July 12 - “$5 Gram?”

I got my part of the yardwork knocked out. All I really had to do was shovel out some of the sneaky little palm tree growths spring up throughout the yard. 

Of course I couldn’t stop there. I dove into the back flowerbed and began some weeding. I also set up the sprinkler to water the front yard. Oh, and I spray cleaned and filled up the bird bath. They were most appreciative. 

Lunch was chicken and artichoke casserole. I know. Not a dish I normally would order out. But it was surprisingly quite good. In fact, this was actually leftovers. So … good enough to get back in there).  Thanks again Lauren and Ed. 

Guess what I found hanging on our front door? You’re right. It was an advertisement. And it was a very classy, well-produced  one, too. They must have been drumming up new business, or at least expanding their reach. Ready for this? It was from the EMF, Home of the $5 Gram. “Bring a friend … Get a FREE gram.”  Oh. A gram of what you might ask? Well, perhaps if I tell you what the company name stands for … EMF. That would be the Edwards Marijuana Family. Anyone in for a gram? 

‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭16‬:‭34‬ says, Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever.

Father, thank you for chickens. And for artichokes. They both taste pretty good. Amen. 

July 11 - “Go, me”

Yesterday started off as another quiet day of recuperation. Chris used the time to keep up with her  exercises. I found my requisite three or four jigsaw puzzle pieces. So … quiet. 

Until …

We somehow ended up with three bananas that were, well, less than edible. Just overripe. Very overripe. And Chris knew just the ticket. She found a recipe, two actually, for banana bread. Joanna Gaines had one, but it required five bananas. The other one just needed three. Perfect. 

Soooo … guess who made banana bread for the first time in his fledgling career? This guy. Chris said it tasted pretty good, too. Figured her judgment would be more valid than mine, since I don’t really like banana bread all that much. I doctored my piece up with butter and sugar and cinnamon. It was certainly edible.  Not bad, actually. Yet another first for me in the midst of this rotator cuff quarantine. Go, me. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭18‬:‭20‬ says, For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.

Father, thank you for Chris’ encouragement and coaching in that  bread experiment. Amen. 

July 10 - “Chill”

We took a few moments yesterday to sit back and chill in the backyard. Well, “chill” is not really appropriate, or accurate. See, it was prohibitively hot outside, but there was a really nice breeze on the patio in the shade. Not too many critters were afoot. One squirrel (an actual, non-human one). A Jurassic butterfly. A few birds. A million tiny lizard-like dinosaurs. We didn’t stay out long, though. 

After lunch Chris checked in on her MyChart page. The doc hadn’t commented on the ultrasound results yet. I added some pieces to the monstrous jigsaw puzzle currently residing on our puzzle table. 2000 pieces. This one will take a while. 

We also watched a few Hallmark movies and walked some circles around the house. The interior of the house. Gotta do something to avoid the heat. 

Oh, and we did check in with Mbappé and the World Cup. France didn’t disappoint. 

‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬ says, Fight the good fight for the faith; take hold of eternal life that you were called to and have made a good confession about in the presence of many witnesses.

Father, thanks for that breeze. And for the critters. And for the amazing wife you gave me. Amen. 

July 9 - “Attacking a boogervilla”

We were back out in the yard yesterday. I had some unfinished business with a certain evil boogervilla bush. It was in desperate need of a trim. A major trim. I got a lot of it done. Not as much as I would like, but Chris was there, after all. She gave me a yellow card warning, so I had to stop. At least now I can get the lawn mower under there. 

I had one other task on my list. Some more of those miniature palm trees are popping up. Can’t have that. Problem is, I have to dig to get to the roots, so … shovel. 

But on the way to the shed, my squirrel instinct kicked in. By that I mean my chasing squirrels tendency. I saw some of that evil demon devil weed breaking through from the Underworld beneath the flower bed by the back fence. Stopped me dead in my tracks and lured me over. I spent a long 15 or 30 minutes ripping out as much as I could. Evil stuff. 

I did get started on digging up those palm treelettes. There were more than I anticipated, though. And it was pretty hot. Chris brought me some water. However, when I didn’t pick up the water bottle right away, Chris literally took the shovel out of my hands. Guess I have something to do in the future. 

Kel called as we were getting some lunch together. He and Christina were doing some trip planning. Actually, the trip was the one where we take Micah back to school in Virginia. This time they are planning a bit more, vacation-wise. Atlanta Braves game. Theme park. Virginia Beach. Maybe more. And the question was, “Do y’all want to go?”

My usual reply is “I’m in.”  This time, though, we had to consider Chris’ shoulder saga. So, tentative yes, depending on what the doc says. 

Corey and Janell came over for a while in the afternoon. Always fun to spend time with them. 

Last night I went to Local Dogs. Not specifically for a hot dog, though. Micah was getting off work at 7 and needed a place to hang out until Jachin got off at 8:30. So … I picked up Micah. He watched the Astros debacle - er, I mean game - with us. 

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬ says, God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.

Father, thanks for our neighbors. Bless them. Amen. 

July 8 - “Red Flags Box”

Guess what? It is hot outside. That’s a personal observation, by the way. The weather app said 87 with a wind chill of 90. My body app said about 190. 

How do I have such a reliable thermometer? We did some yardwork. Chris watered her plants in the backyard and filled up the bird bath. I attacked the out of control wisteria on the back fence. That meant chopping unmercifully to bring it back to a more manageable state. Then had to pick up all the clippings (Chris tried to help me. I warned her away with thoughts of passing out and emergency rooms and heart caths and redoing certain recent surgeries).

I was going to trim up the boogervilla next. I actually heard the little voice in my head saying, “It’s just a little more. I can get that done.” Fortunately, however, I have isolated that very thought and placed it into the red flags box inside my head. That used to be a true statement. There was a time when I could have pushed through and got it done. But no more. Those warnings apply to me now, too. Well, minus the recent surgery one. So I quit. Awesome to have the blessing of the boss NOT to work. 

I did have my usual residuals from working in the heat. Spent the next few hours with heartburn, Tums, and a lot of belching. I downed an iced tea sno-cone and tried a few Cheetos crumbs (my favorite part).  The tea did fine. The Cheetos inspired some stomach-ular talk back, so I stopped with just a few. Decided to save lunch for later. 

After our showers we resumed what has become our preferred position … watching the World Cup. This game was amazingly exciting. Well, at least for the last few minutes. Argentina came from a 2-0 deficit to win in extra time 3-2. That’s Messi’s team. I cheered for him because he’s the old guy. We gotta stick together. 

Chris had yet another appointment in the afternoon. Her doctor ordered an ultrasound of her carotid arteries to make sure there is no blockage there. The whole thing only took about ten minutes. I got to watch, but I have no idea what I was looking at, other than the pretty red and blue images that occasionally popped up on the screen. Actually the best part of the whole session came when she turned off the lights and flicked on a machine that projected a starry night sky and then added the Northern Lights. Really pretty. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭19‬:‭26‬ says, But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Father, thank you that this test seemed to have gone really well. And the lights projector was a nice touch. Can’t wait to see the real thing.  Amen. 

July 7 - “A total basket case?”

Time again for a workout. Well, for Chris anyway. She had another physical therapy appointment. Still just once a week until she sees the surgeon. That can’t happen soon enough. 

Not that she is a total basket case in the sling. She’s done remarkably well on that front. I just want to see him face to face, because he said when the shoulder business is behind us, he will deal with the knee. Well, that knee has become quite the little problem child. We “k-need” to get it taken care of before she falls again. 

On the way home we stopped at Walmart. Banana Run. Also chocolate milk. As a bonus, we ran into another Seasider. Larry just stopped in for a loaf of bread. He was better at sticking to his list than we were. 

We watched some more soccer. Ronaldo’s last game (probably). Spain beat Portugal. Last night the U.S. went against Belgium. The Astros started playing about an hour before that game, so I had a decision to make. Then I saw the Astros starting lineup. More AAA guys for some reason. Made it a little easier to change the channel. They did make it a respectable game. Lost 12-11. 

Back to the U.S. soccer game. Not a pretty sight there. In spite of all the Waldo shirts in the crowd (red and white stripes), the good guys just couldn’t make up the difference. They lost  4-1. That means they are out of the tournament. But hey. Way to go, guys. 

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭19‬:‭17‬ says, Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and He will give a reward to the lender.

Father, please keep Chris “balanced” until we can get that knee fixed up. Amen. 

July 6 - “Pondering the possibilities”

I met a guy from Indiana at church yesterday. He was down here for a visit with family. He said they had been “deep sea fishing,” but mentioned that the only fish they caught were catfish, ladyfish, and one speckled trout. I didn’t tell him that it didn’t sound like he was deep sea fishing. More likely in the Bay somewhere. But he had fun. That’s what counts. He really liked the church, too. 

We spent the afternoon with soccer and baseball. The Netherlands won their soccer match. Love their rowing/grunting celebration that involves the whole fan world. And the Astros’ victory was certainly celebrated by the fan world in this household. 

After some supper we sat out on the back porch for a while, pondering the possibilities of Chris’ upcoming ultrasound of her carotid arteries (tomorrow). She is more concerned about her knee right now. It has locked up several times, and she has almost fallen. Fortunately, the instability has for the most part been confined to the house, where she has plenty of counters and furniture to grab hold of. 

We closed out the evening with … more soccer. The Mexico versus England game got postponed until 8 p.m. due to bad weather, so it was another late night. England  won that one.  U.S.A. is back in action tonight. 

‭‭Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭24‬ says, For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it.

Father, be with Mark and his family as they travel back to Indiana. Amen.