January 31 – “Muddlethorpe Monkey”

So when was the last time you went to Space Center Houston?  Before yesterday, for us it was way back right after they changed the name from NASA and turned it into a major tourist trap – er – attraction.  And the transition has been made, and made quite effectively.  What I remember was a mass of humanity all bent on experiencing every one of the hands-on opportunities.  Yesterday there were a lot of people, but not overpowering by any means.  There was one large group from Australia.  Some kind of Catholic Youth Organization. 

One of the things that wasn’t available back in the day was the opportunity to go into the plane that carried the shuttle and into the shuttle itself (or the mockup of one they have).  That meant walking up and down three flights of stairs.  Well, we could have taken the elevator, but I had to get my steps in somehow.  The plane in particular was kind of fun.  Why?  Because Noa finally realized that she was standing inside an actual airplane.  She’d never been in one before. 

Inside the boys went berserk with all the hands-on science paraphernalia.  Oh, speaking of science, we listened to a wacky lady give a fun lecture/demonstration of some of the basic principles of rocket science.  Our little guys got to be a part of the whole thing when they were very quick to volunteer.  We also saw two of the movies they showed on one of those gigantic surround screens.  One was about a time a space station scientist/astronaut almost drowned in his space suit.  The other was an animated feature.  Something about a pet ostrich and an alien, walking, talking pile of lime green jello all working together to save the International Space Station.  I was almost asleep when the light came back on.  I hope the space station guys are OK.

Oh, and we found another new friend who agreed to come home with us.  His name is Muddlethorpe Monkey, the Astronaut Ape.  I know.  How can a monkey also be an ape?  But ol’ Muddy is a wonder of nature.  Guess that’s why NASA just had to have him.

Psalms 138:4-5 says, “May all the kings of the earth praise you, O Lord, when they hear the words of your mouth.  May they sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great.”

Father, thank you for another chance to experience something a little different with my wife and those goofy, great grandkids.  Amen.

January 30 – “Spring teaser … aaaaaaand gone”

So Monday’s touch of Spring turned into Tuesday’s funny Winter joke.  Temperatures were in the low 40’s with windchills in the low 30’s.  That meant the wind was so strong that garbage can lids were being opened and in some cases cans themselves were upended all over the neighborhood.  The three huge boxes that our patio chairs came in were strewn all over the place.  One was up at our garage door, no doubt trying to get inside to escape the cold.  Another was in the middle of our next door neighbor’s yard.  The third was … gone.  Nowhere in sight.  Just gone. 

I spent the morning working on sermons and Bible studies.  Our physical break came in the afternoon when we went over to Walmart to get some much-needed groceries.  Aside from the accomplishment of re-populating our pantry, we got to see a few Seasiders who were out doing some grocery gathering of their own.  Always a pleasure to run into folks we know amidst the hordes of picturesque WalMart consumers. 

This morning our goal is to connect with the LaMarque Vaughans.  That means a trip into Texas, of course.  The plan is to go to NASA for the kids to roam around in their visitor center.  I think a picnic is involved as well.  Doesn’t give me much time to work. Guess I should finish up what preparations I can for the SOUPer Bowl party here at the house Sunday night …

Psalms 138:2-3 says, “I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.  When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.”

Father, thank you again for that little Spring teaser.  Makes us long for the real thing, and we do like anticipation.  Amen.

January 29 – “Spring???”

My day began early.  I had to meet the fire inspector at Seaside to get the building checked out.  Seems we need to replace a smoke detector cover.  Other than that we scored perfect.  Good for another year.  I got some cleaning and rearranging done in the church office while I was waiting for them.  Interesting the things you find when everyone has access …

We went for our walk after lunch.  It was “plumb hot” as my grandmother used to say.  Not so much this morning, though.  42 with a wind chill of 32.  Brrrr.  We also walked the deck stairs when we got back.  Oh, and I added some lunges in between steps.  Yep.  I was beat.  And sore.  The good kind of sore, though.

After cooling down out on our new chairs in the back, we took down the old rope lighting encircling the deck.  Long strips of lights were out at intermittent intervals, so we decided to replace the whole lot of them.  As it turned out we had to use pliers to get the screws out, because they were so rusted.  So, now we need to pick a day and string up the new ones.  You know, all this cleaning and rearranging.  It feels way too much like Spring.  So … what time is the Astros game?

Psalms 138:1 says, “I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; before the ‘gods’ I will sing your praise.”

Father, thank you for the really beautiful day yesterday.  I know there are more to come.  Amen. 

January 28 – “Coincidentally”

Church yesterday was another exciting day.  We had right around 80 people there.  Lots of interaction during the teaching as well.  In fact I stopped about halfway through.  Too much material and too little time.  Felt like I was back in my TA days at seminary when I was filling in for the professor I worked for.  We are having a lot of folks from the nearby RV parks.  I watched one group of eight (four couples) gather in the parking lot, then descend upon the worship center all at once.  Kind of ominous-looking.  Our new friends from Canada and Missouri were back as well.  Snow bird season is officially upon us.  Oh, and we even had a few folks who have just moved to the area full time. I had a gentleman stop me before church to ask a specific question about an issue he was dealing with – how do you reconcile loving people even when they do things that outright disgust you.  “Coincidentally,” that was one of the teaching points of the sermon.  I love it when God does stuff like that. 

Sunday afternoon we were invited, along with some other guests from church, to the Dawson’s new house for lunch.  After a rousing bowl of taco soup, we all gathered in their living room for a house blessing service.  We did some praying and scripture reading from their old Bible (to represent their Jesus-based roots) as well as a brand new one (to represent the new life ahead of them as home-owners under Jesus as well).  I splashed some water in four directions using a flower to represent our request that the beauty and joy of the Holy Spirit fill each of them as well as every corner of the house with his presence.  Finally they agreed that the from that point forward the house should be declared as belonging to its true owner, the king of Kings and Lord of Lords – Jesus.  He is, for the time being at least, allowing them to be his stewards and take care of the house for him.  I’m sure it was a little different, but even the cocker spaniel did a great job of sitting quietly while we worked our way through it. 

Psalms 136:23-26 says,

“to the One who remembered us in our low estate

    His love endures forever.

and freed us from our enemies,

      His love endures forever.

and who gives food to every creature.

      His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of heaven.

      His love endures forever.”

Father, thank you for chances to try new things as we acknowledge you as God over all.  Amen.

January 27 – “Opulent”

Watch out for this guy, folks.  He just orchestrated not one, but two – count ‘em – two dates, two days in a row.  It was hard to top the musical theater of Friday night, but we engaged in a lighter, more aerobic trek on Saturday. 

Well, the “more aerobic” part started after we enjoyed lunch at none other than Shrimp and Stuff.  I had the popcorn shrimp dinner.  Chris stuck with popcorn shrimp a la carte.  Can’t beat that. 

Then we headed downtown for the inaugural Galveston Museum Day.  The Galveston museums were offering free or two-for-one admissions.  And I will say up front that we did locate and appropriate the services of a very cute little stuffed dolphin named – what else – Darryl to be our tour guide.  We have never toured the Moody Mansion in particular, so that’s where we began our little day trip.  That place is … opulent (Always wanted to use that word in a sentence).  Unbelievably lush furnishings and even had material on some the walls instead of paint.   

Next we stopped by Rosenberg Library.  Now we have been there a time or two before, but they had a little scavenger hunt going on, so we wanted to join in on the fun.  You had to walk all around the library and find the answers to some questions in the little handout they gave you.  Fun stuff, except for the one trick question about when the library opened.  I figured it out before we turned in our entry, though.  Oh, and because we completed the entire trek, we won a pen with Rosenberg Library stamped on the side. 

Our last stop was the famed Bishop’s Palace. Yes, we have been there before, but not since we were in college and Chris had to do a report on architecture for her sophomore CORE class.  That was one or two years ago.  The only thing either of us remembered was that it has a fireplace in every room.  Still does.  It really is a beautiful place to see, especially when the price is … free.  Chris found a thimble there for her collection.  We also got a free t-shirt and a coloring book because we had seen at least three of the museums.  How many people can say they garnered such valuable souvenirs on a date?  And to top it off, by the time we finished we had walked up and down four flights of stairs and walked a mile and a half.  That’s a pretty productive, aerobic date day. 

Psalms 136:7-9 says, “Who made the great lights — His love endures forever.  The sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.  The moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.”

Father, thank you for opportunities to do fun stuff with Chris.  Amen.

January 26 – “It’s a date”

We finally had a bit of an eventful day.  Guess we had to wait for a “day off” for it to happen.  Now by “day off” I mean I didn’t work on the computer.  What we ended up doing did amount to a bit of work on a few different levels.

First off, we did a workout.  Not like a “go to physical therapy and play with the machines and therbands” kind of workout, though.  We walked two miles, then followed each other up and down the deck stairs for three or four minutes.  It was certainly enough to give my knee a workout, so I would say it counts.

Then we made our way into Texas for another side of the “work” coin.  I had to pick up some Bibles and birthday cards at Lifeway Christian Store in Webster.  While that far away from home we also made a stop at Hobby Lobby.  That would be Chris’ domain.  She needed some sewing stuff.  We also went to the big Best Buy up by Baybrook Mall.  Impressive place.  We wanted to get a lens protector for Chris’ camera and a few more accessories if they had them.  The guy who helped us out, Jose, was pretty amazing.  He was even wearing his camera on a strap around his neck so he could show us various uses of the accessories.  It took us about ten minutes to get what we needed and be out of the store.  That is pretty much a record, I’m sure. 

When we got home we had some other work to do.  The chairs we ordered for our patio (the one that now has lots of space because we sent our hot tub to the Dawson Rescue Farm) were delivered.  Two of them were smaller, so all we had to do was take them out of the box.  The two bigger ones, however, came with “some assembly required.”  Not a good sign.  We ran into some difficulties with the first one, but we persevered and finally got it together (the chair, too).  The second one is always easier.  It went off without a hitch.  We now have a place to sit on the patio.  Next on the list for out there?  Maybe a ceiling fan?

The highlight of the day came last night.  On the spur of the moment we decided to … drum roll here … go on a date.  Actually I just found out that the Galveston Independent School District musical was in its last night over at the high school.  We have been to one of those before, so it was not a hard decision.  As it turned out, it was a good decision as well.  Before we even made it up the steps to the building, a lady called out to us and handed us two extra tickets that she had.  No charge.  That was certainly a good start.  Can’t beat the price.  We saw a few folks we knew in the lobby and once we went in to get seated.  But once the show started all eyes were on the stage.  Some folks were obviously there to see their little one prance about dressed as Peter Pan or Robin Hood or even the Gingerbread Man (This was a performance that used all the kiddos in the Galveston schools.  Lots of young talent out there).  Others, like us, were there just to enjoy the show.  And we did.  The lead characters all had fabulous voices.  My favorite, though was the girl who sang the voice of the dragon.  She was just in ninth grade, but her voice was amazing.  The donkey was quite entertaining with his wild antics.  The evil (and short.  He played the role on his knees) prince handled his comedic role well.  The Shrek character had a booming deep voice, and the Fiona character was obviously in her element.  She owned the stage with her dancing, singing, and overall stage presence.  Wish I could recommend that you catch the next performance, but that was it.  Maybe I’ll find out about it sooner next year …

Psalms 136:4-6 says, “To him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.  Who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.  Who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.”

Father, thank you for the amazing display of talent we saw exhibited last night.  You have certainly gifted some of those youngsters.  May they each find ways to use that gift to your glory.  Amen.

January 25 – “Are you cutting me loose?”

I should have known something was up.  We arrived at physical therapy to find my original therapist was back at the fore of my recovery bid.  And of course the first thing she did was stop at the dreaded, evil Blue Circle of Balance machine.  It had been so long that she had to remind me how to operate everything, but sadly it all came back quickly enough.  I have to say that it was indeed much easier than it had been the first time I attempted it, but it still had its moments of delighting in tossing me off balance. 

We moved from there to the other balance contraptions.  Guiding a ball through a maze while balancing on a ball at one end of the maze.  Rocking back and forth on a board with a bar in the middle under it.  Standing toe to heel on a three inch thick mat with my eyes closed for thirty seconds (Hey, you try it.  Harder than you think).  I have to admit there were a more than a few times when I got distracted and started playing around on the devices while she wasn’t looking.  You know, pretending to be surfing or crossing a pit of burning lava on a tiny strand of … well, I digress.  But I think you get the idea. 

Finally she led me over to “The Table.”  That’s when I was sure of what was to come next.  The dreaded “Measurements.”  I made my way onto the table, and while she was preparing her computer, I struggled to bend my knee as far as I could possibly get it.  When she turned around I assured her that it would be a good idea to take this measurement first because I probably couldn’t get it any more bent.  She agreed, and as it turned out my goal of 122 degrees has officially been blown out of the water.  133 degrees.  That’s the same measurement as my other knee.  Guess that’s a check on the old checklist.  The other measurements all showed significant advancement as well.  And when she told me to squeeze my knees together while she tried to keep them apart, I was able to overcome her pressure and push her ring into the other hand hard enough for her to cry “uncle.” 

She backed off then and said, “You are a Superstar.”  I replied, “So am I done here?”  She said, “Well, you have several more appointments scheduled.”  I asked. “Do I have to keep them?”  She answered, “Do you want to keep them?”  This was becoming quite the cute little game.  I finally just outright asked, “So are you cutting me loose?”  And she said, “You are a free man.”  There it was.  She canceled the future appointments, assured me that she would be around if anything came up that I needed, and wished me well.  Now I get to make up my own crazy exercises instead of doing the ones they make up.  Hmm.  I wonder how long it will take to leap onto a chair … Can’t wait …

Psalms 136:1-3 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.  His love endures forever.  Give thanks to the God of gods.  His love endures forever.  Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.”

Father, thank you for the great news.  Help me to stay consistent with exercising so I can get this built back up to where it needs to be.  Amen.

January 24 – “A encounter of the aging ones”

As I prepare to head off to physical therapy again I am reminded of a brief anecdote that happened at the last appointment.  Well, after it actually.  As we were leaving the PT clinic someone at the counter checking in swung his head around in our direction.  I just caught the movement out of the corner of my eye, and I almost didn’t turn back around, but I was curious, and it was a human being that I might have a chance to connect with, so turn around I did. 

Sure enough the gentleman was staring in my direction, and I recognized him right away as Ted, a guy I went to school with many, many years ago.  We exchanged pleasantries and as I was leaving, he tossed out this word of wisdom: “You know you’re getting old when you see your old football buddies … at the physical therapy clinic.”  Ah, how the truth hurts, eh, Teddy?

It did turn off cold and rainy again yesterday.  38 degrees with a wind chill of below 30.  We stayed inside.  Well, except when I ventured out to pick up the trash cans.  After emptying them, the truck had dropped them off – literally – into a heap in the street in front of the house.  They were blocking the driveway for the other outside excursion.  Chris went to get her hair cut.  It looks great.  She sure is cute.  And I get to see her every day.  Now that’s a gift from God.  At least it is to me.  Not sure how she feels about that …

Psalms 135:13 says, “Your name, O Lord, endures forever, your renown, O Lord, through all generations.”

Father, thank you yet again for the great gift of my wife.  And for friends who still  remember me.  Amen.

January 23 – “Working on my whining …”

Well, after my long weekend of sorts, it was back to the physical therapy grind yesterday.  And to my chagrin, they invented some more new stuff for me to do.  T6he guy even turned me around backwards on the treadmill and had me walking downhill.  Weird feeling.  Then he increased the weight on the leg lift weight machine.  That squished my knee together closer than it has ever been (well, “ever” since the surgery anyway), I’m pretty sure, so I guess that’s a good thing.  Throw in there a couple of minutes doing dipsy doodles.  I told him about my snafu with the timer doing them at home the day before.  Right in the middle of one of the runs he announced, “Two minutes left.”  Fine.  I kept on going.  Then he quickly added, “Oh, wait.  I mean one minute.”  Smart aleck.  I think he got ahold of my timer.  And the theraband exercise where my legs are tied together?  Now I have to squat while I walk sideways like a crab.  With my knees perpendicular to the ground and my back straight.  Sure.

And after all that power lifting and downhill racing and dipsy doodling, THEN he announced that we were going to do some balance work.  I could barely stand up with both legs, and now he was taking away one at a time.  I had to balance on that upside-down ball again, but this time the ball side was down, making it much harder, of course.  Oh, and I had to squat.  Of course.  The balance beam cushions weren’t too bad.  At least that one was familiar.  I gotta keep at it though.  Only three more scheduled sessions before I find out if I am officially released by them. 

I spent most of the rest of the day working at the computer.  I did get a lot of work done, but I also sure got stiff from all that sitting after working out.  Sigh.  Such “horrendous” difficulties.  Actually I’m just working on my whining a little bit.  How am I doing?

Psalms 135:5-7 says, “I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods.  The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.  He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.”

Father, thank you for progress.  Sometimes painfully slow.  Sometimes comes in a rush.  Help me to keep looking forward.  Amen.

January 22 – “4X6 memory-assist tools”

We remembered about halfway through the morning yesterday that it was a holiday.  No mail delivery.  Banks closed.  That sort of thing.  So instead of working we decided to just do something together for the day.  And what should rise to the fore but organizing all the phots we picked up from CVS? 

Why organize?  Well, they were not exactly in day by day order any more.  Well, some were.  And some were tossed in fifty or a hundred pictures away.  I think they came out the way they were uploaded by our computer and the store’s capture program for that sort of thing.  Oh as far as we could tell they were all there.  But that meant we had to go through them one by one and match them up with the order Chris had established on the computer.  Tedious work, to be sure.  But we were together, right?  Counts as a date, right?

Date or not, we finally completed the task around 5 p.m. last night.  And we were still talking to each other.  We were even laughing and remembering, certainly things one would be expected to be engaging in while sorting through memories.  We filled up a shoebox, so now it’s all in Chris’ court as she begins to translate the image she has in her head of a scrapbook into real life.  I for one can’t wait to see what she comes up with.  But don’t hurry her.  It will take a while. 

Gotta run.  It’s almost time for my physical agony – er - therapy session.

Psalms 135:3 says, “Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.”

Father, thank you for those laughing and remembering things called memories and for those little 4X6 memory-assist tools.  Oh, and thanks for the idea in Chris’ head that will eventually become the scrapbook.  Kind of like the idea you had that eventually became … well … us.  Amen.

January 21 – “Super Blood Wolf Eclipse”

Yet another fine day at Seaside has come and gone.  We had guests from as far away as Missouri and even Canada.  The folks from Canada are here because they want to do the “Texas thing.”  Seems they are from Alberta, the province of Canada that has a similar sort of “people are strange, rebel-types” reputation as Texas.  So they want to see first-hand what the Texas aura is really like.  They plan to head out to the Alamo today, so somebody gave them good information about the proper Texas pilgrimage.  I explained that as “unusual” as Texas is, they are staying on an Island off the coast of Texas.  Unusual times two or three.  They seem to be really enjoying themselves in spite of the cold weather, which, of course is not cold at all as far as they are concerned.  Oh, and they requested a copy of the visual verse so they could mystify and amaze their pastor when they got back home.  I like these people.

Last night we joined millions of other people enveloped in darkness.  Nope.  We didn’t lose power or anything.  We just kept going outside to bay at the moon.  Well, at least to look at it.  It was the Super Blood Wolf Eclipse Moon.  I hope I got all the adjectives in there.  One of the talking heads on TV finally explained what all that means.  Eclipse I had no problem with.  I’m old enough to have seen an eclipse or two, and I did have that lesson back in school.  Way … way … back in school.  It was those other words that really had no meaning.  Well, here are the answers you have all been waiting for.  At least those of you who didn’t hear the explanation seventeen times on TV last night.  “Super” is what they call it when the moon is in its orbit closest to the Earth.  “Blood” is just a description of the dusty, orange-y, reddish glow that happened when the eclipse was full (One of the coolest parts of the experience, by the way.  That’s what made it worth staying up for me).  And finally, “Wolf.”  That was pretty obscure, but actually it is the simplest of all.  Somebody back in the day just decided that the first time there is a full moon in January, he would call it a Wolf Moon.  Guess his idea just caught on.  The unusual thing about last night was that all of those things were happening at the same time.  Won’t happen again for eighteen years or so.  Not sure I’ll stay up then.  Been there, done that …

Psalms 135:1-2 says, “Praise the Lord.  Praise the name of the Lord; praise him, you servants of the Lord, you who minister in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.”

Father, thanks for that unusual experience last night.  It was a pretty awesome glimpse at your creation at work.  And a special thank you for my new friends from Canada and Missouri.  Amen.

January 20 – “843”

In the midst of the cold weather we managed to get a little bit of work done yesterday.  Well, OK.  So the work entailed getting online and ordering some stuff.  But it counted.  Just ask Chris.

Oh, we did do the indoor portion of our workout.  That means the theraband-on-the-door routine and some dipsy doodles down the hall.  It was quite the sight to behold.  Chris was going after it at one end of the house, and I was flopping up and down the hall at the other.  At least that was better than when we were chasing each other – walking sideways with therabands holding our legs together at the ankles. 

The first order we made online was for some outdoor chairs for our newly vacated patio.  That was a Home Depot find Chris made.  Everything in the particular style she liked was half price.  And to make it even better, they will deliver it to our house.  That will be convenient.  The first two will arrived next week, with the other two coming the following week.  Not sure why, but delivery was free, so we didn’t argue.

The second order was a little more complicated.  In fact it has been two years in the making.  Chris has been wading through the thousand plus digital photos we took on our once-in-a-lifetime trip to Disneyworld with Josh and Christi.  It’s when Mickey Mouse revealed to us all that Christi was pregnant with AnnaGrace.  Pretty special occasion.  Chris has planned all along to immortalize it in scrapbook form, but first she had to choose which pictures she wanted to include.  That’s what took so long.  It also gave us time to save up enough extra pocket change to cover the cost.  The crowning blow came when CVS Online announced a sale on developing that was too good to resist.  All we had to do was upload the pictures to their website and they would have them ready at our nearest CVS pharmacy within an hour.  Well, “within an hour” would be for relatively normal orders, I suppose.  I knew it might end up taking a bit longer than that when it took literally all morning to upload them from our computer.  They finally finished around 2 p.m. and the order went in.  The computer and the subsequent email assured us they would be ready by around 3. 

I finally called around 5 to see where they were.  Nope.  Not ready.  In fact they were just on number 260 something out of our grand total of 843.  But she assured me that it would take very long to finish now that they were rolling.  Less than an hour.  Right.  I called again about 6:30.  Nope.  Not ready.  On number 650.  Seems they had to change out a tape of some kind on the printer.  Wore it out.  She assured me that she would call as soon as the last one came out.  Finally, right at 8:00, the call came.  I answered and identified myself and the first sound I heard from the other end was … “Finally.”  I think she was happy to have us out of her hair. 

We hurried over to pick them up so Chris could get a quick look at them before bed.  But “quick look” would not be a very accurate description of what happened next.  She spent the next hour or two thumbing through them, putting them in order based on their position in her computer lineup.  I finally gave up and left her to it.  From the looks of things this morning, I would say she’s more than half way finished.  I think I know how her spare time will be going for the next few days …

Psalms 134:1-2 says, “Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who minister by night in the house of the Lord.  Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.”

Father, thank you for memories and pictures that jog them.  Amen.

January 19 – “Speaking of adding work …”

I really upgraded my home exercise/therapy routine yesterday.  Chris was ready for her walk, as usual, so I agreed to join her for part of it.  In an aggressive move, I added a half mile to the end.  A mile and a half.  Whew.  There’s a step up.  But I didn’t stop there.  When I arrived home I actually did a few dipsy doodle lines out on our front sidewalk.  I suppose it was quite the frightening sight.  Why do I say that?  Well, our neighbor was out on her porch when I got home.  About three seconds after she saw what I was doing, she shook her head sadly and hurried back inside.  Maybe she was just jealous.  Or maybe she didn’t want to witness the ensuing carnage.  But the negative never came.  I completed the runs and headed inside. 

Back inside I went straight for the thera-band workout targeting my knee specifically.  Well, my knee and then that horrible one that strengthens hips.  Walking sideways with my ankles tied together.  It’s like a flashback to a gone-horribly-wrong youth fellowship game.  From there I added one other horror story.  I decided to walk up and down our deck stairs for three minutes.  Why the time?  No idea.  Three minutes seems to be the time of choice for my physical therapist, so I decided I’d start there.  When Chris got home she went to do some stair work as well.  She usually just counts her repetitions though.  Come to find out three minutes is roughly equal to six trips up and down our deck steps.  Just in case you ever need to know it for a future trivia game.

Speaking of adding work, we also dove into our next house project.  What to do with the back porch now that the hot tub has found a new home.  We emptied it out completely so Chris could have a look at her blank slate.  Once that was accomplished, about all we could do was sweep it off, reorient the barbecue pit and table, and trash some of the old and broken chairs and toys.  Oh, and begin making plans for the future, of course.  I have one assignment when the weather clears (We were further restricted in what we could do by a sudden rainstorm.  It’s supposed to get into the thirties tonight.  Nooooooo).  I have to move the bolts for one of the swings so more than one child can be going at a time.  Then we have to roll away the big round “cable table” to be carried away by the trash men.  Then comes re-leveling the patio, which will mean getting another load of dirt.  The iron table and chair set needs to return to its spot upstairs.  And we need to add whatever new chairs Chris decides on for the space.  Finally, we (read here, “me”) want to install an outdoor ceiling fan and some “mood lighting” (Chris is in charge of the lighting).  Sounds like quite the undertaking.  Maybe by next year sometime we will … begin.

Psalms 133:1 says, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!”

Father, thank you for the great home you provided for us.  Help us as we try to “steward” it.  Amen.

January 18 – “Dipsy doodle”

Well, now I suppose I have advanced to the upper echelon of physical therapy patients.  I have made my way through the excruciating balance machine.  I can walk on the squishy balance beam pads toe to toe.  I can even do a treadmill hike going uphill all the way.  So what could possibly be next? 

She thought of something.  Not anything I would have expected, but I can see how it would be helpful.  She asked me to move along a line sideways, alternately switching which leg went in front and which went in back.  She even had a name for it, but once I realized what she was doing, I told her she had the name wrong.  See, if you just speed it up a little bit, and maybe pick up the knees a bit higher, you have none other than the dipsy doodle.  And what, you may ask is the dipsy doodle?  Ah, well anyone who did time in the defensive backfield at Weis Junior High School under the tutelage of Coach Alcala way back in the late 1960’s no doubt still remembers the dipsy doodle.  Great football drill for warming up before a game or for just passing the time or for getting everyone good and tired before letting us go home.  Who would have thought that a weary football drill would return some 50 plus years later to haunt me?  Sigh.  Oh, well.  Another of those “I’ll never use this in real life” teenage schoolboy whines proven wrong.  Who knows what will be next … Trigonometry?  Physics?  Any foreign language?  Elementary Analysis?  Yikes.  Bring on some more dipsy doodles …

Psalms 130:5 says, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.”

Father, thank you for strange and wonderful and somewhat familiar movements that help my old knee get back into shape.  Amen.

January 17 – “A Jesus birthday …”

Just thought of something this morning.  Today is my birthday of sorts.  Or anniversary.  Some 48 years ago I made the decision to love God back.  To become a Christian.  To decide for myself to follow Jesus.  There are a lot of ways to put it, I guess, but the end result is the same.  The Holy Spirit lives inside me and I’ll never be the same again.  So glad for that.  Wow.  48 years.  That’s almost half a century.  You would think I’d have this Christianity thing figured out by now, but I sure still feel like a baby most of the time.

I got embroiled in one of those Galveston mini-traffic jams yesterday.  I went up to the church to meet the bug guy very early.  It didn’t take him but 15 or 20 minutes.  And on my way home the traffic suddenly came to a screeching halt.  I could see up ahead a fire engine and an ambulance blocking the road, and one little white truck with its flashers on behind the engine, but I couldn’t see any vehicles that would have been involved in an accident.  I put the car in park and settled in for the long haul to wait it out.  After a few minutes I saw movement in the brush to the side of the road.  And from that brush emerged a firefighter pushing aside weeds and tree branches, followed by paramedics carrying a patient on a stretcher.  I found out later that a single car was involved.  Apparently the driver lost control and flipped several times into the underbrush on the side of the road.  Not a pretty scenario at all.  As I waited, the cars around me started doing what they could to turn around.  And before long a police officer tapped on my window to let me know it was OK for me to turn around as well and take the alternate route. 

Since that alternate route took me right next to station seven, I stopped in to check on the guys of the day’s shift who were doing the fire trailer burn training.  Once again the guys did their best to get me to join them inside the burn.  Maybe next year when I can handle the kneeling a little better …

Later in the afternoon we went up to LaMarque to meet the newest member of that Vaughan family, Leia.  Yep.  After a misfire or two, it looks like Josiah finally got his Christmas present, a cute little dog.  Not sure what kind she is, but it’s something close to whatever Freddy is, only a tad bigger.  She seems to be settling in with the family well.  Enjoys dozing in or near the nearest lap, and doesn’t seem to mind the kids hovering all around her.  She also does well inside her crate so they don’t have to worry about her when they are gone.  Looks like we have a win …

Psalms 130:2 says, “O Lord, hear my voice.  Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.”

Father, please be with the victims of that car accident.  Thank you for the actions of the crew of engine 8 as well as the responding paramedics.  Amen.

January 16 – “Burn Trailer”

I was invited to witness one of the fire department’s training sessions yesterday.  The Texas City Fire Department brought down a big 18-wheeler-type trailer and parked it behind one of our stations.  Then they built a little house inside and topped it with a lot of straw.  It was like I was watching one of the three little pigs build his house.  The whole thing was then set on fire.  Then the group being trained entered.  All types of fire situations were covered, and the fire fighters were able to actually see the fire rolling around and over their heads.  In the words of one of them, “It is beautiful.  Just beautiful.” 

The city public information officer had already been there, and she suited up and entered the trailer with one of the groups.  Armed with that tidbit of information, the subtle and not-so-subtle urgings began for me to follow in her footsteps.  When they saw that I wasn’t going to succumb to their prodding to suit up and enter the fire (I have a beard, so no mask would give me a good seal.  Plus, they were all complaining about how sore their knees were.  Hmm.  Sore knees.  Not something I need extra help with right now), our Assistant Chief took me to the end of the trailer where a pile of debris was smoldering, occasionally flaring up again.  It was the pit where they threw the burned and burning wood from inside after each demonstration.  He assured me that this was THE place to watch what was happening, partly because the fire would keep me warm (The wind was pretty chilly at the time, so I was glad to have followed his lead).  I was unclear as to how I would be able to see anything though.  That is until I heard a loud crashing sound, like … well, like a hammer on the side of a trailer might sound.  And it came from inside.  Apparently that was a signal that the teachers inside were ready for the window to be opened.  And that’s when the whole experience entered another level. 

From my perch of safety I could still see the fire raging and rolling.  And the chief took the time to explain to me what the guys inside were hearing about fires and how they operate.  I was fascinated.  The fire behaved differently when different vents were opened in other parts of the truck, and a fan kept feeding the fire with plenty of oxygen, so it never came close to going out.  And when they finally began spraying water to extinguish the fire, the smoke almost instantly became white instead of black.  Fascinating.  Almost made me want to put the suit on and just hold my breath.  Or as one of the guys suggested, “We have a razor in the other room ...”  Wisdom and common sense prevailed over childlike foolishness, however.  I assured them that I would continue to trust them to deal with putting fires out, and I would be there to pray for them and support them … on the outside.

I did join our guys on duty at the station and the Texas City trainers and the Assistant Chief for lunch.  It was a lot of fun being a part of the banter that makes the fire service such a fascinating family.  I am certainly proud to be considered a part of it. 

Psalms 128:1 says, “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways.”

Father, watch over those fire fighters.  The power of the fire was awesome and beautiful, and obviously dangerous.  Grant them your special touch.  Amen.

January 15 - “Spring cleaning?”

I stayed in most of the day yesterday and did computer work and tried not to cough too much.  Oh, and lots of fluids, of course.  Still trying to drown out this gunk.

I did get out of the house twice, though.  First time was just to run a few quick errands.  Just to the bank and to Randall’s Pharmacy to pick up a prescription.  I was going to take the truck, but the battery is stone cold dead again.  Guess that will have to be a WalMart trip by itself one day when I have the time. 

The second trip was over to Nathan’s house.  We wanted to check out his progress on the new steps he built in their house.  He completely replaced the ones they had and now he is staining the top part and putting several coats of poly over that.  The riser part of each step will be painted white.  They look very nice.  They have all new windows, too.  They had damage from Hurricane Harvey that they are finally getting taken care of.  Now they just need to replace their siding and they will be all set.  Well, until the next thing.  They are homeowners, after all.  Oh, and he is talking about building our fence soon as well.

By the way, our old hot tub has finally found a new home.  When we got back from Waco on Saturday, Lauren and Ed had a relocated hot tub in their back yard.  They seem pretty excited to have it fixed up, and Chris is definitely excited about all the room we have on our patio now.  That’s the biggest single Spring cleaning item I’ve ever had done.  It’s a real blank slate for her come actual Spring cleaning time.  Too cold right now, though.  I heard it’s supposed to be in the 30’s this weekend.  Nope.  I’m done with winter. 

Psalms 127:3-5 says, “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him.  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.  They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.”

Father, thank you for the sons you blessed us with.  Oh, and help Lauren and Ed as they figure out how to incorporate that hot tub into their back yard footprint.  Amen.