It's baseball time!

Every Thursday we go to Mertzon to see Spencer and Mally play ball. Spencer plays machine pitch ball and for Mally it is regular baseball. The funny one is the group playing T-ball. Our kids aren't in that now, but I still sneak a peek. If one of he kids manages to hit the ball, about five go running after it, then they all fall on the ground and have a fight to see who gets to pick it up and throw it. There's no admission, but if there were, it would be worth it to laugh that hard. Last week, Mally got hit in the head with a ball- actually she hit it, it went up and she looked around to see where it went when it smacked her in the back of the head. She was wearing a helmet, thank goodness. I thought for a minute she might go take on the pitcher, but when she gave her head a good shake she went on and took her base. She plays outfield, just as I did, and again , just like me, she doesn't catch balls, she chases them and throws them back. I never willingly played baseball. Her mom tries to get her to wear her uniform pants and socks for when she slides into base - her answer was there was no way she was ever going to slide in. It seems to be a boy thing. They really love it. PE was at the bottom of my list of classes - well, maybe after algebra. Spencer is a master catcher, but none of them really throw accurately. Last week we watched him hit a home run. There's a good concession stand and typical food. Sometimes Nancy sings the national anthem. Maybe next week. It's a fun afternoon.

I get to know more and more Mertzonites. Our new church secretary is from there and has a child in Nancy's class. She does a good job for us.

I still haven't found a house cleaner. Eeerk! I must do a better job of networking to find one. George is going to mop the kitchen tomorow and I will try the bathroom - the one people see.

Now I hear worse and worse news about the new flu. I am sure all the Tamiflu and other such products are gone from the shelves, but we need more aspirin and Tylenol. Also a few other things. Nancy said she wiped all the doorknobs in her school and all her student's desks with clorox wipes. Wonder if I can get some of those.

The fire ants I dumped when we repotted some of the plants have moved back in. Scooter bought me some fire ant poison and I applied it - the next day they had just moved over. Repeat and so now I have put the poison all around where they were. They are so clever and determined. I can ask to be put on the monthly exterminators list, whether it is our month or not and I may have to. They may be more determined than I am.

I have been asked to lead a Bible study again, and am mulling over Daniel vs John. Need to visit the bookstores and see what they have to help me. It's been a long time since I taught the feasts of Israel and it's very pertinent to the Christian calendar, so that is also a maybe.

Dad finally saw the doctor and he has increased his insulin and is injecting twice daily. The levels are going down accordingly. I need to pick up some more sugar free puddings and jellos. He loves things with sugar and I love things with fat. He's diabetic and I have a bum heart. We are, indeed, what we eat.
Enough.

I read a book...

by a lady who complains about how hard it is to just sit and do things you want to do. She is overwhelmed by the tyranny of the urgent. I'm so glad I'm not afflicted with this. I can look areound at all that needs doing and happily go back to my book. Some day it will catch up to me, but until then, bring on the books. I'm reminded of Zits in the funnies today. It's a teen/parents strip, and Jeremy's best friend hands him a paper saying, 'don't lose this. It's my only copy." Jeremy says "I'll put it with my most important papers' as he throws it over his shoulder. Then he says ' its a great filing system, but it'll be heck when I have to find something. I really identify with all this. I think I'll hire a filer. Yes! Good idea!

Since dad's blood sugar is outa sight, he saw the doctor today,who greatly increases his insulin and now he is injecting twice a day. He is sad he has to give up ice cream. Really!!!

Nancy had a disastrous upper GI test this week. Not enough anesthetic, so really bad.

On Sunday, after church (during which I served as LEM and torch bearer both- you have to be versatile around here) and one of my partners said, as we left the church, 'You really scare me'. I know I wobble, and the Deacon often steadies me with a hand on the shoulder, so I finally got the messsage and took a leave of absence from this work. I will still read the Epistle, as that is done by a parishoner coming from the pews. This is making me very sad, but I am going to nag my doctors to 'fix' me so I can go back to serving at the altar.

We have just made a decision to skip going to the symphony next year. We love the music but it has become a real chore to get ready and get down there. We have a bus to ride, but it makes Dad furious because we are first picked up and last let off. There is a reason for that but he doesn't care. He does have a short fuse.

My prayer shawl is almost finished. I somehow made it entirely too wide. I won't do that again.

I went shopping for my spring plantings. Brought them home and realized I am in no shape to do this work. So I sent an SOS to the Scotts who took turns coming to help. It was a lot of work, and I really appreciate it. People are stopping and asking me what various plants are. I meet lots of people this way.

Hey, guys, it rained 3 whole inches a couple of nights ago!. It may save some of the crops. As usual, I slept through the whole thing.

We are so looking forward to going to the beach in July. I dream about St. Teresa often, and again last night. I do miss it, and I'll love being there.
Big family reunion in July also and a big church meeting in June. I guess we'll have our foot in the road a lot, but after all this, we'll stay home.

I'm reading a really good book on journaling. My blog is my journal, and I guess that's why it is often disjointed. It's a reflection of me. Might as well be homest.

Blessings...

Just reading,

and I found a marvelous quote from Sara Teasdale :

If Death Is Kind by Sara Teasdale

Perhaps if death is kind, and there can be returning,
We will come back to earth some fragrant night,
And take these lanes to find the sea, and bending
Breathe the same honeysuckle, low and white.

We will come down at night to these resounding beaches
And the long gentle thunder of the sea,
Here for a single hour in the wide starlight
We shall be happy, for the dead are free.

I love that she loves the sea as much as I do. I absolutely expect and hope to be visiting back here and there, and will definitely go to the sea, which is St. Teresa beach to me.

I had my hair skinned off today and it's a relief not to have to mess with it. Also picked up some new nose drops which guarantee to stop allergic reactions. I surely hope it works since we are going to be going to ball games.

Reunion time is drawing closer for the Butler family. We need to hear from all who are coming since we have reached the head counting stage. Y'all hear?

after Easter....

Easter Sunday service was so wonderful I'm suprised we all didn't ascend as a group. We were nearly floating. It's funny, as much as I love to sing with the choir, how much more worshipful the service is when I am not up in the loft shuffling music. I sing just fine in my seat downstairs.
I am still hauling my knitting with me wherever I go. Or a book. Or both. These are my security blankets. I am so sick and tired of knitting this prayer shawl!!! I cast on way, way too many stitches and it just does not need to be this big, but God forbid I should ever rip it out! I am about to start tapering the ends off to minimize it. I can't imagine what I was thinking about. Maybe a blanket? I am also crocheting a baby blanket and a scarf. I think maybe this is faster than knitting and I do like the results.

I have decided that the doctor doesn't get to tell me I am old. I am not old until I say so, and I don't say so just yet. I did skip the tree climbing,however. We had Easter noon meal with the Scotts and had wonderful ribs. Scooter is a magic cook. The rest was good, too. Baseball starts this Thursday, and we'll be there for the children's games.

I goofed and signed up for the prayer vigil for Easter at 4:00 am on Thursday night. I think somebody changed it, because I have better sense than that. But,since it was done, I set the clock and the hour seemed amazingly short. We are both scheduled to serve at the altar this week and next. I will see how this goes. I love doing this and hope I can keep it.

My garden is all fixed. I think I will grow one of those upside down tomatoes there this year. Not exactly compatible with a flower garden, but it's my garden and I get to do what I want. I am ordering a unit that flashes a light when somebody or something comes near. Maybe that will scare the deer off.

Now, this is a promise. Tomorrow I am going to straighten this front room up a bit. Mucho filing to be done and lots of paper to shred. I thought computers were to free us from paper but it has multiplied rather than decreased. Still, I love,love, love my computer.

I went to the dollar store today and had a blast. I also bought a new watch at Pay Less. $9.00 whole dollars. My, I am extravagant. But I can see it and it doesn't flop around on my wrist so it meets my needs.

Have glorious days, y'all...

Oh, darn....

I saw the GI specialist yesterday, and it seems (he thinks) that I am making my own stomach ache. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with my body (except age). I wasn't prepared for this and was looking for something to fix it.

He knows I have an anxiety disorder and have meds for it. What he actually said was that 'you are almost 78 years old, you have a bum heart and pretty bum lungs. Also you've had four joint replacements and have arthritis all over your body. Basically, you are old.' I told him I didn't appreciate that, which he thought was very funny. He has decided to treat this for a month with more Xanax during the day, which does seem to quiet the stomach ache a lot, and go from there. He also suggested that I stop racing around doing so much, and try to live a quieter life - one easier on my body. I looked down at my bag of knitting (which goes everywhere, because God forbid I should waste time!), and I asked if that was part of the problem. He told me that is the beginning of insight.

So, I have decided to do the things I really want to, which don't make me tired, and skip the other stuff. I hate giving up serving at the altar, but am so dizzy that I fear I might spill the chalice, or fall over. So-- this is TEMPORARY!!! I will try it his way. I can't imagine not being busy. I have realized however, that there are multiple opportunities for ministry out here, just visiting with my neighbors and listening to their woes. I am not sidestepping the doctor, I don't think, just reducing my racing around. What the church is really all about is preparing members for ministry. I'll let you know if this works. Dad isn't sure I can stop. I expect my body will force me to. Maybe I'll wrote a book on growing old gracefully in case I can manage to be graceful about all this.

In other news, Nancy receives her MA degree early next month and we are going to the ceremony. We are really proud of her, as we were of Mary Beth. An MA is a lot of hard work. I know.

We are definitely going to the beach this summer, and I am truly excited. Since I never know what may be the next to last trip,(the last trip is ashes) I plan to hook up with those members of my graduating class who live there and we'll have a loooong lunch and just visit. Otherwise, I plan to relax and wallow in sand and salt water. We hope to go over to the St. Marks river and rent a boat for a day fishing on the flats. Maybe a speckled trout dinner, even, if we are lucky. With fishing ,for me, the catch is secondary. Just fishing is enough.

Blessings to all.....

PS. I may get Nancy to help me climb a tree on Sunday, since I am only old, not ancient. Do you suppose she will?

You can't win them all...

My last posting was awhile ago. Sorry about that. I've had multiple health problems, and still do but I think I'm on the far side of coming out of them, as much as I ever will. Holy Week may kill us. We are trying to be loyal to Stan who is trying to build a church, and we love being there, but it gets harder and harder to go so much. As in every night this week. We didn't make last night because we were so tired, and we may wimp out on some of the others, but we are scheduled to participate in some of them.

I finally see the GI specialist on Wednesday and find out what all those weird photos of my esophagus, etc. mean. Nothing to me at the present - just weird pictures.

On the Florida trip, I lost this one. I registered all your objections, but for a fairly mild man, he surely has a hard head. But in negotiations, we are taking three days to do the trip, spending the day closest to home with the Barnes in Houston. We'll take a longer day the second one and then to the beach. If things get bad I can either do some driving or call the highway patrol to get him. I have threatened to do this before, but never had to. I have a cell phone and am just survival conscious enough to use it. Next year, if it works out that I can go, I may leave him at home. George has had to promise to stay within the speed limit, to stop every two hours so we can walk around, and potty stops whenever necessary. Actually I stopped this potty stop thing years ago. Sorry I didn't do it sooner, girls.

I'm spreading out in my life just a bit. It has all been around church, but this afternoon I am going to try a hobby group at the RCW center. Most will be doing needlework but the announcement said that anybody could do anything to come - even cut out coupons or scrapbook. I am behind on this prayer shawl I am knitting and we are waiting for the blessing till I do. Haven't been in a knitting mood for awhile. I keep wanting to spin.

The management had to dig up my front flowerbed on Friday to find a horrendous leak which had the whole thing flooded for weeks. They found a broken pipe, repaired it and will be back today to fill it all back in. I hope my rosemary makes it through all this.

Blessings to you all....