October 17 - “BRA”

Last night we attended an event up in Texas called BRA. And yes, I spelled it right. The letters stand for Breast Reconstruction Awareness. The event was held at a UTMB facility, and the turnout was way more than they expected. They even ran out of the entry giveaway bags and t-shirts. 

The night started with a trip down vendor row. There we did each get a free bag. Chris got a pink fanny pack. I got a very creative shopping-style bag that collapses inside itself to about the size of a baseball. I also grabbed two of the stress balls. One was shaped like a pink heart. The other was my favorite, though. It was offered by the UTMB Office of Innovation. It was shaped like a light bulb. Get it? Innovation. Ideas. Light bulb over your head. Genius!

They had a full spread buffet of Mexican food. I had a tamale and a piece of quesadilla. There were a few other things I tried as well, but they weren’t as … memorable. 

The program itself was interesting at times, emotional at times, and downright boring at times. Chris’ doctor led off the proceedings. She has one of those very soft voices, so I didn’t hear a word she said. A new plastic surgeon then spoke. In true doctor form, he “wowed” the crowd with an in-depth description of a breast reconstruction surgery. Too many technical terms for me to follow, for sure. That would be the boring part. 

The emotional part involved the stories. Several ladies shared their journey with breast cancer and how they have been helped in their recovery. 

And the interesting, at least to me, was learning some of the “little things” that are involved in helping women who are survivors of breast cancer resume normal lives. There was even a nurse practitioner who told about her journey to learn how to do tattoos so she could do a tattoo to replace a missing nipple. Never would have thought about that. 

Other than the door prizes, the main event came when six or eight big, burly men - including several police officers and a doctor - one at a time paraded down a red carpet runway wearing (on top of their clothes, and in one case on top of his bulletproof vest) bras. But not just any article of women’s underwear. These had been garishly decorated to look like everything from a piñata to something you might see in a Las Vegas showroom. It was all in good fun, and left everyone laughing, for sure, as the guys all strutted their way down the runway. 

All in all it was a pretty impressive evening. Only change needed? Chairs! We both could have used one, for sure. 

Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭9‬ ‭ says, Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Father, thank you for the folks who are putting in time and even careers to walk with women through the different stages of their breast cancer experience. Bless them for that. And be with those women who have been affected by breast cancer. Walk with them in their journeys. Amen. 

October 16 - “Funny groceries”

We did something a little different to start our day. We walked two miles. It has been forever, it seems. Too much else going on - “different kinds” of workouts. We did get to chat with our neighbor for a while. Been a minute or two since we have done that as well. 

In the afternoon we ran a few errands. First stop was the bank. Had to get a paper notarized. Got to wave a hello to our new neighbor I met last time I was in. Also got to check in with the bank manager (she was the notary). I first met her way back when she started as a lowly teller. Great lady. Always helpful and cheery. 

From there we went downtown to the lawyer’s office. Had to drop off said notarized document. 

Next stop was Academy. I had a coupon for $10 off a purchase of at least $10. Sadly, my purchase only came to $9.99. The computer wouldn’t accept the coupon. So I was forced to add a king sized KitKat bar to the tally. Yep. I know. It’s a racket. 

And finally … drumroll please … we went to Walmart. I know. Where else? This time it was for some serious groceries. Hmm. As opposed to funny groceries? What would be funny groceries, anyway? 

Speaking of funny groceries … here’s my outrageously healthy supper last night. Well, first, I have to say I had a salad for lunch. That counts for something.  So. Supper. How about Gringos chips, 

French onion dip, sweet tea, and a certain Kit Kat bar?

Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭18‬ says, The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit.

Father, thank you that we are able to get serious - and funny - groceries. Amen. 

October 15 - “well, we crashed”

We started early again. Out to Bay Harbor for what we hoped would be the final day of searching and sorting there. I think that part might be done. We need to make at least one more jaunt out there to put out the last bags of trash. Then it’s on to League City. 

After some lunch I did continue doing some sorting. We had a tub or two here at the house that we still needed to thin out. It does feel good to be pretty close …

Last night we … well, we crashed. No, not in the car.  I mean physically. Just crashed on the couch. Chris did some laundry, but our grand supper of egg salad sandwiches never tasted so good. 

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

Father, please get all the details of probate worked out - whatever they may be. Amen. 

October 14 - “Good stuff”

Church attendance was a little low yesterday. Didn’t stop us from some good worship, though. Kel did a teaching on gifts of the Spirit. Good stuff. 

After church we were joined by the LaMarque crew for lunch. Meaning they came to our house and brought the food, to boot. Lasagna. Again … good stuff 

Last night we had Experiencing God again. Well, sort of. The adults had their portion of the study. The youth had their monthly activities night. This time the options involved a walk down to the beach to hang out, or just hang out in the Bible Study room. 

Beach kickball won out for the first part of the evening. And after scarfing down some pizza, a rousing game of hide and seek in the pitch dark was quite entertaining. We have a batch of good kids around there. I like ‘em. Yep … more good stuff. 

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭11‬ says, “For I know the plans I have for you” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Father, thanks for the great kiddos we have had a chance to hang out with. Bless them and watch over them as they grow closer to you. Amen. 

October 13 - “By definition”

We spent the morning over at the Bay Harbor house. We had hoped to finish it up enough to actually move into the cleaning phase. Not quite there yet. Looks like one more venture out west before we start the northward treks. 

After some lunch and some time to clean up, we headed into Texas again. This time our destination was the north part of Pearland, right off of Beltway 8. That’s where Cailyn’s club soccer team plays their home games. It was a hard fought contest, going back and forth the whole way. Of course, they WERE playing soccer, so by definition they had to go back and forth. But in the end the good guys lost 4-2. Still proud of you, Cailyn. 

Isaiah‬ ‭6‬:‭8‬ says, Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Who should I send? Who will go for Us? I said: Here I am. Send me.

Father, please watch over those young ladies we watched playing soccer. It was hot out there! Amen. 

October 12 - “Actually Accomplishing”

 We went straight out to Sam’s house in Bay Harbor. I was back in the bedroom I last left.  Chris resumed digging in the other bedroom. Our one brief moment of eureka came when we stumbled across some papers related to her house in League City. Not sure yet how helpful they will be in the long run, but we have that info now. 

After cleaning up and a bite to eat, we started on our afternoon errands run. First on the list was a quick stop by the bank. Well, I thought it would be quick.   But who should be the teller, but a young lady who just happened to be one of our neighbors. Sort of. Almost. They are in the process of moving into a house on our street. She recognized the address commonality when she saw my ID. Imagine that. 

From there we made our way to the City Hall downtown. We had to pay a water bill for one of the houses to keep it on. The ladies were very helpful and downright pleasant. 

Next we moved on to the east end of the island. My hearing aid that died on me the day before was ready to be picked up. $130 worth of ready. But Chris was happy that I should be able to hear her again. 

From there we went to the monument place here on the island. We wanted to see about how much we were looking at to get a headstone like Sam wanted that recorded her and her brother. The owner is a retired firefighter, so he and I had a good time talking about his days in the department. 

Meanwhile, Chris chatted with the lady who worked there. Looks like we can get a pretty good deal through their generosity. We just have to get them the details for wording. They can have it all ready for us to pick up in just a few days. Then we can make arrangements to bury the cremains and set the headstone in Burnet, Texas. 

Last night we left the island again. Well, first we stopped by the Luza’s house to give them our order for tamales. Their son is involved in the Treasure Ball, so the tamales are a fund raiser. Yum. 

Our jaunt off-island was just up to Dickinson. It was martial arts battle royale night (or whatever they call it).  Kel,  Noa, Josiah and Ezra were competing in fights. Or bouts. Or whatever they call them. I still haven’t figured out all the rules, but they seem to be enjoying themselves. 

Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭3‬ says, Commit your activities to the Lord, and your plans will be achieved.

Father, thank you for what felt like a day where we actually accomplished something. We needed that win. Amen. 

October 11 - “A catch up day”

We had to throw a catch up day for work around our house yesterday. Mow the grass. Weed eater. Water flowers. We even made an attempt to repair a rocking chair. Still not sure how that one will stand up to the more “athletic” rocking of grandkids. 

It was also back to home group day. That meant cleaning house and going over the teaching. Hope this one worked well. It HAS been a few weeks. 

Meanwhile, John, our contractor friend, came by to check some possible materials to use to replace some rotted wood on our house before we paint. It’s always fun to chat with him while he works. 

Later we drove over to the funeral home to check on the arrival of death certificates for Sam. We were also able to pick up her cremains. Next we will look into headstones. And of course … keep cleaning out those houses. 

John‬ ‭10‬:‭10‬ ‭ says, A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

Father, thank you for the progress we have seen so far. We’re trusting you to keep carrying us through. Amen. 

October 10 - “Grave- digging”

We left Waco first thing yesterday morning, and we headed to … not Galveston. Well, Galveston was our ultimate goal, of course. But we decided to embark on a bit of an adventure first. 

After a quick breakfast at McDonald’s, we turned the car in the direction of a little town north of Marble Falls called Burnet. That’s pronounced “BUR nit” by the way.  And why there? We were hoping to do some grave digging. 

OK. OK. Not literally shovels in the dead of night, Dr. Frankenstein grave digging. Our hope was to dig into the records at the local cemetery and find the unmarked grave of Sam’s brother Ronny. She had hoped if it was possible to be buried next to him. She always meant to put a headstone over his grave, but just never got around to it. Since all the cemetery data bases are keyed to headstones, we haven’t been able to locate where his grave is actually located. Hence … the adventure. 

On the way we did see some fun sites. We passed some kind of wildlife refuge. No sign or anything, but there must have been 50 or 100 deer just lolling around. That was located just outside of beautiful downtown Pidcoke. What’s a Pidcoke? And the road outside of Pidcoke led us right into the booming metropolis of Topsy (never saw it. Must have blinked). I thought we were trapped in an episode of Peter Rabbit. Especially when a huge hawk swooped right in front of the car, no doubt chasing the descendants of said literary bunny. That hawk sure looked well-fed. 

Once we got to Burnet we set about the task of grave digging. First we drove through the cemetery to get the lay of the land, so to speak. Then we made a stop at the city offices to check the records to see if they knew where Sam’s brother might be buried. The lady who helped us was amazing. She said her boss had even been involved in this search already from when Sam’s sister called. They even pulled the antique record system (an actual physical book). They found the grandparents, but no one else. She suggested we take some pictures of nearby headstones so they could compare notes in the book. 

So back to the cemetery we went. In the meantime I found a rough site map with the latitude and longitude of the mother’s gravestone. We followed that and walked around until we found it. I took some pics and we headed back to the city offices. 

Meanwhile, I also texted Sam’s cousin to see if she knew anything about the grave locations. Our newest best friend in the city office was hooked by the search by this time. She made us a copy of the cemetery site plan and marked which one was the grandparents. We showed her the photo of the mom’s stone, so she penciled it in. And lo and behold, while we were trying to figure out a next step, Sam’s cousin texted back. She named the occupants of the family tract. Grandparents. Check. Mom. Check. And after a long pause … the brother as well. Eureka! The lady at the city office was happy as well. Now she can update at least one of her records. 

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭11‬ ‭ says, And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you.

Father, thanks for helping us wade through all the issues in finding the graves. Bless that lady in the city office for her patience and persistence. Amen. 

October 9 - “Lack of plans plan”

We decided to stick around Waco one more day. I wanted to watch Caleb’s basketball tryouts, and Chris wanted to see AnnaGrace at her dance class. It meant adjusting our lack of plans plan, but hey … why not?  

We had a special lunch. Christi took us to their favorite tamale place: Jesse’s Tortilla Factory. Years ago a couple converted their house into a full-blown tamale/chips/salsa making warehouse. They even sell to many of the restaurants in town. And their tamales were definitely worth the hype. Homemade. Good stuff. 

We had to vacate the living room after lunch for about an hour and a half. The piano teacher up here  makes house calls. AnnaGrace was first, Luke second, and Caleb third. The lady was very patient and encouraging. I still don’t think she could teach me, though. But then maybe that’s just, “old dog new tricks.”

We did the divide and conquer thing after piano. Chris went with Christi and AnnaGrace to get her to dance class. I went with Caleb and Luke to basketball tryouts. I’m pretty sure we had the better end of that deal. They are gonna have a really good team … after football season. Meanwhile, let’s call it a rebuilding opportunity.  Oh, and I let Caleb drive our car. He did really good. Yep. Another teenage Vaughan driver. Watch out, world. 

Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭8‬ says, Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Father, please do some healing on that guy who twisted his ankle at tryouts. It didn’t look good, and he’s one of the better football players, too. Amen. 

October 8 - “First first down”

 We hit the road again yesterday. Not for a super-long trip or anything. We just figured out that yesterday was the only chance we had to see Luke play in one of his football games. His age plays 7 on 7. Totally different set of rules. Gotta hasten to say here - and as a totally impartial observer and not as a proud grandpa - Luke was by far the best athlete on the field for his team. His team is quite young and short and not experienced. Luke made the only two receptions for his team,  and one of them resulted in the team’s very first first down of the season. 

Cary and KayLynn came down from Arlington to see the game. Afterwards they came to the house for some grilled chicken and baked potatoes. Great food, of course. Way to go grill master. And it’s always great to hang out with dear friends. 

Proverbs‬ ‭19‬:‭21‬ says, Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail.

Father, thank you for the chance to hang out with family - and friends who are family, too. Amen. 

October 7 - “I’m proud of you …”

We had a really special treat at church yesterday. Well, other than the donuts we brought. Micah’s girlfriend, Kaylie, shared her testimony in a creative way. She was interviewed ahead of time, and the recorded piece was played as a video. Very well done, but even more … well-spoken, Kaylie. I’m proud of you. 

After church, as we prepared to leave, we began to hear the tell-tale sounds of fire trucks rumbling past. I checked my fire department app, and it said the Mexican food place next to the church was actively involved. We rushed outside. Sure enough, smoke was billowing from that direction. We also heard several very loud pops. Yep. That’s the sound of an electrical fire. 

I walked down to talk to some of the fire fighters. It was a fire at the electrical box, but once the light company arrived to shut off power, it didn’t take long to get it under control. Kudos to the Jamaica Beach Volunteer Firefighters as well as the Galveston firefighters. Way to work, guys. 

Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭25‬ says, Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.

Father, bless those fire fighters for the work they do. I love those guys. Amen. 

October 6 - “Tough luck”

Well, I called to complain to Home Depot once again. We saw on their website that the same fridge we ordered was now available for delivery on the 19th instead of the 21st (our currently scheduled time). I simply asked to be switched to that day. Sounds reasonable and relatively simple, right?  

Nope. No changing the delivery schedule once it has been set. Unless of course it is to push the date further back. Oh, but they did say that there is an outside chance they could come earlier (tossing me a bone here). If so, they will call 24 hours in advance to let me know. Meanwhile, don’t call us, we’ll call you. So in a nutshell … Tough luck. 

After a call like that, we had to add a walk back in to our schedule. We made our two miles and hopefully burned off some non-refrigerated frustrations. 

Back home we began chatting about our next adventures. Road trips and cruises. Every possibility from Boston to Canada to Minnesota to Astros Spring Training to North and South Carolina (whenever they get back open again). 50th anniversary year-long celebration … starting soon. 

As we chatted about places to go, I got a text from a friend at church. She had been reading in the blog about how busy we have been. To remedy that a bit, she offered us a free couple of hours over at a Moody Gardens pyramid. Great chance to relax and just be together (and watch otters and search for sloths). We couldn’t find the sloth, and the otters were napping on the sand, but we had a really great time. Thanks, Helen!

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭24‬ says, Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Father, bless Helen for her caring heart and creative approach to touching us where we needed it. Amen.