August 18 – “Best Gift Ever”

Well, the report on Chris’ birthday events is a lot different than mine was.  No house full of kids, for one thing.  She managed to survive without it, though. 

The day started when I got a text from Nathan inviting us to lunch.  And that in itself was a gift of sorts to Chris.  The fact that he texted me instead of her, I mean.  He knew she would no doubt still be asleep, since it wasn’t yet 7 a.m.  He was right.  But not long after she did get up we had a little visitor peeking in the front door.  It was none other than Brennan from across the street.  He had to say his happy birthday before he left to spend the day at Grandma’s house.  So … pretty good start.  Then it was my turn.

When it was finally just the two of us again, I pulled out my gift to her.  I explained that I had thought long and hard, and I had come up with something that relates directly to what we have been trying to accomplish.  Now, at the time I didn’t tell her what we’ve been trying to accomplish.  That would be revealing too much.  But I’ll let you in on it.  We have been trying to get in shape.  I have already written about her walking four miles a day, right?  So what could be a more appropriate gift to assist with that endeavor?  I found it, folks.  Best gift ever.  Umm.  Or so I thought.  Note to self (And to all you guys out there): a bathroom scale that records your last weight and tells you each time you get on how much you have lost or gained since your last visit … doesn’t go over so well as a birthday present for your wife.  She actually handed it back to me and told me to return it to the store, reminding me that we already had a bathroom scale.  I explained that this one was so much better.  Along with its memory feature it also had a very large, digital display.  Our old one was one of those dials, and we couldn’t see it very well.  How was I to know that was one of the things she liked about it?  Sigh.  Birthday disaster. 

But wait.  Fortunately I had a back-up plan.  Chris has been researching cameras in depth for weeks now.  She wants a really good one for our trip to Alaska.  A friend at church happened to have one available for sale, so I pulled the trigger and got it … weeks ago.  Yep.  I had to sit here and listen to all the camera discoveries as she made them, making mental notes to check the one I already had to see if it had the same functions she was getting excited about.  Keeping a secret like that is so much fun.  Especially when you get to reveal your treachery at the final reveal. 

This camera is way more advanced than I am.  It has buttons and dials and lenses and a cool popup flash.  I think I’ll stick to my selfie stick, though (although the new camera can actually be screwed onto the selfie stick.  Seems a bit of overkill to me, though).  She’ll have to learn the ins and outs of the new one.  She has already read the instruction manual from cover to cover.  And she has eleven months to practice ahead of her.  Put your camera-ready faces on, everybody.  The photographer is in the house.

We were treated to a nice Mexican food lunch by Nathan and Cailyn.  At one point in the meal, Cailyn excused herself to go to the bathroom.  But it was not a bathroom stop that was in her mind at all.  She was diabolically arranging with the staff to come over and sing “Happy Birthday to You” to Chris.  Now that was great fun.  Especially, I’m sure, for the one wearing the goofy paper cap (she looked lovely in it, I might add).

On the way home we stopped at WalMart to pick up a new wet-dry vacuum and some shorts for me.  Ours is rapidly dying.  The vacuum and most of my shorts. 

Back at home I had to deal with a shipment issue from the Daytimer company.  And while I was on hold with them, Chris read that we had to download some software so we could connect the new camera to the computer.  Did that.  I’m not sure how that works yet.  I am sure that I will be finding out soon. 

Chris even had a chance to grab a quick power nap in the afternoon.  While she dozed I watched a thriller of a movie called Trailer Park Shark.  Classic.  How could I have missed this one?  Great white shark loose in a flooded trailer park somewhere in the swamps of … never heard where.  Spoiler alert … Lots of blood.  He chews up everybody but the romantically involved couple, one friend, and the dog that has been floating around on top of his doghouse the entire movie.  Finally Mr. Shark, himself, is tragically ripped to shreds by one of those windmill generator things.  Don’t ask how that happens.  Some things might have been a little far-fetched. 

Last night as we sat on the couch together, watching the Little League World Series (how much more romantic can you get?), Chris sighed and said, “I should have started a quilt.  Now I have nothing to do.  I’ve researched the trip, so we know what that’s going to be like.  I have a camera, so I don’t have to research that anymore.”  And then came the real kicker … “I’m bored.”  Guess we’ll have to come up with something to do.  Or someplace to go.  Or maybe … something to research. 

Psalms 92:4 says, “For you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord; I sing for joy at the works of your hands.”

Father, I really do love this gem you have given me to share life with.  Always give her something to do or at least to research.  I think she’ll be happy.  Amen.

August 17 – “Happy birthday, Chris”

Well, I’m not really writing about Chris today, but it is her birthday.  You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to hear the tale of her gifts.  She is turning … back the clock.  See that?  You’re not getting me to go there.  Let’s just say she has been chasing me since college.  I had to slow down a bit so she could catch me, but she’ll officially never be as old as I am. 

Speaking of slowing down, we walked again yesterday.  Chris won’t let me go more than a mile and a half (having some sore calf issues now.  Moos at me whenever I walk.  Snicker, snicker.  See how I did that?), but she still treks on for her four miles.  She does get frustrated with the steps app on her phone, though.  It can’t seem to be consistent.   One day it registers 4 miles, but the next it says 2.1.  Gotta love technology.

I spent the morning buried in sermon prep, but my day hit a high point when the mail lady arrived.  My birthday gift from Chris was delivered.  Yep.  That lovely drawing she handed me in a gift bag on Tuesday is now a full-fledged, professional-grade (didn’t know there was such a thing), bluetooth –enabled selfie stick.  I played with it while she went to an allergist appointment with Jachin and Christina.  I admit I had to go to their website and watch their little video on how to use it.  No instructions in the box.  Four extra pieces.  One I figured out right away.  It screwed on and was the attachment to connect your phone to.  The second was easy as well.  It was the USB cable to charge the battery.  The third piece seemed kind of redundant to the first.  And the fourth just looked like a mirror.  The video should be included in the packaging, though.  Or at least a little pamphlet with pictures.  Seems the third piece was redundant.  It serves the same purpose, but it lets you install and exfill you phone more quickly.  And apparently the mirror is … a mirror.  Apparently the camera on a phone operates better when used as it was intended, rather than it selfie mode.  So if you put the camera on one side and the phone on the other with the camera’s phone side facing you, you can see in the mirror what the camera sees.  Whew.  Confusing. 

Our evening concluded with a little combo birthday cake that our home group provided.  Beautiful serenade as well.  And speaking of birthdays … Chris is awake.  I should go get her present.

Psalms 92:1-3 says, “It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.”

Father, thank you for my wife.  Very special lady, that one.  Amen.

August 16 – “Page four”

And so it has begun.  The trials and tribulations of dealing with Medicare have officially arrived at my doorstep.  This first one has to do with medications.

I called in a prescription refill after having given the pharmacy all the new Medicare information.  I waited until it was ready for pickup – plenty of time to make the call and get the appropriate clearances needed.  And then I arrived.  And the price was a whopping $6.49 more than it should have been.  Now, I understand that a measly six bucks just doesn’t sound like much, but over the course of a year, that amounts to $77.88.  That’s almost three tanks of gas in our car.  All true, you know, but not even the point.  See, the point is, I had the policy statement in my hands that said exactly what the cost should have been.  Page four.  The pharmacy guy called the insurance company.  Nope.  They insisted it was the correct price.  I decided to pay it this time and call them myself when I had the benefits book in front of me. 

And so began another adventure.  I only had to be on hold for around five minutes, a record, I figured.  The guy I talked to was nice enough.  I explained the situation to him, and after I finally got him to consider the correct medicine order, he dropped his first bombshell.  “We have no record of that claim ever being turned in.”  Well, wait a minute.  I explained that I had just returned from the pharmacy.  I had the pills in my hand.  I had not paid the hundreds of dollars they are allegedly worth.  I had paid what the pharmacist had been told to charge by a representative of his company, which, according to page four of my benefits book, was $6.49 more than I should have paid. 

He put me on hold again.  I could hear the Jeopardy theme song dancing in my head.  And finally he returned.  And suddenly he totally agreed with me.  Even referenced … page four.  Imagine that.  So he put me on hold and made a call to the pharmacy.  When he returned?  “No sir, Mr. Kelley.  The price they charged was the correct price.”  Wait.  What?  You just told me …  What about page four?  More than that, what about next month?  And the next?  He finally agreed to send me a form to fill out requesting a refund.  All fine and good, but then I asked, “So will I have to give you a call every month from now on to get a copy of the reimbursement form?  Or should I just make a few copies of it before I fill it out?”  Guess what his answer was.  “No sir, Mr. Kelley.  If the pharmacy calls us you will be charged the correct rate.  It’s all right there.  On … (all together now …) page four.”  Can’t wait.

Psalms 91:4 says, “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”

Father, thank you for the assistance these medicines are to those of us with issues.  Could you maybe grease some wheels in the process to make it a little easier for us old folks?  Amen.

August 15 – “Birthday musings”

I awoke yesterday to a bad cramp in my hamstring … on my good leg.  It finally subsided, but I couldn’t get back to sleep, so my day began closer to 5 than to my usual 6.  I did find three FaceBook birthday posts waiting for me (I use the light from my phone to get to the bathroom so I won’t wake Chris up in the mornings).  One from a lawyer, one from a doctor, and one from a teacher friend who now lives in Greece.  Guess that makes me well-rounded, huh?

I have to admit, I did do some work on my birthday. That sermon still looms for the upcoming Sunday.  But then I had a visit from my little buddy across the street, Brennan.  Seems his Mama told him it was my birthday, so he and Monkers (His stuffed pal) came over to wish me a good day. 

Chris joined us as we were chatting, and when Brennan left she brought out a present for me.  Very light in my hands.  Eagerly, I looked inside and found … a piece of paper.  And on it was an incredible artistic rendition of the gift that has not yet arrived (ah, the joys of internet shopping).  But soon to be a part of our arsenal?  A new selfie stick.  I broke my old one a while trying to make my new phone fit it.  Can’t wait for it to arrive.

We did go for a walk, too.  Chris asked if I wanted to stay at home with my phone and wait for possible well-wishes.  Tempting, but the call of the knee and the time with the wife was too much to resist.  The walk won out.  I’m still holding at a mile and a loop.  Chris is still at four miles.  So the time with the wife was limited, but greatly enjoyable.  She told me she loved me ten times (She counted.  And continued to say it and count it throughout the day.  I’m pretty sure she passed 65 times sometime during the afternoon).  I kissed her somewhere in the mix of all that unbottled emotion, and she continued on her way.  I hobbled home.  Sadly, no Lovey to talk to on this day (I did see her brood taking a walk later in the afternoon.  I asked if they were Lovey’s family, and the new Mom immediately replied, Oh, so you’re the one.”  I answered, “Yeah.  I get that a lot”). 

I had two lovely escorts for lunch.  Chris and Cailyn took me to Shrimp and Stuff for a popcorn shrimp dinner.  Nice.  Also got to play with their new brindle boxer puppy named Tilly.  And … had the inestimable joy of cleaning up after the new youngster.  Check that one off my bucket list.

Throughout the day I did begin to receive message of well-wishing from good ol’ FaceBook friends.  Lots of them.  Social media is truly the new approach to saving fifty cents for a postage stamp.  I do appreciate all the thoughts from virtually every era of my life (Back as far as junior high.  Farther if you count family.  I got a message from our junior high pole vaulter, a cheerleader, and even one of the quarterbacks). 

The birthday half of my day transitioned in the afternoon when it morphed into an assistance program for the celebration of Kel and Christina’s anniversary.  They brought over five little birthday candles for us to hang out with while they went on a date.  Gotta say … Ezra’s “DadDad … DadDad … DadDad … DadDad” mantra might just have eclipsed Chris’ “I love you” campaign.  Guess she’ll have to take notes and try harder next year. 

So now another year is behind me.  65 of them in fact.  Chris is still around and appears relatively content to stay, so there is that.  I guess what remains is … oh, wait.  That means her birthday is coming up … Friday.  Gotta go …

Psalms 91:2 says, “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”

Father, thank you for those who still remember a connection of some sort with me.  I do appreciate them.  Bless them for their efforts at recall.  Amen.

August 14 - “The Loop and Lovie”

Well, I have added an entire loop onto my mile walk in the mornings.  I can feel it long after.  Chris still continues on her four mile jaunts, so at the close of a mile, she gives me a kiss, she turns right and I turn left – separated but for a moment in the grand scheme of great romances (well, it’s more like 45 minutes or so).   That gives me time to complete my morning workout.  Leg lifts and isometrics for strengthening the muscles around the bad knee.  Then stretching to ease up the muscles I just worked so hard to tighten.  Not sure I understand the logic there …

As I limped home on that first day, after that first loop, I was greeted by a real treat.  I got to meet Lovie. Real person, that Lovie (Not Thurston Howell III’s wife).  She was puttering about one of the lawns in the neighborhood, picking up stray bits of grass.  She smiled broadly when I greeted her, and immediately informed me that she had just mowed the lawn for the first time in her 51 years of life.  I replied that it was obvious she had done a good job, too.  She beamed.  Well, until she continued on with the story of her new experience.  Seems she was “using a rear expel mower and I didn’t know there was a bag that was supposed to be on there.”  Needless to say, she took a bath in grass.  She didn’t say how long it took her to figure out the problem.  She was a proud Mama, though.  Told me her son-in-law worked 127 hours last week (I’m pretty sure he is a med student at UTMB).  Her daughter takes care of their three preschoolers, including a brand new baby.  I told her a lot would be expected of her now that they know she can mow.  She grinned that wide Lovey grin again and replied, “Oh, it helps that I live 700 miles away.”  Lovie will be fine.

Psalms 91:1 says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

Father, thank you for the chance to meet Lovie.  Give her plenty of time to enjoy her grandchildren before she has to make the 700 mile trip back to wherever home is.  Amen.

August 13 – “Ice”

We had a packed house yesterday at church.  Best count was somewhere around 83.  Lots of kids and even a small contingent of our church dogs.  And there were people from all over.  One guy was from North Carolina.  One family was here from Oklahoma (Of course.  For some reason we draw lots of Okies).  But the prize this week for the person traveling the farthest just to go to church?  England.  Great accent, too.

Chris and I were headed home to change clothes so we could attend a beach birthday bash for one of the kiddos from the church, when we got a message that our sweet lady who had a liver transplant two years ago was headed to the emergency room.  Suddenly that took precedence over the beach party.  We grabbed a quick sandwich and headed on to the hospital to meet Sharon and Doug there.  It was a bit of a scare for them, as is any bout with illness for Sharon.  But after a battery of tests and test verifications, the ER docs determined that all was well, but that she should follow up with her primary care physician this week.  Please keep praying …

We do have some good news.  Remember back when I mentioned that our fridge was going out?  Well, it did.  Completely.  The only thing that worked was the little light inside.  We were placed on the emergency call list, so the repair guy was scheduled to come out three days later.  Hate to see the turnaround for non-emergencies.  Anyway, he finally showed up the other day.  Actually came two hours early.  And the guy was one of the most personable young men we have ever had as a repairman.  He warned us before he began that it could be one of three or four things, increasing in severity all the way up to total destruction and the end of the world as we know it.  His first option, however, was to check a relay switch.  Small little thing, compared to replacing a compressor.  Or an entire refrigerator.  Guess what?  That small little thing was the problem.  Fifteen minute fix and we were back in business.  Oh, and that morning I had received one of those random emails from Sears.  You know, the kind you usually delete without opening?  Well, I decided that since we had a Sears guy coming over later in the day, why not open their email for a change?  And what should be included in that bit of electronic correspondence but a coupon for 20% off … home appliance service.  How’s that for timing?  So once again … we have a fridge.  And ice.  I missed the ice …

Psalms 90:14 says, “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”

Father, be with Sharon and Doug as she works with her doctor to find the source of the issues she is having.  Give that doc the wisdom needed to figure it out.  Oh, and thank you for that ice.  I know I’m spoiled, but I do appreciate it.  Amen.

August 12 – “Caught up”

Well, I guess I have officially caught up with recording my days now.  That means I’m back to the boring old me for the foreseeable future.  So how would you like to hear about my overwhelmingly exciting day … mowing the grass?  Yep.  That about covers what I accomplished the other day.  Pushing, or rather following behind (we did finally get one of those mowers with front wheel drive), as the whirring monster ravaged the tips from the struggling young greenery.  I did get inspired (or maybe the right word would be distracted?) by the destruction, however.  I grabbed the clippers and attacked the remaining three sunflower trees.  I know.  They are not technically trees, but when they grow as tall as a house, it’s hard not to see them as such.  I was so encouraged by their removal, that I carried my vendetta to the oleander bush that was attacking our car every time we entered or left the driveway.  It won’t do that anymore.  I probably would have continued my assault there, but Chris returned from her walk and “insisted” that I take up my Weedeater and get the edging finished.

Speaking of Ezra … when he was over here the other day he saw a picture one of our soon-to-be-discarded newspapers.  It was the sports page.  Now, what I saw was a golfer about to take a swing at the ball.  What did he see?  “Vrrrrooooommm.  Mowuh.”  That’s his catch-all word for any power tool used in landscaping.  Like a weedeater.  And you know what?  I took a second look at that news photo.  It looked just like a weedeater.  I could have been wrong.

Psalms 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Father, thank you for the efficiency we have available to us with things like those mowuhs.  And help me to have wisdom like little Ezra, who sees things just as they appear and rejoices with a vrrrrooooommm.  Amen.