September 5 - “This was a day”

Well this was a day. We started out for Bryan, Texas. Plenty of time, to be sure. Luke’s game was set for 3:30. About two and a half hours to get there. We left at around 10:30. Why so early? Food! 

The “interesting” thing about this start-of-the-day was this … Chris crawled into the driver’s seat. First time in three months. I told her she was good to go down the street to Whataburger. Then we would re-evaluate. 

Well … while we were standing in line at Whataburger, one of their employees was carrying one of those huge traffic cones. Yep. Indoors. Apparently the weight shifted, throwing her off balance into one of those large floor sign ads. Somewhere in there Chris’ legs were swiped from under her. Fortunately, she smacked against the wall and managed to break her fall. Unfortunately, she smacked against the wall … with her right shoulder taking the full brunt of the smack. 

Needless to say, she … hurt. She turned pale and tears welled up in her eyes. She assured everyone that she was OK (just “OK” - not “fine”). But she did go right over and sit down. After a bit we received our food and headed to the car. And NO. She didn’t get in the driver’s seat. Didn’t even argue. She did make me promise to let her take over if I got sleepy. 

Well, I didn’t. Made all the way to Buc-ees, then on to our hotel in College Station. Add to that description … through horrendous thunderstorms with torrential rains. It was a mess all the way until we were almost in College Station. And then …. Blue skies and lots of sunshine. 

Luke’s junior high team played at 3:30, right in the heat of the day. No shade for the fans, except for the umbrellas we had in the car. Did I mention that it was hot? I don’t think it hit triple digits, but boy was it close. We did meet up with Josh and Christi and sat with them in the visitor stands on the hill (closest to the sun). Through it all, Luke played a fabulous game (of course). And the good guys won, 38-19.   

After the game we went to Chik-fil-A for supper. We split a grilled chicken wrap. Good stuff. While we were eating, the junior varsity also won their game in a big way, 55-7. 

Great lead-in for the varsity. They scored on their second play from scrimmage. Caleb was defensive captain for the game. That’s my boy. 

The game was pretty exciting. At least for our guys. The final score was 61-16. Our guys scored with 8 seconds left in the half to stretch our lead to 45 points. By league regulations, if one team leads by 45 points after a complete half, the game ends by the mercy rule. Not bad. Not bad at all. Proud of you guys. 

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ says, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

Father, thanks for watching over these boys playing football. It was awfully hot out there. Amen. 

September 4 - “Zero, aaaand switch”

Yesterday I woke up fighting the good ol’ September drip, drip, drip of excess post nasal fluidity. Very annoying. 

But it was Thursday Clean House Day once again. Strange how that keeps happening every single week. And somehow Chris never forgets. She tackled the bathrooms and dusting. I had the sweeping and vacuuming. Freddy just lolled around, watching us (always wanted to use the word “loll” in a real sentence. Thanks, Freddy).

I made an order online for some more birthday cards. The Mardel site had exactly zero available. Hmm. Interesting. I then went to the old standby, LifeWay. Not only did they have some, but they were on sale for just $3.99. Great bargain. Kind of scary, though. Wonder if they are dumping inventory in anticipation of not carrying them anymore. 

But then, when I went to the checkout page, I saw that it wasn’t Lifeway at all. They had farmed out the boxed cards orders to Christian Book Distributors. Oh well. Seaside had an account with them anyway. 

However, I got an email from them shortly after the order. The card needed to be updated. Oops. Thought I had checked that. I made the required changes, and soon got another email that all was well. Phew! Hope these folks appreciate their upcoming birthday cards. 

Today we are heading to Bryan, Texas, to watch some football. Luke has a junior high game at 4:30. Caleb plays in the high school game at 7. There is also a junior varsity game in between. Go, Wind Skyhawks!

Oh! I forgot the really exciting news. I figured out how to fix my email. Remember, every incoming email automatically went to the Trash file? There was a drop down menu on the computer page of yahoo. One of the options was exactly what I’ve been looking for. Pushed one button and boom! All repaired.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭18‬:‭2‬ says, The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Father, be with the boys in the football games today. Amen. 

September 3 - “Movin’ on”

Chris was up and at ‘em really early yesterday. She had a physical therapy appointment. First one after the doc appointment. First one with a little strength training sprinkled in. She was sore after this one. But definitely progressing. Way to go, Chris!

Meanwhile, I did my walk around the clinic building. I figured up a quarter mile track, so I had about 40-45 minutes to complete eight laps. Phew! Barely got back in time. Chris got out of her workout three minutes early. 

We stopped at some grocery stores on the way home. Chris has been searching for some Ma’am Papaul’s shrimp gumbo mix. It has become apparent that one carries it in Galveston. 

Kroger’s had none, but she did find the olive oil she’s been looking for. Randall’s was a strikeout as well. But at least there we were able to pick up a prescription and some Thera Tears. 

Next we stopped by the bank. It was past time to resolve the dispute over our stolen money. Sadly, we were informed that the online payment company was now involved, so the dispute is still under investigation. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭33‬-‭34‬ says, But seek first the kingdom of God , and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Father, help Chris as she works through this next phase of her rehab. Amen. 

September 2 - “It was a flop”

The storm was pretty much a flop, at least as far as our journey into Texas was concerned. No wind. Not even a drop of rain. We made it to Chris’ doc appointment with ease. 

This was her big three month check up with the surgeon. The hope was that she could at least start strength exercises with the physical therapist. Well, she got that word and more. He gave her a three month pass from seeing him. Strengthening is fine (under proper direction, of course). In fact, he’s a big fan of the Thera-bands as opposed to weights. So next phase … here we go!

Since we were already in Texas, we pulled out our list of stuff to do there. First stop was Mardel’s, where we get birthday cards. To our surprise, they are undergoing a massive restructuring project. The inventory they have is less than half of what they used to have. And among the missing items? Yep. All boxed cards. They have been on order for six plus weeks. So ... punt. At least for now. 

Next we stopped at Dick’s to look for some hiking pants for Chris. They had some, but they were really, really proud of them. So we took a walk all the way to the other end of the shopping center to REI. Didn’t find anything there. So it appeared we struck out.  But then … we passed a store that had been closed earlier. Duluth something or other. And as luck would have it, we found just what she was looking for. She tried them on, and we walked out with another checkmark on our Alaska trip list. 

On the way back to Galveston we ran into just a taste of a sprinkle from Tropical Storm Eduardo. We could see the clouds off in the distance, but as far as high winds and torrential rains? Nope. Totally missed us. Well, not totally. We did get an afternoon of very light, very slow, very steady drizzle. That’s a good thing. 

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬ says, His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Father, thank you for the rain we did get today. Amen. 

September 1 - “Hurricane Trim Time”

Well, a Tropical Storm Warning was issued for Galveston County yesterday. At least part of Galveston County. Like, the Port Bolivar part. I guess because of coastal flooding. It should miss us head on, and since it is east of us, we should be on the less-dirty side of the storm. 

Meanwhile, I dragged out the loppers and went to work on the trees in the front yard. Hurricane trim time. Even if it misses us completely, the trees still needed a haircut. Almost as badly as I do. We got both sycamores and all three oleanders. And as I was about to shut it down, I glanced up at our neighbor’s porch. Hanging precariously by a slim sliver of tree bark was a pretty substantial branch. No way it would last through a storm of any magnitude. And if it did fall, our fence would be at risk. 

I walked up on their porch to get a closer look. Sure enough, things didn’t look good to my eagle-eye hurricane trim time senses. I casually reached up and gave it the slightest little tug. Just enough to gauge what force would be needed to get it down. Boom! That’s all it took. The whole massive branch came crashing down on my head. Fortunately, it missed our fence, other than a scrape on its way down. I hauled it to the street and got it chopped into smaller lengths for the trash guys. Hope the pile is still there when they come today. Hey! I just hope they come today, period. 

We had to make a quick Walmart run. Well, not necessarily quick. We just had a grocery list to check off. And yes. Bananas topped the page. Followed closely by Freddy food. Hey. We had to get stocked up for the horrendous storm barreling down upon us, didn’t we?  

‭‭Daniel‬ ‭12‬:‭3‬ says, Those who have insight will shine like the bright expanse of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Father, watch over everyone in the path of this storm. Amen. 

August 31 - “Tiny little slider-burgers”

We welcomed back our pastor in church yesterday. He finished up his brief Sabbatical, a trip to Virginia to take Micah to school, and then a trip to Atlanta for a conference. Sometimes it’s good to have a return to the familiar. 

We had some guests for lunch. Kel and his whole crew came over. Kel grilled tiny little slider-burgers to go with the baked beans and mac-and-cheese. Good stuff. 

After lunch we adjourned to the TV. Double baseball Sunday. Astros were on one station. Little League World Series on another. Ezra didn’t want to go home. Gotta love it. 

The U.S. kids didn’t do so well. Curaçao soundly defeated them 11-2. The Astros did a little better. They won 6-3. Woohoo!

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭9‬ says, A person’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.

Father, thanks for the great day and church and for our lunch with the kiddos. Amen. 

August 30 - “MIA”

Well, I started a new jigsaw puzzle yesterday morning. Finished it by lunchtime. Not that I’m that awesome or anything. It’s only 300 pieces. But Chris thought it was a pretty one. 

After said lunch we went on a hunt. Some more of the clothes we ordered for our Alaska came in. That reminded Chris that we wanted to take our water shoes with us for the hot springs portion of the trip. Hers were no problem. Right where she left them. Mine, however, were MIA. Couldn’t find them anywhere. Walmart time. 

We did, however, run across a random satchel, the contents of which neither of us could fathom. Imagine our surprise when we opened it to discover some winter hats, snow gloves, and long underwear. Yep. That might be helpful. 

We celebrated the find by walking a few miles. Yep. On our indoor course. It was kind of fun, too. Neither of us walked with a definitive plan, so we almost collided several times. At least we got the steps in … 

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭46‬:‭1‬ says, God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.

Father, be with Seaside today. Columbus, too. Amen.