We have no dull days around our house, or so it seems. Yesterday Ms. Kate had two doctor’s appointments; the first was with her family doctor, and was her quarterly check-up. That went fine. Then she went to see her surgeon. He was supposed to removed the drain from the surgery last week to reconnect her body parts. Well he did that but she had developed some other complications and he wanted her admitted to the hospital for testing and observation. .  We drove around the corner to the ER and checked in. It took about an hour for them to call her to do her blood tests and then we waited for them to cal her for a CT scan of the abdomen area. They finally called her back for that and then said they were admitting her. It took seven more hours of her laying in the ER for them to finally assign her a room. She finally got to her room at 8:00 pm last night. 

Her night was less than restful but she is doing much better today. The issue she had had calmed down and the surgeon has been in and said most of the problem she had was not unusual or unexpected. He has authorized her to go home. However, if they take as long to check her out of here as it did to check her in here, we might get home by 8:00 pm tonight. 

The good news is nothing was found that was a crisis and she is getting better very slowly. As always, we give all praise to God.

Peace. 

 Happy Blessed Tuesday. It’s a sunny but “coolish” day. There is a breeze that somewhat modifies the heat levels. And we are supposed to have some rain yet this evening or tonight. Two nights ago I had to cover my tomato plants because of a frost threat. I don’t know if it actually did frost or not but I was not taking any chances. I have put a lot of work into raising those plants. I don’t want to lose them now. 

Update on Ms. Kate: Yesterday was her one year check-up by her cancer surgeon. And at least for him —- she has graduated. That’s one less doctor we need to keep on “speed-dial”. She still needs to reschedule her annual mammogram that we canceled because of her last surgery. Tomorrow we have only two doctor’s appointments; our family doctor at 1030 and her surgeon at 1130. The surgeon is going to remove the drain from the procedure he did last Tuesday and probably the staples too. We are still having to dress the open wound from the February 14th surgery and it is giving her some trouble; but, nothing I can’t handle, so far at least. 

I’m still dealing with stuff to do with storm damage. Yesterday afternoon I took four of my bird feeder poles that got all bent from the tree falling on them to my friends, Andy and Brenda. Andy took his blow torch to them and got them straightened out fairly well. They aren’t totally straight but they will work and it saved me a lot of money. Slowly but surely, I’ll get the Backyard Buffet up and fully running again. 

I think that will catch you up for today. I hope your week is blessed and you can feel the love of Jesus Christ surround you. Peace. 

 It’s finally Saturday and I think all of the drama of the week is over. When I last posted we were getting ready for Kate to go back in for another try at having her resection surgery. We went to the hospital on Tuesday and she did in fact have the surgery. She was in the hospital until late yesterday afternoon. The doctors says the surgery went well. We have a follow up appointment with him next Wednesday. I think he may also remove her staples at that time. The other wound that we have been treating is slowly healing. Doing the packing with the new stuff we started with last week seems to be doing the job. It will just take awhile. At least she no on her has to deal with the stoma bag which is a great relief to her. Last night I think we both had the best night’s sleep we have had in weeks. 

This morning I got Kate’s bandages changed, gave her the Lovenox injection, and have made a pot of vegetable soup that is currently simmering. I make a good pot of veggie soup now that Kate taught me how. And —— she learned from the best; her mom. Kate make great soups; I especially enjoy her cream soups whether it is mushroom, potato, or clam chowder. They are all great. I need to have her teach me how to make those too. 

I think I need to make an Angel Food cake. While we were eating from the hospital kitchens we ordered what they called angle food cake with a raspberry drizzle. Sounded really great —- totally sucked. But it made me hungry for Angel Food cake. It’s not like it hard to make. 

That’s it for this Saturday. Tomorrow is a day of worship and I have so very much to be grateful for. Peace. 

 Happy Monday. It is a beautiful morning however, it is also a prelude to storms and more rain or so the weather dudes tell us. 

Tomorrow we try again for Kate to have her resection surgery done. Hopefully her blood tests are good and we can proceed. The doctor’s office called this morning and told her that her surgery has been delayed for a couple of hours. We now have to be there by 1230 for a 1500 surgery. That’s going to make for a long day for all of us. If the surgery starts at 1500 that means she will be in surgery until roughly 1700 or so, then an hour in recovery so she won’t get in to a hospital room until at least 1800; that’s if everything goes on a schedule. But —- as long as she can get it done, and it all goes right, —— it’s all good. I’m guessing it will be Saturday morning before she can be released from the hospital. 

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day and I totally wasted it. Well, I only say I wasted it because I didn’t go out and get any yard work done and I did nothing but sit around and read and relax. But then, isn’t that what the Sabbath is really supposed to be about??  We of course attended our church service from the recliner. Pastor Shane had a really  good sermon yesterday on “Blessed are the Peacemakers”; Matthew 5:1-7. He has been walking through the Beatitudes in a series. Given what all is going on in the world —- his message was really on point. We planned to also watch the St. Lucas service but I guess they did not broadcast it. 

I do have some yard work that I need to do today. I have not yet mowed my back yard so I need to do that. First I need to rake a lot of dirt back into one of my flowerbeds. The falling tree kind of dug a trench in it and also dug up a lot of daffodils and a couple of roses. So, I have to finish that kind of clean up. With rain and storms coming, it needs to get done. 

So, that is it for today. Lift us up in your prayers again this week please. God bless you all. Peace. 

 We had a rollover coaster ride morning. We were up and ready and at the hospital at 0600 this morning for Kate’s 0800 surgery. Unfortunately her bloodwork showed that her blood thinner level was too high to be safe for surgery. We were afraid that would happen because they had prescribed 100 ml twice a day of the Lovenox bridge which was much higher than what they had done before. So —— we are now scheduled  for surgery next Tuesday morning and they have lowered the dose of medicine required to bring her levels into tolerance. 

One good thing is that her doctor also examined the open wound that we have been treating for the past six weeks. He prescribed a better method of healing for it. So, there is that and hopefully that will be fully under control by next Tuesday too. But it was aa huge disappointment. 

Having said that —— I got to thinking about it and I can see God’s hand in it all once again. My prayers have been that God guide the hands and decisions of Kate’s doctors throughout this entire process. This morning her doctor sent her back home because her bloodwork indicated that it wasn’t totally safe to do the surgery. I can’t be mad when God answers my prayers. Sometimes I forget that. 

Have a blessed day! Peace. 

 Wednesday, April 10th. Good morning and happy Wednesday to you. This has been an eventful week and we have had enough excitement to last us for awhile. 

We all know about the severe weather that hit us a week ago. Since then, I had a fantastic crew in here and they cleaned up all of the mess and got the tree off of my house. The young man that owns the business was a connection through church. I didn’t know him but I had met him several years ago when I buried his mother, and then again a few years later when I helped perform the wedding for his father’s second marriage. His uncle texted me and said if I was looking for for someone to clean up the mess, I may want to talk to his nephew. I trust his uncle’s judgement and word and gave the young man the job; he in no way disappointed me. In fact, my next door neighbor saw the job that he did and is hiring him to take care of all of their storm damage. 

My USAA adjuster came out Monday and did what he needed to do and my roofing contractor has been here too. He is going to have to replace the entire roof on the back side of the house as well as the gutters, and downspouts and a couple of soffits. The roof is tarped so we are safe from leaks which is good because it is raining and is supposed to continue on and off through tomorrow. (Yea!!!)

My tomato plants are in the ground and doing well. I’m going to give a couple to Kari, the lady that cleans our house, and I have five for my sister-in-law Karen. I need to plant my squash seeds now too. 

Tomorrow morning at 0600 we are taking Ms. Kate to Deaconess Midtown for what we hope and pray will be her final surgery. Dr. Roberts is supposed to “put her back together” tomorrow. We expect she will be in the hospital until maybe Sunday. Please lift up a prayer for her. This has been such a long thing to deal with and she has been a first rate trooper through it all. We are still treating the open wound from the first surgery but it has almost totally closed. But I have to change the dressing at least twice a day and she is really, really sore from the constant removal of the tape on the bandage. 

That’s my news for the week. I thank all of you who have been lifting us up in prayer. Peace. 

 April 3rd. It certainly was a calmer morning around here. The sun is trying to shine but the clouds and “April showers” are prevailing in that battle. I went out to take some more damage pictures and pick up some debris. It started raining on me and by the time I walked back in the house, it stopped. That has been the case all morning. 

I made contact with my USAA insurance folks and got the paperwork rolling for my claim for storm damage. Then I hired a contractor to clean it all up. He came right out and got started. It helps that I go to church with his family, I even did his mother’s funeral several years ago. He and his helper got busy and got all of the stuff off of the roof and put a tarp over the area that had a few small holes in the shingles. My insurance adjuster is coming out Monday morning and will be meeting with me and my contractor. I told my contractor to just worry about the stuff on the roof until the adjustor sees it. I want the adjustor to see the full impact of the damage. 

Kate has her Home Health nurse coming today and she just arrived so I’m jumping off. Y’alll stay safe during this crazy weather. 

Peace. 

 April 2nd, We had a rude morning from the weather. I woke up at 0530 and heard the severe storm sirens going off. I got up and went to the family room and turned on the television and the yard lights. About five minutes later the was a tremendous crash on the house

It looks pretty bad, but we are safe and we are blessed!!

 Good Friday afternoon on this “Good Friday”. Two more days until Easter. Are you busy dying eggs for little ones or maybe out gettin candy for Easter baskets? Those days are long gone for Ms. Kate and I. Even the great-grandchildren are past all of that. As neighbor Dan said, The only way his grandkids would come to hunt eggs is if he told them they were plastic and had money in them. 

Ms. Kate is doing well, we are counting down the days until the 11th of April and her surgery. Her ‘open wound is healing nicely and I hope it will be fully closed by the 11th. But the surgery will proceed either way. Only 13 more days. 

My tomato plants are growing very well. I did “reduce the number of plants” per cup to one. Then I added some used coffee grounds to each cup and more potting soil, and the watered. I may have to move them down one level on the shelves so they don’t get too close to my grow light. In fact, I need to pull up a video and see how long I have to keep them under a grow light. It won’t be time to plant them for maybe another three weeks and they are already quite tall. I intend to share some of my plants with a couple of people. If all of these produce fruit like they are growing, I’ll be sharing tomatoes too. LOL

Julie and the pups are coming over this weekend, they should be arriving some time in the next hour. I plan to go to the Germania Manichor and pick up fish dinner for our supper tonight in celebration of Good Friday. I have done this inn years past and the food is delicious. I need to get there as they open because it is going to be crowded, and the line will probably be long. 

I pray you have a most blessed Easter. As Christians, this is our most holy season. It is important that we take time to worship our God in gratitude for the sacrifice of His Son. Peace. 

 A blessed Monday to you. I hope you enjoyed your Palm Sunday. Of course, as I have mentioned, we are still attending "Recliner Church". We watched our Zoar Church service which is our "home church" and then we watched the St. Lucas service. Both were good services. Our pastor at Zoar does a good job and preaches a good sermon. His preaching method is to basically walk through the Bible, a book at a time. I reckon by the time he has been there 66 years he will have made it all the way through. LOL The interim pastor at the Ft. Branch parish is doing a good job of keeping the parish running until they find a permanent pastor. I wish I knew how their search is going but it isn't appropriate for me to ask. 

As I told you Friday, we have a surgery date for Ms. Kate to have her resection done. Believe me, we are counting down the days. Our care for her has become very much a routine. But we will both be glad to be able to get out of those routines. I change her wound bandage twice a day and she manages her own stoma bag emptying. When necessary I change that for her, generally about every third day. The hardest part has been getting the right supplies. Our Home Health nurse, Melinda, has been extremely helpful with that. She generally comes once a week. Kate isn't having physical therapy this week; her therapist is on vacation. Then next week they will evaluate her to see if she still needs more therapy. I'm doubting they will continue. Kate gets around pretty well, although she needs to get up out of her chair more and do some walking around the house or maybe even get on the recumbent bike for a few minutes each day to increase her strength. What is really wonderful news though is that as discomforting as the daily routine of care is; ---- not once in the now six weeks since her surgery has she been bothered by any of the "pre-surgery" stomach and intestine pain of the diverticulitis. Who knows --- after this next surgery, she might be able to actually say -- "I feel great".

My tomato plants are really doing well. This week I am going to "thin them". When I planted them, I put two and sometimes three seeds in each cup. They have grown enough now that it is time to cut them back to one plant per cup and add soil to each cup. My videos that I watch say to not pull out the extra plants in each cup but to cut the extras off. I have also been saving my coffee grounds and will add a few coffee grounds to each cup. That adds acid to the soil. I don't know why I'm so hot on growing these things but I am having a ball with this process. I can hardly wait until they get a little taller and we get past last frost of the season and I can plant them out in my raised bed. It is my desire to have more tomatoes than I know what to do with. Silly me!!!

That's it for today. I hope it warms up. The forecast says it will warm and then tonight and tomorrow we get a bunch of rain. 

Have a blessed week. This week takes us to the cross of Jesus Christ. For me and my fellow Christians, this is a most Holy week. May God bring you peace. 

 

 Happy Friday!. It’s still chilly out so winter is clinging on by it’s fingernails. 

I was gong to write this morning but Ms. Kate had an appointment with her surgeon at 1:30 today and I wanted to wait until after we saw him so I could catch you all up on her progress. We have a surgery date!!! April 11th, @ 8:00 am.   We are thrilled. The surgeon also said that the wound that we have been treating looks very good and there is no infection. He said that it is possible that it will be to small to pack anymore by the time we have the surgery. So, all of this may be coming to a close. At this point al I can do is give thanks to a powerful and loving God for all of the blessings. 

That’s it for today simply because I don’t any news that is more wonderful than this. 

Peace. 

 Well, I woke up this morning not a multi-millionaire. I didn’t get a single number of the ones picked for the winning ticket. But then, 290 million other people didn’t win it either so the prize will just climb some more. I don’t buy a lottery ticket very often but when it gets up to numbers like 900 million, I buy one “just because I certainly can’t win if I don’t buy one”. I don’t have any “magic numbers” like so many people do; I just buy a “quick pick” and imagine what I might be able to do with the money. Frankly, that kind of money is so far beyond my ability to imagine that I have no idea. I don’t try to make any “bargains with God” or any “I promise I will” statements. So, back to reading my book. LOL

The Home Health nurse was here this morning for Kate. She examined Kate’s open wound and said it is a lot smaller but she does not think that Dr. Roberts will “okay” surgery yet. That’s a real bummer. But, we will see. I’m really hoping he will. As I have said, dealing with this isn’t a big deal. I change her bag on a routine basis and I change her would dressing twice a day. But, I know she is really tired of it. Having said that though, we are so blessed that this is a temporary thing. Her surgery was only five weeks ago today even though it might feel like five months or maybe five years some days. He doctor had said maybe six weeks so we are actually on schedule. “Lord, give me patience.”

Her physical therapist just arrived and will spend about 30 minutes with her. I don’t know that it is helping her any but maybe it is. Her therapy isn’t painful for her although it does make her tired. I suspect they may not continue her PT much longer. She’s doing well enough. 

So, I guess I will jump off and watch Kate go through her routine. Have a blessed day. Peace. 

 Monday, March 18th, allegedly the last day of Winter, and it is a chilly one for sure. It was 28 degrees this morning when I got up and it hasn’t gone up much since then. The thermometer says 37 but the real feel is 32. I went out to pick up some branches that had come off of the trees and I got pretty chilled. Hopefully when spring kicks in at 2230 tonight, the wonderful temperatures that we have had the past couple of weeks will return. Some of my peonies were not happy with last night’s temperature and they are a little curled up this morning. But —- if the sun would just pop out, they would unfurl themselves and be well. 

How was your weekend? Our weekend was spent just like every other day since I have retired. The exception is that we attended two versions of “Recliner Church” yesterday. First we watched our home church and then we pulled up the St. Lucas service and watched that. And, we watch some Gaither music video in between the two. I just can’t believe that this coming Sunday will be Palm Sunday. I have really missed attending “in-person” worship, especially during a holy season like Lent and Easter. I know I could leave Kate alone for that couple of hours that I’d be gone to church; but —— I just won’t. I also know that she “could” go with me —— but as long as she is having to use the ostomy bag, that isn’t going to happen. It only took one disastrous accident at the doctor’s office to make that decision. So, the only place we go is to doctor’s appointments. I do go to the grocery store but my grocery trips are no more than 45 minutes. We will be so very thankful when life returns to “normal”; although who is to say we lived a “normal” life before all of this??? LOLOL. 

I had to water all of my seedling cups this morning. My little tomato plants are doing very well. I need to take the tiller or the hoe to my raised bed and get the weeds out of it. There aren’t many but I don’t want them to get a foothold either. My little garden tiller has quit so I need to borrow Karin’s. She has an electric one and says it really works well. I could get mine repaired but I have no doubt that it would cost me about as much to have it fixed as I would pay for a new one. And neither she nor I need one to do that much. So, she I and I will just share hers. 

That’s about all I have for this cloudy day. I pray you will have a blessed week. Peace. 

 It was just Monday. I know this because my last blog said Monday. How the heck is it Friday already and why do I keep trying to make it a Saturday??? I swear, if I didn’t have Google Calendar to keep me caught up, I’d lost in the desert someplace, just wandering around wondering what was next on my schedule. 

So —— Happy FRIDAY!!! 

It has been a busy week as usual, with doctors’s appointment, Home Health Nurse and Physical Therapy visits for Kate. Our visit with her surgeon was unremarkable this week. I was really hoping that he would possibly steri-strip her open wound closed so we would not have to change the packing on it everyday. But no, he wants it to close on its own. And he wants to not do her resection until it has closed more. I understand the reasoning, he doesn’t want to take any chance with further infection. I said that I didn’t understand how it could get smaller and close if I keep having to put packing in it. I was assured that it will happen naturally, and I have to admit that it seems to be happening. So, we have another appointment with him a week from today. 

Wednesday she had to have a barium enema to make sure everything was clear for him to go ahead with the resection internally. From what we see and interpret on My Chart report, it looks good to go. So, Hopefully, next Friday the surgeon will set a date for reconnection. We are so looking forward to all of this being over. 

I’m doing laundry this morning. I only have one load and it isn’t a big one but I like to keep it caught up. 

Did I tell you that my tomato seeds are all up in their cups? I have them under a grow light out in the sunporch. When they get a little bigger, I will have to eliminate half of them. I planted two seeds per cup and they all sprouted. When they get a little farther along I’m supposed to eliminate the smallest so the other will do well. 

I have to figure out what we are going to do for supper. We had a late breakfast so probably will only have one more meal today. 

That’s it for today. I pray your weekend will be blessed. Don’t forget to spend sometime in worship this weekend. God has provided more blessings then you know this week. Give Him honor and praise. Peace. 

 Happy Monday, happy new week. We have a bright sunny day so far. It has been a nice morning to get a few errands done. Right now though we are waiting on Kate’s Home Health nurse to arrive  for her weekly visit. 

I think I told you that I had planted my tomato seeds in their cups while Lisa was here. Well, I checked them yesterday and I have seedlings up in almost every cup. So, I took the sandwich baggies off of them and have set them out in the sunporch under a grow light. They will stay there for several weeks and continue to grow until I think the last frost possibility is over. I have to say, that grow light at night looks like a landing zone for UFO’s on Devil’s Tower. Anyway, I think it will be mid April before they are ready to plant. 

I got the JD out and rode around in the front yard this morning cutting all of the onions off. It now smells like spring! And, the yard was looking shaggy, but now it looks like it is loved. The back yard is a long was off from needing mowing. All of the shade back there makes the grass grow exceptionally slow. All of our daffodils and hyacinths, spirea, and crocus are blooming and the yard really looks great. The peonies are coming up really well too. It was certainly an early spring and a beautiful one too. 

Wednesday, we take Kate for her barium exam and then we wait for another week to see the surgeon again. I’m beginning to offer up prayers for patience because it seems like the process just keeps extending itself out. 

Okay, the nurse is here so I’ll wrap this up. Have a blessed week. Peace. 

 It’s been five days since my last post. (I sound like a parishioner in confession, don’t I?) I don’t know where the time goes but I do stay busy with Kate and I’m still doing most of the cooking, all of the grocery shopping, and laundry. But —- I don’t mind it at all. It’s good that husbands learn how to do the things that our wives have done for us all of our marriages. Far too many husbands lose their wives and they are lost because they never learned to do the “domestics”. And far too many start looking for another wife right away because they can’t handle their own affairs. I learned routine housekeeping as a child to include laundry, dusting and other stuff that were my “chores”. But I never learned to cook which is a good thing because my mother was not a good cook. 

We’re having another visit with Kate’s surgeon today. Hoping for good words and plans. She is scheduled a Barium exam on Wednesday which will hopefully provide the final “go” for her surgeon to do the resection. We know we have to put her on Lovenox injections for four days prior to surgery, so hopefully we can get that started right away. 

We woke up to a non responsive furnace this morning. So, I called our HVAC company, Schneider Heating and Air and luckily they were able to send a technician out first thing. The igniter had gone out on the furnace. So, $211.00 later, we have heat. Our system is now 20 years old. Hopefully it will hang in there for a few more years. 

That’s it for today. It’s a dreary rainy & chilly day. Stay warm and safe. Peace. 

 I’m back once again. I know it has been awhile, a week I guess. But it has been a busy week with Ms. Kate. So, let me catch you up right quick. As you know, Monday was our anniversary and it was about as exciting as we didn’t want it to be. For whatever reason we had a lot of problems with the ostomy bag and went through seven changes. That gets very frustrating when I’m doing everything that I think I need to do and it still doesn’t hold. 

Wednesday we met with the Ostomy clinic folks and they were wonderful to work with. They told me that I was doing all the right things but I didn’t have the right products with which to work. She ordered me the right stuff and sent me home with some good supplies to get me by. 

Friday we had an appointment with he surgeon and he removed all 32 of her staples. They had begun to bother her a lot. Unfortunately she had a two inch place that had become infected so now we are addressing that issue. I have dressed it yesterday and this morning and it is already looking tremendously better. The good news is that we see the surgeon again this coming Friday, and he hopes to do her resection in three weeks which should be somewhere around the 21st of March. That will be a wonderful thing. 

I am so happy to report that Kate is feeling so very much better. God is the ultimate designer and creator and the human body is a such a marvelous thing. I continue to be amazed at the complexity of the design. But — the insertion of prayer into the equation does so much to enhance our healing on every level. And I can tell you that I believe that we can feel the prayers of others as they pray for us and that too enhances our healing. 

That catches you up on our very exciting life. I pray you have a blessed week.     Peace. 

 Today Ms. Kate and I celebrate our 58th wedding anniversary. I find that simply amazing because that is something that old people do, isn’t it? Yes we are a bit worn and tattered but I don’t feel that we are “old’ and most days we don’t even look or feel particularly old. A few years ago our “older generation” of parishioners began celebrating 60th anniversaries and we attended their parties, and I remember remarking how wonderful that it was. Now, Ms, Kate and I are only two years away from that! Wow. So Lord, if you are listening —- I’m laying out a goal to go maybe a few years even beyond 60 years. If we can just get Ms. Kate well, and up and running again. 

When Doctor Roberts did Ms. Kate’s surgery he said he anticipated that he would be able to do the “resection” in five or six weeks. Wednesday will be two weeks  so hopefully it will only be four more weeks until we take her back to the hospital and have her “put back together”. Unfortunately my job of handling her wound care has not gone smoothly. But, —- it it is a learning process and you just clean up the messes as you go. On the bright side, I did get her hair washed today which Mae her feel a lot better. 

Yesterday I made a crockpot of vegetable soup and if I may say so —- it is delicious and Ms. Kate says so too. I also baked an Angel Food cake and put an orange glaze on it. It’s our 58th anniversary cake. It’s pretty darn tasty too. 

We sat in the sunporch for quite awhile today watching the birds and enjoying  the fresh air and sunshine. It sure doesn’t feel like a February day and I’m very grateful for that. It’s a spirit lifter kind of day for sure. 

That’s it, Got to tend to0 my bride. Have a blessed day. Peace. 

 Friday, February 23rd and I am glad to report that Ms. Kate is back home where she belongs. I am even more happy to say that she is doing so very well. We brought her home Wednesday afternoon. I had ordered a Wheelchair through Amazon and it was supposed to be delivered some time Wednesday afternoon but I wasn’t sure when. So, I asked Karen to meet us at home to help me get her in the house. She isn’t up to coming through the garage and using the three steps there so I would have to walk her all the way around the house and come in through the sunporch where there is only about a step and a half. Well, as  good luck would have it. We got home the same time as Karen arrived and at the same time as the mail carrier was delivering the wheelchair. So, we got her in the house and settled in and everything has just been getting a bit better each day. Her strength is improving. We have to get her out of her recliner several times a day to drain her ostomy bag and let her go pee. When we first brought her home she could barely get out of her chair but today she does it fairy easily by herself. All praise to our God who heals. Never doubt the power of prayer. 

Peace. 

 Good evening. It’s Thursday evening and I just got home and settled in from another day at the hospital. Ms. Kate is doing so much better. The first few days were terrible for her. She got so nauseous from taking her Flagyl antibiotic. They tried all kinds of things to get it under control. Sunday they moved her to a regular room, (I think it was Sunday) Yesterday morning I went in and she was all smiles because she had had a great night’s sleep. She was still having some nausea but she refused her last dose of the antibiotic and has been better ever since. They have started her on Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy and she did great on both. Today they taught me how to do wound care at home. And —- it is possible that she will get to come home tomorrow, if not —- I think it will be on Thursday. 

Yesterday we decided that we probably need to get a wheelchair to get Kate in and out of the house for a couple of weeks. She’s not yet ready to try going up our stairs in the garage to get into the house. That means that she will have to walk all the way around the house to the back door which is a long way. I asked a couple friends if they had one and struck out. So — Amazon delivers!!! I bought a new one and it will be here tomorrow. I could have rented one I guess but it is cheaper to buy a new one than to rent one for two or three weeks. 

That’s it for my update. Thank you for all of your prayers. Peace. 

 Thursday — Noon o’clock. I’m sitting in Deaconess ICU with Ms. Kate. She had her surgery yesterday and it was more extensive than was anticipated. They took out 18 inches of intestines and colon. This morning though she is alert and feeling as well as her pain button will allow her to. We expect she will be in ICU until Saturday and then moved to a regular ward room. 

I want to give credit to her nursing staff here in ICU and to her doctors. This room has been Grand Central Station all morning with people coming in and doing all of the things that they have to do to and for her. Her surgery team has been excellent and we could not be more pleased. A loot of people we now seem t think they have to go Indianapolis or some other “big city” to get quality doctors.  We feel that we are extremely lucky and blessed to have the facilities and the medical personnel here that we do. 

So that’s it for today. Thanks for all of your prayers. 

Peace. 

 Good morning on this sunny Tuesday morning. It’s a warming up 48 degrees right now and will rise another ten degrees maybe. I was looking out my kitchen window this morning and I can really see all of the daffodils out there in the center flowerbed. Out front there are lots of daffodils and the hyacinths are up too. I haven’t seen any tulips yet though. Tulips are strange; they don’t seem to last vary many seasons and then I have to replant. If they don’t come up —- I may not replant them. I have enough flowers to take care of. 

I got my potting soil delivered yesterday from Amazon. I will probably wait until Kate gets back from the hospital to fool with all of that. I have enough other things on my plate right now that I don’t need to be worrying about planting tomato seeds in my cups. 

Tomorrow is the day! At long last we have gotten to surgery day. Today is her official “prep and clean-out day’. I feel for her. She takes her first dose of meds at 1400 and life will not be pleasant for the next several hours. But, what ever it takes to get the job done. Her instructions tell her to get a good nights rest but they also tell her that she has to be drinking Gatorade in the middle of the night to replace her electrolytes so I suspect we will not get a lot of sleep tonight. 

I have a funeral visitation to attend this afternoon. Kate said it is just as well that I’m gone for a while this evening. So, I will go to the visitation and then to get something to eat for supper before I come home.   

That’s it for today. Please keep us in your prayers. We have every reason to believe that is all going to go very well and in four to six weeks she will be dancing —— which will be a miracle in itself because she hasn’t danced in twenty or more years. LOLOLOL. 

Peace

 Welcome back to a brand new Monday. I hope you had a great weekend. Ms. Kate and I had a “mixed weekend”. 

We are in the middle of her surgery prep and are only two days away. We have to be at the hospital at 0700 on Wednesday morning for a 0930 surgery. In the mean time, she is now off of her Coumadin blood thinner medicine and I am having to give her Lovenox shots as a “bridge” until after the surgery. She’s having four shots a day and we have given her 10 for far and she has 6 more to go through tomorrow evening. She also has had four days of drinking a “Boost” like product and has one more of those to drink yet today. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day because she has to go through a system “clean-out” similar to a colonoscopy prep. Plus she has to drink a gross amount of her medicine for that mixed with Gatorade. Yuk!! Bless her heart. I’m asking for continued prayers for her once again. 

I got a text Saturday afternoon from my pastor asking if I could fill in for him Sunday morning. His wife, Kari, has Covid so he is quarantined along with her. I pray she doesn’t pass it to him. Of course I agreed to step in. It’s been only six weeks since I last did a service but I have missed it. The service went well. Pastor Shane is lucky in that he has two pastors in the congregation, myself and Pastor Art, who can step in if needed. Of course I don’t hold a candle to Pastor Art. Pastor Art has a Doctorate degree and has been preaching for over 60 years. But, I’m glad and thankful to be of help when I can. 

It is a beautiful sunny but chilly day. It’s hard to think that the forecasters are saying we may be getting rain and maybe even snow yet today. But, not much we can do about it. It is supposed to be in the forties again tomorrow so if we get any snow, it won’t amount to a hilll of beans. (Hmmmm, I wonder where that expression came from? What is a hill of beans worth? What kind of beans are we talking about?)

Peace. 

 I know my thermometer says it is 63 outside but it doesn’t feel like it. The su can’t seem to break trough the clouds and there is enough of a breeze to ring the Corinthian chimes so that makes it chilly. Luckily, we are home fro our running around and don’t have to go back out today at all. The first thing o the agenda today was for Kate to get a haircut. So I took her down for that and sat in the car while she got er hair done. It looks nice, —- and yes, I told her so. 

Next, we went to the east side of town to “Party City” so I could get some clear 18oz plastic cups for my tomato seeds. I got to quit watching videos about planting my tomatoes. I keep finding something else I need. For instance, I bought the red cups and I got them ready to put my dirt in. Remember the other day when I told you I bought grade soil instead of potting soil? Well, my latest video made it clear that I should buy potting soil because it prevents fungus and some kind of gnat. So I got on Amazon and my potting soil will be deliverer on Tuesday. Then I saw aa video that said the outside cup of my double cup method should be clear so I can easily tell when I need to add water. That makes sense of course so I went to Party City and got more cups. 

On the way home from there, we stopped at Penn Station and picked up lunch and brought it home. Now, I’m watching the squirrels look for new places to hide pecans and Ms. Kate is in her recliner and has taken her morning pre-op stuff. Tomorrow I have too start giving her the Lovenox injections. 

That’s it for today. Enjoy your weekend. Peace. 

 It’s another beautiful cold morning but is warming up nicely. It was 35 when I got up and is 45 now and on the way to 60. I’ll take it, thank you very much Lord. 

This morning I am starting to get my stuff organized so I can plant my tomato seeds. Yesterday I went out and ought a LED “shop light” to use as a “grow light”. The problem is that it is a foot too long for where I’m planning to put my seedling cups. So I have that issues to figure out. I told y’all that I’m using the “solo-cup” planting system. It takes two solo cups per seed or couple of seeds. I got my 1/4 inch holes drilled in all of the inside cups to allow water to seep up and roots to grow out of.  (Per a video I saw) and I bought some “river pebbles” yesterday at Lowes and have put a couple of pebbles in each of the outside cups to give a bit of distance between the cups. (Per a different video I saw. —— what would we do without the internet and You Tube to tell us how to breathe?) I also bought some Miracle Gro garden soil to put in my cups to plant the seeds in. I taught about using potting soil instead of garden dirt but convinced myself that the dirt would be a better medium. Of course that decision was based a pure guess.  So, now I have to clean all of the stuff off of the shelf that I intend to put the cups on. One thing always leads to another doesn’t it.

I just got one of those scam phone calls allegedly from “my grandson”. I knew instantly that it wasn’t one of mine because He started out with “Hey Grandpa” and none of my grandchildren call me by that name. They each have  their own endearing name for me, and none of them call me Grandpa. But — I let him tell his tale of woe and then hung up on him. I guess I’m a “bad grandpa”. LOLOLOL

One week from now I will be sitting in a waiting room for the doctor’s to come tell me that they have finished Kate’s surgery. This Friday she has to start with some of her prep stuff including me giving her her Lovenox injections. We are both so anxious about this surgery getting done. Amazingly enough, I don’t think either of us is “frightened” about her having it. We just assume it is going to go well and will take care of the issues she has been having. We have turned this over to God and God will make happen what ever is right. 

So tat is it for today. Have a pleasant day. Say a prayer for all of the people in this world that are facing crises of any kind. Peace

 Another day of waking up to sunshine and clear skies. It like like a great morning to sit out in the sun porch and watch my guests at the Backyard Buffet; —- but it is 32 degrees so maybe not. Not until I go turn on my space heater and let it set for aa bit. 

I was up a little earlier this morning because I was supposed to have an optometry appointment at 0915.  But when I picked up my phone this morning I had a message from the doctor’s office saying that my doctor would not be in today so I would have to reschedule. That works fine for me. I rescheduled for the week after Kate’s surgery. She should be home by then and recovering. Hopefully she will be fine to leave alone, at least that is what we expect. 

So today, Kate is going to try to get in to get her hair trimmed prior to her surgery. I don’t see that she needs a haircut but if she thinks she does — then she does. Now that my day is open I think I will go to ACE Hardware or to Lowes and get my potting soil so I can plant my tomato seeds and get them going. I have never started tomato’s from seeds before so this is an experiment. I have two different kinds of tomato seeds that I ordered and a package of yellow summer squash seeds. I will wait on the squash seeds and just plant them directly in the pots I plan to use after last possible frost. But I wanted to try starting my tomato’s from seeds this year. I’m using the “solo cup” method that I saw in a You Tube video. I reckon I will see what happens. It could turn out to be a lot more trouble than it is worth or I might just end up with a bumper crop and more tomatoes than I know what to do with. 

Kate and I watched one television show last night, the Kid’s Baking Championship and then spent the evening reading our respective books. Art Christmas loaned me a book from his library on Sunday by Wayne Oates. Dr. Oates was one of Art’s professors and mentors in seminary. The book is a good read. I finished a third of it last night. Maybe I’ll read some more of it today while I’m waiting for the temperature outside to warm up. 

Ms. Kate and I filled bird feeders yesterday afternoon and threw out some more pecans for the squirrels. Those are all gone already this morning. 

That’s it for today. I pray your day will be blessed. I ask for the Lord too pass His hand over you and bring comfort to whatever obstacles might be in your path today. Peace. 

 Good morning and happy new week. God has blessed us with another beautiful day which is nice. Kate and I had some running around to do first thing today. She had to go have some blood dawn as part of her pre-operation protocol. Then we had to go to Walgreens and get some clarification on one of the pre-op medications that I have to give her right before surgery. Her doctor will take her off of her Coumadin blood thinner four days before surgery and I will have to give her Lovenox injections twice a day as a “bridge” until she can go back on her Coumadin after the surgery is over. After Walgreens, we went out to the Sunrise cafe and had aa great breakfast. I love that we have so many great breakfast places her e in Evansville since that is one of my favorite  meals. 

Went to church yesterday and the pastor had a good message and we had a chance to see old friends and meet some new people that have joined the church since we have been there. I life-long friend Ron Henze waas in town from Ohio and sang a couple of solos. 

Yesterday evening I actually did do some clean up in my garage. Not that one could tell unless you really looked and knew what was where before. But, in the process I also got the battery fully charged on both of the John Deere’s. I know it is early February but one needs to keep the toys kept in order. One never knows when one needs to just take a mower ride because it’s fun.  I will work on the garage again this afternoon. 

In the meantime, it may be that nap time will raise its lovely head. Have a blessed week my friends. Peace. 

 The weekend. Has arrived. Happy Saturday to you. I’m sitting in my family room recliner cause it is still a bit cool to be in the sunporch. ButI’m looking out at a beautiful day.  The sun is shining brightly and not a cloud in the sky. It looks like one of those days that I should put on my jeans and go outside and do something in the yard. But —- it is 36 degrees so I think I will pull the reins on that thought for a couple of hours. It is supposed to get up to 58 later today. Actually there isn’t  any work to be done outside just yet but I do want to work on my garage and will have the overhead door open while I do that. I have been promising myself that I will try to straighten up my garage for some time. But it gets really cold out there too. 

Did I tell you that we have an actual surgery date for Ms. Kate? It is February 14th. Yesterday we went to the surgery center for her to pick up her instructions and materials for surgery prep. We are eleven days out now. While we aren’t excited about having surgery, we are excited about the expected outcome of the surgery. The really good thing is that she is going into the surgery in much better condition than she was. That in and of itself will help with the healing process. 

Thursday we went up to my sister-in-lw’s house so I could gather some pecans for my squirrels. Karen’s two pen trees have been super prolific this year. I don’t need them for us to eat but I wanted to gather some for my squirrels. I have this super “rollater” pecan picker-upper that make the job easy and fun. I gathered a five gallon bucket to the brim with pecans and I never left her driveway. This is the second “picking” that I have done this winter. I throw a couple of dozen pecans at a time out by my bird feeders and by the next morning they are all gone. It is a win-win situation; Karen gets her driveway cleaned off and I get free food for my squirrels. Her house sits on the Ohio River with an unobstructed view of the river so I take my time. There is a walking trail along the highway that is always busy with walkers and  bicycle riders and I watch the river barges as they approach or pass through the Dam a half mile up the road. It makes for an excellent hour or so especially if the wind isn’t blowing. Thursday was perfect. 

I think it is time for me to visit the kitchen and toast a bagel or something and then get dressed to start my day. I pray you have a wonderful weekend. Please take time to visit your house of worship. God has blessed you a million times this week. Take time to give tanks for that. Peace. 

 It’s Wednesday and it is the last day of January 2024. I recall a year ago thinking that I only had 11 more months until I retired and now, here I am, already retired for a full month.  I wonder, am I supposed to have anything to show for that? If so, I failed because I can’t say I have anything to show for it. One day has gone by just like the one before it. We go from doctor appointment to doctor appointment for Ms. Kate waiting for a surgery date. We thought and hoped we would have her surgery out of the way before Christmas but as you know, that didn’t happen. But, we have all of our part of the deal complete, she has all of her clearances and the thing we’re waiting for now is word back from the family doctor on how he wants her to handle her Coumadin prior to the surgery. Certainly she has to be off it or risk “bleeding out” during surgery. The options as I understand it are that she goes off of the medicine for “x” number of bays to get it out of her system or we do what is called a bridge by me giving her Lovenox shots. But waiting for an answer is frustrating. Today we have to take her in for blood work again. (Sigh)

Kate and I went out to dinner last evening. It was the first time we have done that in I don’t know how long. We went to St. Joe Inn for some good “tavern food”. The special was fried chicken and their fried chicken is better than a lot of places. Combine that with some good German Fried potatoes, homemade bread, green beans, fried mushrooms and Cole slaw and it is a meal that is hard to beat. We so seldom go out to eat, mainly because Kate is  the “drive-thu and pick it up” queen. She has had to really watch what and how much she eats for over a year now so going out to a sit down restaurant just is not worth the time and money. When we fix food here at home she will eat a few bites and then is done. And she doesn’t like left-overs. It has not been fun fixing meals here for the past year. But, the “good side “of things is that we have both lost some weight and we needed to do that.

I have started several writing projects. I’m not sure what they will turn out to be. They might be sermons for some future use or they might just end up as files for someone to delete from my computer when I’m dead. But, I get these things running through my head and I write them down. Who knows, one of them could turn into a book eventually. 

With that —- I’m done for today. Have a wonderful day. Take time to give thanks to God for your blessings. Peace. 

 “Rode hard and put away wet”. That’s a saying from when I was a kid. It was generally used when a person was coming down with a cold or they had been outside doing hard labor all day and then come in and plop down in their favorite chair. Or it could be used to describe how a person might feel after they got a Shingrix shingles vaccine and a RSV vaccine on the same day. I fall into that category. But — I’m glad to say that it isn’t anything that a coulee of Tylenol can’t handle. I got to feeling a little rough last evening about 12 hours after the shots and I took a-couple of Tylenol and it gave me a fairly good night’s rest. This morning I started getting a headache and my arms and muscles were sore. But I’m glad to say that another two Tylenol quickly took care of it; —- ah and a nap also helped. 

It is a sunny/cloudy day and is currently 46 degrees with little breeze which makes it an okay day. It rained enough earlier this morning to get everything wet, maybe a tenth of an inch. That’s supposed to end our rain chances for the remainder of the week. Tomorrow I will go out and fill all of the bird feeders again and the yard dries out a bit. Don’t want to bring a bunch of mud in on Kate’s floor. 

This afternoon I have to take Kate to the Heart Group for a Doppler Carotid Artery test. This is an annual thing she has to do. It doesn’t take long and is non-invasive. We will go back next week for consultation withe the doctor. We are still waiting on word from from the surgeon’s scheduler on a date. I kow it hasn’t taken as long as it seems it has but waiting is stressful. 

That’s it for today. Have a blessed day. Peace. 

 Hello Monday, my old friend’ I’m glad to see you once again. ( Should I sing that to you? I think it would be done like the beginning to a Simon and Garfunkel song.) Actually, I know a lot of people hate to see Monday morning come around but when you are retired and have nothing on the calendar it is just another day. 

How was your weekend? We had a good weekend. It rained all weekend as you know but that just makes for good reading days or good writing days. Yesterday we went to church at our home church. It is the first time that we have gone back since I retired. I have “gone” to that church since I was adopted at the age of five years. I was baptized and then confirmed at Zoar Church. However, to say I have “gone” to that church is not the same as saying I have attended that church. In reality, I have been away from my home church far more than I have actually attended it. Being gone for 32 years with the Air Force and then serving as pastor of the Ft. Branch churches for a total of 17.5 years has taken us out of the Zoar pews for long periods of time. But —- whenever we came home on leave or I had a vacation Sunday, or during the other periods when we were living in Evansville, I, and then we, —— attended Zoar; and I love my home church. It sits on 19 beautiful partially wooded acres, and the church. is simplistically aesthetically beautiful. I always feel so very at peace when I go and sit in that sanctuary.   Speaking of returning to Zoar, Ms. Kate and I got such a warm reception when we walked into the sanctuary. The smiles and hugs were wonderful. The Zoar congregation has always been so very supportive of me and my ministry. 

Today I went to Walgreens and got my shingles vaccine and my RSV vaccine. I found out that my last shingles vaccine was taken way too long ago, well over a decade, and was “the old style” and even when new had been only 50% effective; which I paid almost $400.00 out of pocket for a vaccine that was only 50% effective.   So, I got a “new first shot” of the new Shingrix vaccine today and will have to go back in 3-6 months for my next one. The new vaccine is 90% effective. I got the RSV vaccine too because it was recommended by my doctor. All of us “old people” are supposed to get it. With my asthma, I don’t need to take any chances of coming down with a pulmonary infection. Old dudes and toddlers die from that and I still have plans. The nurse said I may experience fatigue and some soreness but so far, I’m doing fine. 

That’s enough for today. I pray you will have a blessed week. The weather is supposed to be a bit more pleasant than it has been the last week or so. When you step outside and it is a nice day, —- look up to the Creator and Giver and give thanks. Peace. 

 Wow, is it really Wednesday?? My blogs and the urge to write a blog seem to get further apart all the time.  Maybe that’s because there is nothing on the daily calendar except for taking Kate to the doctor or going to the grocery store. Feeding the birds keeps me with one extra small thing to do, but that’s about it.  

So, what have I been doing since last entry ???? It has snowed at least once and I got out and shoveled the driveway. I didn’t use the John Deere because I haven’t gotten the blade put on yet, but that was fine. My snow shovel made easy work of it because the snow was light and fluffy and this way I got in some “steps” for my exercise. Yesterday and today and probably again tomorrow we have had rain. Nothing heavy, but still rain. And it brought  some warm weather with it. It was in the mid fifties already when I got up this morning. 

I started on a new Stephen King Novel, I think maybe Sunday evening. Monday afternoon I read for awhile and then yesterday I spent the entire day reading, and finishing that book. It was rely a good read. That book has been sitting on the table beside my sunporch recliner for probably a year untouched. But now that I’m retired, I may have to learn new ways to relax. I do have another SK novel sitting here waiting on me to “crack the binding” and get started on it. And I have pre-ordered King’s next novel that will be released in April. 

But for today ——— It’s laundry day. What fun! What excitement! 

Have a blessed day. Peace. 

 Happy Saturday. I think we are up to maybe 8 degrees by now today. But it isn’t going to get to more than the mid-teens. But, I have no place to go so it is no big deal. We had another 3/4 of an inch of snow Thursday night but it again was a “dry snow” and was easily removed. I think I maybe spent an hour yesterday morning pushing the snow off of the driveway. I wanted it all off before we drove on it and picked it down. 

Yesterday, we met with Ms. Kate’s surgeon and the discussion was good. If everything continues as it seems to be going now —- we are looking at the middle of February for her surgery. She has to have another appointment with her heart doctor next week. The last one was when they discovered she was in A-Fib and she had to have the cardioversion. But, she is doing well now and we expect no problem.  The only hold up is a required minimum amount of time to pass after the cardioversion, which is 35 days. But the surgeon was satisfied with what he saw. We are so anxious to maybe get this all over with. 

I have a had a lot of visitors at the Backyard Buffet. I had to do a refill on some of the feeders. The starlings are just a bunch of greedy grabbers. Certainly not my favorite birds but I remind myself that they must serve some purpose on the earth or God would not have made them. 

Time to go make a pot of vegetable soup. Have a great weekend . Peace. 

 A chilly 10 degrees good morning to you. However, the sun is shining and the temperature is supposed to rise to almost 30 degrees today. That is a heatwave. And it is supposed to be that way again tomorrow except that by evening we may be getting some snow of some amount. It won’t be anything major, maybe an inch, but I’m not anxious for it because this time it will be a “wetter snow” and the temperature is supposed to drop back to the low 20’s on Friday. It has been some weird weather all across the nation. One could almost say that we were getting the “good weather” here. Else where they are having snow by the foot or they are having tornadoes and other strong storms. My daughter Heather and her husband went over to Star, Idaho where they built a new home and they got almost a foot of snow. Being from Southern California, they were thrilled, but none of their new neighbors were quite as happy about it. That region usually get maybe 24 inches for an entire winter season and they got a foot in one snowfall. My grandson, Josh and his family live up in New Hampshire and they posted picture of them all going snowmobiling and it looked like they were having a blast. Oh to be young again. 

I got all of the snow we had cleared off of the driveway and the sidewalks on Tuesday. The snow we got was only about 1/4 of an inch and it was light and fluffy. So, I took the leaf blower out there and got it all cleaned off. I wanted to do that before we drove on it and packed it down by driving on it. But I will end up shoveling the next one I suspect, since it is supposed to be wetter. Or maybe, since we don’t have a lot of places to go, I’ll just leave it. It is supposed to get back to normal temperatures of 41degrees next week. 

Today we are meeting Brenda and Andy for lunch at St. Joe Inn. It is a tradition we started many years ago with her mom and dad. We meet for lunch and have a great visit, some fried mushrooms and a pitcher of beer. 

Kari is here this morning to clean the house so we are going to head out shortly and get out of the way. I hope you have a blessed day. Stay warm and pray for those folks who don’t have the warm home to go to like you do. We had a homeless man die of hypothermia here in town. He had been offered a place in a shelter but reused it. Maybe he thought it was just his time to lay down and give up on living; I don’t know. But, may his soul Rest In Peace.

And my God grant you peace today. 

 January 15th; the month is half over. 2024 is now on a roll. It is 4 degrees outside and does not promise to do a lot better today. I think 16 is the goal for today; and the same for tomorrow. By Thursday I think it is supposed to reach 32 but then drop off again on Friday. And —- it snowed. Not a lot; just enough to maybe make the driveway slick. I will put my “winters” on in a bit and see if I can use the leaf blower to blow it all off. I went outside a while ago to put some stuff in the garbage can and it was COLD!!! I didn’t stay out there long. 

My Backyard Buffet is still “the place to be” according to “Aviary Weekly”, if that was a thing. The Starlings and Robins are still the main visitors but we have plenty of Cardinals and other small birds like Juncos, Chickadees, Bluebirds, and a couple of Doves. The Starlings spend more time fighting over the feeders than they do actually eating. I don’t actually care, they are all fun to watch. 

We only have a couple of things on the calendar this week. We were going to go to the clinic for another blood draw for Kate today but we decide to wait until tomorrow. Then on Friday we meet with her surgeon. Hopefully we can get a better idea of her surgery date. We are both so anxious to get this done with. So far, the cardioversion she had last week seems to be doing what it was supposed to do. 

So, that’s it for today. Stay warm and if you must go out, stay safe. Peace. 

 Good morning on this wet, sloppy, soggy morning. It has been raining since midnight but we have only gotten about 3/4 of an inch so far. But it is supposed to continue to rain through the day. And — as the day progresses, the temperatures will continue to drop. And, —- as I look at the rest of the country, we have the good weather. At least here we don’t have a blizzard like they do up north or tornadoes like they do down south. So, no matter where you are reading this —- your weather sucks too. Just be safe y’all. My son-in-law, Jim says he is planning to come over to put the snow blade on my John Deere tomorrow. Maybe that will be our “defense against the snow-gods” and will keep us from getting any. 

This haas been a pretty good week for Ms. Kate. She has actually felt pretty good the past couple of days and has been able to eat what she wants to. She has more energy. That tells me that the cardioversion obviously did her some good. We are both thrilled about that. We also give God praise for giving people the knowledge and skills to perform such things. God uses all of us in some way to do his work if we just allow ourselves to be His instruments. 

That’s it for today. Stay dry and stay out of the cold if you can. Peace. 

 Tuesday afternoon. Second day of the week and second doctor’s visit. But —- at least this is the last doctor’s appointment for this week. Our next scheduled appointment is in the last half of next week; and that will be with her surgeon. So, we feel like we are making some progress. Yesterday’s appointment was for a cardioversion appointment to shock her heart back into rhythm. It is interesting that it takes about 40 minutes to get her all set up for them to do the test. Then they “put her out” and do the procedure and it takes less than ten minutes, and they wake her up again. The designed result is that she should have more energy because her heart isn’t pumping at an unreal pace. The downside is that she isn’t supposed to have her surgery for at least 30 days after the cardioversion. So, we’ll see how it goes. 

We’re having a rainy day today which is a really good thing. We are in a mild to severe drought so this rain is a real blessing. What isn’t a blessing is the wind and storm that is supposed to happen yet this evening and night. We could be getting 30-40 mph gusts. However, it seems all of my girls are also looking at some bad weather at their locations. North Carolina family is looking at storms and maybe even a tornado. California kids are looking at wind and rains and colder then normal temperatures. Joshua up in New Hampshire is shoveling more snow than he wants. So, maybe we are in the sweet spot at least until the weekend. Next week we are looking at the possibility of snow an maybe ice. Not fun! But Jim is coming over on Saturday morning and wil put the snow blade on for me. And —- I went out and bought two 40 lb bags of ice melt, before thee rush starts at the first snow flake. 

So, that’s it for today. Have yourself a great week. Peace. 

 Saturday morning and it is a misty 37 degrees outside. Not going to be a very inviting day at all. Long range forecasts show us to be going through several days of on and off rainy weather. But, we actually need rain. We are below average and it doesn’t look like we will be getting any or at least not very much of the snow that is going to sweep across the country this weekend and next week. But then I don’t want any snow because I don’t have my blade on the JD yet. 

We’re finally getting the appointments lined up for Ms. Kate. She has to be at Gateway Hospital at 0800 on Monday for her cardioversion. It is a two and a half hour appointment but hopefully when she is done, she will have a lot more energy. Then Tuesday she has an appointment with our family doctor’s Nurse Practitioner. Then on the 19th, she sees the surgeon again, although she is supposed to wait for the surgery until 30 days after the cardioversion. This whole things is really dragging out. 

In the meantime, I made a good pot of beef-vegetable soup yesterday and an excellent Meyer Lemon pound cake. I am expanding my cooking repertoire Of course I spend a good amount of time asking Kate how to do stuff. I also went to my local Neighborhood Walmart and did the grocery shopping. I didn’t think I had bought much until it was time to pay the bill. It doesn’t take long to jump past the hundred dollar mark these days and that was without buying any meat. One of the things that I bought that really shocked me was cottage cheese. They had a large size container of it and it was $17.00. I certainly didn’t buy it but that really shocked me. 

Well, that’s it for today. Have a great weekend. This is my first weeekend of retirement and my first time not preaching (except for vacation) in a very long time. It does feel strange. Peace. 

 January 4th of this brand new year. Time is weird all of a sudden. It seems like it was forever ago that I retired and it hasn’t been a week yet. And yet, I keep thinking that I need to get things done for this coming Sunday to prepare for the services. Sigh; I reckon I’ll get my brain straightened out soon enough. 

Our week has been busy with doing stuff for Ms. Kate of course. She had an appointment yesterday to meet with her heart doctor’s Nurse practitioner to get a pre surgery EKG and get signed off so she could have the surgery. Instead, they quickly determined that she is in AFIB again. So this morning we went for blood work and now we are waiting for lab results and for someone to call and give us an appointment date  for her heart cardioversion.  We have an appointment next Tuesday with our family doctor’s FNP and then another appointment with her surgeon on the 19th. It’s just one thing and then another. We know the surgery can’t happen now until 30 days after the cardioversion. So it all just continues to drag out. It does tend to get depressing. 

In the meantime, the most exciting thing in our lives is watching birds at feeders and bird baths. Although, I did take down the Christmas tree. That was a real “hoot”. LOL

Have a blessed day. Peace. 

 Good morning and Happy 2024. It is the first day of a new month and the first day of a new year. I pray that 2024 will be a much better year for Ms. Kate than 2023 was. 

I am officially retired. After 32 years of service to the nation and another 20 years of service to the church, I woke up this morning with absolutely nothing and no “out of the house” obligations on my plate. I have been looking forward to this day for the past year and now that it has arrived, I’m not really sure how I feel about it all. It’s way too early in the game to try to figure out what I’m going to do with myself to keep busy. Granted, I have a self generated list of things that I want and need to do around here but that is just “putzing” around doing “make work”. But it will get me to Spring when it will be lawn and garden time again.  My first priority of course is to take care of Ms. Kate. We have doctor’s appointments lined up through the end of the month, that will culminate with surgery. Our thoughts now are that her surgery will probably be the first week of February; although she has been having several issues that could move the date forward. We’re planning a call to the surgeon’s office tomorrow to discuss these issues. 

We had a really full church yesterday for my last service. I felt very honored. It was wonderful to have two of my daughters and a son-in-law there for the service. Ms. Kate was just not up to the task. I was also honored that my friend and mentor was there. As a faith community/family we shared a lot of love yesterday. It will seem really strange to not make that trip up to Ft. Branch any time soon. However, I can still watch their services via Facebook. I’m not really supposed to return to the church any time soon but Facebook will keep me informed as to how they are doing. And several people do read this blog, so they can keep up with what is going on my the life of Ms. Kate and me. 

That will bring you up to date on me. I celebrated New Year’s Eve by doing laundry. Having had company for the past ten days, it was starting to back up a bit. I’m finishing the last load in the dryer right now so we can start the new year off all neat and shiny!!!  I did the same thing with my soul too by starting the year off with a prayer of gratitude and a request for guidance through the upcoming year. Peace my friends; May God bless you and guide you as you start out on  another year of adventures.