July 31 - “Mnemonic Magic”

I met another new couple at church yesterday. They are in the process of moving here from San Antonio, so they were here doing some house hunting. I talked to the guy at length. We were about the same age. I’m just a little older. But he remembered Ball High playing his school back then in the state championship. I guessed it was Odessa Permian. Bingo. Correct. We lost to them. 

I actually figured out a way to remember their names. His name was Jerry. That was my uncle’s name. Her name was Teresa, as in Mother Teresa. And their last name? Jerry gave me the clue for that one. He asked me, “What was John Kennedy’s middle name?”  I knew that one. Fitzgerald. Yep.  That was their last name as well. Guess I’ll remember them. Mnemonic Magic and all. 

Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭13 says, You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Father, thank you for the chance to meet some new friends. Bless their efforts to find a new home. Amen. 

July 30 - “Black Belt”

Well, I celebrated passing my stress test (Albeit barely, apparently, but they let me come home, so I beat Chris) by walking with Chris in the morning and actually making two miles. And of course she added an extra half mile onto her total after dropping me off. Some day I’ll catch up …

In the afternoon we waited for Sam to get to our house, then headed to Alvin to see the performances surrounding Noa’s black belt graduation. She performed in numerous disciplines, including one where she was twirling knives. Micah and Josiah performed in a demonstration routine as well. Micah twirled nunchucks and Josiah twirled a big stick. Guess karate has a thing about twirling dangerous objects. They were all three awesome, as usual. 

The whole event lasted over two hours, but it also included an amazing light show and a tribute to one of the top level guys in the organization - an eighth degree black belt. He wasn’t there, though. He was in the hospital. Apparently he almost died about a week ago. He received his belt in absentia, and was honored with a standing ovation. 

Other than that guy, two of the candidates received a noticeably louder response than any others. One was a beloved instructor who was from a very large family. Sounded like they were all there. The second was … Noa. Her social butterfly ways obviously endeared her to a lot of classmates and their families. Way to go, Noa. We’re proud of you. 

After the ceremony we went to CiCi’s pizza place for a celebratory supper. Haven’t been there in a long time. I’m not so impressed with their pizza, but boy, they can sure make some good cinnamon rolls. 

2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ says, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Father, thank you for Noa and all the hours she put in working toward her black belt. Help her get some rest now. Amen. 

July 29 - “Wasn’t this a surprise?”

Well, wasn’t this a surprise. Back at the beginning of the month I went to the doctor for some pretty bad heartburn I was having. Chris wanted to make sure it wasn’t heart-related. Can you blame her for going there?  

My regular doc was booked for the next decade, of course, so I saw a different one. Dr. X. No, that’s not me assigning a nickname, although I have been known to do that. Dr. X is actually what the lady goes by. Her name is Dr. Xie (pronounced Zee).  Hey, we all have our favorite letters of the alphabet. She just happens to have two. 

Anyway, along with the bloodwork and some strong anti-gas meds, she ordered  stress test. That’s Chris’ forte, you know. She’s had several, and has yet to pass one. Ah, the stress test. That’s where you walk on the treadmill until you can’t breathe, then get checked into the hospital for a heart cath. Actually, Chris wasn’t too happy when I made that comment. She replied, “We’re NOT doing that!”  

Well, that test was ordered on the seventh of this month, fully three weeks ago. I had forgotten about it. Not so dear Chris. She reminded me last week, so I sent a message to the doc that saw me through the My Chart app asking if it was still on. She hadn’t replied in a week, so Chris insisted I call the office. 

Once I navigated through the inevitable computer options section, I finally connected with a human. After I explained the situation, she said I would need to talk to the scheduler in the cardiology department. Of course I do. But that’s when she did something totally unexpected. She connected me to them right then. And not to be outdone, the scheduler proceeded to arrange an appointment for me the very next day (yesterday).  I was first on the docket for 8:30 in the morning. Amazing. 

I got up at five so I could take my meds and have a little breakfast. Nothing to eat or drink for three hours prior to the test. Then it was just a waiting game until time to leave - about 7:45. 

And once we got there, guess what we got to do? Wait. Seems both receptionists had been given the day off, and none of the nurses knew how to check people in. Crisis. They finally sent someone over from the cardiac cath lab to teach them how to do it. Crisis averted. 

Speaking of crises (and surprises). that meant I still had to do the actual stress test. The nurse was an amiable fellow who obviously knew his stuff. He got me all hooked up and explained how the equipment worked. The doctor came in to introduce himself. And we were off. He said the first level was a casual stroll. Nope. Way too fast for my idea of casual stroll. I adjusted fairly quickly. Then the next stage kicked in. “This is more of a brisk walk.” Nope. More like the way Chris goes on her walks. Then he said, “we have reached the goal we were looking for. Do you want to stop?”  Nope. Not yet. See, his comment about the next level was, “It’s how you would walk if you were hurrying into the stadium to see Altuve hit a home run.” I had to try that one. And there was absolutely no walking on this on. I definitely had to run. Couldn’t keep that up long, because the pounding was hurting my back, so I cried uncle and he shut it down. 

Now, I mentioned crises and surprises. That’s plural on both counts. One crisis down - I finished the test. Did better than they expected. But then the doc came in and went over the results - with the nurse. I had no idea what their words meant. That’s when I wished Chris had been there. 

The doc finally turned to talk to me. He was quite personable, but I still just managed to grab a few key words. “We saw it very early.” (Saw what, exactly?) “Do you have a family history of heart failure?” (Other than my wife, who obviously doesn’t count in this discussion, my Dad had a heart attack in his 60’s). “Who is your cardiologist.” (I don’t have one! I told him the name of Chris’ guy). “Angiogram.”  (Whoa! Slow down a bit, Cowboy!). “But should you be freaking out? Nah.”  (Yep. He really said that). 

After he finished and left the room, I asked the nurse to clarify. He spoke in word pictures, so I finally understood enough to get that something was going below the EKG line that really shouldn’t have. I asked Chris later what that might mean. She sighed a knowing sigh and said it shows the ventricle is not pumping like it should. That’s the same biggest problem that she’s dealing with now. (So … now I’m having sympathy pains for her? But I’m having no pains!). 

Not sure what next steps all that calls for. The doc that ordered it is supposed to contact me. Since she’s not even my real doc, and she never did answer my previous query, we’ll have to see about that, I guess. We have checked to see if the results were online in my chart there, but so far they aren’t . 

Here we go again … 

Matthew‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬ says, Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Father, thank you that this appointment came available at just the right time. Amen. 

July 28 - “Ant Armageddon”

No walk for me yesterday. Well, unless you include walking behind the lawn mower and weed eater and weed puller. And it was pretty hot. 87 degrees with a wind chill of 94. I even had some company on the mower. 

I sprayed the shed with ant deterrent last week. And I really didn’t see any critters this time. Thinking I had been successful in my attempt at ant Armageddon, I casually pulled the mower out and began the process of getting it ready to go. 

That’s when I saw it. Survivors. Hundreds of them, working steadily up and down the handles. Apparently, they had established a stronghold that was off the ground, and were laboring to get it ready for an all out attack. 

Well, as they no doubt feared, the attack came. I grabbed the spray and doused the lawn mower from top to bottom, hoping all along that there were no chemicals in there that were flammable. 

I’m not really sure how successful I was this time. They disappeared rather quickly, and I did at least shake them up like they’ve never been shook when I started the machine up. We’ll see how it lasts next week. 

Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭37‬ says, For no word from God will ever fail.

Father, thanks for the protection while we worked in the heat yesterday. Amen. 

July 27 - “A little celebration”

Well, I planned to mow the grass when I woke up yesterday. But as my 8 a.m. start time approached, so did a thunderstorm moving in off the Gulf. Pretty common occurrence this time of year. By around 7:30 the skies opened up and the rains began. So much for the mowing plan. 

The rain finally stopped after fifteen minutes or so, and this time it actually cooled things down a little rather than making it hotter and muggier. So of course Chris was ready to go for a walk. I joined her for the first mile and a half again. Gotta get that distance behind me at least five times before I try adding some. This was attempt number three. 

We finally got around to our little celebration for Chris making it through radiation. Not that it was a huge deal. Lunch at Saltgrass. Just the two of us. I had steak and shrimp. She had grilled chicken breast. And we paid for it with an anonymous gift card we got back when I retired. So, thank you … whoever you are. 

James‬ ‭1‬:‭22‬-‭24 says, Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

Father, thanks for the rain. It did cool things down some. Amen. 

July 26 - “Completed …”

Well, it finally happened. Chris finally completed her fifteenth and last round of radiation. She came out of the doors to a chorus of cheers and applause. I was going to do a dance, but somebody had to shoot the video. The nurses and the front desk people came around and hugged her. I found out later that we could have had a big party right there and invited whoever we wanted. Wish I had know. I would have thought of something …

We did start our day earlier. Got all dressed up even. No, not THAT dressed up. But Chris wore a dress and I wore slacks and one of my dressy Hawaiian shirts. The occasion? Well, aside from the last day of radiation celebration, we went to a funeral. Very sweet, 92-year-old lady who has lived just down the street from us for years. Even going back to my early days as a kid here. Her name was Chris as well. 

For a long time Chris would give us a call if she needed prayer or if she was in some kind of medical distress. Guess she figured we had those two areas covered. We would walk down and my Chris would assess the situation and inevitably calm the other Chris down. She never called at night, though. Even though we assured her it would be fine, I think she felt like that was imposing on us a bit too much. 

Chris was a regular over at the local donut shop near our house, as were several of our neighbors. We saw her often as we would be out doing yard work. On her way to and from the donut shop, if she saw us, she would always stop and have something to say. She’ll be missed. 

On our way home from the funeral we stopped at Home Depot. We decided we had to bite the bullet and order a washer and dryer. At least they were on sale. And on top of that we got some kind of special user discount. No idea where that came from, but I’ll take it. And they let you pay out on their credit card for a year at no interest. Why not? Only bad side is that they won’t be delivered until August 9th. Oh, well … old school until then. Hang ‘em up in the back yard, then pop them in the dryer for whatever good can come of that. 

Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭4 says, For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

Father, please be with Chris’ family as they walk through their grief. Amen. 

July 25 - “One more to go …”

I had a little issue with a tooth over the weekend. Apparently part of a filling decided it had outlasted its welcome in my mouth and decided to depart. I probably wouldn’t have noticed, but I felt a small portion of it scrounging around in my mouth during an Astros game. Weird.

So yesterday I dutifully called the dentist at 8 a.m. to see if she could see me. Sadly, because I was in no pain, the earliest I could be seen was Wednesday. With a deep sigh, I accepted my fate and joined Chris for the first mile and a half of her walk. 

When I got home and was cooling down at my desk, the house phone rang. We rarely use that anymore, except for faxes. But the caller ID said it was my dentist, so I hurriedly accepted the call. To my surprise, they just had a cancellation for that morning. Again, with a big sigh, I accepted my fate. 

With the usual dentist-induced trepidation, I sat in the chair to hear the verdict. And after the x-rays and initial examination it came. Looked like she could get it done with minimal further invasion. Of course there came the usual disclaimer.  “If we hit the nerve, we’ll have to do a root canal.”  No mention of the accompanying pain that would preclude said procedure. And of course there is the other option - just rip it out and be done with it. Nope. That’s not happening. I told her to give it her best shot. 

And about an hour later I was on my way home. No pain going in or coming out. Best kind of dentist visit there is. I was cleared to eat as soon as the numbness wore off. Good thing. I was hungry. I settled for some canned corned beef hash. Soft fare. Good stuff. By evening I was good to go. 

When I arrived back home, Chris met me with some news.  Our washer and dryer were both going out. They are about 15 years old, so it’s really not surprising. It did necessitate a trip to Home Depot, though. And the ones we looked at probably won’t fit in the space we have. Great. Guess we’ll be wearing some underwear inside out for awhile. Meanwhile, I hung some rope in the backyard so we could go really old school and dry clothes on a line outside. 

Now the important stuff. Chris only has one more radiation treatment to go. That’ll go down today at 2:45. She’ll be ringin’ that bell and I’ll be cheering. 

Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭105‬ says, Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Father, thank you for the anticipation we are experiencing about Chris’ last treatment. Exciting. Amen. 

July 24 - “The Day …”

Another great day at church. Heard a teaching from Leviticus about the importance of the Day of Atonement to the Hebrews. And of course how the biggest Day of Atonement - Good Friday - is crucial to Christians. I met three new people. One had been before. The other two were first timers. Of those two, one we was visiting from the Dallas area. The other was a local who lives in Spanish Grant. They said they really enjoyed the service. 

I finished my part of the jigsaw puzzle after church. Chris actually finished it, as usual. 

We watched the Astros game. After an entire game of scary-ness, the good guys finally came through, though, winning 3-2 on a Dubon homer in the ninth. 

Chris spent a long time chatting with Josh on the phone. They had to cut short their conversation the other day, so they had some catching up to do.  

We had some pretty bad thunderstorms around here the last two days. Saturday night the wind was so bad that the cover of our backyard swing tore. Sunday afternoon there was a lot of rumbling, but it never did rain. Guess Chris will have to water the grass some more to inspire the rain to fall. 

John‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬ says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

‭‭

Father, thank you that our Day of Atonement lasts forever. Amen. 

July 23 - “By design”

We had a lazy day yesterday. That was by design. No way we wanted out with the extra 40,000 or so cruise ship passengers dealing with the closed-down freeway. In a nutshell, Chris watered the yard and then worked on sending out applications for Bethlehem Street Market 2023. I think this will be her last hurrah in the position of Big Cheese over the event. She has been trying to get someone to come alongside her this year so she can show them the ropes. She may have been successful, but we’ll see. Hope so. 

I spent the bulk of the day working on a new puzzle. Very colorful. It is a conglomeration of General Mills breakfast cereal boxes. It hasn’t been all that hard. Just big. It only has 1000 pieces, but they are cut large. I should’ve oriented it sideways on the table, though. Very tight fit. 

Last night we enjoyed a supper of Lima beans and sausage, one of our favorites. And we closed out the evening watching the Astros game. Good day (even though they lost to the worst team in baseball). 

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬ ‭says, Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.

Father, thank you for beans and sausage and plenty to do to keep busy. Amen. 

July 22 - “Two more to go”

The walk was back once again yesterday. And I actually broke the twenty-minute mile. 19:17, in fact. My hip was making a lot of noise, but I managed to tune it out and keep up the pace. Maybe some day I’ll catch up with Chris’ 17 minute pace. 

Chris finished up full week number two of radiation. That was session number thirteen. Two more to go. 

On the way home we made a Walmart run. Just needed some groceries. Why? We didn’t want to do anything that would necessitate going … well, anywhere over the weekend. Interstate 45 is due to be shut down in both directions. And no less than three cruise ships will be in port. That’s about 40,000 extra people. I’ll stay at home, thank you very much. 

Colossians‬ ‭1‬:‭13‬-‭14 says, For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Father, please be with all those folks who have to be on the highway this weekend. Amen. 

July 21 - “Back to the back”

My turn at the doc started out our long day yesterday. I had a follow-up appointment with the pain doc who gave me the shot in the back.  So far I think it has worked pretty well. My back has barked a time or two at night and woke me up (which might be the problem I have with discs lower down), and it still doesn’t particularly like things like sweeping or spraying for ants. But the only real residue from the shot nerve is some tightness around my side upon exertion. 

 They had a new tech to do vitals and get preliminary info. Julio was the most vibrant and jovial person we have had, well … ever. He commented several times about how wonderful we were. He liked my smile. He asked me who Chris was, and I told him she was my girlfriend, but I also married her. After that, every time I spoke, he turned to Chris and admonished her to keep me on a tight leash. He told us several times that he liked us. Finally, he took my blood pressure.  119 over 70. Then he said he hated me for having such great blood pressure. He asked about my nutrition. I said, “I eat.”  He looked at me again. One of “those” looks. The he looked over at Chris and said, “Tighter leash.”  Very fun guy. Don’t let Julio get away, Doc.

 Oh. I forgot. The results of the visit. I’m now rescheduled for shot number two in my lower back on August 2nd. Don’t know what time yet. That’s the one where the insurance company requires two successful short-term shots before agreeing to pay for the third session that actually burns the nerve to prevent it from generating pain. 

 Long morning. And in the afternoon … radiation number twelve … check! Final visit with radiation oncologist (for six months, anyway) … check!

 James 5:16 says, Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

 Father, thanks for the pleasant interchange unit with Julio. Bless him with even more joy. Amen. 

July 20 - “Home Defense”

I joined Chris on her walk yesterday. Well, I joined the first mile of it, anyway. At that point I bade her farewell and came back home to do some bug spraying. 

We got the name of a preferred product from a guy at church who works in the bug industry (Thanks, Glenn).  Home Defense. That’s what we needed, all right - defense. Mainly against an incursion … no, an invasion army of ants. They have completely surrounded the perimeter of the house, and they never stop moving. It’s kind of frightening. I have honestly expected to hear a horde of tiny voices screaming, “For the sword of the Lord and for Gi-dee-ANT!”  I got it all sprayed down now, though. The home defense of Jeri-NO has been applied. 

Radiation Session number eleven is is the books. Shortest one yet, too. Nineteen minutes. Unfortunately, the Astros game was on at the same time. I followed it on my phone, though. Pretty exciting pitchers’ duel. And the good guys did eventually win. 

Psalms‬ ‭113‬:‭3‬ says, From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.

Father, please be with Chris and Dale and Sam in their ongoing battles. Grant them your peace. Amen. 

July 19 - “This one had a reason”

Well, to start with, I had one of those odd nights. My back and hip caused me to stir awake at 11:30. We hadn’t even been in bed all that long. I managed to reposition and get back to sleep, though. Then it happened again around 3:30. The uncomfortableness had escalated a bit into the beginnings of actual painfulness. I tossed and turned some more, but finally gave up and got up right around five. Never can figure out why some days I sleep great. But others, not as I much. Well, this particular one had a reason.

I went about my usual morning routine. Dog care. Coffee. Bowl of fruit. Quiet time. Read the paper. Post a blog. And as I was posting the blog around 5:45, a fire call notice came across my phone. The address was on my street, and it looked very familiar. I decided to walk down. If nothing else, I could connect with the fire fighters and pray for the individual. 

Sure enough, it was the house I thought. One of our neighbors, who was also a friend of many years, was in distress. She was 92 years old and lived alone, but her niece was there with her. The niece had called the rest of the family already, and they were on their way to the emergency room. I prayed and waited for my neighbor to be taken into the ambulance and on to the hospital. In the meantime, I had a chance to talk to and assure the niece that the fire fighters and paramedics were doing everything they could.

It’s always a tough call when it involves someone you know. But I was more than proud of the fire fighters and paramedics. They responded quickly. They sprang into action upon arrival. They did absolutely everything possible for our neighbor, while showing respect and compassion for her and her niece. I appreciate you guys. 

Oh. We started double digits yesterday. Treatment number ten of fifteen. 

1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭says, But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Father, thank you once again for the commitment of the first responders to do a very tough job. I sure do love those guys. Amen.