Weekend News

Between Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon, I was able to get the rails up for the rolling doors on the goat barn. We were let go for the day at noon on Friday, so I had a couple extra hours to get started, otherwise, I would not have been able to get as much done as I eventually did. It was just cold enough both afternoons that I wore something to cover my mouth to avoid breathing the cool air. Even still, I ended up with a bit of bronchitis. Good thing I still have some Elderberry syrup left. I was going to go to Lowe’s this afternoon get the plywood for the doors to mount on those railings; we have the day off tomorrow. However, I am a concerned about working in the shop on a day that the temperature is not supposed to get above 33°. It is a shame to have to worry about such a thing as that. I once was able to ignore the cold and work a full day outside regardless of the low temperatures. Such in not now the case. It would be nice to use tomorrow to complete my door project, but I may have to wait for the coming weekend. The temperatures are forecast to be in the low 60’s through the first weekend of the New Year.

I am actually surprised that I was able to get as much done as I did on Saturday. Our Saturday was full. I went bus calling with the pastor until about 11:30. On the way home from that, I had to stop at Walmart to get a couple things for Mama. She was making some cookie dough for the girls to roll out and cut cookies from that evening. I only had about three hours to work at the farm before we had to pick up the girls, so we could take them to Santa’s house. Our resident Santa, one of my coworkers, lives near us and we had been told that his wife decorated the house for Christmas each year with an enormous amount of decorations. We wanted to see. and the girls were excited about visiting Santa after Christmas. All that started when we picked them up at 3:30.

Red’s wife, Joanne did in fact have a lot of Christmas decorations. Even though there were decorations of every sort places on every shelf, table and ledge, it was done so tastefully that it did not look gawdy. There were dozens of snowmen, multiple Nativity scenes, snow scenes of every variety imaginable – town settings, barnyard settings, countryside settings, with frozen ponds being skated upon, woodland animals playing in snow, etc. There were frocked trees of many different types. One, in the hall bathroom, had a couple snow owls perched in it. It was a lot to take in, but all arranged so that it was on display in a way that each item could be clearly seen and enjoyed. I know Mama would like to do the same, but we already have too much on constant display around our house. It would take a herculean effort to pack up our currently displayed items and replace them with Christmas and Winter items. Perhaps that is what it takes for Joanne to do what she does each year, but I am not sure it is worth it for us to mirror that effort. Besides, we do not have nearly the volume of Christmas things she does.

Once back at the farm with the girls, we rolled out dough, cut cookies, baked the cookies and cooked dinner for the girls. Mama and I finally dropped them off at their house at about 7 pm. Each went home with a box of cookies they had cut and decorated themselves. It was a fun day all the way around. They were all pretty hyped up when we dropped them off.

Since there was no school today, the girls were allowed to go to church with us last night.  They colored and drew while Mama tried to listen to the sermon. All in all, they did well through the service. Aubrey especially. Yilin and Cheyenne took a bit more of Mama’s attention than Aubrey did. I was impressed and pleased with how quietly they busied themselves through the service. But Mama had come prepared to keep them occupied. Aubrey was saying she was hungry as soon as we got into the vehicle, so Mama suggested we stop at McDonalds for some French fries. Twenty dollars later we were sitting eating Chicken McNuggets, Filet-O-Fish Sandwiches (two for $5 you know.) and lots of fries. I can’t complain to much. All the girls – especially Aubrey – ate all they were given.

I am not sure how long the workday will be today. Being the last day of the year with a Holiday tomorrow, there are very few people at the office. On our short week last week, there were only about twelve people at the office each day. Today I think there are less than that. I do not anticipate being at the office for a full day.

Vacation resets tomorrow. I will be curious to see how quickly that is used up this coming year.

Our house, Norman’s house, the weekend ahead

Mama and I talked briefly to Glenn (our realtor/investor) last night so we could get an update on the house he is getting remodeled for us in Lawton. He told us that his cleanup crew filled a large dumpster with trash from the house. He wondered if the tenants actually took anything with them when they vacated the property. None of what they left behind was reusable in any way, so I suppose it made no sense to them to take it. All of it was simply put into the dumpster. The dumpster load also included the walls put up in the garage to convert it into two bedrooms. That conversion, according to Glenn, had been poorly done so removing it will add value to the house in multiple ways. The garage door is on order to refill that opening properly. It will make a significant change to the look of the exterior of the house. A solid improvement. If Glen has the time today, he will go by and take some pictures for us. It would be nice to catalog the remodel of our first investment property.

He told us that the neighbors were thrilled to see the house being fixed properly. They have dealt with bad renters for years. Several of the neighbors know Glenn personally and are reassured that the remodel will be done properly. He mentioned that he is the highest paid garbage man in Lawton. He fills several dumpsters every month with the remodels he does.  With the Lord’s blessing, he will be filling many more dumpsters for us. He hopes to check out the HVAC today to ensure it is functioning properly. If it is, painting will start next week. He mentioned starting in the garage and working out from there. He has found that if he does not take that approach, the garage gets neglected and often goes unfinished. If all goes well, we could have the house on the market by the end of January. Mama and I are talking about going up to see the inside of the house on New Year’s Day, but I am not entirely sure we will do that. The forecast is for very cold temperatures in our area – at least what is viewed as cold for our area – with even colder in Lawton.

Mama is attending a funeral this morning. John Carr, the owner of the property Norman and Grandpa have rented in Bowie, the property Norman is currently renting, died last week. He had been in bad shape for some time, so it was not unexpected.  He had been to the farm infrequently during last year, but he had been very pleased at how Norman had been caring for the farm; with the improvements he was making to the land and the buildings. Norman mentioned to Mama on Christmas Day, when he was over to introduce his latest girlfriend to us, that John deeded the property to him in his will. How great is that? What Norman will do with the property – if it really does pass to him uncontested – remains to be seen, but I hope he keeps it long-term. It really is a great piece of property. To own it free and clear would be a huge blessing. He needed that bit of encouragement right now. I am not sure where the funeral will be held. I do not think John had his primary residence in Bowie. It was more of a hobby farm for the last ten years or so. Mama wanted to go to support Grandma and Grandpa – and Norman - at the funeral.

Mama and I have no plans for this weekend, but I am about ready to hang the rails for the rolling doors on the west end of the goat barn. I have the rails cleaned, the hangers attached to the rails and the filler boards cut to allow me to mount the rails over the metal siding on the barn. I have not bought the wood to make the doors yet. I do not have room to store it in the shop right now, so I have held off on that purchase. This weekend could be the right time get those materials since I will have New Year’s Day off next week. When I get the rails mounted, I will know how tall to make the two doors. With winter setting in for the second year having the goats, it is about time I got the end of their barn properly enclosed. I am also ready to hang the four foot roll up door at the back of the shop.

We will see what actually gets done as Saturday unfolds.

Christmas thoughts

Christmas was a bit unusual this year. We had three separate gift exchanges – all called “Christmas” by the participants. We celebrated Christmas in Honduras with Nate, Cori and the kids while we were there over the Thanksgiving holiday. We celebrated Christmas with Andrew, Britany and the twins the weekend before Christmas while they were here with us. We celebrated Christmas on the actual morning of Christmas – just me, Mama and Victoria. None of those separate celebrations included very many gifts. All of them included family. All were fun moments. It was interesting to stretch out the gift-giving over four weeks rather than squeeze it all into one morning. We will have to try to do the same next year.

Christmas Day was a flurry of cooking, cleaning and rearranging the house to accommodate the families coming over to eat lunch with us. We were expecting up to eighteen. Twelve adults and six children. We ended up having only fourteen. We invited the Echeveria family but Sam was sick on Christmas Day, so they did not come. We certainly had enough food – brisket, smoked turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, macaroni salad, cranberries and deviled eggs. There were also several desserts, cookies, banana muffins, etc.

Everyone ate at least twice through the afternoon and evening and we still had a huge amount of leftovers. Victoria took a large plate of the three meats to the Echeveria family, so they would not miss out completely on the dinner. We sent a lot of the ham home with Trace and Krystal. I am ham-ed out after eating it over the last weekend while Brittany and her crew was with us. We sent a lot of the brisket home with Seth and Gabriella. We will turn the rest into chopped brisket to make into sandwiches one evening. We sent some desserts home with Mr. Plumley. We sent almost a whole cherry pie home with Grandma. Grandpa did not come. He was not feeling up to it. Still we had to freeze some of the leftover meats and feed some of the macaroni salad to the chickens and pigs. The entire turkey carcass was fed to the dogs in stages. They love it when I carve up a turkey.  I feel certain we will be feeding more to the animals over the next few days. We cannot eat that much ourselves. Thank the Lord for freezers – and the animals. Noting will go to waste.

Last night, after church, Mama and I just sat for a few minutes. Actually, she had been sitting most of the day. One of the activities most of the adults got started on Christmas Night was a putting together a 1,000-piece puzzle. It was more than two thirds completed when everyone left for the night. Mama worked most of the day on that puzzle. She was down to about twenty pieces when I got home. I helped her get three or four of those pieces in place, so we could get it done. It is sitting completed on the table waiting for me to glue it together in celebration of the completed project. I did not realize at first, but the box the puzzle came in contained four such puzzles. Victoria, who had gotten home too late to go to church with us, had cleaned off the granite topped table and started a second puzzle.

Kira and Kobe got out of the yard Christmas night. Someone had left the gate at the garage open and they took full advantage of the exit offered them. It could have been my fault. I had carried cardboard – a lot of it – from the garage to put on the fire we had just roasted marshmallows on. A gentle rain began falling right at dark putting a halt to our smores party. But the fire was a good opportunity to clear the cardboard out of the garage. I do not specifically remember closing the gate, but I had been very careful through the day to do so. Nathan, Trace’s youngest, told his parents it was his fault, but I am not so sure.  

I was hurting as I lay in bed later that night, so I got up to move to the couch. It often helps when I can press my back against the back of the couch. Anyway, since I was up, I stepped outside to see if the dogs had come back. They had – and they smelled terrible. I opened the gate to get them into the yard and left them in the sunroom for the remainder of the night. The dogs were thrilled to be that close to their beds. Victoria was thrilled to have them home…stinky and all.

Me, not so much.

The twins at the farm

Brittany, Andrew and the twins made it in Friday evening. They were all tired. Mama and I realize that travel with ones that little is a challenge. It is a sacrifice. And we appreciate the extra effort. The fact the Sophia had a very bad night that night prolonged the fatigue Brittany and Andrew were fighting. I was up and wide awake at 4 am so I got to hear the struggle to comfort Sophia through the remainder of the morning. As an afterthought, I realized I should have taken her from her mommy and done the best I could with her to allow them to sleep, but I did not do so. My bad. I just was not sure how the idea would be received nor how well I would be able to comfort Sophia as she struggled with her own discomfort. Generally, that is a mommy-required issue. Later Saturday, the twins were put down for a nap and Sophia did not sleep then either. She emptied the nearby bookshelf into her pack-and -play. Fortunately, she did sleep fairly well Saturday night. Zoe seemed unaffected by her sister’s sleeping issues.

We exchanged gifts Saturday morning. All the adults in the house got more fun out of watching the twins open gifts more than we did out of our own gifts. Both Sophia, and Zoe loved tearing paper from the boxes, but they got the most fun out of pulling tissue paper out of the gift bags. So, as you can imagine the gift bags were re-stuffed until the twins grew tired of the exercise. Victoria bought a Bluetooth capable knit cap for Andrew. He had it hooked up to his phone within minutes, playing Christmas music though the speakers in the toboggan. When he put it on Zoe’s head, she loved it. She crawled around the living room for thirty minutes or so. Dancing periodically. Pausing periodically to focus on whatever she alone was hearing. She was not happy when her daddy took it off her head.

We had a big Christmas-like lunch Saturday. Ham, brisket, scalloped potatoes, corn and rolls. Grandma came over for lunch and brought a pumpkin pie to add to the mix. Other than “teasing” Brittany about how she feeds the girls – she cuts up their food and puts it on the table for them to grab it themselves as they eat – things went well. Mostly we just relaxed through the day. I worked on a couple little things outside but did not tackle anything major. We just enjoyed the company. Saturday evening Mama and I attend the ballet that Yilin and Cheyenne participated in. They did the Nutcracker. At least that was the theme behind all the choreography. It was enjoyable, but I had been up since 4 am so it was more of an endurance contest for me. Mama was required to be with the girls backstage before the performance and then again after the first act. They did not participate in the second act but had to remain backstage through the entire performance. The girls enjoyed having Mama with them during the waiting periods. We were home late, and the twins had already been put to bed for the night, but we stayed up and talked for a bit with Brittany and Andrew.

Sunday, Brittany, Andrew and the twins went to church with us. That morning started out with breakfast at the church. So, at our table, we had our three Chinese girls and the twins, me, Mama, Victoria, Brittany and Andrew. It was a busy table. Mostly, I managed to complete breakfast without too much food on my dark blue dress pants. Pretty amazing since Sophia sat on my lap eating powdered donuts. During the service Brittany and then Victoria were called to care for the twins in the nursery. I never did hear what happened, but I know Brittany and Andrew enjoy their church in Wichita because of the amazing nursery they have there. We ate at the Chinese restaurant for lunch. Alex fixed me oyster soup. No one else would eat it. I thought it was very good. He also fixed us a rice noodle dish that has become a favorite. The twins ate really well. They were headed home by 1:30 pm. It was a good visit.

At least Mama and I thought so.

Work from home, one group out; one group in, final Christmas prep

Yesterday our management gave approval for us to work from home today. Much of what we do in the Education Department, can be done remotely. It is a definite boon to productivity to be at the office on the servers that are in-house and access the internet provided us there. But we can get work done remotely. For me, it is a challenge to work from home because of internet issues and the constant draw to do other things during work hours. I suppose it is a matter of discipline on my part as well as Mama’s part. When we have access to each other, we prefer to be in each other’s company; answering to each other’s needs as those needs arise. But for the day, I will concentrate on work-related issues through my normal work hours while Mama tends to things at home. Although, I reserve the right to intercede in issues at home as I deem necessary.

I did not get started on work related issues too much before the Echeveria kids were up and going. By the time I got set up at my desk in the bedroom – it would be impossible to work from the desk I have set up in the living room – Mama was making breakfast. It is a challenge to do so for this group. Luke cannot have diary. Joseph cannot have eggs. And of all things, Mama decided to make pancakes. Luke’s were made from pancake mix without milk. Joseph’s were made from the same mix but without eggs. Separate bowls of batter. Separate prep times on the cast iron gridle. But the kids enjoyed the results. The only issue was that there was so much batter left over. Later today, Mama and I will make the pancakes and feed them to the chickens and the pigs. They are not allergic to either dairy or eggs. It is fun to have the chickens and the pigs. With those animals on the farm, nothing goes to waste; literally nothing. And they really, really enjoy our scraps.

I am told the Echeveria kids will be picked up about the time that Andrew, Brittany and the twins will be rolling in. Mama, Victoria and I are looking forward to having them here for the weekend. The twins are growing up so quickly it is a pleasure to be able to see them a couple times per year. Especially at this stage of their lives. We regret not being able to see Kathryn and Walter, but we have not been able to work out the logistics to get to Maggie and Aaron and they have not been able to get to us either. Oh, well. We will take what we can get and enjoy the twins this weekend. Brittany and Andrew are planning on staying through Sunday afternoon. Every time the twins see me or Mama they start saying “Papi. Papi.” Over and over. Then fight for the phone to keep our image facing them. That is a delight for Mama and me. Having them here in person, promotes the same competition for our attention. Between times of distracted play, Sophia wants me to hold her. She is getting big enough that it is a workout for me to hold her as long as she would like; but I do my best. I have been working out lately and today I will get to see if that will help with my endurance in toddler lifting.

With Christmas coming early nest week, Mama and I are in the final stages of preparing for that day. We will not have a lot of people in the house that morning, but the house will fill through the day. Trace and his crew will be over. The Echeveria crew sill spend the day with us. Norman, Seth and Gabriella will be over as well. Sixteen adults and six children. It is a good thing we got the new range installed. As far as I know, we are not going to do any further decorating to the house, but we will have a lot of cooking, baking and meal prep to do for the group of guests. We will be fixing a ham, a turkey and a small brisket. For the brisket we may go to Raymond’s BBQ and buy the prepared meat. In the long run, it works out to ne about the same price per pound – with far less fat to deal with and not real prep time involved. What strikes me as humorous is that I will get the boxes that contained the Christmas decorations back out to the well house just a few days before I will have to drag them back into the house to be repacked.

That is just the way it worked out.

Mulching, Mama’s surgery, Master’s Club Program

With the large number of trees we have on our property, every Fall is a challenge for us. In an unusual weather event that happened while we were in Honduras, all the leaves on all the trees were on the ground when we got home. The process usually takes several weeks during which time I grow frustrated trying to keep the leaves out of the garage. This year it happened in one day. Right now, the leaves are piled against north side of our fences on the east and west sides of the house. They look like snow drifts – only made out of leaves. If the leaves are not mulched, the shifting winds eventually blow them into areas where Mama and I do not want them; the front porch, the sidewalks, the garage. I have been hesitant to have Mama mulch those piles of leaves because of the dust and dirt it stirs up – both of which cause Mama and I some respiratory issues. Now has not seemed to be the right time to risk getting a cough from an exercise that is largely cosmetic. Besides, Sam and Sasha often make their beds in those piles when the weather is cold enough that they feel the need some insulation around them.

Mama called our insurance provider yesterday to see if there was anything that could be done to help get her surgery approved. The person she talked to was very kind and very helpful; however, it is up to the doctor’s office to make the calls and put in the request to have her case expedited. There is a path provided by the insurance provider to allow the case to be reviewed and reconsidered in an expedited manner if the doctor’s office requests it to be done. Mama was told to have the doctor’s office let the insurance company know that Thursday is the last available surgery date of this year. That is where things stood at lunchtime when I checked in with Mama. Sometime around 3 pm, the hospital called to let Mama know that she needed to be at the hospital at 12 pm on Thursday. The caveat is that at that time we still had not heard from the Doctor’s office to confirm approval from the insurance provider. She had been calling every hour to see if someone would pick up the phone and talk to her – to no avail. It was not until Mama and I were getting ready for church that she checked her phone and saw a missed call from the doctor’s office. The voicemail was pretty much what we expected. They cancelled her surgery for today because they “had not heard back from the insurance provider.” Whether they made any additional attempts to contact the insurance provider is not known to us, but the next time Mama needs surgery – for her right knee – we will be using another doctor. Our loyalty and patience only extend so far. Overall, we are disappointed that Mama is stuck with the limited range of motion she now has, but she is able to do most things. So, we take the bad with the good and move forward. God is still in control.

Mama and I had to be at church with the girls at 5:30 yesterday evening. The Master’s Club Christmas Program was to be presented in church that night and they needed a final practice. After Mama and I dropped off Yilin and Cheyenne for the practice and made sure we were not needed, we took Aubrey and headed to Walmart. I needed a couple food items for a pot luck at work today and Mama needed a couple items for things she is fixing for this weekend. While we were in Walmart, Aubrey threw up. The splatter of which got on both of us as well as in her. She was sitting in the shopping cart and daintily leaned forward and let it all go. The boots we were wearing got a little of the fallout but all in all it was an easy cleanup. We just had to find someone to get the mess off the floor at Walmart. We checked out and took her home. It did not appear that she was sick. After the event, she let us know she felt better, but we did not want to run the risk of a repeat occurrence at church – or in our vehicle.

The children’s play went really well. Both the play portion and the musical portion were well rehearsed and nicely presented – in that customary fashion that only children can pull off. Mama recorded it in full so Alex and his wife could see the entire program. By the time the last song was sung, the kids were weary of their costumes, but they soldiered through to the end.

We had the girls home just after 8 pm.

Cancelled, completed, cleaning

Mama and I had just left the farm, headed to the hospital, when the doctor’s office called. They had just spoken to our insurance carrier and had found out that the request for coverage for the procedure Mama was scheduled to have had been denied. Since we did not want to pay for the procedure out of pocket, she canceled Mama’s surgery and we headed back home. There was a non-committed promise to work with the insurance carrier through the rest of yesterday and today to see if there was a way to get the procedure approved so it could be scheduled for Thursday; the last surgery day of the year for our doctor. We are praying for such a breakthrough. Although without God’s direct intervention, it seems impossible. Insurance companies are not in control of God – but they do exercise immense power over us in the health industry and our access to health care. If they hold us off through Thursday, we will have to pay our full deductible next year rather than capitalizing on the deductible we have met this year. It is not the end of the world, but it is pretty disheartening for Mama. She was looking forward to having her current problems with the knee replacement resolved. Sooner rather than later. To capitalize on what we have paid out this year and lessen our financial outlay for the procedure. We will see what happens, and we will continue to pray.

Since Mama’s surgery got cancelled, we went back home and had lunch together. I went back to work. I have been working 6 am to 5 pm for several days now to make up hours I was out sick. I appreciate the company’s willingness to allow me to do so, but it has put me home later than normal. At this time of year, it is just getting dark as I get home. Anyway, I stopped at Lowe’s on my way home and picked up a receptacle for the stove. Fortunately, the cord was left in the truck so I was able to match it to the receptacle. Once home, I installed the plug, hooked up the cord to the stove, installed the anti-tip device and set the range in place. It looks good; except for the areas I need to trim out. I think we will enjoy having it versus the cooktop. Mama was playing with the burner controllers – since two of the burners offer a range of cooking areas as well as a Warming Area and a Melt setting – and exploring the over controls when Victoria got home. Yesterday morning, Victoria had not been able to fix her normal breakfast, so as soon as she could move Mama over, she fixed some eggs and tortillas for her dinner. Her routine should be back on track this morning.

Mama wore herself out cleaning yesterday afternoon. Part of the required cleanup was some residual mess Trace and I created when we were cutting the counter to accommodate the range. Most of the cleanup was routine. All houses get dirty. Our accumulation includes what is added by the three inside dogs. Dirt tracked in. Hair constantly being shed. Dander and dust in abundance. Installing the new windows had helped tremendously with the dust the settles on everything, but we still have to clean routinely. We just do not do so in a big way until we are expecting guests. The fact that the twins are coming tomorrow adds to Mama’s desire to have the floor and rugs thoroughly cleaned. To that end, I believe she told me Krystal and the boys are coming over this morning to help her get the rest of the cleaning done. It is matter of some urgency since we are anticipating her surgery to be rescheduled for tomorrow. Whether or not Mama has her surgery, it is destined to be a great weekend.

And Christmas will follow quickly.

Range, surgery

I had to get Trace, Krystal and the boys for church Sunday evening. So, we got to talk on the way to and from church. He needs a full-time job right now, but he is doing well enough to get by housing, feeding and clothing his family of five. Anyway, I asked if he would be off Christmas Eve. I needed help installing the range Mama and I bought to replace the well-used cooktop that is failing on us. Installing the range will require cutting out the cabinets and countertop to accommodate the appliance and I thought it would be nice to have the help. As we talked about it, he offered to come yesterday. He is working for a local rancher and was off Monday. I took him up on that offer.

He, Krystal and the boys came over to the farm about 2 pm and he got started on dismantling the cabinets while Krystal and the boys helped decorate the Christmas Tree. Mama took everyone but Trace to Decatur for practices of some sort and to buy a plug and receptacle for the stove. Trace had moved pretty quickly on the project and was at the point of starting to make the cuts to the countertop when I got home. He had been careful in removing the cabinet doors and drawers. I hope to reuse them to enclose the space where the double ovens now sit – when I tackle that job. As I prepared to cut the countertop, I assured him that if we made a mistake it would not be a major problem because I plan to replace the cabinets and countertops later this year. I had to hold to that promise when I realized he had measured incorrectly, and we cut the opening in the countertop a little over an inch too wide. The rest of the opening I cut to size. It will not matter I the long run, but it really bothered Trace. In reality, most kitchens have an opening larger that the range to accommodate varying sizes of appliances. They make seals to cover that gap.

We got the point of sliding the range into place to test our measurements. We would have hooked up everything and been complete, but the only things Krystal and Mama forgot were the electrical parts I needed to supply power to the range. That I can tackle this evening after we get back from the hospital. I was pleased with the project and thankful for the help. Our next indoor project is to install the interior doors I bought over a year ago.

Mama and I are both fasting this morning. Mama is required to do so. I am doing so to help her. Even though we are not physically together this morning, she knows I am fasting with her and that seems to help her. It is a good thing for me. My belly needs the rest. Her surgery has been moved up to 3:30 pm. That is a blessing. I will work a shortened day and we will head to the hospital around 12:30. Her prep normally takes about two hours. The surgery should takes less than an hour. I got the approval letter from insurance yesterday evening and as Mama read over the approved procedures listed in the letter, she realized the extent of the work that is going to be done. She will be dealing with a good bit of pain following the surgery, but the recovery will be much easier than the original replacement surgery. As always, we will take it as it comes.

We are hoping to start physical therapy right after the first of the year. If that does not work out, I have a standing offer from one of the ladies here at work to help Mama get her exercises done. This particular person would not hesitate to do whatever was needed to ensure Mama’s full recovery. She is not an unkind person; far from it. She is just one of those individuals that is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. She recently had shoulder surgery and her recovery was somewhat like Mama’s. The doctors recommended a second surgery to help her get her range of motion back and she refused. As in Mama’s case, she had to be at a specified range of motion by a certain date to avoid the second surgery. She put herself through all the pain needed to get that motion back – and succeeded.

In Mama’s case, there is the general acquiesce to the notion that surgery is the only way to clean enough scar tissue out of the joint to allow her to have the ability to move into the range of motion we are looking for. We are both hopeful that this will do it. And we are both thankful that Mama has recovered sufficiently from her cold and cough to have the surgery done.

Yesterday one of my coworkers poured from a bag of peanut M&M’s onto a plate so we could all share. The only colors were red and green. When I came in this morning, only a few of the green ones were left.  I have to assume people really don’t like eating greens...in any form.

Class party, chickens, cantata, Mama’s surgery

Mama, Victoria and I went to our Sunday School class party Friday night. I was not feeling the greatest, but I endured. We ate Mexican food and visited for about an hour before we started the gift exchange. Poor Mr. Plumley got his gift taken several times, but in most of the instances it was to ensure that he finally ended up with a gift he could actually use. His first gift was a set of pocket knives. He cannot have those in his assisted living setting. I was planning on taking them if he still had them when it was my turn. Secondly, he got a set of screw drivers – which he really liked. Someone took those from him. I had hoped he would be able to keep them. Most of us can afford a set of screwdrivers more easily than he can. On he third time choosing a gift he opened a box with three cases of soft drinks in it. One of the other assisted living participants took those. Finally, he got a gift card to Subway. He was delighted about that even thought he had to go through four successive boxes to get to the gift card. I forgot what Mama got but Victoria got a “Drinking Bird”. A balanced toy roughly resembling an ostrich that will keep tipping down to dip its beak in water once you get it started. Strange. I remember them being a big thing when I was a kid. When my turn came, I stole a pair of Bluetooth earbuds. I gave them to Victoria. We got home about 10pm.

While closing up the chickens Friday night, I found a dead chicken inside the coop. It had not died of natural causes. It had been killed and partially eaten. Not a good sign. My coming out to close the coop doors must have disturbed the predator. I found a second partially eaten chicken Saturday morning. Having discovered those kills, I decided to look around carefully and found a third chicken under the coop. Fortunately, Mama did not have to see any of them. I disposed of them as I typically do in such instances. Both Saturday and Sunday night, none of the chickens would roost on the side where the predator entered. A wise move. I set traps but did not catch anything. I baited them for coons. Tonight, I will bait them for opossum. Since Friday evening, Mama and I have been diligent about closing the doors that the chickens use to enter and exit at the back of the coop at dark rather than waiting until we turn off the lights for the night. There is about a four-hour lag between those times and we want to deny our predator access to the coop during that time.

I was given a Christmas bonus at work. Praise the Lord! So, Saturday morning, after I cleaned up the aftermath of our predator’s rampage in the coop, Mama and I went to Northern Tool and Equipment in Denton and got a couple items that I had on a wish list. We were planning on going to Academy and Sam’s, but we spent too long at the tool store. Mama really enjoyed it. We will have to go back to Academy because Mama really needed to get some items at Sam’s in preparation for the cooking we will be doing this coming weekend and into Christmas. We were up against a deadline because I had cantata practice at the church that afternoon. I still was not feeling well but I was not feeling horrible. We had a three-hour practice during which I had to sit a lot – and keep myself from singing too much. It was well worth the time we put into it.

Sunday morning, I asked a young man who is attending BBTI this year to lead the music for me, so I could save my voice for the cantata that evening. He and his wife – a very sweet couple – are attending our church during their time at the special training. Sunday evening, I had the choir meet for a final run through. Again, it was time well spent. We ironed out the last few rough patches. At the actual performance, the play and cantata went very well. Probably the best we have ever done as a choir. I was very pleased. So was everyone in the choir. On the last song, one of our favorites, the choir sang with such confidence and power that the praise reflected in the song came through with its full power. The only regret every year is that for all that work and preparation, we only get to present the cantata once.

Mama did not go to either service yesterday. She was feeling too badly. We are praying that she recovers quickly so that her surgery, scheduled for tomorrow evening, is not postponed.

The winter storm that wasn’t, road repairs, busy weekend, not well

There was a good deal of chatter yesterday about an approaching storm. It was coming from the northwest and was reported to be bringing cold temperatures, high winds and a lot of moisture. There was even talk of snow flurries. In our area, trucks were out putting down brine solution in case the combination of the rain, cool temperatures and high winds caused overpassed and bridges to freeze. Though the effort was appreciated, it proved unnecessary. We did get a little rain. We certainly got a lot of wind. Gusts were up to 50 mph. The temperature this morning was 40°F. So, overnight the roads did not get cold enough to freeze. Tomorrow morning, we will reconnect hoses we use to water the animals. We disconnect them when temperatures are forecast to be low enough to cause freezing. After tonight, we should have a lengthy stretch of nights above the freezing. It’s all a little disappointing. I was actually looking forward to seeing some snow flurries. That will happen this winter, I am sure. Just not this weekend.

There was some unexpected good news for those of us living on our farm. The County road crew has been working on our road. This time they went to the extra effort of repairing where our humble county road joins the more traveled thoroughfare. That turn has always been rough. Every time we exited onto our county road, we had to make the turn slowly and navigate the drop carefully. When making the turn from our road onto the better maintained road, we had to do the same – going uphill onto the road. When the junction was icy, it was a very difficult turn to make. After the repairs, the intersection in now greatly smoothed out. It is still a decent rise to go up onto the larger county road, but it is so much easier to do since the huge pothole (more like a large sunken area) has been repaired. With the number of trucks that make that turn, I am not sure how long the repair will last, but we will enjoy it while we can. Mama called the precinct chief to thank him. He was surprised and delighted by the call.

We will be busy with church related functions this weekend. Tonight, if we feel up to going, we have a Sunday School Class Christmas Party. It is always Mexican food with a Chinese Christmas gift exchange. At work they call it a White Elephant gift exchange; where a person draws a number to open a gift and then can either open a new gift or steal one from someone who has already opened one. I participate at the class party, but it is not something I relish. Some of the people in our church really enjoy it. Mama has the gifts ready for tonight. Victoria’s class is always combined with ours for the party, so it is usually a group of forty or so. Because of that, it typically takes us over an hour – sometimes close to two hours -  to open all the gifts and settle the thievery. Saturday morning is bus calling. I hope to go since I have not been able to go for a couple weekends. So few participate. Later Saturday afternoon, we have a final group practice for the Cantata and Play we are presenting Sunday night. As far as the choir goes, I believe we are ready. We, as a choir, have not heard or seen the play, so Saturday will be our first look. I do not know if I will be able to lead the choir for wither the practice or the cantata. I still cough when I try to take a deep enough breath to sing.

Mama is very concerned right now. Her cold has gotten worse over the past day or so. For some reason, both of us got scratchy throats last night as we were rearranging the living room to accommodate the Christmas tree. She is scheduled for her surgery Tuesday at 6:30pm. If she is sick, we will not be able to get the surgery done. That is understandable. Hopefully, as she and Victoria spend the day at the house today, Victoria can talk Mama into taking the necessary remedies we have available to shut down the illness.

Getting Mama to comply is not necessarily a straightforward issue.

Sick, our tree, the pigs

I left work very early Tuesday morning. I should not have gone in, but I do not have any sick time left so, I thought it best to tough it out. That was not the best choice. When I got home, I laid down and ended up spending most of the day in that position. A very rough night Tuesday night led to me calling in Wednesday. So far, December has not been a good month for me. I missed the first week due to our trip to Honduras. (Loved that part of my absence.) Then, I missed the last two days due to sickness. Fortunately, we have enough savings to make up the loss I pay, but it definitely was not my first choice. It has just worked out that way.  I was feeling too badly to go to the funeral for a church family member on Tuesday and still too sick last night to go to church. Victoria ended up going to church by herself. Mama, too, was feeling poorly. Hopefully, today will be a better day. I seem to be on the mend, but time will tell. I still will be no help with the singing at our Christmas Cantata on Sunday.

It is interesting that three other people I spent Friday with are also sick. All with much the same illness I am experiencing. Two of the three returned to work today – as did I. One is still out. I am not sure if there is anything related to the illness, but the coincidence is hard to ignore. Regardless, the commonality of the illness is enough to make me wary about exposing some of the more susceptible church members to whatever we all have. I am told that being on antibiotics for 24 hours solves the infectious nature of any particular sickness, but I am not convinced that I am really non-infectious. Especially since Mama seems to be showing the same symptoms I had at the onset. In Mama’s case, it would be very inconvenient for her to get sick since it would postpone her surgery. She is very worried about that consequence. So far, she has managed to successfully battle the germs. We are praying she continues in that.

While I was recuperating yesterday, Mama and I set up the Christmas Tree I bought on clearance last year. I was pleasantly surprised by the tree. Mama was very pleased with it. I snapped together in three pieces so, setting it up was very easy. Once we splayed out the branches, it was very full looking – enough to satisfy Mama. We did not decorate it yet. That will follow later this week as we find all the needed totes of Christmas decoration. Where to place the tree is still not decided. There are some possibilities – all of which require moving furniture around. A couple of the prospective places require moving furniture out of the house. I am confident we will have the placement finalized by tonight; regardless of the extent of rearranging required. It is nice to have a tree up although, I am not at all in the Christmas spirit. I spent that energy in Honduras. Maybe having Andrew, Brittany and the twins here next week will help, but I have not bought any presents – for anyone. Mama and I agreed no to buy for each other. Whether or not we follow through on that remains to be seen. But with only a few days to go until Christmas, it looks like we might hold to that decision.

Our two new charges, the pigs we recently bought and brought to the farm, are almost as wild as those born in the wild. I am letting Mama do all the tending right now to see if they calm down some. So far, that has not happened. It is a good thing that I checked the fencing in the enclosure, because they have tested it pretty thoroughly over the past few days. We have never had a problem calming those of our animals that seemed to be wild when we got them, but so far, I see little improvement in these two.

If anyone can do it, Mama can.

Struggling, pigs, lights, funeral

I was struggling by the time I got home yesterday evening. I did not make any plans for the evening. I just wanted to rest. That was not what Mama had planned. She had set up with a friend at church for us to pick up two piglets at his house. I missed hearing about the purchase because I missed church Sunday, but I can be flexible. The only issue was that she had forgotten about that appointment when she scheduled for us pick up the girls to take them out to look at Christmas lights. So much for my leisurely plans, but, what can you do? I loaded up two cages into the back of the truck and we headed out to meet our seller, who lives about three miles from the farm.

He is keeping the shoats in a stock trailer, so it was not difficult to catch the ones Mama picked out of the ten little ones. I say little, but they weighed about thirty-five pounds each. The whole bunch of ten are nice looking pigs; stocky, short-hosed, black and white. Once separated out I could tell we got two fine pigs for the money he was asking. They are both nice looking shoats. Both gilts – females. It has been wet recently so I had to be careful how I approached the trailer the pigs are in, but other than that we made the purchase and pick up without any issues and were headed home in about half an hour. At our farm, Mama and I drove to the back of the pen where the pigs will be kept and dragged them out of the cages to be deposited, ungracefully, in the enclosure. I carried feed over to the pig building while Mama put out some pine shavings for the two to make a bed for the chilly evening. That was all we had time had to give to the pigs because we were scheduled to get the girls soon after we got the pigs settled in their new quarters. They should quickly adapt to the larger, cleaner facility. They will also come to appreciate Mama’s care very quickly. At least I hope so.

We got the girls just after dark, but prior to getting them from the house, Mama and I set up a Christmas light projector in their front yard. We have two and are not using neither of them so, it made sense to Mama to set one up for our Chinese family. The girls were impressed. I have no idea if Alex and his family felt the same. Mama had planned to go to a neighborhood in Paradise but I was not feeling up to the drive there and back. Paradise is almost a half hour away and the girls have a pretty strict bedtime. Instead of driving to see if we could find the neighborhood in question, we drove around town to see whatever lights we could find. We ended up finding a lot of houses that were decorated beautifully. We spent about an hour driving around. The girls really enjoyed it. Especially Aubrey. Then we took a break at Burger King. We needed gas. The girls needed a potty break and chicken nuggets. Mama needed French fries. After that break, we went to one more neighborhood with the parallel purpose of Mama picking up some LuLaRoe items she had bought. (No. I have not managed to shut down the LuLaRoe purchases.) But we did see some really good lights on the way there and back. We dropped off the girls very near their bedtime. Aubrey was not pleased that we had stopped our light tour, but she went in quietly – mostly.

I went to work this morning, but got sent home. I was not feeling well when I got up and dressed for work, but I do not have any time off left. The runny nose and the rough cough gave me away quickly. It was probably not wise to go in, but I tried. Along with work, I had planned to attend a funeral today for a wonderful lady at our church that went home to Heaven last Friday. She has been frail for some time and early last week she and her husband were involved in a bad head-on accident. He ended up with two plates in his chest. He is recovering well. She was injured too badly to recover, lingering only a few days before the Lord took her home. Along with missing work, I am going to skip the funeral as well. I do not want to unnecessarily expose anyone to what I have – in case this is infectious. Normally, it is not. But I do not want to take the chance. 

Mama will be attending for both of us. 

Ice, dishwasher, Christmas Parties, sick

Friday, I went with the Education group to Gaylord Texas Ice display. The hotel itself was worth the trip. I may take Mama back just to experience that. I may have enjoyed roaming about the hotel more than the ice display – which was extremely impressive. The theme was Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer. So, all the sculptures represented themes from the story. Each of the sculptures were done from ice. Some were quite elaborate. Many were twelve to fifteen feet tall. The entire area was chilled to 9° F. It took about forty minutes for us to go through the entire display. My hands were numb even though I was wearing gloves (which I brought). My face was frozen – so were my glasses. We were all dressed in heavy, hooded coats provided by the exhibitors. I cannot imagine the hours that went into the sculptures. The time spent by the artists in the cold of the display area. Once out of the display, it took my glasses a long time to warm up and shed the ice that had formed on them. As impressive as the display was, I do not think Mama would enjoy the cold enough to take her back. She told me the pictures would suffice. After the tour of the Gaylord and the Ice exhibit, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Shopping in Southlake – a very expensive area to shop – followed before we headed back to the office. I realized when I got home that I had been chilled all day.

Saturday, I did not feel well but I did not feel badly. Rather than go bus calling with the pastor, I stayed home and installed a new dishwasher. I ran into several challenges as I did so. I successfully disconnected the water and drain lines, expecting to pull the unit out and unplug the power cord from the wall. That was not the case. The dishwasher had been hardwired – no plug had been installed. In pulling the unit out I ripped the electrical wire out of the wall all the way up to the countertop. That turned out not to be a bad thing. Since the wire was exposed and the wall “cut”, I took the time to install an outlet, so the new dishwasher could be plugged into that outlet. It just seemed cleaner and more professional to do so. The entire process took about two hours. Part of the time was redoing the drain lines on the sink. They had been disturbed when I hooked in the dishwasher drain, but the repair was fairly easy. Mama and Victoria have new dishwasher in place now. The old on was immediately taken to the dump.

Mama and I attended the company Christmas Party Saturday evening. It was okay. The food was good. The company was good. We sat with Red and Joanna Shaw. Mama got to meet some of the new people I work with. And reacquaint herself with some of the ones she already knows. We did not stay very long after the awards were handed out. The entertainment was “Casino Night”. Not our thing. As it turned out, several couples left at the same time we did. I gave my door prize ticket to one of my coworkers since you had to be present at 10:30 to win. All of us made our appearance. I suppose that counts. We were home by 9 pm. Victoria was keeping the Echeveria kids so Erin and Sam could attend their Christmas party. Mama and I avoided another Christmas Party with the group that helped us get into the real estate business. It did not seem worth the effort in either time or money to attend what would amount to another sales opportunity for them. Some friends of ours attended. We will follow up with them to see if we did miss anything.

I had a miserable night Saturday night. Every time I tried to lay down, I felt like I was drowning in mucus. That was the beginning of what would keep me out of church Sunday. I drank hot liquids, started some antibiotics, took several doses of elderberry syrup and slept most of the day. I think I was awake and functioning for about three hours throughout the entire day. We are praying that the drainage I am battling right now does not turn into the bronchitis I seem to get yearly.  Fortunately, there is a young man attending BBTI this year who does a great job filling in for me with the choir when I am out or away. That helps. Whether or not I will be able to teach a class on Wednesday remains to be seen. I will if I can.

If I cannot, there are plenty of backups available.

Highlights from Honduras - Part 4

Packing for the trip home was a challenge. We nested two of the suitcases into their respective larger suitcase. That required us to pack in such a way that we had three checked bags but only one carry-on suitcase and our personal items. Bringing back the thirty pounds of coffee along with sundry gifts as well as all our cloths, necessitated repacking several times in order to balance the load among the four available suitcases while keeping all of them under the 50# weight limit. But we did it. Nate found the luggage scale to enable us to weigh the bags to ensure compliance – and avoid an overcharge.at that point Mama was thankful we had not bought a hammock this trip. All was ready to go by the time we went to bed. We had only to put our pajamas and last-minute items in the bags to be ready to go the next morning.

Saturday morning, we went out for breakfast to a small, neat café very near the house. It was a leisurely breakfast, but the goodbyes had already begun to be expressed, so there was an underlying sadness to the morning. Once back home, Nate and I packed the back of their vehicle leaving barely enough room in the back for the grandkids and Victoria to fit. It was not necessarily a comfortable arrangement, but it eliminated the need to take two vehicles to the airport. As we drove to the airport – about an hour away – Cori and the kids sang songs in Spanish for us and quoted Scripture they had memorized. We got to the airport plenty early and queued into the line only to discover that the check-in process would not begin for another hour. So, we waited and visited and waited some more until the lines began to move and we got our bags checked and our boarding passes in hand. Then we shopped some more. We discovered that we could have purchased some of the items we bought at the market at better price right there in the airport. Oh well. We delayed as much as possible queuing in to go through customs into the secure area of the airport. When we did, the goodbyes were long. We had a very good time with Nate Cori and the kids in the country of their ministry.

When we were in the secure area, we got to shop some more while we waited. At one point, about an hour before we were to board, Victoria’s name was called, and we went to the attendant who had called her. Victoria had been summoned because of something to do with our checked bags. We could not think of what the problem might be, but she went down to the tarmac to find out while Mama and I waited. She was gone about thirty minutes. Mama was quite anxious during the wait. The flight was getting ready to board by the time she finally came back to the waiting area. She was not happy about the singling out but what had prompted the call was the soccer ball Mama had bought for Trace’s boys. The flight personnel were concerned that the ball would explode in flight because of the low pressure in the baggage area. They simply wanted to make Victoria aware that they were going to deflate the ball to protect it. That flight, though completely full, was uneventful. Other than the fact that it was delayed twice. Leaving almost an hour behind schedule.

We got to Houston well behind the originally forecast arrival time, but it still seemed we would have plenty of time to make the connection. Not! We were required to go through customs and immigration and then collect our checked bags – as well as Mama’s walker. Once we had our luggage, which was sitting in an enormous grouping along with everyone else’s luggage, we had to go to the connecting flights area and recheck our bags. Security lines followed that station, but we were allowed to shortcut the very long line because I had Mama in the walker pushing it like a wheelchair. Of course, we got pulled aside to rummage through one of our personal bags. The delay was not long but it all adds up when the flight schedule is tight. We regrouped and ran, almost literally, to make our connection. A different terminal. A ride on the train to hop terminals. Our gate all the way at the very end of the terminal building. Again, pushing Mama in the walker. Once again, our flight was boarding as we arrived. Again, because of the walker, we got to shortcut the line. Not that it would have mattered. The flight was nearly empty.

When we got to Houston, we were able to finally take a less stressed pace to the baggage claim. Mama rode all the way. James was there to meet us as we waited for our bags. Two of the three made it on our flight. The third did not. A further delay in getting home as we filed a missing bag report. That is the first time that has happened to me and Mama in all our travels. So, overall the airlines have a good record with us. We were assured that the “lost” bag would be delivered to our house the following morning between 8 am and 12 noon. That did not happen. Mama was slightly panicked because all most of the souvenirs were in that bag. Victoria was disappointed because her pillow was in that bag. Her camera was also in the bag, but she was more worried about her pillow. We left for church that evening still missing our bag and wondering if we would see it again. However, the errant bag was on our doorstep when we got home from church that night.  Mama was ecstatic. She was able to give some of the gifts out Wednesday evening at church.

All in all, it was a great trip. A journey we will repeat at least yearly. Next time, we will know how to prepare.

Highlights from Honduras - Part 3

Wednesday, we drove to Tela. Just outside of the city is a small resort that offers a private beach. It was beautiful. There was a flag up indicating a danger of undertow but from the view we were facing it was impossible to assess anything threatening. The kids played in the water for a couple hours. Mama searched for shells and other seaside leavings. Victoria took pictures. I just enjoyed the rhythm of the sea. Eventually, I walked down the beach and picked up some driftwood and a few shells. All of which we brought home with us. I did not get into the water, but it was nice to be at beach. One where Mama did not constantly have to avert or cover my eyes. I am not sure if it is always that way, but it certainly was that day. It is the spot that the Goins showed Nate and Cori when they first arrived. I assume you would have to be shown how to get there because the road taken to get to the resort is not one anyone would choose to drive down. It was ROUGH. All the way to the driveway of the resort it was bumpy and potholed. Nate assured Mama that what they were bouncing along at fifteen miles per hour was a serious improvement from the last time they made the journey. It was worth it when we got there. The food at the resort was fabulous! We left by a different route. One that required us to drive along a short section of the beach. Cori and Nate decided to try the alternate route as we left because it is both shorter and smoother. The caveat is that it is not always open. When the tide is up, the pass along the beach is under a foot of water. But, at the time we left the sandbar lane was open. It was a pleasant change to the entry route we had taken. We went to church that evening and enjoyed the year-end presentation of their Soldiers for the Lord program.

Thursday, Cori took me, Mama and Victoria to Price Smart. The Honduran equivalent of Costco. Savanna was with us because Victoria was with us. She was wearing her Princess dress – which causes a stir among the women. Savanna is becoming quite comfortable being the center of attention. However, before shopping we went on a little detour to find a coffee shop/café that came highly recommended by the staff at the Home. Wenchelz, I believe was the name of the place. There we ordered coffee, hot chocolate and a couple breakfast plates that we all shared. It was amazing food – and the prices were very good. There was a little shop in the café and we found a couple flavors of coffee that we bought to see if we could add them to our Honduran shopping list. (I tried one last night – a chocolate flavored coffee – and it will definitely make the list.) From there, it was on to Price Smart.

Price Smart is where we bought most of the coffee we brought back with us. I believe between Cori, Victoria and Mama we bought thirty bags of Expresso Americano – our favorite flavor. Cori loaded up on groceries and house hold goods which we stuffed into the back of the vehicle we were driving. On the way home from Price Smart, we detoured again to a mall that Cori had passed by never entered. It was a typical mall. Nothing caught me attention, but Cori found a couple shops that she will revisit with Nate and the kids. On the way home, we came within inches of hitting another vehicle. It was a small truck whose driver decided to make a U-turn on the very busy street. The turn required a three-point maneuver and Cori did not seem inclined to wait for him the complete the turn as he blocked nearly all the lanes of traffic so, she scooted by him with very little room to spare. I thought it was a little aggressive until I noticed that several other drivers followed suit. It all ended well. Once home, Cori spent the rest of the day baking cakes for a Worker Appreciation Dinner being given at the church Saturday evening.

The Clinic Building in Honduras

Friday, the much-anticipated container arrived! It was chocked full of items for the clinic, which will serve as a surgical center and pharmacy as well. Nate, Matt and I were the first to arrive (about 8am), but as the morning dragged on more help arrived until there were about twenty of us waiting when the truck squeezed through the gate to the property. There was a good time had by all as we waited. The banter, the jesting, the teasing that is a part of the comradery of people who enjoy being together is enjoyable in any language. I even learned some of the Honduran colloquial expressions as I participated. The truck arrived just before 10 am. It was unloaded before noon. Matt, the director of the mission there, was very impressed. Once back at Nate and Cori’s, we began the sad act of packing to come home.

Here last night at church, Mama was able to pass out some of the gifts we brought back with us. That was fun. She was especially thankful because we were not able do so on Sunday. More on that tomorrow.

Highlights from Honduras - Part 2

Children's Home - Honduras

Sunday morning at church, Mama and I stood at the back of the church to welcome those who rode in on the bus. About half the church members are bussed in. Many do not have transportation of their own. Several families have only a motorcycle. Not a good way to get a family to church. We were obviously the visitors, but they enjoyed the welcome none-the-less. Sometimes I wish I did not look so American, but it is unavoidable. I started to translate for Mama during Sunday School, but she told me to just soak up the language and enjoy myself. After service, we had lunch at home. Since there are no services Sunday evening, we planned to supply dinner for the Children’s Home. Mama, Victoria and I were anxious to meet all those living at the home. There are nineteen children ranging in age from just under two to about sixteen. Mostly boys. With the workers and their children, Cori and Nate, the grandkids and us, we added fourteen to the mix for a total of 33 for dinner. We bought a huge tray of Chinese food for the gathering. The twenty pounds of food was more than sufficient for the meal – with at least one other meal of leftovers. We supplied soft drinks (five bottles) and ice cream (three gallons). All of which was consumed in one sitting. We spent a couple hours after dinner talking with the older kids (They all speak very good English.) and playing with the younger kids. Mama read a book to them before we left.

Kitchen and Living Area in the Home

Monday was our market day. It was a pretty typical market. Nothing caught my eye and the prices seemed a bit high for the goods being sold, but Nate found a hammock for a good price. I avoided buying one – just barely. We will be back at some point and we already have two hammocks at home that we never even look at. Other than that, we came home with a few souvenirs. Mama and I would later discover that a better quality of the same type of items could be purchased at the airport for less money. On the way out of town we ate at Power Chicken. The place was packed, and the meals offered were not cheap – even by American standards. The fast food restaurant offered a good variety of open-flame grilled chicken, pork, beef, shrimp and fish. Sides included yucca, plantain in several forms, fried rice, French fries, etc. The main cook, who you could watch from the front counter was coordinating the grilling of about sixty whole chickens on the huge grill. I was impressed. The food was delicious. Even the yucca.

Tuesday was First Christmas. Cori and Nate moved the date up so we would have time to watch the grandkids enjoy their presents. I even got to buy and wrap two gifts for Mama. Blake was especially happy with his presents. We brought him a full block of Velveeta Cheese. Savanna got her Cinderella dress. That was put on before anything else was opened. She wore the dress every day, all day – until her mama declared it too soiled to wear. Whereupon it was washed and returned to her the very next day. Since we were home that day, Mama and I walked down the street to a local souvenir shop, but we did not get much. As we were coming back, we had to cross the very busy street just in front of the neighborhood where Nate and Cori are renting. A local policeman was sort of directing traffic and saw us ready to attempt to cross. With Mama’s lack of mobility, it was going to be a challenge. When he stopped the cars and Mama and I began to cross, it was only then that we realized that the motorcycles do not necessarily stop when the cars do. One almost hit Mama because she hesitated, and I kept going. He deftly threaded between us and continued on his way. If the driver knew any English, he did not let on that he knew what Mama was saying to him. That night we had dinner with the Goins family. We stayed quite late talking. I spent a long time talking to Joash, the eldest son. He was solving three-dimensional graphing problems using matrices.

Here last night, as soon as I got home, I changed and went out to clean the coop. It was a bit overdue, but not horrible. Mama was supposed to help me, but I was done by the time she got home from her third trip to Walmart. Mama and I sat down later that evening and addressed envelopes, so Christmas Cards could be mailed out for Cori and Nate. There gave us a list of 79 recipients. We did not get them all done in one sitting. Since I do not have a program or material to print labels, we addressed them by hand. My hand wore out after about thirty. Mama should have that done this morning so they can be posted and on their way.

After all, Christmas is coming.

Highlights from Honduras - Part 1

Thanksgiving evening, we had dinner with Team Honduras – less Marie, who was in the States visiting family. There are three families in the team – plus Marie. Three couples with ten children between them. Ages ranging from two to sixteen. So, for dinner at Cori and Nates, we had twenty-one people in attendance. Cori had invited a young teacher who is in Honduras at a private school, teaching English. She is recently saved and needs a mentor and friend. Her boyfriend was in the country visiting her. He attended as well. It was a great evening spent with good Christian friends. We talked pretty late into the evening while the kids entertained themselves with the Wii we had brought to our grandkids. I struggled to remember names of both adults and children through the evening. By the end of the week, I had the names pretty well assigned in my mind. It will help me pray for them individually. By the time we finally got to go to bed, Mama and I were past ready. The air conditioning units were turned on and we finally cooled down enough to relax. It was not a particularly hot evening, but it took a while for the lower evening temperatures to cool the house to the point where it was comfortable. Travel included, it was a long day.

Throughout our time in Honduras, Savanna was our constant shadow. Especially Victoria’s. There seems to be a special bond between Savanna and Victoria. She included me and Mama in her snuggles and attentions, but most of her time was lavished on her Aunt Tori. She became a little less clingy as the days wore on, but at the beginning and at the end of our time there, Savanna and Victoria were inseparable. Saying our final goodbyes at the airport were difficult. Made possible by the fact that they are not really goodbye, more of a “see you later”.

Friday morning, we got out the Christmas tree and decorated for “First Christmas”. We had brought some presents with us, so we could celebrate Christmas with Nate, Cori and the kids. It was a family affair. It took some time to get things set up to Cori’s satisfaction – and several trips to the nearby mall. But we managed to get everything up to spec by that evening. Victoria had packed and wrapped enough movies that the kids were allowed to open one per day. As the days progressed, we added presents to those already accumulating under the tree.

Saturday was our trip to Lake Yojoa. On the way there, we came to a beautiful four lane bridge that was not connected to the road on either side. To cross the river, we had to take a single lane bridge that looked like it was built at the turn of the last century. There were no indications of how to manage the flow of traffic. When we got to the bridge, the traffic was crossing towards us. By whatever indication known only to the Hondurans, our line of traffic started to cross the quarter-mile long bridge, and Nate rolled with the flow. He told me it was an unusually short wait. Once across the bridge and off the rough dirt bypass to the bridge, we were driving on a nice two-lane road with and unfinished two-lane road off to the side. It had almost as much traffic on it as on the completed side. We had lunch at the lake. A boat ride on the lake. An uneventful drive home – across the same one-lane bridge. We did stop on the way home to buy some fruit from a roadside stand. As a thank you for our purchases the lady gave us a frond of little bananas. They had a pleasant but unusual flavor.

Sunday was church in the morning and dinner with the staff and children at the Children’s home. More on that tomorrow.

Hope Children's Home - Honduras

While we were in Honduras the twins decided to start walking. When Brittany was at the farm with us several weeks back, the girls would “walk” on their knees but did not seem interested in doing so fully upright. Now they have begun to discover the joy of mobility. It will be fun to chase them at Christmas.

Home again, looking back

Our trip to Honduras was wonderful. We may have squeezed too much into the trip considering the fact that we will most likely be going back multiple times over the coming years. Nate, Cori and the kids threw their schedules into chaos to get us to some of the sights and show us the country. The kids took off from school the days we were there, and Nate took some time away from the ministry to chauffeur across the country. We never went more than about ninety miles from their home base of El Progresso. That is about as far as they have been able to explore in the time they have been in the country, but we got to see beautiful Lake Yojoa in the mountains on the way to Tegucigalpa and a gorgeous beach in the seaside city of Tela. We ate at some unusual restaurants and enjoyed some new cuisine; most of it eaten outdoors on covered patios, exposed to the gentle breezes of the mountains or the seaside. We shopped. We sipped coffee from select coffee shops. We bought fruit, avocadoes and coconuts from roadside markets. All navigating through bustling traffic, which was very frightening to Mama. There, you could be passed on the right or he left, whether or not there is a lane to do so and in spite of oncoming traffic.

Along the way we got a good feel for the country – both good and bad. It makes me wonder, of those who tried to invade the US through the Southern border, if the return to Honduras, what exactly will they have to come back to? Unlike some of the other Central American countries I have visited, poverty was on full display. However, there were few panhandlers anywhere. The way people drive there, it would be a dangerous occupation to choose. On every street, on every highway, there were dwellings built of collected items – anything that could provide a little privacy. None of those homes would have kept animals or insects at bay. Few will keep out a hard rain, but none were trashy in the area surrounding them. Although there were no starving children – everyone looked adequately fed – there were many starving cats and dogs. Bananas, pineapples, avocadoes, oranges, yucca and coconut grow in abundance, so there is something to eat year round. Whether or not there is a place for the poor to cook the food they can find is a different question altogether.

While at Lake Yojoa we took a boat ride out on the lake. Nate, Cori and the kids had not done that yet. That was extremely enjoyable. When we were done eating, we went to the dock to wait on the pilot. Once he arrived, we boarded the boat with the least amount of water in it. Nate, Cori and the kids were the first aboard. I was waiting to make sure the boat was stable before helping Mama to board. Victoria hopped in just before Mama. Blake was seated in the front and when Victoria got in, she pulled at one of the canopy supports to help her balance so the boat leaned pretty far towards us as she completed her step. That slid Blake toward the lower edge of the boat. He was more than a little surprised at the rocking of the boat. In his agitation, just as Mama was stepping onto the boat using Victoria’s support grabbing method, further rocking the boat, he said, “Great, now the heavy people are getting on.” Mama was so tickled by the words and the accompanying facial expression that she laughed for the next ten minutes. I thought we would have to disembark so she could find a restroom.  

So much happened in the ten days we were there it would be impossible to recount even a small portion. Suffice it to say, we had a great time with our children and grandchildren. The trip back home was not completely uneventful. Like the trip down, we had to hurry to catch our connecting flight in Houston; coming very lose to missing the flight. On the way back, we had a two-hour layover. We thought that would be enough to make the connection and grab a bite to eat. Not! We had to go through customs, collect our checked bags and recheck them, then go through security all over again. Fortunately, Mama took the walker that acts as a seat and I was able to use it like a wheel chair to hurry her through the airport. We got to the gate for our connecting flight about five minutes before they closed it. Had it not been for the fact that we were given preferential treatment due to the walker, we would not have made the connection either time we switched planes in Houston.

But we are home safe and sound. All of us well. Nate, Cori and the kids will get up this morning to start their normal routines, just like we did. Bummer!