Good morning and welcome to the last day of May 2022. In just 30 days, the year will be half over. But, let’s not wish it away just yet. I have a lot of things to do yet in 2022. 

How was your Memorial Day weekend? Ms. Kate and I had a good one. The weather was perfect and enjoyable, and this morning looks to be a repeat with a high of maybe 90 degrees. I just walked out to the gardens and they are sufficiently dried out that I can get in there and maybe get the weeds out. It has been entirely too muddy to even think about it. I have to try it today because we are looking at maybe having rain tomorrow and Thursday. Hopefully it won’t amount to any more than showers. 

I spent a lot of time out in the yard or Saturday mowing and weeding and trimming. There is a section of my yard on the north side of the house that had had a bunch of tree sapling grow and get big so I managed to get those all cleaned out. That area grows no grass but it sure grows a lot of ground cover vines so I took the weed eater and cleaned that out. I don’t know where all of the darned vines have come from that grow around here. If I don’t work at it, this place will be nothing but vines. I haven’t found a good weed killer to put on them and maybe I shouldn’t use that anyway. I suspect that there may be all kinds of beneficial bugs and things that rely on that habitat. And I’m not crazy about adding a lot of chemical to the soil. BUt, I did go get some “grub-ex” to put down to kill the grub worms. I may have already told you that. 

Sunday we had \pretty good attendance at the churches considering it was a holiday weekend that folks like to take off and go camping etc. After church, Kate and I went up to her sister’s house and visited for a bit and then went to a new restaurant in town called “Bubba’s”. The food was good, the service was good, but the place was like any sports bar —- too loud. Music was gping loud and that makes the customers talk louder. The several TV screens were showing a number of sporting events and fans were yelling and cheering. So, we may go back but will choose a quieter time like a mid-week late lunch period. 

Yesterday was a day filled with patriotism. We started at St. Lucas cemetery and had a good crowd there for the dedication of the new flag pole and flag. The two 90 year old veterans that I had raise the flag were very pleased at their part in the ceremony. Then at 0930 the local VFW showed up and did their 21 gun salute to our fallen comrades. From there, —  Kate and I followed them up to St. Paul’s cemetery where they did the same thing for the veterans buried in that cemetery. The folks from our two churches really turn out for those ceremonies. Finally at 1500 hours I went out on my front porch and played Taps on my trumpet in support of Taps across America. Neighbor Dan had his family out front fo hear it and stand at attention. Dan is a retired Army Command Sgt. Major. 

That catches you up of my Memorial Day weekend. I pray your was filled with good thoughts and prayers for a nation at peace. Have a good week. Peace. 

 Good morning. Welcome to another Friday. This is Memorial Day weekend and I imagine the highways and bi-ways will be a blur by this afternoon with people rushing off to get their weekend started. In our area the weather is predicted to be “perfect” so there will be lots of cookouts and BBQing going on. Boaters and campers will be headed out to the lakes and streams. Ms. kate and I will be right here doing what we do. The only extra thing will be a ceremony at the churches on Monday by the VFW and a dedication of our new flag pole and flag at St. Lucas. 

I really need to assemble my grocery list and go get my shopping done soon before folks start getting off work early and making last minute runs to the store. We haven’t had a solid trip to the grocery in maybe two weeks and the larder is getting bare, and that’s hard to believe. But, we’re out of essentials like ice cream and stuff like that. You know, — those cans of stuff that you grab and fix when nothing really sounds good, like ravioli and stuff. I want to go up to Dewigs Meats and maybe pick up some stuff too. And I think I need to get moving because the sky is clouding up and we do have a chance of more rain yet today. 

I finished my service for June 5th yesterday, That was my self-assigned task for the day so I started fairly early in the day and managed to get it all done. That doesn’t put me ahead to speak of but does give me a bit of breathing room. It’s amazing how easily it is to get behind and have to rush to catch up. 

Gotta get busy! Have a blessed and safe weekend. Peace.  

 Unbelievable! So many unanswered questions!!! Once again we turn on our televisions and we hear of yet another mass shooting, and once again it is in a school, —- not just a school, but an elementary school for heaven’s sake. Another deranged person has taken a military style weapon, covered himself in body armor to go shoot and gun down a classroom of innocent fourth grade children and their teacher. And — before he goes on his murderous rampage — he guns down his own grandmother, Why??? Why any of this? Why is he or any civilian allowed to buy military style body armor? Why is any person allowed to purchase military style weapons?  I’m not against guns or owning guns. I believe in the rights of citizens to be able to defend themselves and their homes as guaranteed in the 2nd Amendment of our constitution. But how does that transition over to the right to freely walk around and just kill people? 

We have a generation of people that have no concept of the sanctity of life. Their training to independently  kill with impunity begins at an early age with video games that teach you that there is nothing to killing to pulling a trigger and killing and the more you kill the better. And if you get killed — reset the game and go again. No body teaches them that real life doesn’t reset. 

One unfortunate fact of this latest and of most of these shootings is that we never know the real “why” it happens because most of them take their own life. In this case the police killed him, but the result is the same, we will never know why. What made this young man so angry that he had to take his anger out on 18 ten year old children and their teacher?? Why do these perpetrators always pick on the innocent? Why? Why? Why???? So many questions. Did you know that there have already been 27 school shootings this years? Did you know that since 2009 this country has had 273 mass shooting events with 1526 people killed and another 980 wounded??? And do you fully realize that this will continue to happen as long as people let it become third page news? 

Today, parents will grieve and continue to grieve for the rest of their lives, never understanding how or why their child isn’t out playing with their friends instead of being buried. Today, politicians will wring their hands and profess anger and shock and continue to do nothing but argue and turn their attention to whatever lobbyist is giving them the most support and is going to get them re-elected. Today pastors and clergy all over the country will tell you to pray and start putting God back in the home and the school but have zero plan on how to make that happen. Today first responder will brace themselves for the worst and pray that they don’t have to respond to something like this ever in their career. 

My friends, I have no solutions to the crisis or multiple crisis this nation is going through. I can only pray. I pray for peace. I pray for peace within our homes and in our communities and within our nation. I pray that God will provide us a way to instill a renewed sense is civility within this nation and every nation. I pray that somehow God will erase hatred from our hearts and minds and give us a sense of the peace that Jesus has promised us. 

God bless you my friends. I wish you God’s peace. 

 Good morning! You know what I did yesterday??? Not a darn thing! You know what I accomplished yesterday? —- complete relaxation. I don’t know when was the last time that I just took a day off and did nothing and relaxed all day. I told Ms. Kate that I took a “personal day” away from life. 

Well, actually, I guess that isn’t totally true. We did go out to Denny’s for breakfast and then we did go to Sam’s and did a little shopping. We didn’t find what we went there for though. But that didn’t keep us from using some other needed items. The first thing in the cart was my cherry turnovers. I love my cherry turnovers and I can get them eight to a package there. Sam’s was a zoo yesterday too which only served to increase my desire to get out of there and go home and do nothing. There were so many of us “old people”there and most were either stopped and trying to “think about what they were buying or they were tailgating as we walked along. But every time we stoped to look for an item there was always someone wanting in the same spot or were crowded up against us. I know we are slow too. Ms. kate is one of those who thinks about it all too much and is a slow shopper. I like to take my list, go pick my stuff up and and get out of there. But, thank goodness that yesterday wasn’t a “samples day or it would have been worse. On samples day the old and young act like it is a free lunch and will actually stand and wait for the demonstrator to finish cooking that piece of sausage so they can get their free sample. Then they will circle back and get another piece and still not up the product, but they want “the free stuff”. People are really weird animals. 

So, since I took yesterday off, guess what —— all of my work waited for my return and I need to get out there today and get some deadheading done and the back yard need to be trimmed and mowed. If I hustle, or at least work steady, I can get a lot done before afternoon nap time. It’s supposed to rain again tomorrow so I nee to try to get some stuff done. 

That said, I guess I’ll finish this cup of coffee and cherry turnover and put on my jeans and get to work. Have a blessed day.

 Peace my friends.  

 And the Mondays just keep on coming, don’t they? It seems like we have one almost every week. 

So how was your weekend? Mine was busy of course as it always is. But, after all of the things I had on y schedule last week, I look at my calendar this week and I see nothing written down. So maybe I’ll get a chance to get out and do some much needed yard work if it stops with the showers and storms etc. The weather has been so very weird. Some local places are getting real storms and other places hardly get anything. We had a lot of tree branches broken off up at St. Paul’s church and the neighboring yard and yet we had noting to speak of at St. Lucas which is basically across the field. Some of the wheat fields have big areas where the wind laid the stalks to the ground and then area s where it wasn’t touched. Here at home, we’ve not had enough rain to even level off the bird baths while other people get deluged. It is really weird. This morning it is currently 57 degrees with a brisk wind making it feel like 53, and not a bit of sunshine peeking through the clouds. 

Ms. Kate and I had to call our heating and air conditioning folks late last week because the house wasn’t cooling off at all. The fellow showed up and fixed a couple of wires on the unit compressor (at no charge) and it is working fine now. However, that is only a bandage to get us through. He needs to come back and do something with the compressor, (maybe replace it, I don’t know). I think thee unit is about 12 years old and has been a good one. Hopefully we won’t have to buy a new a/c. Those are never cheap. But, we’ll go with the flow. If it wasn’t a good company, I might be a little concerned that they were just scamming us to sell a new unit but we’ve had these guys for 20 years now and they are a very reputable company. 

Today Ms. Kate and I want to go looking for a present for Julie for her college graduation. We have something in mind and now we need to try to find it. And, —- while we are out, we need to do some grocery shopping. We haven’t done any grocery shopping for probably more than two weeks. Other than a couple of essentials, we haven’t gotten groceries since we returned from our vacation. So the level of stuff to just grab and fix is getting pretty low. But, between Ms.Kate not feeling well and me being busy as heck, we just haven’t taken time to shop or actually to eat much other than pick something up at fast food. That’s not very healthy. 

Soup, having said all of that, I reckon it is time to get ready and go shopping. Then by the time we get don, maybe the weather will be  little sunnier and I’ll feel like being out side. 

I hope you have a blessed week. Peace. 

 Good morning and welcome to Saturday. This has been an activities stuffed week and I thought it was almost over but I just got a text that another parishioner is on the way to the ER because of a fall. I don’t know anymore than that. He lives in a nursing home and has had at least one fall a week it seems but this is the first time they have transported him. His daughter is there with him and she is a nurse so she can get a better version of the story than us civilians. 

Yesterday was one of those days where as a pastor,  you get to get to witness all of the spectrum of emotions that people have. I had a funeral first thing yesterday morning  and of course witnessed the grief that accompanied that. Then yesterday afternoon I had a wedding rehearsal for a wedding that I’m doing this afternoon. That had all of the emotions of nervousness, giddiness, tears, happiness. And now this morning, I just got a text that one of my senior parishioners fell and was taken to the ER. This is a week that just keeps on giving. 

Thursday night the area had a lot of hit and miss strong thunderstorms and even tornadoes in the area. What was amazing is that here at my house, we had some thunder and some rain, but not much. At. ,y St. Paul’s church the trees in the house next door really got torn up and rage parking lot was full of limbs. But  another parishioner lives just east of there and never heard a thing about any of it. I think we are looking at a similar scenario again today.  Hopefully it dies down some and I pray mo one gets hurt. There were lives lost over in Illinois Thursday night. 

That’s all I have for you today. I need to get on the phone and see what I can find out about my fellow at the ER. Hey, —- tomorrow is Rural Life Sunday. Give God thanks for all of our farmers and their families that keep the rest of us fed. Pray that the crops they just are planting produce a good harvest this fall. And —- today is Armed Forces Day. Pray for out military personnel in uniform and pray for their families who also sacrifice so much. 

Peace. 

 It’s Thursday morning and we are actually making our way through the week. It has been busy, busy, busy. Today will be no exception. The day is going to be a long one again concluding with a funeral visitation. But it’s all part of the job. Tomorrow we have a funeral and then later a wedding rehearsal. How’s that for the two ends of the spectrum. One person’s life come to an end and yet another couple are ready to begin a new life together. I love how God keeps it all in balance. 

I had a good day yesterday. It was visitation day and I took Holy Communion to some parishioners. I really enjoy my visitation days most of the time. However, there are times that I visit a person and they are asleep or they have been having a bad day and do nothing but complain about everything in their life. Frankly I hope I never reach a point where I have to leave my home and be in a nursing home. I’m not talking about a senior living place. My mother was in one of those and had an apartment. She was free to go and do but the place served two meals a day and it provided a safe place in case she would fall or some thing. BUt, once she had to go to the assisted living portion it was different. I look at the folks I visit and they can’t just go get a cup of coffee or a snack. They really can’t sleep in, so to speak because the meals are served at a certain time, and then they don’t have much to do except sit in their recliners and wait for the next meal. I know most nursing homes do have some activities but far too many of the residents have reached a point in their life where they just sit and stare and that’s very depressing. I’ve had parishioners that tell me they really want to die but God just won’t let it happen. Others tell me they really hope they die before they lose their mind to dementia and or Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately many don’t get their wish and each and every day must be scary because they don’t know who they are or their family is. Every experience is a new experience every tike they do it. When I see that, I’m reminded of the Drew Barrymore film, “100 First Dates” —— Well, that conversation got depressing really quick, didn’t it. 

The sun is shining and it is going to be a hot one today with a possibility of storms coming in later this evening. Hopefully it will be nothing strong. I think it is going to be close to 90 today.and the humidity is back. Sounds like a great shade-tree and lemonade day doesn’t it?

Time ti get on the road so I’ll jump off. I doubt I’ll see you tomorrow. So have a great day. Peace. 

 Good morning on a bright and sunny Tuesday morning. It is 69 degrees and the air is almost completely still. I got up early this morning for no known reason other than I woke up. The coffee is doing its job of completing the wake up process. 

I only have one thing on my agenda this morning. I’m meeting Pastor Shane from my home church and pastor Art and we’re going over to New Harmony for lunch. We had planned to eat lunch at the Red Geranium restaurant but found out it is closed M-T-W so I reckon we will go to The Yellow Tavern for lunch. I checked out their website and they have some good looking food pictured. The cakes and pies look really good. Art and Shane are both “dyed in the wool” Baptist so we will see if they survive walking into a tavern. Maybe they have been around me enough to gain some “sinner protection”. LOL. Hey — nobody says it’s wrong to go there to eat, —- well, my mother would have said that; — especially if I ordered a beer with my lunch. Anyway —- Art and I want to show Shane around New Harmony and introduce him to the uniqueness of that little town. It was in its beginning a Rappite Community something like the Oneida Society. Like many religious communities, it failed when its focus changed to being more of a commune than a religious society. That’s what happens when your focus changes to worldly things. 

I started and finished my Memorial Day service yesterday. As promised, it did mean a day in the basement but I had the work to do so I stayed at it. Today I have to finish the funeral service I preparing for Friday. I’ve been waiting for input from the family and finally received it late last night. I already have everything including the homily done. I just needed stuff for the eulogy. A couple of the grandchildren wish to speak at the funeral so we will see how that turns out. Some people do very well with speaking at the funeral of their loved one. Others get up there and their emotions take over and they lose it. 

Time to go shower and get ready to meet the preachers. Have yourself a wonderful \and fully blessed day. Peace. 

 Days like this are rare. The weather is absolutely perfect. It is 69 degrees outside with only a slight breeze. The sky is perfectly blue and cloud free. I’m sitting here in the Sunporch watching the black birds decimate my feeder, (who invited them?) and this is the only day this week that I have nothing on my calendar for the next seven days. And guess who gets to sit ion his basement and write. I’m very tempted to take my lap top and go sit under a tree to do my writing. But that would not only be a hassle to set up but would also be too much of a distraction because I’d be sitting there looking around and not get a thing done. So, “Yes, master, I’ll return to the dungeon.” LOL

We had a good services yesterday at each church. There were a lot of folks missing I think due to the planting season. Or, maybe they were just out and about and taking advantage of a beautiful day. I don’t know. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m not much different than a restaurant owner; don’t worry about the customers that aren’t there, — just feed the ones that do show the best meal you know how to prepare. 

After my late service yesterday the ladies of the church had their annual Mother/Daughter gathering. \\They used to be called Mother/ Daughter Banquets and would be held at night with a program and games and speaker. But, the younger generation has assumed responsibility for the program and yesterday was a “luncheon”. At least they haven’t let the program die out. I remember when churches had one or more different groups of ladies and men’s groups. But today’s society are no longer “joiners” and programs like that have died out across the spectrum. —- Anyway, I decided that I was going to go have lunch at one of our favorite places there in Ft. Branch. But — I got there and it was absolutely packed; no place to park and a line out the door. My suspicion is that since it is high school and college graduation time that there were probably large groups have it celebration parties. So, I went around the corner to the next place and viola’ it was the same way. So, I went to Dairy Queen and had a hamburger basket with a small sundae. I probably saved myself $10. After I picked up Ms. Kate we went home and it was Sunday nap time, (always a favorite around here). 

Yesterday evening I actually took time to watch a movie on my television. I don’t know the last time I have done that. I sometimes turn the TV on when I’m down there working and will maybe stop and watch a certain show for a half hour or an hour, but to purposely sit and watch a movie is rare. BUt — that of course meant that I wasn’t getting the work done that I needed to do so after the movie I got busy. I finished up about 0130 but completed my service for this coming Sunday as well as creating the slides for the screen. Today, I start on my service and message for the 29th of May. It will be a Memorial Day themed service and message. That sounds like it should be fairly easy to prepare but I’m sure I’ll find someway to make it difficult. 

Having said that — it is time to get on to my task of the day. This is Monday and God has given you and me a brand new week. Make the best of it. Peace. 

 I’m stiff and sore this morning from doing a lot more outside work yesterday than I intended to. But, you know how it is. One thing always seems to led to another and suddenly you are at a point where it is a struggle to go back in the house. That was mu yesterday. But, the yard looks good, the trimming looks good. The garden looks good and i have to new very large flower pots established and Wave Petunias planted in them. I tried something different with the new pots. I saw a post that someone had put on Facebook about adding nutrients into the soil. So I filled the pots half way and then I put a half dozen raw expired eggs in each one and cracked the shells, The video that I had seen showed a guy planting his tomatoes and he put a raw egg in the bottom of the hole. The y show the difference between the tomato with the egg and the tomato without out the egg and there was a remarked difference. So —- I reckon we will see what happens. I told Ms. Kate that I was planting chicken seeds so we could raise baby chicks. She said something about me being a “dork”. I wonder what she meant. 

So today, I’m planning to remove the two azaleas in one of my back flower beds. It really aggravates me that I need to do that. Here’s a long story, — kept long. About three years ago we got a notice from the water / sewer department that they were going to be replacing the sewer lines that run between the houses at the rear of our property. They said that we (everyone) had to make sure that the easement was clear of fencing and bushes etc. They said that if we didn’t do it ourselves they would do it but would not replace anything that was on the actual easement. Former owners of our place had put up a white picket fence at the edge of the property which was inside of the easement. I had since rebuilt it because it was rotting and I built it in the same place. Ms. kate and I decided that if the city had to removed the fence, —- okay. But we knew they would not replace or replant shrubs. So I hired a guy @ $500.00 to move those two large azalea bushes. They have since died. So, today, I’m going to cut them back and dig them up. Lots of wasted money and  wasted energy but it needs to be done. Fortunately, they aren’t planted all that deep and once I get them cut back they will be much easier to dig up —- I hope. 

The writing is going slow on my sermon for next week. The theme for the church is Rural Life Sunday which one would thing would be fairly simple to write; — but, not so much. I keep getting off on rabbit trails and having to reign myself back in to a central thought. 

So, that’s it for this beautiful; Saturday morning. It is 10:00 am and the temp is already at 84. Gonna be a hot one today. Have a blessed weekend. Peace. 

 Friday the 13th! Do you feel “unlucky” today? Are you superstitious? I didn’t actually think about it until I saw the calendar on my screen so I reckon it’s too late to crawl back in bed and hide. Bring it on!!

You know, —- I’m supposed to be at least “semi-retired” but I don’t seem to have time to get stuff done that I need to do. It has been one of those weeks and next week doesn’t promise to be any better. I’ve been busy trying to get a funeral planned, get a young couple ready for their wedding, write my sermon, develop the worship service, plant some garden, weed a flowerbed, attend a funeral of a friend, keep my yard mowed and trimmed, help Ms. Kate with laundry and make some phone calls to parishioners and do some visitation. I’m my own worst boss and time manager sometimes. So, when I forget to write my blog like I have several times recently, just know my brain is probably in a different room than my body. 

I wish you could all see our flowers we have here at the house. The iris are blooming and we have so many varieties. The peonies are really coming into their own and the azaleas are blooming beautifully as are the poppies, blue bells, clematis, and roses. The place really looks beautiful. It won’t last too much longer though. Pretty soon all of the daffodils will start falling over and will dry out and look ugly for awhile. You don’t cut them off until they are dried out. Then the iris are going to be past it and will have to be pinched back and then cut back. Raising flowerbeds is an awful lot of work but the reward is a few weeks of joy as I walk around my yard. It’s worth every bit of the effort. 

Can you believe the price of gas? I went out a couple of days ago to get gas for my lawnmowers and decided to take my truck because it was getting down to a quarter of a tank. I filled up my can and then filled up the truck —- $80.00. I couldn’t believe it. I have never had to pay that kind of money to fill up my truck. I don’t drive it often so a tank full will last me a long time; but —— just wow!!! Then I went to fill up my Prius and it cost me another $40.00. Thank goodness it get 53 mpg, but I make a lot of trips and thee tank is only I think a ten gallon tank. And I just read this morning that there is going to be a diesel fuel shortage on the east coast for the next few weeks. If you think the supply chain is bad now — just wait. How in the world did this country get into this bad of shape??? I know lots of people blame the president but there is far more going on than just him being an idiot. I have no idea where to even start placing blame and thee fact of the matter is that placing blame doesn’t make things any better. It just makes us angry and gives us someone to “hate”. What I do know is that prayer is a solution\. It won’t bring the price of gas down, but it will give us the patience to deal on a daily basis with the chaos the world is experience in right now. 

Oh well, I have bird feeders to fill and other stuff to do.  Have yourself a great Friday the 13th. Stay away from ladders and black cats!!! Peace. 

 Hello Tuesday, how ya’ been? Yes, I know it’s afternoon but I have been just a bit busy these days.  We’ve been busy trying to find out what is causing Ms. Kate to feel so bad. We had doctor’s appointment on Thursday, I think I may had told you that. Well, the doctor made some changes to her medication and ordered a new prescription for her. For Tri-Care purposes for new prescriptions that may be a one time thing, we have to go through Walgreens. Well, we waited allof Friday, — no meds but I got a text from Walgreens saying the prescription was delayed, waiting the doctor for information. We hear this Friday afternoon and of course the doctor’s office by now has closed for the weekend which means that there is no way they are going to hear from him for the weekend, which means that Kate can’t start with the new medication until at least Monday. Well, yesterday morning I called Walgreens and was told again that they were waiting on the doctor. So, Kate called our doctor’s office and they knew nothing about it and they called Walgreens. Believe it or not —- the issue Walgreens was waiting on was that the prescription was for 30 days and they wanted to know if it was supposed to be for 90 days!!! The doctor told them to fill it for 30 now and then they will order one for 90\. It wasn’t five minutes after that call that I got a new text from Walgreens saying her meds were ready for pick up. Grrrrrrrr! The good news is that now she is doing better. 

The bad news is that because she was feeling \so bad, we didn’t dare take her over to Louisville for our daughter Julie’s graduation from IU. I took Kate to her sister’s house to stay and I went over to \the graduation. It was a lovely event. We are so very proud of her. That girl has always had a job, often two or sometimes three, has raised a wonderful so and been a great homemaker. She started out as a young teenager, like many military kids bagging groceries for tips at the base commissary and has worked ever since. For the last “X” number of years she has been managing College Bookstores.  I think the only time she has not held a job was when she was in Turkey with her husband who was in the Air Force. But as she posted last night on Facebook —“it’s been 37 years since she graduated from high school, but she finally has graduated from college.”  She is the perfect example of what you can do if you are determined enough and have the drive to succeed no matter how long the journey. Last night she said she is going to check to the tuition reimbursement of her company and possibly start on her graduate degree. She makes me tired!

I spent the night in Louisville and then came on home this morning, picked up Ms.Kate and we went out to BJ’s for lunch. And then —- it was nap time. Now, I’m up and have stuff to get busy doing. So, have yourself a wonderful  afternoon and evening. Peace. 

 Friday, May 6th. I guess I had "failed this week of puns. I didn't say "May the 4th Be with you " on Wednesday in honor of Star Wars, and I didn't have a margarita yesterday or dance the Mexican Hat Dance or even have tacos in honor of Cinco de Mayo. I'm just no fun at all.  

We are still waiting on the doctors and pharmacy and hospitals to press on with getting Ms. Kate some help. She did get her test results back from the doctor's office and they point out a possible thyroid problem, a possible blood clotting problem, and a possible congestive heart failure problem; --- none of which are purely definitive yet until we can get her in for her echocardiogram which will not be until June the 8th. The doctor has ordered a change in her thyroid medicine but because it is a change --- it has to go through the insurance justification process first so we're waiting on an insurance company to decide her health condition. It is all very frustrating. In the mean time she basically can do very little. The real hard part for Kate is that she is going to miss Julie's college graduation because she simply can't do the walking. So, I'm going to go by myself and will leave Kate with her sister Karen for the day and over night. Not that we really think there will be an emergency but she could fall or something and would have no one to help her. ( I wonder if I could rent a wheelchair for a couple of days and I could take her along.)

Julie is coming over this evening and I have asked her if she would bring along her gown and cap so we could get some pictures of her with Kate and Kate could at least see her in it. Julie has worked so hard for so very many years to make this happen, it breaks Kate's heart that she will miss it. 

I did my hospital visitation yesterday with my parishioner that was to have surgery, She came through the surgery successfully and noo the rehabilitation will begin. I don't envy her that at all. I've been through that three times and hope to never have to do it again. 

It's still raining on and off and we are maybe going to have storms this afternoon. I hope not, I  don't want Jules to have to drive over here in a storm. 

That's it for Friday. Have a great weekend. Peace. 

 Cinco deMayo; a day when people decide they have a little bit of Mexican blood in them and celebrate that by drinking Margaritas. I remember a a grade-school kid we would  have to participate in some sort of Pan-American Day program and do the Mexican Hat Dance. I don’t know id they still do things like that or not. Probably someone finds it offensive so maybe they don’t do that anymore. But, it was fun at the time. 

Yesterday was a busy day. Ms. Kate had a doctor’s appointment to try to find out what is causing her to feel bad all the time. The took chest xrays and did blood work. She got her results back through the Deaconess My Chart system, but that’s like handing a symphony to someone that doesn’t read music. The chart reads several things that are really out of whack but we don’t know what that means. Hopefully the Nurse Practitioner will call her today and tell her something. 

After we finished at the doctor’s office we went to Denny’s for some breakfast or brunch. Then I got ready to go do some parishioner visitation then go to the churches and run my bulletins and that was followed by doing a pre-marital counseling session. I have a young couple getting married on May 21st. They are a really nice couple; both are 22 years old and have been dating for seven years. They both have steady jobs and are so “down to earth” with their hopes and dreams. I think they will do just fine. 

Today I have a parishioner that is having surgery on her shoulder and arm. She took a bad fall several weeks ago and is just now to the point where they can do something about the broken arm. \It was broken in three places. She’s going to be in for some tough rehab. I don’t envy her at all. So, I’ll go and sit with her  for a bit before the surgery and do prayer with her.  Then I have to get home and get busy on finishing up the sermon I’m working on for the 15th. I have it half done, or at least I think I do. I never know what the end product will look like until I type “Amen”. 

It is supposed to rain and maybe storm today, tonight and tomorrow. That’s not good news for us with a roof leak. I still haven’t heard from my contractor. I called them again yesterday but they are really busy. Hello springtime. 

That’s it. I have things to do. Have a wonderful day. Peace. 

   

 May 3rd — Primary Election Day. One of the first things that we will do today is go vote. So many people don’t vote in the primary elections because they don’t really think it makes any difference. Primaries are strictly a “party election” where you are choosing the candidate you want to run in your party for an office. I think all opportunities to vote are important. I gave up 32 years of my life serving our country to guarantee we would always have that right to vote. 

I have been busy ever since we got home from our vacation. Mowing, gardening, weed eating, working at my job, writing sermons and helping Ms. Kate around the house has kept me busy. But, I’ve gotten in my nap time too, but I’m also taking Tylenol because I’m stiff and sore from the yard work. 

It rained last night and is supposed to rain again this week. That’s not a good thing because we came home from vacation and Ms. Kate discovered a discolored spot on the ceiling that says we have a roof leak. Just what we needed. We had one a couple of years ago that was dripping in the shower through the light fixture. It took them four attempts before they finally found the source, just a tiny hole. The new spot is against the wall on the lowest point of the roof, —- and is going to be a real bear to find because where it shows up is no indication of where it is really leaking. I’ve notified our usual contractor but have not heard from him. 

Ms. Kate is sick, —- again. She has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. She has zero energy, is lethargic, has real problems breathing. It is very concerning to me because this is a pattern that repeats itself every couple of weeks and this time it has gone on for two weeks. I don’t know what to do to “fix” her and that frustrates me. Her only description is “I just don’t feel good”. And I watch her run out of breath with just the least little thing. So, keep her in your prayers please. 

Okay, time for me to get ready and go vote. You have yourself a wonderful day. Stay in touch with God. Peace.