Saturday, July 9, 2016

Saturday and Breakfast Out

This is my regular day to eat breakfast at Sirloin Stockade with Bob. He will be by in about 45 minutes to pick me up.

The hearing aid died this morning. I have been trying it out since Tuesday and I did hear a lot better with it but it was like wrestling a bear to get it seated.  I figured it was the battery since it worked fine when I started trying to get it in.  I got it in finally but by then it was dead. I changed out the battery but that didn't help. It's still dead. I can't do anything about it until Monday at 8:30 when Stan opens again.

I awoke at 2:30 and realized I wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep. I was wide awake. Finally, an hour later I got up and took a Melatonin tablet.  Then I did get a little more sleep. I got up at 5:30 and made the bed and dressed.

After I got my make up on, I tried to get that hearing aid in my ear.  Stan had an awful time getting it in too. He changed out the head twice. He said I had a small irregular opening to my ear. Every day I've had it, it has taken me a long time to get it in. Now it's not working at all.  Drat!

Missy and I are outside on the car port now. She loves to come out here but she's determined to wander.  I can't let her do that. She is too old to fight and would get hurt again. But it's a battle of the wills nearly every morning. I have the advantage. I can put her back in the apartment if she gets to be too much trouble. She knows that but she tries anyhow.

My right hand has been sore for days now. I try not to take Aleve very often cause it can cause bleeding and even liver damage. But it usually works and the inflammation clears up for awhile.

The mosquitoes are bad out here this morning. I should get some Deet.

I'm not sure what I will do this morning after breakfast.  I usually don't cook on Saturday and Sunday we are going to take the Rowdens with us and go over to the campgrounds for church and dinner.

More later...I have to chase Missy down again. Darn cat!

I got her back in just before Bob came to take us to breakfast. While we were in the restaurant, it began raining big time. He got me home before I was able to get soaked. I believe it's clearing now and the sun is coming out. Yes, this is Kansas. We never know from one moment to another what to expect of our weather.It can change on a dime.

I called Stan's office and got his answering machine.  I left a message on it for him for Monday about my problem with the hearing aid. .

I was very bored and so I went to Bartlesville to shop. On my way down there, Stan called me back. He has stopped in his office and checked the answering machine. He thinks the problem may be a little plug of ear wax in the end of the part that goes into the ear. I told him I used the little brush and tried to clean it out and even changed the batteries.  But he said I should really scrub on it with a towel or something rough. I told him I would try that when I got home later this afternoon.  Sure enough! That was the problem! It works fine now.

I had put some of my older clothes in a box to donate to the Presbyterian church and I have some more that are too large that I will continue to get things together for them. I have always been a medium in a t-shirt but now I am a small.  I have been a ten in jeans but at Christopher and Banks, I am a six. I bought one new t-shirt type shirt in small and a pair of white jean type crops. I get most of my clothes at Christopher and Banks. They carry a more conservative line of clothing and this 80 year old doesn't want to look like she's trying to look like a teeny bopper.

More later...

I got back home shortly after noon and spent some time cleaning my laptop computer screen. Bob came over to open his gift. It came in the mail today. It was the shoe bag he wanted to hang over his bedroom door to get his shoes off the closet floor.

After he left, I got ready for bed. I am really tired after such a restless night last night. If there is anything on TV I will try to watch until 9:00. If I go to bed any earlier, I don't sleep well.

Friday, July 8, 2016

Friday Again and Exercises

I guess I will go to exercise class again this morning. My cough is almost gone. I slept until almost 5:00 without cough syrup. Missy is patiently waiting for me to finish this so I will get her breakfast...and mine. I am dressed and even have the hearing aid in correctly and it took me awhile but not as long as the past three mornings. Maybe I am getting the hang of it.

We will have pork chops for lunch with fried potatoes and a veggie. Bob will bring another salad. I have pudding for dessert but am finally out of cookies. Pudding will have to do.

More later...

By the way, here's another photo of the pool area.



It ought to be neat when they get it finished.

More later...

Ten police officers were shot in Dallas last night. Five died. Several were shot in the back. This is our own private war, it appears. What a tragedy! I understand the anger after what the blacks have gone through lately, but that is not the answer. Killing police officers will only make it worse.

We have a 60% chance of rain  today and about the same tonight. In fact, the weekend looks wet.  That's too bad. Our church family camp starts tomorrow and my daughter and a friend are going. Bob and I and another couple intend to go on Sunday. I didn't plan to attend all week this year....only Sunday. They raised the registration fee a lot and my car insurance and apartment insurance are due this month. That's just too much for my budget.

More later..

Missy is being pretty good this morning. She has attempted to wander off a couple of times but when I called her back, she came back. She loves being outside and looks forward to it every morning.  She likes to listen to the birds and lay in the grass. She is lying on the doormat now just enjoying the outdoors.

More later...

Missy's favorite spot...in the grass outside.

Well, I spoke too soon. The ornery cat made a run for the other side of the apartment  and I had to chase her down with the broom. She was very unhappy about that and hissed and spit at me all the way back. I made her come in the house after that. As smart as cats are, you would think she would finally observe the rules...but not Missy. She has a mind of her own.

More even later....

After exercise class it began to rain. Right now it's just sprinkling but it's suppose to storm with hail. Luckily, I have a car port and can protect my car.

I have the baked marinated pork chops in the oven and they will be out in about fifteen minutes. In the meantime, I need to get the potatoes going and the corn in the microwave.  So, it's more later again...

Well, dinner was alright but that meat was  a little dry. Too much oven time , I guess.

Bob came over and had dinner and then we tried to forward his birthday deal from Sirloin Stockade to me to print off. It only printed a small part of it. I then tried to install my printer on his little notebook.  That installed but was in "error" and would not print the test page. I couldn't figure it out. I tried rebooting and even pulling the plugs on the printer. But nothing made the printer respond to the print command. In fact, back on his e-mail there was no "print" button to be found anywhere. It was a mystery to me. I finally just deleted it from his notebook.  A real mystery!

More again later...

I made cookies this afternoon so I am tired. I've been on my feet most of the afternoon.  And I heard from the manager of Sirloin Stockade and he will honor the part of Bob's birthday coupon that we were able to print off on my printer. It's good to actually know the manager. That is the advantage of a small town.

Bob just came in and is reading the paper now. We will watch the CBS news and then Brooks and Shields on PBS. I really enjoy their commentary and I have converted Bob to them too. :)

More later...

This is my daughter-in-law's dog. When she leaves for work, he is just lost.



Pitiful, isn't he? And though very tired an hour later...he's still keeping the vigil.



I advise my son to make friends with him. My DIL works a lot.

Bob went home at 7:00. I watched two old episodes of "All in The Family"  and then just gave up and went to bed.

Thursday, July 7, 2016

What is Process Theology?

A friend recently asked me what Process Theology is. No one process theology believer has quite the same understanding of it because it evolves as we seek to understand God better.

For instance, many people have a problem with the problem of evil in the world. Something like the holocaust makes some people wonder "Where was God?" It sometimes makes agnostic or atheists of thinking people or those who suffer terribly like the Jews during the holocaust.

Here is just a beginning of my belief system.

Process Theology appeals to me because it attempts to answer the age old question of why bad things happen to good people. To me, it makes sense and it has good ethics. 

I believe the God of process theology does everything within God’s power to work for the good without violating human agency. That power of God is persuasive and not coercive. 

Dominion has proved to be a tragic theological model for understanding our ethical relationship to the world. 

Process Theology says that God is love and loves perfectly. God suffers with the world and calls us to share a vision of the good and the beautiful but waits for our free response to God’s Spirit. God cannot override our freedom but hopes and tries to persuade us to create the best we can be from each choice that we make.

Process believers believe God is omniscient and knows everything there is to know perfectly but knows the future as open, as a range of possibilities and probabilities, not as fixed or settled. God hopes we will choose the good but struggles to reach us through the dark glass that often obscures our vision. I believe that dark glass is our selfishness and poor choices. But I also believe God does everything within God’s power to bring about the good without violating our free agency.

Of course, we have hands and God does not. Or rather, when hands are needed  God must rely on the hands of creatures to do God's work. Yes, God has power.  God's power in infinitely greater than ours, and very different. God's creative power sustains the universe. Yet, it is only through the creatures of the world that God has hands. 

Many people who who respond initially to process theology say a God who does not have the power to control the world is not really God. perhaps this is an understandable reaction given our tradition, but we should think past that idea.  Is it power to control that earns worship? Fundamentally, is it the power that leads us to love God and worship God?  Or is it the love of God that leads us to love God and to worship God and to be willing to commit our lives to God's service?

For me, the only kind of awe that is authentic worship is the awe that is inspired by great goodness or great values. A Christian God would have to be one that sets the standard with infinite love

God is with us in our moments of greatest guilt and despair, yet God's love for us never wavers. In each moment, God takes in our feelings and decisions and responds to them by calling us to redeem from these experiences whatever good can be gotten, and to move from them in directions that can, in the future, yield much greater good.    

And after all, if God were in complete control, what need would God have of our service?  God is calling us to work with  God in the world.  Certainly Jews and Christians have understood that building the kingdom is a cooperative effort between God and people.

God will be with us in each moment, sharing our struggles, sharing our experiences with sin and suffering, and loving us in the midst of them all.  

Fortunately most of us do not let the traditional  "solutions" to the problem of evil direct our ethics.  If we did we might think that if God sees it as wise and loving to allow a child to be crushed by a truck then we should too, After all, our theologies do have some impact on our lives and decisions. A glaring example of this is found regarding the nuclear arms race. Some fundamentalist preachers have publicly said that nuclear war will bring about the coming kingdom of God and the return of Jesus. If that were so, nuclear war would be a good thing so why don't we rush to push the button. 

Such a theology suffers from the sickness of despair. 

Process theology preserves our obvious commonsense values.  It acknowledges the crucial distinction between good and evil (however blurry that may be at times)  and affirms that God works with all of God's resources for the good  and against evil.  Our love, at it's best, really is like, or at least analogous to, God's love.

We should not act like the God of classical theology. We should not stand by while people suffer  evils we could prevent.  But we should act like the God of process theology doing what lies within our power to prevent evil and ease suffering.  



There's more, of course, but I'll add to this as I think about it. 

A Muggy Thursday

I slept pretty well last night. My cough is all but gone (unless it returns again). I got myself ready for the day, which was a real trial because trying to get the hearing aid seated was a challenge again. My canal is just too small for that little head end that goes in next to the eardrum. Anyhow, it's done for another day.  I hope it's seated correctly.

It's hot and muggy out here on the carport this morning. At 6:00 when I came out here it was 80 degrees.  There is a tiny breeze that saves the day.

I was watering awhile ago and Missy went around to the east side of the apartment. I let her alone for awhile but then she wandered down the way to Maureen's apartment and I had to go get her. She would not come back on her own so I had to pick her up and carry her back. She hissed and spit at me all the way. She hates to be picked up and carried.  Darn Cat!

The breeze is coming up a  little now and it is more comfortable.

We are having chicken strips this noon for lunch. I will peel some potatoes and have a veggie with them and maybe gravy. Bob will bring a salad.  I have some more fruit and cookies for dessert. I need to go over to Braums and get some milk this morning. Then we could have pudding instead of more fruit.

I also want to get the apartment vacuumed this morning after Jeannie has a chance to get up and around.  If I was here by myself, I would vacuum at 7:00 in the morning. It's probably just as well though. Missy loves it outside and she is just lying here on her white rug enjoying being outside. I will stay out until around 7:30 at least.

More later....

I'd better get busy with the vacuum.  So more even later...

By the way, this is what the pool at my daughter-in-law and son's new home is to look like.



 Neat, isn't it? Here's another view of it.




I got the apartment vacuumed and got lunch together. I read most of the afternoon until my eyes got tired.

Bob came over to read the paper and stayed until 7:00. After he went home Missy and I watched "All the President's Men" on TV. I had seen it several times but always enjoy watching it again after a long while.

I went to bed at 10:00 and slept well.


Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Wednesday and Thunder Storms


I slept pretty well last night. Thank goodness! I still have some cough from time to time. It may be allergies now. Who knows?? The doctors sure don't.

We are forecast for thunderstorms all morning so I will not get out to go to exercise class.  I need to clean the apartment anyhow.  Missy is itching to go out on the carport but it's not light yet and she definitely will not want to be out if it is storming. She has been begging me ever since 5:30. When and if it gets light, we will go out but I hear thunder now and wind so it may already be pouring. The apartment is so well insulated it is hard to hear a storm. But I imagine that's why at 6:15 it is still dark out.

I had a really hard time getting the hearing aid seated this morning. After many attempts, I finally did it though.  It is in correctly now. I have a free 30 day trial just to be sure the result is worth the cost. I will have to take it out when I have my hair done each Tuesday and it cannot get wet. I am to leave the battery door open when it is not in my ear. The batteries will only last 5 days at the most. Stan gave me four batteries to begin the trial.

Yes, I hear now. There is a thunderstorm going on out there. That kills Missy's chances to go outside this morning.  She will be so disappointed.

More later....

We went out for a few minutes but Missy was leery of the storm and wanted right back in.  So I came back in and started my cleaning. I have the kitchen and bathroom floors done now. Later I will vacuum and do some dusting. I hope the storm passes before 1:00 when Bunco at the senior center starts. I want to play this afternoon. 

I did go to exercise class. Bob came by and I went with him.  I will go to Bunco at 1:00. I had the leftover hamburger pie for lunch with one of Bob's salads. We had mixed fruit and cookies for dessert.

I went to Walmart and bought $41.00 worth of groceries. I was out of a lot of stuff.   I bought my lemon bar mix and got it in the over, baked and iced with powered sugar and in the frig before lunch. I will need to leave in about 15 minutes so I'd better get myself and Missy back in the house. Missy is the hard part.

More later....

It wasn't hard at all.Missy found it too hot out there and came right back in.  Bob came soon after and we had our leftover hamburger pie. I had some fruit and cookies for dessert. He paid his bills and then left and I went on to Bunco. I had a good time. There were twelve of us at first but Connie left after awhile and we had to play with a ghost.

I got home about 3:15 and cleaned up the kitchen. I guess I will vacuum tomorrow. At least I got the kitchen and bathroom cleaned up and the floors cleaned.

Now I am waiting for the newspapers.

More later...

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Tuesday and Hair Day

I will get my hair done today, thank goodness! It looks terrible.

I went out to Leslie and John's yesterday afternoon and last night to watch the little girls, (my greats) shoot off their fireworks. Leslie made some homemade ice cream and I enjoyed that.  It had been awhile since I'd had any.  I stayed until 9:00 but just couldn't make it any longer so I didn't see the night works.

I had a terrible night last night. I was completely exhausted when I got home. The coughing does that to me. I went to bed as soon as I had my bath and put my p.j.s on but awoke and hour and a half later with terrible foot and leg cramps and an awful coughing spell. I tried simply walking it off but that didn't do a thing to help. I finally got up and checked the cabinet in the bathroom and found the pills they gave us at the senior center for that foot and leg cramping. I took two and then I went to the kitchen and took a teaspoon of cough syrup for the cough. I finally got to sleep again and slept until 6:00. I woke up just exhausted and dressed and went to the kitchen and fed Missy and myself. Now we are out on the carport enjoying the morning. What a night!

She found a locust and ate it. I sure hope it doesn't make her sick. She missed the litter box again last night and wet on the bathmat under it. I put it and what laundry I had in the washer this morning and that is washing now.

Just a minute....

I just had to go fetch Missy. She had  wandered over to Marilyn's. From there, she usually tries to get around the corner and on the west side of Marilyn's apartment. I won't allow that. She has to stay in the vicinity of where I'm sitting so I can see her. She is here now lying in the wet grass. She didn't like being made to come back. She hissed and spit at me all the way. I nudge her along with my broom. If that doesn't get her to move on her own, I pick her up and carry her. She hates to be picked up.

It's 7:00 AM now and I will go in and get my Chai.  I'm not feeling much better. Just as I think I'm going to get over this cough, it starts again. So far this morning, I'm not coughing. Maybe the warm drink helps.

Well, more later....

Bob just drove in. He had lost service on his cell phone. His monthly payment was due on the 3rd and he was waiting until today to pay it. They cut him off. Today is the 5th. When we get back from Independence this afternoon, he is going to have to go over to US Cellular and pay his bill to get back on.

He left after to told me what his problem was. He still had to shave before we leave for Independence about 8:20 for my hair appointment at 9:00. I went up to Independence that way yesterday afternoon to be sure the road was open and it was.

More later...

On the way to Independence for my hair  appointment, we stopped at the church and Bob and I put a sign on the door for possible visitors.  There will be no service held locally this next Sunday. We are encouraged to go to the campgrounds for the services there and dinner afterwards.

Then we went on to Independence and I got my hair done and then we went to Great China for lunch. Afterward I took Bob back to Coffeyville where he stopped at US Cellular and paid his bill.  Then I took him home and went over to Stan Wilson's and got fitted for a hearing aid in my right ear. If it works out, I'll work out a payment plan for him to keep it. It is "state of art" and really makes a difference. Now if I can just work out how to put it in.

More even later...

I read all afternoon and Bob came over this evening to watch the news. I sat with Missy in my lap and watched some TV before I got completely bored and took my bath and went to bed. 

Monday, July 4, 2016

Monday and Laundry

Today is the 4th of July..Independence Day.

I stripped my bed and got my laundry started this morning. I also dressed and got myself ready for the day. There is no exercise class today so I will just take it easy this morning and feed Missy and myself and go out on the carport as soon as I get that done.

I am having hamburger pie for lunch. Bob will bring a salad. I gave him all the little tomatoes off the tomato plant on the patio for his salad.   We will have something for dessert. I just haven't decided what yet....maybe some fruit.  And I need to get some green beans for the hamburger pie.

More later...

Missy and I came outside  after we had our breakfasts. She had been pretty good....lying on her white rug but now some bird has her interest. I had to go call her and clap my hands and she knows what that means. She's back on the rug now.

I like sitting out here in the cool mornings and watching the birds myself and after I bring the laptop out here, I can work on my blog. I have the laundry in the dryer now.

More later...

Missy and I have been out an hour now. I should go back in and remake my bed. The dryer has undoubtedly stopped by now. Missy won't like that. She is being pretty good. I have only had to go and round her up once.  She is being good right now so I'll wait a little bit longer to do that.

You've heard me discuss my church from time to time.  Here is a photo of it taken last year. It's in the country near a busy county road.

It was built in 1999 so it's 17 years old now. I used to have multiple photos of it as it was being built but my isp discontinued giving us free space several years ago for a web site and if I have those photos, they would be on my oldest computer. Sometimes I send old photos from that computer to one of these but it's been a while since I've done that.

Anyhow, this was a pretty good photo of the church so I thought I would post it here.

More later....

I've been back to reading "Hamilton" but my Kindle needed to be charged so it's plugged in now and I am back on the computer.  

About 4:00. Leslie called and asked me to come out to watch the girls shoot off their fireworks. I did that. They had a great time.

I got home shortly after 9:00 and took my bath and went to bed. I was bushed!



Sunday, July 3, 2016

Sunday and Church

This morning I will go to church..which is my usual Sunday activity. I preside this morning and also facilitate the Church School class.

I slept well last night. I got up fairly early this morning. I baked my coffeecake, took Missy out briefly (it's raining out there) and did the crossword puzzle in the Reporter.  I need to go ice the coffeecake soon. It's cooling now.

There will be even fewer of us this morning since it's raining. Some people just won't get out in the rain. Hopefully tomorrow it won't be raining. I'm invited to go out to John and Leslie's for the fireworks.  The little great grandchildren will love that and I'm glad they included me.

This evening I will go to Karan's for the Living the Questions group. She is hosting it this time. There are only three of us able to host now.  Joyce has her daughter and grandson baby living with her now and it's very inconvenient for her with the baby there in the small house.

That leaves me, Karan and Marilyn to host them. Bob and Gary both live in apartment houses.  Mona has her hands full with Richard and the farm. Perhaps when Howard and Judy move back they can take a turn. They will be moving back this fall. They decided California wasn't for them after all. They couldn't find anything they could afford there and so they bought another house here in Coffeyville and will be moving back.

I still hope Phyllis, Karan, Bob and I can go over to "Just Us" for lunch after church.  The rain won't deter me. I will just take some old shoes with me to church.  But the others may object if it's still raining when we get out.

Here are my flowerbeds and the tomato plant John and Leslie gave me.

Still more...the tomato plant has been loaded with little red tomatoes. I have picked them off here.

And more..
This last photo is my lavender. I planted it two years ago and it's lived through the winters and thrived.

More later....I'd better get the coffeecake iced.

Well the coffeecake is iced and ready to go. I have taken Missy out again now that the rain has stopped. She is delighted...obviously! We have about 35 minutes until Bob comes to pick me up for church.

The service went well.  Afterward seven of us went to "Just Us" in Cherryvale for lunch. We had a good time.

Cyndi wanted the last piece of my coffeecake and I sure didn't need it so I wrapped it up for her and Jeff to share. 

I did my newsletters when I got home and even though there is no mail delivery tomorrow, I put them in the mailbox at the post office downtown.

I will pick up Gary at 6:45 for our group meeting at Karan's this evening.  It's 3:45 now. Bob will probably come over to read the paper later.

More later...

Bob did come to read the paper and stayed until nearly all the 60 Minutes program was finished. I went to pick up Gary at 6:45 and went to the meeting.  Bob walked. He was caught in the rainstorm and Karan had to put his shirt in the dryer and give him one of her Bobby's to wear until it was dry.There were seven of us tonight. We had a good discussion. I got home at 9:00 or so. We will meet
 again in two weeks, on the 17th at Marilyn's at 7:00. 

This photo left to right is Ginger's daughter, Ginger, Scott and Scott's son,  Jerod.  



Quite a group, aren't they?