March 9 - “Going on the sewing”

We woke up (well, I did. Chris slept a little later) to the sound of rumbling thunder. That, of course, is not Freddy’s favorite melody in the whole world. She was up in my lap as soon as she could convince me to provide her with one. 

Not that it was raining. At least not when we first got up. Just noise. Thunderous applause for God’s power. But the rains did come. In waves. Loud waves. Freddy wasn’t happy. But as long as she was in my lap she stayed relatively calm. 

In spite of the rain, we had a good group at church. And afterwards Noa hopped in the car with us. The boys were all going to the World Baseball Classic at the Astros Park in Houston. She wanted to work on a sewing project with Nana. But of course we had to eat. Oh.  And watch a Hallmark movie.  Important Sunday afternoon activities. They did eventually get going on the sewing. Hey! That rhymes. “Going on the sewing.” I like it. Great place to end, don’t you think? “Going on the sewing.” Hmm. 

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭31‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ says, Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom and loving instruction is on her tongue.

Father, thanks for v the chance to spend time with Noa all by herself.  As she pointed out, she’s turning 13 next month. Teenager. Yep. Amen. 

March 8 - “Check”

Checked off some things regarding our cruise. 

Some of the bills that will be due while we are gone came in the mail no. Two key ones … IRS and property tax. Ouch. 

We braved the Saturday/Spring Break traffic and went to Walmart. This trip was for trip amenities like mouthwash and mascara and a new razor. Oh. And candy. Gotta keep up our strength. We will still need a trip next week for more bananas. 

I spent some more time through the afternoon working on the jigsaw puzzle. It’s getting there. 

Finally, we watched some college basketball - always a fun activity. Baylor played against Utah, and for about half of the first half, Baylor was making more than 90% of their shots. That is unheard of. Watch out Houston and Arizona and Texas Tech. 

Last night we switched over to baseball mode. The US was playing Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic. Actually, we were hoping to see Jachin. We thought he had some tickets to the game. Kind of a bucket list thing for him. But I guess we were wrong. Chris tracked him to the mall instead. Oh, well. 

‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭3‬:‭3‬ says, But the Lord is faithful; He will strengthen and guard you from the evil one.

Father, be with us at church today. And be with Corey and Janell on their trip. Amen. 

March 7 - “Tis the season”

Our morning was one of those … well, we did yardwork. Tis the season and all that. I mowed and edged. Chris cleared a flowerbed and did the sweeping. I know. I know. She had no business doing that with her bad hip. But YOU try and stop her when she gets it in her head to do something. 

We crashed for the afternoon. I’m pretty sure there was a Hallmark movie on, but I may or may not have missed a bit of it. Just resting my weary eyes for a brief second or two. 

Last night we packed up our sweatshirts and stadium seats and headed up North. It was Cailyn’s last soccer game of the year. We couldn’t miss that one. 

They honored the seniors before the game started. Each girl had a statement she had written read by the announcer. And the announcer was none other than … 

Nathan. He did a great job. 

The good guys outplayed the opponent all game, but a fluke goal on a free kick brought defeat. Still proud of you, girls. 

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬ says, So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Father, thank you for the nice weather. It made those outdoor chores not so difficult. Amen. 

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.