Happy Friday the 13th. No bad luck here. I'm alive and well and so is my family, so what more could I ask for? Well ----- I guess I could ask that it wasn't dropping freezing rain although I'm not sure that isn't just rain. It is 33 degrees outside and the rain is a "light rain" according to my weather channel app. That is a far cry from the 65 we had yesterday.

My backyard critters are happier this morning since they have food. I didn't get to the birdfood store yesterday but they still have full feeders of sunflower seed. For the squirrels, their challenge is to be able to climb the wet, cold metal poles. They have kind of been like yo yo's this morning; climbing up and sliding down. It's fun to watch. It might have to be a two coffee pot morning so I can set out here and watch my birds etc. The problem though is that it is cooler out here than is totally comfortable. I keep the sliding glass door open from the family room into the sunporch but that robs the house of heat and the temperature is still only 57 degrees out here. That isn't bad for me because I'm always warm natured but I do get chilly sitting here.

As I look around the yard I see the winds have knocked down several small branches that I need to clean up when it quits raining. I also need to cut the hydrangeas back to the ground. I realize that we are only three weeks into winter but spring will get here before we know it. Now that I am retired I will have a lot more time to work outside this spring. The biggest hurdle will be getting my butt out of the chair and actually doing the work.

I think today I need to bring up the containers and take down the Christmas tree. We didn't have time to do it before we left on vacation and we have only been home a couple of days now, but it is time to get it down and put things back in their place. It shouldn't take too long, it is just the getting the tree back down to the basement and put up in the storage. We have so much Christmas stuff. At one point in our lives, Ms. Kate put up several trees and it was a chore and a half to get all of the stuff out and then put back away. But, we only put up one this year and hardly any other decorations. I have already taken down the outside stuff and put that where it belongs.

Here we are at another weekend and God has blessed us all week and protected us. We need to decide where we are going to go worship this weekend. There are lots of churches out there to choose from, we just need to start walking in the door to some of them and try them out. After all --- I've always said that God doesn't have a denomination. But, Ms. Kate and I are traditional in our theology and we like a structured worship service verses what folks call "contemporary services". Besides, we are just "biding our time" until it is appropriate for us to return to Ft. Branch to worship at the churches that I pastored.

Take time this weekend to give honorand glory to God and give thanks for the salvation that has been provided for you through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peace.

Ahhhh! Back in the sunporch. It is great to sit back down in my recliner, turn on my music, and sit and watch the critters in my back yard. Although there aren't many visitors today. The feeders are all empty since we've been gone for two whole weeks. I have one caged feeder that still has a feed cylinder in it that the birds haven't cleaned up yet. There is a squirrel going crazy trying to reach inside of the cage to rake out some seed. But -- I have the plate below the cylinder wired down and the cylinder holder doesn't move over to the squirrel. It is really frustrated. It keeps trying, leaving, coming back and trying again. I applaud its efforts and determination. I guess I should get out there and fill everything up. It is warm this morning and has rained some. However, it is supposed to drop to freezing tonight and then ice tomorrow. So, I need to check my stock and see what I have and don't have.

We --- I checked my stock and the larder is empty.  I had enough to put out some suet cakes and the woodpeckers are already all off them. I had just enough bark butter left to do one feeder. So, I filled all of the sunflower feeders and Ms. Kate and I need to go to Wildbirds Unlimited for a total restock. That'll be a hundred bucks for sure. The cardinals have already come back in. I don't know how they know to fly in or that I have filled feeders, but it is a great thing.

I've been writing today's blog in spurts and I apologize for that. It isn't polite to walk out in the middle of a conversation, --- even if it is one sided. But, I'm back again. I went over to Neighbor Dan's house to pick up the mail he had collected for us while we were gone. I sat and talked with him for awhile about his wrist surgery. He's in pretty bad shape. When he finishes up with the healing and PT part of this one --- he has to have the other one done. So, he won't be worth a nickel for help this spring. Next, we were headed out for lunch at R'z resturant up in Ft. Branch. However, we got out on the highway and the sky up ahead was black with rain clouds and we could se that it was pouring. So, we looped back around and went some place else for lunch. After lunch we came on back home. The temperature dropped about fifteen degrees while we were having lunch. It looks like the forecaster was right. Darn it!

It was great to sleep in my own bed last night but I was up way too early. I think a recliner and a fireplace might be a recipe for the afternoon while I "check my eyelids for holes" as my father always said. I hope your day is warm with the love of God and you will feel fully blessed. Have a great day.

It is 2215 hours on January 10th, a Tuesday. We are on the road to home and have stopped at Morganton, NC for the night. We stayed in this Comfort Inn on the way down to Lisa's house what I think was ten days ago. This has been an interesting trip with twists and turns.

The good news continues to be that Amanda is responding well to her rehabilitation. She is excited and attentive to her treatment. She has another week to go and then the real test begins when she comes home. It is going to take some adult parenting as opposed to adult direction and I think there is a difference. The family is all new to this and there are chances every step along the way to cause a relapse or problems. I continue to pray for them.

We left Lisa's house yesterday afternoon and drove down to Fayetteville, NC and spent the night. This morning we got up and headed to the funeral home for thee visitation for my friend Tommy. It was great seeing the family although going there to conduct his funeral wasn't the way I had hoped to see him again. I last saw Tommy and Anna back in 2001 when I retired from the Air Force. The funeral went well. I did the funeral service at the funeral home and Ms. Kate and I left. The family and friends were gong to proceed out to the cemetery where they would have full military honors presented by the Patriot Guard and a military Chaaplaiin would conduct the internment service. The family was very happy with the service I conducted and it was great to see the family and a couple of the guys that worked for me at Pope AFB 24 years ago. Fortunately, I have had contact with many of them on social media, but it was good to see them anyway.

Ou trip from Fayetteville to here was not without adventure either. We were in the left lane passing a semi when all of a sudden the semi driver started moving right into our lane. I kept honking my horn as I kept moving left. I ended up completely off of the road driving through snow pack and ice for about a tenth of a mile at 65 MPH until the guy was completely by us and I was able to get it back on the highway. My white knuckles and God's steady hand are all that kept us from flipping end or end. We certainly offered up our prayers of gratitude.

Tomorrow we will arrive home if all goes well. It looks like we may be traveling in rain all the way which I'm not looking forward to,especially through the North Carolina mountains. But --- God will het us home; ---- the we can start taking down the Christmas tree.

Have a blessed day. I'll see you on the sunporch. Peace.

Saturday afternoon. The storm is supposed to be all over but I just checked the weather channel radar app and it would appear that we are going to have this light snow stuff for at least another couple of hours. But we are inside and not out in the stuff so what the heck. We don't have anywhere we need to go and so we are sitting here watching a Naked and Afraid marathon, simply because no one changes the channel. Gary went to work and Matt is at a friends house. So it is just Ms. Kate, Lisa and me. We are on pot three of coffee.

I need to open up the flash drive and go over what I plan to say at Tommy's funeral. I know there will be an Air Force Chaplain there too so at this pint, I don't really know if the chaplain intends to be part of the service at the funeral home or what. I'll just write what I want to say and then go with the flow once I get there. I know the Chaplain will do the internment at the graveside, and there will be full military honors and a Mason ceremony as well as something by the Patriot Guard.

We have truly enjoyed our visit with the kids. It makes think we may have to go be a pest to the rest of the girls for awhile. But I think we'll wait for better weather. Come late June, we'll all be together in Gatlingburg TN for a week. I am really looking forward to that. There is nothing I love more than being surrounded by my family. It's bad enough that we live all over the country but now the grandkids are getting old enough to to be off on their own. We already know that it is doubtful that Lauren will be attending this year because she has a moto-cross race up in Mammoth California. I fear that is just the beginning of the "sorry, can't make it" stories that we are going to be hearing over the next few years. Our cabin size needs are going to shrink.

The area was supposed to get a lot of snow here and I guess some areas did get as much as nine or ten inches, but we got a lot of rain, freezing rain, sleet, and now snow. Matt just stopped by with his friends and said the roads aren't all that bad. I hope that Lisa, Gary, and Matt can get to see Amanda tomorrow since it is south of here. Ms. Kate and I won't try to go. The facility folks stretched the rules to allow three of us to see her last week. Five would really push the limits and she doesn't need that hassle. But, she is doing really well.

I guess I will sign off for today. I hope your Saturday is filled with blessings. Peace.

I'm sitting here having my coffee playing my silly computer games of Bingo Bash, Criminal Case as Ms. Kate plays her computer games too and we share a second pot of coffee. Matt and Gary made it back from New Mexico last night and all three of them are at the shop working now. So, it is as quiet as it would be if we were at home in Evansville.

The big news around here though is that we are all still waiting for the first snow flake to fall so we can all run out and buy milk and bread. I was at the Seymore Johnson AFB base exchange yesterday and there wasn't a snow shovel to be found. But of course, that isn't an item that would normally be sold here. While I was there I went to the barber shop and got my first Base Exchange haircut in probably four years. They did a good job although it is a little shorter than I usually wear it these days. The last haircut I got at an Air Force base was out at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas and the gal that did it did a horrible job. Ms. Kate cut my hair for maybe forty years of our marriage but she doesn't do it anymore. Maybe we have gotten to the point where it is just easier to go have it done and it doesn't cost that much.

We have truly enjoyed being down here at Lisa's although I suspect we are wearing out our welcome. Were it not for the funeral next week, we would have left yesterday or this morning at the latest. I've always held that company and fish are good for about three days and then you need to move them on. I know we are truly welcome but I also know that they all have their daily lives to get on with. But they have been great hosts and I'm glad we could be here with Lisa while Matt and Gary were gone. It gave the guys a sense of comfort knowing that Lisa wasn't alone.

We've talked daily to Amanda from down at her rehabilitation program. She sounds very positive and upbeat about her program which is wonderful. But then --- it is easier to be that way while you are being surround by the conditions of the program. We'll just have to wait and see, and continue to pray for her once she has completed the program and comes home. Her biggest addiction (as bad as her drug use) has been the caustic relationship with her boyfriend. She has told him they are through but --- there is no telling what will happen. But --- her support system is firmly in place. I would just ask that you continue to lift her up in your prayers. She is such a good kid and a joy to be around;  but we are all capable of making really bad choices. I've been there and done that's and so have you. So, keep the prayer wheel turning if you would.

Time to throw a coat on and head to Walmart. I pray you will have a blessed day. Take the time to talk to God who has filled your life with blessings. Have a great weekend. Peace.

Good morning once again from North Carolina. It is a bit warmer here today and it isn't raining. However, by tonight tthe bottom is going to begin to drop out of the thermometer and share the cold wave that is sweeping the nation.

I want to share with you this morning another example of how God works in the most mysterious ways. I told you that we came to NC in order to be with Lisa while her husband and son could take the opportunity to go visit his dad in New Mexico. And we are here also to support her daughter Amanda who is going through drug detox and rehab. Our plan was to stay a week and then head on back home, probably Friday or Saturday. I have been kind of watching and listening to weather forecasts across our projected travel area and yes, it looked like we might run into a snow situation. But, we knew if we take our time, all would most likely be fine as long as we got through the mountains.

Yesterday morning I got a "friend request" on Facebook from the daughter of an old friend (Tommmy) from down here in NC. They all live about seventy miles south of here in Fayetteville, NC which is where I met them back in 1988.  Tommy served as my First Sergeant when I commanded the Security Police Squadron at Pope Air Force Base from January 1988 to late 1990. His daughter wanted to tell me that Tommy had passed away the day before. They had seen on Facebook that we were in North Carolina and were hoping that I was going to be here long enough to do Tommy's funeral. I talked to his daughter and his wife and they were at their wits end. They don't have a church that they attend, or a pastor that they could call and told me that Tommy had told them that when he passed away, he hoped they could get in touch with me.

Now, think again about the progression of events. We had not planned to come to NC at all until this stuff happened with Amanda, but we made arrangements to come. That could not have happened easily except that I retired in November thereby freeing me up. So, we come down here and then I get a call that I am needed to do a funeral for an old friend. That will keep us down here long enough to miss the pending snow storm and we'll not have to travel through that. And when I'm kind of wondering if maybe I should not have retired just yet, God, says; "Oh, you are never retired from service to me; I have a small job for you".  I feel so very truly blessed.

Take this thought with you today. God is in control of our life. If we are needed to do something for God, God will let us know one way or another. So, keep yourself open and listen to the voice and the messages that come from God in so very many different ways.

Now ---- I need to go buy some dress pants and a tie.   Have a blessed day. Peace.

A very happy Monday from North Carolina! January the 2nd, 2017 in Goldsboro is a rainy quasi-warm day. Lisa, Ms. Kate and I are sitting here at the table just chit-chatting and enjoying one another's company. She is waiting for the folks to come and install her fireplace logs set and gas system. She has been wanting to do that for some time and now seemed to be the time. So tonight, we'll sit around the fireplace like it was cold or something. 

Yesterday we went to see our granddaughter Amanda at her rehabilitation facility. She has been there now for a week and seems to be responding very positively to the treatment. We had to attend a class first and it was on "enabling" and "Post Acute Withdrawal" symptoms and how to deal with it. It is a great class for those in the patient's support system people. Lisa and Gary will have to attend a class of some kind each Sunday when they go to visit Amanda. I think it is a great thing especially for parents that "are new" to the problems that accompany an addict.

Since the facility is "over on the coast", I was hoping to get some really good seafood. Although, unfortunately by definition, "really good seafood" in North Carolina just means deep fried in fresh oil!!! We located a place on the computer and headed out for there. We finally found it and it was closed; which we should have guessed since it was New Year's Day. So, we ended up hoping to Ruby Tuesday and I had the same shrimp pasta that I could have had back home. Color me disappointed. But, it met the requirement of filling our tummies. 

Gary and Matt arrived in Las Cruses New Mexico just fine and are enjoying their visit with Gary's dad and stepmother. We talked to Matt last night and he was bummed out because it was raining and cold. I had told him it was going to be that way but I think he was hoping I was wrong.  I hope they truly enjoy their trip. 

I hope the showers move out of the area. I'd like to take a walk around the block a couple of times. They have a good neighborhood without a lot of dogs that will eat your butt when you walk by. Lisa has two dogs that frankly scare me. I wouldn't trust them for anything. They are large and untrained and and very territorial. Lisa gets along with them fine as does the rest of the family, but that is about it. 

I guess I'll drop off now and maybe have some lunch. I hope you have a great day and a first week of 2017 filled with blessings. May God enrich your lives this year and fill your soul with the Holy Spirit. Peace.