Family Time 😍...and more COVID 😢

We enjoyed a wonderfully busy week last week! Sheila and I went to see a movie Tuesday afternoon that was based on a true story from our area. We enjoyed the story and being familiar with the places mentioned. As I usually do with “true stories”, I later googled about the accuracy of the film and learned more about some of the characters. It was quite interesting! After the movie, we went out for sushi. One of the things that I love about spending time with Sheila, is that I get to eat more “adventuresome” foods than when I’m with Dennis. Plus I just enjoy spending time with my girl!

While we were doing our thing, Nam and Grandad went to service his deer feeder at Thiess and Gina’s and enjoyed a visit with them. Nam loved his time with Pappy and Rue and ended up with a new treasure that Grandad found (a deer jaw). Then Nam spent a couple of nights with us. We didn’t do anything special…just our usual, which is the way Nam likes it. He loves traditions!

We took Nam home on Thursday after lunch, visited a little with Matt and Sheila, then headed to Paris. We arrived in time to meet up with Stephen’s family for supper. Then we went back to our hotel room to rest up from a tiring few days. We spent all day Friday visiting with them. The grandkids kept us busy! I loved seeing Mandy’s new kitchen. It turned out SO pretty…and functional! She is really going to enjoy it.

We spent another night in the hotel, so we could rest up before getting back on the road. We made it home a little after lunch on Saturday. Since we had a potluck planned at our house the next day, I spent the rest of the day cooking and cleaning. We had a great turnout for our gathering after church…even Coez and Willie Dee made it! We ladies enjoyed all of their stories. They have seen and done a lot during their 90+ years each. I really admire both of them! I think everyone really enjoyed our time together.

We are planning our family’s “Thanksgiving” gathering for the middle of October, since Archer is due on Thanksgiving Day or thereabouts. The HC congregation will also be having their baby shower the day after our get-together. That will save Ricky and Amber from having to make another trip down. The kids talked me into doing Mexican food again. Since it will be so early, turkey and dressing just didn’t seem that appropriate. I am looking forward to a traditional Thanksgiving, ON THANKSGIVING DAY, sometime in the not-too-distant future!

I sure hate seeing the number of people with COVID going up again! We had just gotten to the point where we really didn’t think about it much at all, since we were vaccinated and the numbers had been so low. Now we have a number of loved ones who are sick. I still have 4 grandkids that are too young to be vaccinated, so we have to be mindful of doing anything that might put them at risk. We would be helping Ricky and Amber, right now, with their move; but they, and Chris who came to help, all have the virus. I’m not worried about Dennis and I getting sick, but it is possible for us to get it and pass it on to the littles. We are having Stephen’s three spend a couple of nights with us soon, and we don’t want to take any chances. I really hate this virus! Please keep everyone who is currently struggling with it in your prayers…especially the other Linda G.

Take care, be safe and be kind!

Feeling very blessed!

 Thanks for all of the birthday wishes yesterday! You all made my day very special! Even though I'm getting on up in years, I still love birthdays. Not really sure why, because we don't do anything special any more. I just like the thought of seeing a new year, and knowing that I have made it this far. We actually celebrated on Thursday. I always get a free steak dinner from the Mesquite Pit for my birthday month, so we went out for that. It was WONDERFUL! I'm not a big steak eater, but I do enjoy a well cooked steak now and again. And this one was cooked perfectly! Afterwards, we went out to watch a movie...first time in I don't know when. It has probably been 2 or 3 years since the last time we did so. It was fun. It's nice to be able to get out and do things like that again!

Saturday before last we went to the HW congregation to listen to Jensen speak. It was really good to see him and Andrea, as well as everyone at HW. After the assembly, everyone went over to Layne and Heather's for supper. We really enjoyed our visit.

We had planned to go to the Clarksville meeting this past weekend, but Dennis got sick last week. Don't know what he had, but it lasted about 4 days. He got tested for COVID, but it was negative. (Thankful for that!) He finally started feeling better on Thursday, so he was able to do a little work on the utility closet doors, which he finished (except for a tiny bit of touchup work). I am very pleased with how they turned out! 

I am excited about this week! Sheila is bringing Nam over tomorrow to hang out with Grandad while she and I go for a belated birthday outing. Then Nam will spend a couple of nights with us. After we take him home, we will go on to Paris to visit with Stephen's family. We are really looking forward to seeing them again. It has been a couple of months since they were here. We did a video chat yesterday for my birthday. I said something about our upcoming visit, and Shepherd asked why we didn't just come right now? He does that every time. LOL! I'm also looking forward to seeing Mandy's new and improved kitchen. Hopefully the work will be completed by then. I know they are ready to get their household back to normal!

Sunday, we are hosting another potluck after the assembly. I'm looking forward to that, too! I hope that everyone is feeling up to coming. Coez has been able to attend a couple of assemblies lately. She still struggles to get out, but she has been doing better...even been working in her yard some. Willie Dee has been back the past few Sundays after recovering from her hip replacement. She is an amazing lady...93 years old, still living by herself and driving herself, and her mind is sharp as a tack! I really love our old folks! 

We are enjoying a nice rain this morning. This summer has been incredibly wet and mild for these parts. Our yard is probably the best it has ever been. Rain in July is a rare thing here. Dennis usually has to work hard watering, to keep our grass alive (which really drives up our water bill!) It has been nice, not having to do so this year! If this continues, I look forward to seeing how it affects the colors this fall.

Well, I guess I need to start my day. My stationary bike awaits, and I have snickerdoodles to bake. I hope that all of you have a wonderful week! Stay cool, enjoy your blessings, and be kind!

How I spent my morning!

It is so hard to conduct business by phone any more! Customer service is a forgotten concept, it seems.

I found out (not through the manufacturer, distributer or prescriber) through my Facebook support group for CPAP users that my machine was probably being recalled due to an issue that can POSSIBLY CAUSE CANCER. So I went to the manufacturer's website to try to find out what to do and finally found a way to check to see if my machine is affected by entering its serial number. It told me that it was NOT included in the recall, so I didn’t do anything else.

About a week ago, I responded to a question in my support group about the recall. Another member informed me that if my machine was built before a certain date (which it was), then it WAS affected. So I decided this morning to take care of it. I called my doctor. They told me to call the medical supply company through which I purchased the machine. I called the office in Weatherford (I thought) and got stuck in an automated circle. I finally chose the option to be called back when it was my turn, which the automated service said would be less than 5 minutes. About 45 minutes later, I did receive a call back. I was told that I needed to call the manufacturer or go on their website. Since I’d already done the website thing, I decided to call. The automated service told me that due to a large call volume, to go to the website. SO, I did. After looking around the website for several minutes, trying to find SOME information about the recall, I finally found the right page. I entered a different serial number (there were 2 different serial numbers on my machine!) and learned that my machine was indeed affected. I continued on to the page to register my device for the recall and couldn’t get it to work. After multiple attempts, I FINALLY was able to enter my info and get my CPAP registered for the recall. (My machine was already registered with the company, but that doesn’t do anything as far as the recall is concerned!) The site said that due to high volume, it may be a while before they contact me about my machine. The instruction given is to discontinue use of your machine until it can be replaced. For someone like me, who had over 60 episodes per hour when I was tested, that just isn’t feasible! (With my CPAP, I usually have less than 2 episodes per hour.) So I will continue to use my machine until they finally get around to doing something about it, and hope there is no long term problem that develops! (I have read that as long as you aren’t seeing black specks in your hose, it is probably ok.)

It is really sad when a corporation has such little concern for the wellbeing of their customers that they make it so difficult to resolve an issue like this. If any of you use a Philips CPAP or BiPAP machine, please begin the arduous process to register your machine for the recall…and good luck! 

4th of July Weekend

 We enjoyed a WONDERFUL 4^th of July weekend, attending the meeting at Henrietta Creek! It was good to visit with so many dear friends that we haven’t seen in a long time. The lessons were inspiring, the singing was glorious, and the fellowship was sweet! I want to thank all of those who worked so hard to make the weekend go well, both by planning and hosting it, as well as making the journey down to participate!

There were well over a hundred people in attendance Friday night, which really surprised us! I’m glad that we arrived early, so we could catch up with everyone as they got there. I was amazed at how much all of the kids and youth had grown and changed since we saw them last. A lot changes in a year and a half! After a beautiful service, including a lesson on the Holy Spirit, the congregation served some sweet treats and cold drinks while everyone enjoyed visiting. When Dennis told me it was time to leave, I was a little perturbed until I got in the car and saw that it was already 10:30, and we still had an hour and 15 minute drive to get home!

We had another wonderful assembly Saturday morning, with a good lesson from Ken on our need to “Lean on Jesus”…using the apostle Peter as an example. Afterwards, everyone went out to Mark and Karen’s for a day of fun activities and good food and fellowship. It was so fun to watch the kids! They had a water slide for the little ones, plus wading pools and water soakers and balloons. There was also hatchet throwing, corn hole, and hayrides. There were SO many little ones, as well as teens and young adults! For those of us who were older and more sedentary, there were canopies and shade trees for us to sit and visit under. The weather turned out perfect for the day! There was a cool breeze blowing, and the temps were unseasonably mild for July. Ricky and Ben cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for our lunch, and pizza was brought in for supper, with homemade ice cream for dessert. It was a perfect day! I finally had to tell Dennis we needed to leave, so I could get home in time to prep for cooking the next morning! It was midnight both nights before we made it into bed.

Sunday morning, the crowd was a little smaller, but still a full house. Garrett did an amazing job, as always, on his lesson, which pretty much picked up where Ken had left off the day before. After services, we had potluck at the local community center. We definitely filled up that building! I had made Daddy’s fried rice, which just seemed fitting for the occasion. I really missed him not being there. He was such a strong force in that congregation for over 50 years.

We finished out the meeting with a passionate sermon from Joe on preaching the gospel. It was hard to see folks leaving. I was struggling with my emotions all day. We were, thankfully, able to stretch out our day by going out to eat with a smaller group and then ending up at Ricky and Amber’s house (along with their weekend house guests) for further visiting and watching fireworks. From their backyard, we could see fireworks being shot in all directions! It was such a great evening! We finally said our good-byes and made ourselves leave around 10:30. They were planning to load up a trailer (with Ben & Laura, Heather and Chris and Karley’s help) this morning and head north. They have plans to meet Ricky’s new boss and check out a place to rent in Russellville, then head back home so they can go to the doctor on Thursday to find out if this baby is a boy or girl! How exciting!

I have an adoption to attend next Monday, and then plan to spend the next couple of days helping Amber get everything packed and ready to move. Then we hope to drive up to Clarksville together for their meeting on the 15^th. We’ll have to come back on Saturday, but we still should be able to get in at least two assemblies. I dare say we will be keeping the road hot between here and the Clarksville/Russellville area for a good while to come!

I hope that all of you have been having a wonderful holiday weekend, too! Take care and be thankful for all of the wonderful blessings that we enjoy!