Corsicana on Thursday to visit my newest kiddos in their foster home (the ones that were SUPPOSED to be local!).  That made for a long day...driving for over 4 hours total for a 45 minute visit!  It was good to meet the foster mom and see that the kids were in a good place and were happy.  I only have to make the trip once every 3 months.  I see the kids every couple of weeks at the visit in the CPS office in Weatherford.  My traveling for my teen has come to an end.  She and her siblings are supposed to be moving back to their mom's house at the end of next week, so all my visits with them will be local now.  That will help out!

I met my goal this week of running a mile.  I was able to do it both Monday and Wednesday.  I decided to start training for the 5K on Friday but didn't do very well.  The heat is really making it difficult to run!  I'm wondering if I might have to start getting up before daylight to get it done (which I DO NOT want to do...I am NOT an early riser!).  Right now, it is usually 8:30 or 9:00 before I start my run, and the sun is already beating down.  It is still around 100° when the sun goes down, so running in the evenings isn't an option.  Our first 5K, the Crazy Color Run, is in a month and a half.  It is going to be just for fun (and charity).  The girls and I are getting up a team for that one.  I really want to be in shape for the 5K in October, at Clark Gardens though.  That is the one that I'm going to really try to do well in.  Thankfully, the temperature ought to be quite a bit cooler by then!

I went to see Donna yesterday.  She is really struggling.  The surgery was very difficult and the mass they removed was huge...it was stuck to her colon and bladder.  They still don't know what type of cancer it is yet...waiting on the biopsy results.  Donna has had a few complications since surgery and was feeling pretty rough yesterday.  She is really tired...physically and emotionally.  She will definitely need a lot of prayers and support through this ordeal...as will Diane!

Ricky's 25th birthday was yesterday.  He went to Stephen's on Thursday night.  They and Josh were going to rent a cabin in Oklahoma for the weekend to celebrate.  It is hard to believe that "my baby" is 25 already! 

I hope everyone has a good weekend.  Try to stay cool!

 Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.