March 6 - “The grand counting chore”

We ordered some more of Freddy’s medication. Ouch. That stuff costs enough to pay for a cruise excursion. Good thing we like that little critter. 

Speaking of medications … 

We did some more trip planning. Had to figure out the process for returning home. Our flight from Barcelona arrives around 3:10. Our connecting flight departs DFW at 4:36. That gives us just over an hour to get our bags, go through customs in Dallas, and get to the other terminal and go back through security to catch our connecting flight - all in 

one hour. Sounds like fun. 

Oh. But medicines. We also did the grand counting chore. That’s where we figure up how many days we will be gone and compare that to how many of each medication we have on hand. The plan is to make those match up so we don’t run out. I think we’re ok on prescriptions. It’s the over-the-counter stuff we need to replenish. Methinks a trip to Walmart is in our future … 

I spent some time at the computer working ahead on some home group Bible studies. I also snuck in some jigsaw puzzle time. Chris redid our calendar for the cruise dates. I think we won’t be really ready for this thing until we actually step on the boat. 

Speaking of home group, I took a different approach this time. Actually, we have done it before. A few more songs than usual. Then an incredibly creative video that I found on YouTube giving a complete overview of 1 and 2 Kings. We will pick up the life (and death) of David next time. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭3‬ says, But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing

Father, thanks for the folks you have placed in our home group. I do appreciate their willingness to put up with my “creativity.” Amen.

March 5 - “The odd - not so odd - urge”

Well, that was a great start to the day (sarcasm warning). I was sitting at my desk, calmly pouring in the eye drops, as I do every morning. After completing the task I reached blindly for the cap to the eye drop jar, as I do every morning. And … I promptly knocked over my cup of coffee. My full cup of coffee. My cup of coffee that actually holds roughly two cups of  coffee. The spillage was horrifying. Books. Computer. Clock. Cards to be mailed. 

Suddenly I had the odd - not so odd - urge to do a Spring cleaning of my desktop (and I don’t mean the one on my computer). I leapt into action. 

Grabbing a hand towel from the kitchen, I went first to the computer. Fortunately it sits on a frame several inches above desk level. All good there. Next came the books. I expected a real disaster there, but the only one affected was The Totally Awesome Book of Useless Information. No, that’s not my opinion, although it is pretty awesome. That’s the actual title. It soaked up a good amount of the flood. It actually protected the printer. 

Other than a few pieces of paper I had out with things to remember and do, everything else was relatively unscathed. I made another cup of coffee. I was more careful this time. 

The Astros pulled out a Spring Training victory. Of course both squads were a bunch of prospects. That makes it fun, though. Won’t be long and we’ll be back on track for games that count. Can’t wait. 

We took Freddy to the vet in the afternoon. Time to check her ears again. No observable problems there. She also needed more meds. Our big question for the vet was to see if she has to be on the seizure meds from now on. Yep. For the foreseeable future. And as a side note, she was also due for a rabies vaccination. Done and done. Whew!

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭143‬:‭8‬ says, Let me experience Your faithful love in the morning, for I trust in You. Reveal to me the way I should go because I long for You.

Father, thank you for Freddy’s fairly good vet visit. We kinda like that little critter. Amen. 

March 4 - “Yep. Bananas”

My day started out with a much-anticipated event. It was time once again … for a haircut. I know. I know. Big deal. But I really wanted to have a head of hair that dried quickly when we were at sea. So task number one … done. 

As we were sitting down to lunch, we had a FaceTime call from our youngest grandson, Ezra. Seems his mom was headed out to the church, and he wanted to hang out with us instead. Well, of course. A few minutes later he popped in with his uke and schoolwork. 

We didn’t waste - er - I mean, spend much time on the schoolwork. He did play his uke a bit, and he even showed me some of the chords I had forgotten. He’s getting good on that thing. And he found some roller blades in their garage. He’s good on them, too. 

Micah called around two. He chatted for quite some time about school and COLD weather and the fact that he is coming home for Spring Break a few days before we leave for Spain. But we should get to see him at church once. 

When Ezra left we had one important errand to run. Walmart. Yep. Bananas. There was some other stuff in the basket, but … bananas. 

Last night we went to Texas City High School. No, not night school. Cailyn had a soccer game against them. The bad guys won this one, but Cailyn played a great game. She even made a few offensive runs from her defensive position. Nice job, Cailyn. 

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ says, Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Father, please keep watch over Micah as he prepares for Spring Break - tests and all. Amen. 

March 3 - “Banking on it”

Our goal for the morning was to get the last of the financial stuff (that came up when we talked with financial advisor) taken care of at the bank. It took them a while to get it all figured out, but they finally came through. Now we just have to figure out how many euros we will need in Spain. That is if we indeed do go to Spain. Not sure with World War III on the horizon. 

Chris made a call to pressure the x-ray department to get her hip x-ray results posted so she could see it. Someone called back, but we still haven’t seen the x-rays. Sigh. We’ll see how long that takes. 

After lunch we drove downtown to drop off some checks to our financial guy.  That errand took about a minute and a half. We couldn’t just go home, so Chris stopped at Home Depot to see if they had outdoor furniture out yet. Sadly, that was a nope. We did walk through the flower section, but that resulted in a world record. She didn’t even stop once. I think she is more than a little frustrated with her hip. She is using one of those cool hiking poles, though. Can’t say she is happy about that. 

‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭21‬ says, Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

Father, please grease some wheels for us to get Chris some relief for that hip. Amen. 

March 2 - “And she went down”

We had a little incident after church yesterday. We were walking up the stairs. Chris was in front of me. And her hip just gave out. And she went down. 

Fortunately, she was going up the stairs and was on the last step. She actually executed an Olympic-worthy spin on the way down. Ended up in a sitting position on the landing. Pretty impressive. Her phone didn’t even pick it up as a fall. But it did hurt. 

Not sure what will happen next. She does have an appointment already to have one of those steroid shots in that hip. And she had some x-rays the other day. Maybe we’ll find out something then. 

After church we joined the family for lunch at Slim Chickens. We were going to another place they raved about, but found out that it had closed down. Sad. It sounded really good. Not that Slim Chickens was horrible. My chicken club was good. And Chris really liked her chicken wrap as well. It was a rousing (loud) time. Lots of fun.  But as the saying goes, “most good things must come to an end.”  (I know the saying says “all,” but I don’t believe that’s accurate. After all, I’ve been married 50+ years, and it’s still good). We finally got outa town around two thirty. 

After a quick gas and bathroom break at Buc-ee’s, about the only thing that slowed us down some was the typical downtown Houston traffic jam. One of the lanes being closed for construction didn’t help any. We finally hit the island at 6:30. Ah, that salt smell …

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬ says, The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.

Father, please ease the pain in Chris’ hip. And help the docs figure out what’s going on there. Amen. 

March 1 - “A few hunky guys”

We kicked in on grandparents duty yesterday morning early. Caleb and AnnaGrace had piano competition. Josh had to be at a workday at church. That left us to get Luke to track practice in one of the surrounding small towns. 

It was at a junior high school track. Very nice facility. Certainly could have hosted any of the high schools when I was growing up. No bleachers, of course, but we parked right where we could see all the action from the car. I recognized a few of the guys from our sojourns to watch basketball. Caleb’s girlfriend Chaselyn was there. But then her dad is the coach. Chaselyn is really fast, by the way. I promised I wouldn’t say anything about Luke’s girlfriend. This is me not saying anything, Luke. 

We stopped to get gas on the way back. Good thing we couldn’t get to a pump the day before. The price had dropped by ten cents a gallon. 

After the girls left for the shower, Zack came over. And what better response to a guys afternoon than a trip to the gym to play some basketball? And what better spot for the old guy than observer/wannabe coach? It was a fun hour or so. 

From there we raced over to the church. The girls needed the truck (and possibly a few hunky guys) to take the shower gifts to Zak and Lindsay’s apartment. It didn’t take long to get it all loaded up. Caleb joined Zak to head out first, so Zak could drop him off at home. He needed to shower and change for his big date to the Winter Formal. Ooooo!

Zak and Lindsay came over to the house after they unloaded everything. There were a few gifts there still to be opened. Oh, and cake. And ice cream. And they invited a friend over to help eat it. Gigi was a lot of fun. 

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18‬:‭24‬ says, A man with many friends may be harmed, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.

Father, thanks for watching over Caleb and Chaselyn at the dance. Amen. 

February 28 - “Find-a-friend”

We got the car all packed and ready for departure. Then we sat down and called Kel. It was his Happy Birthday call. Of course we ended up talking to him for about an hour. I kinda like that kid. 

After a stop at Bucees for lunch (and a bathroom break, of course), we headed onward to Waco. I munched on fried chicken strips and fries. Chris had her cold chunks of turkey. 

When we got to town we went straight to … HEB’s. We were gonna get gas, but the line was way too long. Instead we went inside. Grabbed some Minute Maid frozen lemonade and headed back to the car. Just as we were pulling out, I noticed on Chris’ find-a-friend that none other than Caleb was at that moment walking through the store. I jumped out and ran back in. Sure enough, there he was. Before long Chris joined us, and then Christi and AnnaGrace. Caleb selected some flowers for his girlfriend and we all headed home. Well, to their home. 

Last night we watched the movie Short Circuit with AnnaGrace while Josh and Christi went dress shopping (for her, not him). She is trying to find a dress to wear to Zak and Lindsay’s wedding. So is Chris. Not me …

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬ says, Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.

Father, thanks for the safe trip. Help the ladies have a fun time at the shower this afternoon. Amen.