October 22 - “Covering bases”

Chris’ surgery saga continues. She managed to peel off the bandages so she can take a shower. She was pretty excited about that. Still watching that blood pressure though. 

Bill pay day. At least some of them. Of course they are never-ending. 

I received an email from the U.S. government last night. No, I haven’t been flagged for anything (at least not that I know of). Apparently they have already approved my passport renewal application. They said I could expect it around October 28, but it could be as much as four to six weeks. How’s that for covering your bases? Chris hasn’t heard anything yet on hers. I guess I’ll have to do my international traveling alone. 

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭24‬:‭1‬ says, The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the LORD.

Father, thank you for the quick response on my paper. Help them to get Chris’ done, too. Amen. 

October 21 - “Pictures Perfect”

Indoor work yesterday. Chris was restricted to no lifting or doing anything that might cause her blood pressure to rise. Kinda tough when her blood pressure was 145 over 57 just after waking up. 

I helped get some clothes to washing. Then I tried to get our Alaska photos and videos all situated in one spot. Much easier said than done. I managed to get the Google Photos file all downloaded to our external hard drive. 

However, when I tried to download my phone pics to the same place, the computer just wouldn’t cooperate. My fix for that was to put them onto the thumb drive we have for backing up stuff. Plenty of room there … we have never even attempted to use it. 

Next step was to get the pics off Chris’ phone. Nope. Wouldn’t cooperate to transfer directly to the computer.  It took me a bit to remember how the flash drive worked, but I got the ones off her phone and onto that thumb drive. Whew!

We watched a particularly harrowing episode of Ice Road Truckers. Let me put it this way. I’m just glad we didn’t see that one before we agreed to get on that road. 

Last night we made our way into Texas for Ezra’s playoff baseball game. The game didn’t start until 8:30. That’s for a bunch of 8-year-olds. On a school night. The good guys won 10-7, but the game didn’t end until 10:53. Kind of poor planning, if you ask me. And now they have to do it again on Thursday for the championship. 

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6‬:‭10‬ says, For God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you demonstrated for his name by serving the saints — and by continuing to serve them.

Father, please give Chris some peace to keep her blood pressure down. Amen. 

October 20 - “Oil on water”

Chris has her skin cancer surgery yesterday. She has a spot on her face that they have burned off several times and it keeps coming back. This guy described this type of cancer as “oil on water.”  Instead of sinking deep roots, it spreads out. 

Because of that tendency, the doc marks the offending territory with a permanent marker (so, yes, Chris had a little round circle tattoo on her cheek). Then he slices off a section of the skin and sends it to lab. Meanwhile we sit and wait, usually up to 45 minutes. 

Oh! I forgot. Right after he finished, he handed her over to the nurse (Amazing lady. She had all the pre-surgical instructions memorized). She grabbed the numbing shots, which … hurt. 

When the doc made his incision, there was some residual blood (thank you, blood thinners). So the nurse was suddenly called in to work her magic with cauterization.  That provided another jolt of pain, but it only lasted a second or two. 

While she was finishing up,  the doc took the skin sample to the lab. Back to waiting for us. 45 minutes to an hour was the estimate. And our designated worry assignment? If they didn’t get it all, they would go back in and cut some more, continuing until it was gone. And all that waiting before they even did the closing and stitches. Yay. 

Well … after an hour the news arrived. All was clear. They moved on to phase two: carving the circular patch of missing skin into a triangle, and pulling the skin together, and somehow hiding it in her face’s natural laugh lines. Yep. That’s what he said. My first thought? Wonder if that’s what really happened to The Joker - a face stitching job gone bad (or would it be “gone good”? How about “gone smiley”?). I told Chris she now has to keep a perpetual smile on her face to hide any residual scarring. So if she smiles a creepy smile at you … she’s not really possessed. 

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭6‬ says, Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.

Father, thank you that Chris’ surgery went well. Help her get some rest. Amen. 

October 19 - “Sheared”

Well, that third big sycamore branch is officially down. I went out yesterday and gave it a tiny tug. The whole thing came crashing down. It’s amazing how that tree has weathered at least one tropical storm, but this is the first time it had shed significant branches. 

Fun day at church yesterday. Lots of visitors, and a lot of them stuck around for dinner on the grounds. I especially enjoyed chatting with an 81 year old guy who lived in Alaska for three years. He “flew security” for the region. No further explanation, but it sure intrigued me. He also used to play in a band that traveled all over that area back in his younger days. 

After lunch, we went over to Suzann’s house. She’s our barber. My turn for a shearing after letting my hair and beard go bushy in Alaska. Sure feels lighter up there. 

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭68‬:‭19‬ ‭ says, Blessed be the Lord! Day after day he bears our burdens; God is our salvation. Selah.

Father, thanks again for Suzann. Bless here. Amen. 

October 18 - “Welcome Winter, I guess”

Guess what we came home to after going to the karate rumble (or whatever they call it when the participants get to wail on each other)? Two massive limbs from one of the sycamore trees were on the ground, and another one was hung up in the tree on its way down. Those will be a pain to cut up. At least I have a sawzall. Someday I’ll get one of those small electric chain saws that fits on an extender pole.

Obviously, the wind has been really strong. And cold. Did I mention the wind chill was 43 when I got up? And my arthritis pain in my back and both thumbs really intensified. Welcome Winter, I guess. 

I spent most of my afternoon watching college football. Chris, on the other hand, did something more productive. She napped off her jet lag. 

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬ says, We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Father, thank you for a day to crash. We needed it. Amen. 

October 17 - “Cut loose”

Chris has been cut loose. The physical therapist officially gave her the old heave ho after the session yesterday. She still has a boatload of exercises she is supposed to be doing four times a week, but she no longer has to spend $55 to let a therapist watch her exercise. Woohoo!

We made a few stops on the way home. Sadly, however, not celebratory. We just returned some shoes to Academy and picked up a prescription at Randall’s. 

The exciting errand came after lunch (which, by the way was a nice steaming bowl of Chris’ shrimp gumbo). We headed over to Walgreens. Why in the world go there? Why, to get our picture taken, of course. And why did we need our picture taken when we just spent two weeks taking pictures? Well, so we can be prepared to take some future long-distance excursions. I mean really long distance.

Walgreens is the closest place to get passport photos taken. Don’t get me wrong, we haven’t been traveling without one. But ours was scheduled to expire next year.  Time to renew. And with a “professional” photo (and $260 for the two of us), we were eligible to renew online. If all goes well, we should be good to go again by the first week of December. Now we just need to decide where …

‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭35‬ says, “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.”

Father, thank you that Chris has reached the next stage of her recovery. Amen. 

October 16 - “Restored routines”

Welcome back to the heat. We woke up to a rather warm task facing us. We had to mow and edge the yards. Those weeds sure do a good job of growing when you leave them alone for two weeks. The temperature was only 84 with a wind chill of 85. At least we weren’t flirting with those 90’s. 

We also had a few suitcases full of dirty clothes. Chris got started on those right away as well. The other two things on my long list of three? Mow, groceries, and renew our passports. The passport thing requires us stopping in at Walgreens for a proper photo. Beyond that, we should be able to renew it online. I understand that’s faster than in person. We’ll see. 

But first … Walmart. We had to restock just about everything. Oh, and we HAD to get a pot of flowers to put on the front porch next to the pumpkin we HAD to get to put next to the pot of flowers. Phew!

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ says, Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.

Father, thank you for restored routines. Someday we’ll get there. Amen.