Saturday and A Storm

I slept fitfully last night. I got up close to 6:00 and soon after that, a storm moved in. After I dressed and had a cup of Chai, the rain stopped temporarily and I walked up to the lodge and took this computer up with me.

I checked my e-mail but there was nothing personal.... just a lot of spam.

It's ten after 7:00 now and breakfast is in twenty minutes.

I didn't get any photos yesterday since it was such a busy day. Maybe if the rain goes away I can get some today.

We had a great "chat time" with our World Church appointee Barbara Carter yesterday afternoon and she brought us up to date with the financial condition  of the church and answered lots of questions.

More later.....It's time for morning devotions.

"Homer" visits the morning SonBurst Worship every day. He is the hand puppet. Bill does a wonderful job of writing the scripts. He's the puppeteer. Homer gives lots of lessons and the kids love him.

 

We had morning devotions and also breakfast over now. In an hour we have SonBurst Worship group meeting. Then at 11:00 we will have our class.

The day was very busy again. We had the KP for breakfast today. I did the pots and pans again...there weren't many this time.

Later I learned that the cook had only moved the oatmeal pans and several other pans into the kitchen and not emptied them. After the kitchen was cleaned and everything put away and the dining room cleaned, he emptied them and took the pans with the dried oatmeal and three other pans with dried food in them to the kitchen to be washed. By then everyone working in the kitchen had gone for the morning except Karan who was visiting in the lodge and all others were down at the worship center for the early worship. Karan was the only one of our group still at the lodge and she had those pans to wash. Poor planning by the cook!

The class was good again. Barbara taught it. She uses a lot of personal experiences in her teaching and uses a lot of class participation. That makes it especially interesting.

In the afternoon, I worked on this blog and later went to a writer's workshop with Terry, the camp directer during the "shoes off" rest  period. After that it was supper time and I just helped serve. I didn't eat supper..I just had a glass of tea.

We went to the song service and worship service after supper was cleaned up. Barbara had another excellent sermon. During the sermon, I noticed that my left foot was swollen again....especially bad around the ankle. There was to be only "clean up" on Sunday morning and I didn't think I should do that with my swollen foot. This time it was swollen even larger.

Karan walked up the hill to get my car and I immediately packed up and left for home. I got home at 10:00 PM and unpacked and took a bath to go to bed. It was then that I noticed that my bladder surgery from January, was failing. I will have to speak with the doctor in Bartlesville that did the surgery and see what I/he should do about that.

Here Homer is saying goodbye to his friends!
 

Friday and Still at Camp

Today will be another huge day. They are getting breakfast ready in the kitchen now. I will not eat as much this morning.

Flagpole devotions are at 7:20 but so far not many are up and around. We had a huge storm last night with 50 mile an hour winds and lots of rain.  Breakfast is at 7:30.

At 9:30 is the SonBurst Worship service. That's the one with all the up and down movements with  basically camp songs. I'm not wild about those but it only lasts until 10:00 and then we break into our groups. Class with Barbara is at 11:00. She is an excellent teacher.

Today our group (the Orange group...called "Sonkissed") is in charge of cleaning bathrooms.  We will do that after lunch.  Lunch is at 12:15. Then the afternoons are free periods. That's when I take my photos and do this blog.  I hope to get some more photos today..if it's not too wet by then.

More later....

It was a very busy day today. I ate lunch but decided not to eat supper  anymore. After the morning class, we had lunch and then later...after awhile, we cleaned the bathrooms in Founder's Hall.

This evening we listened to a sermon by Vivian, our Mission Center co-president. She did a good job.

Afterward, I noticed that my left ankle had swollen terribly. I went down to the trailer to lie down and elevate it. Soon Karan came in and brought me a small piece of watermelon. I had skipped the watermelon feed because of my ankle. Soon after Karan  came in, Jody came in carrying an ice pack. That helped the swelling a lot. Karan and I visited until 10:00 when we finally went on to bed.  I didn't even take a shower.

Thursday at Camp

It was a pretty good night to sleep. I slept pretty much through the night in that king sized bed.

Today will be a full day. I will try to get back to this later. It's just about time for morning devotions.

So...more later.

Morning devotions went well. Afterward we had a big breakfast and after that we went to SonBurst Worship...not really my cup of tea! Too much singing with up and down movements...kind of kid stuff! But the puppet show was good!

Following that, we had a class....a very good class with Barbara Carter!  She is an excellent teacher! I really enjoyed that!

Then came lunch...notchos and salad and fruit and peaches. I ate too much again.

This is shoes off time until 4:00 when we have the "duck race". So I am catching up on the blog and reading my email. The only place to get a signal is in the dining hall. The router is at the caretaker's cabin.  I want to get some photos to share if I can get this laptop to accept the cord for the download.

After supper at 5:30, there is a song service and then at 7:00 the preaching service.  Barbara will be preaching and she is very good.

This my home away from home the next four days. It's John and Leslie's camper. It has three pop outs, one for the dining area, one for the living room area and one for the bedroom (complete with king sized bed.)

This is the lodge where we find the dining room and kitchen facilities.

And this is the worship center..which we call the tabernacle.

Everything is very green and beautiful today. It started out being 69 degrees but warmed up pretty well. There is a good breeze though.

I heard from my brother-in-law Bob today that Missy wasn't very happy yesterday evening that I was gone but she is better today.  She can make it until Sunday afternoon.

This is the area where the kids and grandkids and I scattered Bob's ashes seven years ago last May. In many ways it seems like a long time ago and in others it seems like just yesterday.

More later....it's  a stream area he just loved.

This the pond that the children just love to catch tadpoles in. It also has snakes so they have asked the children not to go into it.

This may be a better/closer photo of the Worship Center. You can see the landscaping better.

Tomorrow I will try to get photos of Heritage Hall, the dorm, and some of the cabins.  But for now, I'm going to take my shoes off and read tomorrow's lesson.

Our team had the supper pans and dishes as our responsibility this evening. I did all the pans. It was a huge job. Afterward we had the song service and worship service. Barbara did a great job with her sermon and didn't use one note.

Later, after the service, they served ice cream sundaes. Then Karan and I went back to the camper and took our showers and went on to bed. It was nearly 9:30  and we had had a huge day.

Wednesday and Camp

I slept fitfully last night. I guess it was the idea of finishing packing for camp. I started last night but there's always a lot of lat minute packing to do. Luckily, I make a list. If I didn't, I would forget something...for sure.

I finally got back to sleep and slept until almost 6:00...which is late for me. After I got up and dressed, I finished packing and put my bags in the trunk of my car. After the laptop finishes updating and shuts down I will put it and the charging cord in the bag and put it in the back seat floor. After I get to camp, I will take it and everything else into the camper.

I watered everything this morning. As I began to water, it began to sprinkle on the patio. That didn't last long so I finished watering.

I had my breakfast after first feeding Missy. She was nearly out of food.

My TV is out. I turned the weather on early and when I tried to shift channels, I lost the signal. I tried several things I knew but to no avail. Finally I called Cox. They said the TV was out in our area and they would have it back on by 12:30. I will be gone by then. I will try to log on the newson6.com and see if I can get the Tulsa news. I can get the national news online with the computer. I still have that signal.

Perhaps more later from camp...if I can get a signal there.

The TV is back on and it's only 8:30. It didn't take all morning after all.

I will leave soon for Joplin area.  Bob will look in on Missy from time to time and feed her and clean up her litter box.  I will try to get a signal from the campgrounds later...after I get settled in.

I went to Joplin  and walked around the mall for awhile. Then I came on out to the reunion grounds.

It was hot but breezy. I had a difficult time getting the camper door unlocked. Kevin, the caretaker came to help and after several tries, he managed to get it open. It stuck for some reason.

When I got my luggage in the camper, I came up to the lodge, closing the door after me. Then I found I couldn't get the unlocked door open again. I got Vivian's husband, Leroy, to come tug on it and it finally opened. When Karan came, she thought the door was locked too. She had to give it a mighty tug to get it open.  Maybe it will get easier as the rest of the week progresses. That camper is really lovely. The kids left it at the campgrounds after they left Roaring River weekend before last.

After a full day, I finally went to bed at 9:00 or shortly afterward. I don't know how Missy made out with Bob coming over to feed her.

Tuesday and Cakes

I got up at my usual 5:00 AM and did a load of laundry. Missy had missed the little bathmat that her litter box sets on and so it needed to be washed. So I threw in everything else in the basket as well as my PJs.  Now they are still in the dryer. The bathmat and towels are still in the dryer anyhow.

After that, I fed myself and Missy and then we went out to water the flowers. She stayed close by and I didn't have any trouble getting her back in the apartment. She seems very subdued nowadays. She sleeps a lot. ..more then usual

Before I leave for Independence, I want to run the vacuum in the living room. That's the only room I did not get to yesterday. Missy was in there sleeping and she hates the noise of the vacuum sweeper. I will do it in a little while. It's only 7:00. I have an hour and a half before I leave for Independence with the cakes and to get my hair done.

This is the only photo that I took yesterday that I didn't get on the blog. It too was a gift from my daughter. It says, "What can I give Him poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would give Him a lamb. If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part....But what I can, I give Him, Give my heart."

She gave that to me years ago. I keep it on my bedroom wall too.

More later...

I got the living room vacuumed. Missy wasn't wild about it but she came in the den while that was being done.

Now the apartment is clean. I will pack for camp this afternoon because I have the invocation to give tonight at the city commission meeting.  We will probably leave early tomorrow morning.

More later...

We got to Independence early enough to deliver the cakes first  before my hair appointment. Following my hair appointment we walked around Walmart and also went through a couple of store downtown to kill some time before lunch. We ate lunch at 11:00 at Great China.

Then I took Bob home and came home myself  to lay down and rest awhile. I did go out and pick the little plants that the bird feeder dropped on my new flowerbed. What a mess! I bagged them up and put them in the trash receptacle. 

Missy wet on the small rug that sets under her litter box again. That's twice today and once yesterday. It has been weeks since she has done that. I don't know what on earth has happened to set her off again.

I guess I will pack since the hearing with Sessions is very dry...nothing like that of Comey's.

More later....

Bob came over for awhile to read the paper and  watch the news. When he left I took my bath and Missy and I watched TV until almost 9:00. Then we went to bed.

Monday and Exercises

I got up shortly before 5:00 and got myself ready for the day. I will feed Missy shortly (she is patiently waiting here on the floor beside me) and myself.

I want to wash both the bathroom floor and the kitchen floor before I leave for exercise class and I also need to water the flowers and the tomato plant. I hope Bob keeps his eye on them while I am gone. I leave for church camp on Wednesday and will be gone until Sunday morning. Karan and I are staying in my son in law and daughter's RV at camp. I will try to take some photos and post them while I am gone if I can get a signal. I will take my laptop.

Bob will come over morning and evening and see to Missy. He will feed her and clean out her litter box and also probably spend a little time with her.  She will not be happy to be left alone for all that time.

Right now I'd better get Missy and myself fed.  More later...

I have fed myself and Missy and watered all the flowers as well as mopped the kitchen and bathroom floors and it's only 7:00. That will be all I do for awhile. I will go to exercise class and then come home and start lunch at 10:30. That pork has to bake for an hour..if I recall correctly. I will fix potatoes and a veggie. Bob will probably bring coleslaw. I will see if I have pudding for dessert. We ate the last of the strawberries last evening.

I took my payment for the hearing aid over to Stan. I only owe $250. now and I want to pay it off next month and be completely out of debt.  That will be so good!

I went ahead and vacuumed everything but the living room. I didn't vacuum that because Missy was in my chair in there and she hates the vacuum sweeper.  

Lunch was fine. We will eat at Great China tomorrow.  Bob and I will be taking the cakes to the First Christian Church in Independence in the morning and my hair appointment is at 9:00. We will probably look around Walmart after that waiting for Great China to open at 11:00.

I didn't have pudding so we had no dessert at lunch. I had cookies but Bob evidently didn't want any of those.  I had one after I got my cake baked. It is cooling now and I will ice it as soon and it is cool.

Missy is still in my chair...as usual. She will undoubtedly take it over while I am gone to camp.

More later...

One of my blogging friend's husband suggested she show some of the artwork on their walls and tell about it. So she did that. I can't say mine is artwork but I have some things I really like on my walls.  I will show some of them.

This is a metal sculpture that hung on the wall of my office when I worked as an ad executive for a local radio station between 1981 and 1992.  My boss redecorated the station just before he sold it and when I left, he gave this sculpture to me. It now hangs above the daybed in my den.  I've always loved it.

This hangs in my bedroom. I worked in a dental office as a chair side assistant in the 70's and one of our patients liked her dental work so much that she gave this art to me. She painted it herself and it is signed too.

My daughter gave me this for a Mother's Day gift many years ago. I wish it hadn't had so much glare on it and  you could read it. It says " Mom..No one is more blessed than I to have a mom like you. You're such an inspiration in everything you do." It hangs in my bedroom too.

I have other favorites too. I will share some from time to time.

More news later...

Bob came over at 5:00 and stayed until 6:00. After he left, I took my bath and put my PJs on. Missy has slept nearly all day. I am a little concerned about her. I took her out several times but basically, she just lay on the doormat out there. We stayed out about 20 minutes and then she was ready to come back in.

I plan to go to bed about 9:00...twenty minutes from now. I hope she will come in and get up on the end of the bed like she always does. But her behavior seems very strange.

Sunday and Just Us

I preside today at church and Leslie will run a sermon from Church headquarters that she has downloaded.  After church some of us will go to "Just Us" over at Cherryvale for lunch.

I started my coffeecake for the Church School class this morning and realized it was not the one I usually get. I had a Betty Crocker mix instead. It was for cup cakes so I quickly changed my pans out to the cupcake tins and made coffeecake muffins.  It will be interesting to see how they came out. I will not ice them. Maybe the little girls won't like them without icing.

I'd better go water my flowers and the tomato plant. I'll get back to this later.

O.K. I got everything watered and got my muffins in the oven. I accidentally bought a muffin mix instead of my usual coffeecake mix. So I made muffins instead. We'll see how they go over this morning.

Scott called me this morning. They were on their way to see their baby raccoon that they had given to a wildlife shelter for animals. Scott found it in the grass at their home and it's mother had either deserted it or had been killed somehow. They fed it with a doll bottle. Ginger just loved the little thing but they really couldn't just keep it. No one was home to take care of it since they both work.  They kept it in the garage when they were at work. Here it is resting on her shoulder. 





More later....I've got to pick up Bob and Phyllis for church school.

We  all got to church and had our Church School class. It went fine.  John, my son-in-law and the little girls (my great grandchildren) were not there. The worship service afterward was a bit different. I presided but the message was brought by video by the president of our church. He did well but that was a bit different for the congregation.

Afterward Phyllis and Bob and I went to "Just Us" for lunch.  That too was good food but there were a couple of unruly children sitting nearby and that nearly spoiled our lunch experience. I never did have much patience with unruly children even when they were my own but I worked with mine and got them to eventually to be able to eat out and not disturb the entire dining room. I'm not sure the younger generation tries to work with theirs much to teach them good "eating out" manners.  I sometimes wonder how they behave at the table at home.

Obviously, I am an old woman with short patience with small children.

I got my newsletter finished and out on the mailbox for the mailman to pick up tomorrow.  I only have to send out three. Everyone else has e-mail and I just copy and paste it into an e-mail and send it out in a folder called "congregation".

More later....Bob will be over at 5:00 or so to read the paper and watch the news and 60 Minutes.

Wouldn't you know...there's a PGA golf tournament going on on CBS now. I can only hope it will be over by 6:00.  Blast it! Don't the networks know their sports fans are the minority of their network's  watchers?

Karan brought her cake early. She has joint school tomorrow in Parsons...that's where she is having her knee surgery on the 23rd of June...after we get back from camp.  Her daughter, Sheri, will be coming to stay with her for a week. She will get her through her therapy.

More later...

60 Minutes was on this evening and for once, was on time. However, it was all reruns. With dozens of commercials in every TV program, you'd think the producers could come up with something decent to watch.

I will try to stay up until 9:00 and then go to bed.  Just as soon as Bob left, I took my bath and got ready for bed. Sure enough, at 9:00 Missy and I went to bed.