August 31 - “A day of alien infiltration and recovery”

My day started off with one of the biggest challenges regarding any medical procedure involving sedation … yep, you guessed it. No food or drinks after midnight. Actually, my restriction wasn’t quite as restrictive as that. I couldn’t eat, but I was allowed to take my morning meds with clear liquids. In fact, I was allowed “clear liquids including black coffee” up until 6 a.m.  Wait. When did BLACK coffee become a CLEAR liquid?  Doesn’t make sense to me at all. I obeyed, though. Took my pills with water around 5 or so, then nursed a cup of coffee until 5:59. Way to go, Me. 

I did wake Chris from her beauty slumber way earlier than her usual. Not to take me to the doc, though. That wouldn’t be necessary until 7 or so. I just wanted her to join me for a romantic stroll to the middle of the street so we could gaze lovingly at the Blue Super Moon and at Saturn, lurking nearby. It was some really beautiful scenery. The astronomical phenomenon wasn’t bad, either. 

We arrived for my semi-voluntary alien probe at 8 a.m. sharp. Almost immediately they called us and another victim/ patient. As we approached the surgery suite we chatted. She was having the same procedure. She theorized that the doctor would do two procedures at once, one with each hand (I pictured here … “tentacle”). She said what she did jokingly.  If only she knew the truth that’s out there …

The nursing staff were all pleasant and excited to see us. Real party atmosphere. I was led into a room with a hospital bed and told to take my clothes off and put on a robe - the proverbial tie-in-the-back version. I crawled in bed and began the one hour wait for the procedure to begin. 

The nurse came in to see me and fill out some paperwork. She asked the question I had been preparing for all week: “What are you here for?” Naturally, I launched into my description of the alien RAI (Radioactive Atomic Incineration) gun and its capabilities. My fellow-abductee … er … neighbor on the other side of the curtain was quite entertained. Not so the nurse.  I think she was stunned by my knowledge and grasp of the true situation. She took it in stride, though, and checked off the question on her list. 

They finally came and got me and wheeled me, bed and all to the surgery room. They rolled me right up to the procedure table and were going to help be get on. But all I had to do was roll over onto my stomach and I was in place. Done. 

I don’t remember much about the procedure other than 3 or 4 stabs of pain. That was by design. Built into the happy juice they gave me. 

But immediately after, boy was I ever woozy. I actually needed the wheelchair. Not so much my head this time, though. My right leg just wasn’t sure it could remember the basic “steps” to walking. It eventually wore off, but Chris made me keep my hiking stick nearby. 

Oh … when they removed the IV, they also did their best to remove all traces of the alien futuristic intervention. How? They wrapped the area with tape … green tape … with dinosaurs on it. Dinosaurs?Really?

The plan is to take it real easy for a few days. Any pain is to be dealt with through ice packs. Any unusual continuation of symptoms like the wobbly leg, and I am to call right away, and/or go to the emergency room. By Saturday, according to the doctor assistant, I should be feeling “100%” better. 

Well … last night was a bit of a challenge. I woke up around 1 a.m. with my back just … hurting. Very strange, too. There was definitely a general aching that was familiar. Mixed in with that were occasional muscle spasms (I was warned about those by the doc). And to top it all off, there were some occasional stabbing nerve pains - the kind that really do wake you up. Rather than take the time to get an ice pack (or rather a bag of frozen peas), I got up and took a Tylenol and worked on another crossword puzzle for awhile. I finally dozed off again, and enjoyed a kind of fitful sleep-ish until I got up for good a little before 5.  Now we’ll see how today goes … 

John‬ ‭15‬:‭12‬ says, My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Father, thanks for guiding that doc’s hand. The relief so far has been nice. Intermittent, but nice. Amen. 

August 30 - “Alien treatment”

Well, I sure had an interesting day. Actually, there wasn’t much interesting about it. I didn’t really do much of anything. 

Chris did her walk, but since we did yard work the days before, it was my day off. I did some early planning for the teachings I may or may not get a chance to do when and if our Mediterranean Cruise pans out next year. Other than that, watched as one TV and worked on our new jigsaw puzzle. 

But today promises to be … different, at least. We’re heading into Texas for me to receive specialized ray gun treatment administered by the reverse engineered technology from a downed alien spacecraft. Hopefully, it will successfully burn a few nerves in my back so that I won’t be able to feel the pain from pinched nerves there. Very hush hush stuff, you understand. 

Here we go … 

Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬ ‭Says, If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Father, please be with the doc this morning. Give him those steady hands. Amen. 

August 29 - “Kumbayamatoes”

Yesterday was yard work day. I got the mower out, but Chris insisted she wanted to do it. Historically, that IS a task Chris has enjoyed doing. Of course, our mower is on its last leg, so I had to help her get it started. She took off, though. But … when she got to the front yard, she got yelled at by Corey. Our neighbors look out for us. He told her she shouldn’t be doing that. She replied, “It keeps Kelley from doing it.”  Umm … Thanks?

Continuing in this adventurous realm, I ate something for lunch that I can say I have never had before. Leftover ribs? Nope. They were good, but not what I’m talking about. A salad? No that’s not it. Well, it sort of is. I’ve had salad before, but never with one particular ingredient. Brown tomatoes. Called kumbayamatoes. Well, something like that. Our neighbor Janell found them at Krogers and she tried them at her house, but had too many for them to eat them all. Benefit - Vaughan’s. And, hey! If you didn’t look at the color, they tasted really good. Thanks, Janell. 

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ ‭says, I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being

Father, thanks for our neighbors who really do care about us. Amen. 

August 28 - “Celebrating with the Methodists”

Met a family from Australia at church. Long way to come to church. Oh, and we had an interesting glitch in the sound system. Intermittently it sounded like someone was blowing their nose. Hilarious, but kind of gross. Not that the glitch had anything to do with the Australians. They all seemed really healthy. 

After church we joined some Seasiders at Pit Stop for some barbecue. There was a pretty big group from a local Methodist church already there when we arrived. As we chatted with one of them, we found that he had just been baptized that morning, and the crowd was there to celebrate. He was one excited individual. Pretty special thing to be excited about. 

1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭6 says, Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Father, be with the guy who was so excited about his new connection to you and to your church. Help him grow. Amen. 

August 27 - “Futbol Furnace”

Yesterday we drove clear to the other side of Pearland to watch Cailyn play in a soccer tournament. The good guys lost the first game. No further comment other than … it was hot. Capital H hot. Fortunately, the game only lasted an hour. And out of that hour, they had four water breaks. Temp at game time was 96*, wind chill of 102*. No wind. Nathan did bring his battery operated fan, so we were able to sit in front of the the hair dryer it created. Thanks, Nathan. 

We vacated the Futbol Furnace (FF) as soon as we could. The AC in Nathan’s truck never felt so good. He drove us to Firehouse Subs for some lunch and some more time in the AC. About the time we had almost recovered, it was time to head back to the FF for one more game. 

Game two began at 107* … er … I mean … 2:15. I guess I mean 107* was the wind chill. Game time actual temp back at the FF was 101*. Unbearable. But we stuck it out to encourage the girls. They played much better, but they lost just 1-0.  Very proud of them. Especially Cailyn, of course. 

Psalms‬ ‭105‬:‭1 says, Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

Father, thank you for watching over those young ladies during those soccer games. Please do it again this afternoon at their game. Amen. 

August 26 - “Pondering”

I made my third walk goal for this week! Of course Chris does that all the time. But I made the two miler again. Good thing I got it in, too. Today we are going to watch Cailyn play soccer in the Pearland heat, and tomorrow we have church. Two days off. Woohoo!

We spent the afternoon doing something I never thought we would even two or three years ago. We pondered, then moved into the research phase, of planning a possible Mediterranean cruise. And the one we’re looking at even includes stops with excursions to Jerusalem, Ephesus, Athens, and Rome. Just investigating still, but it sure sounds exciting. Now to see if we can fund it …

Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28 says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Father, it would be really nice for Chris to get to see some of the Holy Land places. Give us some wisdom in that direction. Amen. 

August 25- “DEFCON 11?”

Chris took off fairly early yesterday morning. She had an appointment for a bone scan. There are some other letters that supposedly describe the exact nature of the test. Something like DEFCON 11, maybe? Whatever the name, it was designed to test her bone density. She said it was a piece of cake to endure, though. About time she had an easy one. The results were posted later on her MyChart.  Not that we understood it all. Now we wait to hear how her doctor interprets them all. 

We watched the Astros game in the afternoon. Very painful. 17-1 defeat. They even put in a catcher to pitch the last inning. He was tossing in pitches slower than the Little League guys. At least that part of the game was entertaining. 

Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬ says, Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children

Father, please give us patience once again as we wait for the next thing. Amen. 

August 24 - “Moving along”

Back in the saddle again. Once again I joined Chris on her walk. Yes, yesterday does count, even thought we only went a mile. 

This one was full capacity- 2 miles.  Woohoo! Moving right along. Good thing, too. I don’t think I had much left in the sore back and aching hip departments. It always eases up when I sit down and drink a bottle of water, though. 

Spent the afternoon watching the Texas Little League team play Washington. Winner to the US championship on Saturday. They went into extra innings. I’ve never seen that at the LLWS before. And Texas eked out a win with a single run in the top of the ninth. That’s three extra innings. Just … wow! Now they are moving along to that US championship game. 

The Astros game went into extra innings last night, too. This year that has generally meant disaster for the good guys. And last night proved no different. They are now something like 1 and 8 in extra inning games. Moving right along in that record-breaking department. 

Oh! Chris got word about her baseline bone scan. She is heading to UTMB later this morning to get that step checked off her list. She started her hormone therapy with her first pill yesterday morning. Still moving along. 

James‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬ ‭Says, Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Father, please be with Chris at that bone scan this morning. Amen. 

August 23 - “A real adventure”

It actually rained yesterday! Yes, that’s an exclamation point. We really needed it (the rain, not so the exclamation point, although it is certainly appropriate). Of course, it took a tropical storm making landfall just south of here to send us the squalls off the Gulf, but we will absolutely take it. 

The rain was short-lived when it did come (3 or 4 times throughout the day), but the wind kept blowing about 20 mph, so that was nice). We continued on with our plans for the day. We got in a brief walk (1 mile) before taking the car in for its required oil change and trip check. Now we just have to make an actual trip. Hoping to make that happen near the middle of September. 

On our way home we stopped at the pharmacy to pick up Chris’ new hormone therapy medication. She’s all set to begin this morning. Now we get to watch for any weird side effects. Sounds like a real adventure. 

1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬ says, Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Father, thank you for the rain. By the same token, please protect those folks down south who have to deal with the wind as well. Amen. 

August 22 - “New territory”

Yesterday was new territory yet again for us rookie cancer people. Not that there was anything new in the diagnosis or anything. Chris just had her first visit with the actual medical oncologist. He was to review her blood work from last week, then lay out the plan for her taking the one-a-day pill for five years for hormone therapy. 

On our way in to the hospital, we saw an old high school friend of mine. Haven’t seen him in years. I didn’t recognize him. He knew me right away, though. Asked me if I graduated from Ball High in 1971. Can’t get much more specific than that. Guess I haven’t changed much in 52 years. 

We thought we would be late for Chris’ 9:40 appointment. We checked in about 9:45. Not that we were that late, right?  Well, we didn’t see hide nor hair of the doc until 10:30 when a fellow came in. She was quite personable as she got her info and left. Then we waited again. The fellow came back a little before 11 to get some more info.  This time the doc did stick his head in, but it was the wrong place at the wrong time. Not ready to see us yet. So he left. He finally got to us sometime after 11:30. All went as expected. They called in the new medicine for us to pick up. Ordered bloodwork for next month and a bone density scan as a baseline (something to do with potential medication side effects).  No word on why it took so long to be seen, though. 

After getting some groceries at Walmart, we headed over to Randall’s for what amounted to the first round of Chris’ meds. The new prescription wasn’t ready yet, so I guess we’ll be back today. 

We did see some fire fighters in the parking lot. They were on their way back from a two-hour broken four-inch gas line call. That had to be brutal in this heat. They were thankful for the cloud cover, though. Just doing the job. Proud of those guys. 

Now for some REALLY interesting news …

Last night someone somehow snuck into our bathroom after Chris went to sleep. This sneaky interloper managed to deface her brand new, birthday gift toilet seat. Well, actually “deface” wouldn’t be the right word, exactly. More like “face.”  When Chris got up to go to the bathroom at 3:30 a.m., she was greeted with a glorious, shining, full-sized, in-color image of a smiling … um … face, staring up at her from the underside of the toilet cover. Now how this bathroom invader managed to get a massive 8.5 by 11 image of my face completely covering the page is totally beyond me. Awfully funny, but certainly beyond my capacity to pull off. After all … I was watching the Astros game, wasn’t I?  

Well, Chris really appreciated the gesture, nonetheless. When she returned to bed, she had something to say. Fortunately, I had awakened when she arose, so I was lucid enough to comprehend her response to such a marvelous surprise. “Ha. Ha. Ha,” she said (Notice the lack of exclamation points? For some reason her voice seemed so … monotone). And she continued, 

“You better be glad I love you.”

See? I told told you she truly appreciated the gift. The Best Birthday Present Ever just keeps giving and giving. Oh! And she loves me! What a bonus!

Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭13 says, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Father, be with Chris as she adjusts now to the new medication that she has to take for the next five years. Amen. 

August 21 - “Action …”

There was a lot of activity at church yesterday. Several young families were visiting, and each of them had kids. Lots of little kids. Preschoolers and babies. Exciting stuff. I also connected with a retired pastor and his wife. They have been to the sunrise service over the past few years and really love it. Lots of folks stayed for dinner on the grounds, too. 

Back home I dozed in front of the TV as the Little League World Series was on. When I was awake, I also followed the Astros game on my phone. They weren’t on TV. Well, not regular TV, anyway. Some off-brand called Peacock. Probably a good thing, as it turned out. Bad guys won again. But every day there’s a Little League team that wins. And that’s plenty of reason for exuberance. 

Psalms‬ ‭68‬:‭19‬ ‭says, Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.

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Father, thanks for the new life those young families brought to Seaside yesterday. Keep ‘em comin’. Amen. 

August 20 - “Well, that was different”

This was quite the interesting wedding. It was a destination wedding at the San Luis Hotel, so I was only able to meet with the bride and groom once. Not a problem. I do a lot of these. I did get a phone call from the bride’s mom with an interesting request, though. She wanted to know if I could do a service that included God, but didn’t mention Jesus. Interesting. Seems the groom’s parents and grandparents would be offended. Why?  The grandparents are practicing Muslims. The parents are Muslim by birth, but don’t practice any religion. That would explain it. I took it on as a challenge, and a challenge it was. Ultimately, I guess my time spent in creation worked. No one took a pot shot at me, verbal or otherwise. And Jesus did make a cameo appearance, approved by the bride and the groom.

It was pretty easy to tell which side of the families were which. The groom was from Bosnia, (hence the nominal and secular influence. I learned from a groomsman that Bosnia is the largest secular Muslim nation in the world. Interesting thing to be proud of.  Most of his family spoke whatever language that is that they speak in Bosnia. The bride had … well … very American friends and family. 

The service started about 35 minutes late. Not that unusual. I e never been to a wedding that started on time. The bride just wasn’t quite ready. The bridesmaids finally came down, but then she wanted a private moment with her mom. And then she wanted a private moment with her maid of honor. 

Finally, we were ready to start. In a different move, the two Moms walked together down the aisle to their seats. But it was the groomsmen entry that was really fun. They each had been secretly issued (by the bride) a Fanny pack filled with rose petals. Coming down the aisle, they danced and tossed the petals on the air. One guy even did a striptease. Well, of his vest. Come to find out, the bride had offered a $100 bounty on whoever made groom laugh hardest. I think the striptease guy won. He had my vote. 

In the very first part of the ceremony I asked the dad of the bride, “Who presents this woman to be married to thus man?”  He paused for a long time. Then he pulled out his glasses, stared hard at the groom. Then he turned and asked his wife if “this is the one.” She had no idea what was going on, but finally acknowledged that, yes, this was the right guy. Finally, Dad asked the bride in a special, personal way if this was the guy. She assured him this was indeed her guy, so we continued on. The rest of the ceremony, I earlier noted, was pretty uneventful. Well, other than a last-minute substitution of one of the scripture  readers. The aunt who was supposed to read got sick. She was replaced by … another aunt. 

After the ceremony, the party began out in the hall while the ballroom was transformed into a banquet room, and the photographer got his quota of pictures. They served hor deurves (sp??). Fried coconut shrimp. Chicken on a skewer. Crab balls. Something else that looked nasty. Open bar. I had a bottle of water to go along with my fried shrimp and crab balls. 

While we waited for my time to say a prayer before the meal, I was virtually adopted by the Bosnians. One of the groomsmen insisted I sit on the couch with him and talk. Even had someone take a picture of the two of us as if we were best friends. They all loved the fact that I sat with them and listened to their stories about coming to America as refugees. I was fascinated. Oh, and they were quite impressed with my dancing skills …

Gotta say … this ranks right up there with the most unusual weddings I have ever done. 

Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭6‬ ‭says, The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

Father, be with Emir and Lauren as they do life together in a bit of a different way. Amen. 

August 19 - “A movie production”

Well, here’s a fine kettle of fish. No, not literally, unfortunately. A figurative kettle … a mess. As I got ready to head to bed, I noticed that the water level in the toilet didn’t look quite right. I knew what that probably meant. I went to the other bathroom, and sure enough, water was backed up into the bathtub again. Wonderful. 

In the morning, right at eight, I was on the phone with the plumber - Lister Plumbing this time - requesting a clearing of the blockage, a photo shoot inside, and a bid estimate to just replace the line. The guy got here around 11:30 or so. When he had the monster snake in the drain, he said it felt like roots to him. He stuck with it, and right at 11:50 it broke loose with a vengeance. I never heard that sound with the last people. He grinned and shouted, “Got it!”  And sure enough, as I stood over the drain access by the street, the rapid gurgling we had been waiting for raced by. And … the sweet, sweet … well, maybe not so sweet smell of success.

Next he pulled out his camera. Quite the movie production. I got to watch over his shoulder as he snaked it through, pointing out clear evidence of roots in the line. Next came the fresh water flush and a blade change. He brought out the big guns this time. These babies expanded to cover the entire diameter of the pipe. Meanwhile, we turned the water on in the bathtub so it could flow freely. The snake obviously was scraping even more debris, but then the plumber stopped and called me over. He sent the camera down again so I could see what he was feeling. Sure enough, there was not only a lip of the pipe that had shifted, but just before the shift was an obvious hole in the bottom. The fresh water flowing through looked like white water rapids on a river. Uh oh. 

The good news is, he cleared the current obstruction. And he gave us a pretty good deal on the charges. The bad news, however, is that we really do need to replace the line. He is going to turn in all the measurements, and his office should send us an email with the estimate for repair by Monday or Tuesday.  

Proverbs‬ ‭13‬:‭20‬ ‭says, Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

‭‭

Father, thank you for leading us to what appears to be just the right company to take care of this plumbing stuff. Amen.