Saturday Morning and a Repaired Computer

I got up to go to the bathroom at 4:30AM this morning and  found a note on the computer of all the Cox Complete Care tech had done remotely. It told me I needed to reboot before using the computer again. So I did that. The computer seems to run smoother and is not freezing any longer....yet.

I wish I could have printed off that note left on the desktop of the computer. There were about a dozen things he had done to repair it. And when I began to use this blog, I had to sign in again, That worked smoothly too. If this repair works, it is the best $9.95 a month investment I have made in a long while.

I hope to finish mowing this morning about 8:00AM.  I want to finish the west side and perhaps redo the front and finish trimming along the curb..

More later....

It's 7:40AM now and I hope to mow the west side yard at 8:00AM. It's still only 72 degrees right now. I want to get that job done before it gets hot today.

I have fed the three cats three times this morning. I still have only seen the mother cat and two kittens in a couple of weeks. I don't know what happened to the other three kittens.  I hope nothing bad.

I don't really have a plan for today. I washed the tile at the living room door last night. That's about all the housework I have done for a couple of days. The mowing and trimming are more important right now and sometime today I need to go to the Dollar General store and get a couple of things I need. ....cranberry grape juice and peach tea.  I drink a lot of peach tea....especially after I have mowed and am sweaty.

I guess Leslie will be coming home sometime today from camp.

Well, it's 7:45AM and 72 degrees now and I need to put gas in the mower if I am going to mow at 8:00AM.

So, more later....

I started mowing at 8:00AM and just now finished cleaning up. It is 8:32AM. While I was at it, and had the west side finished, I re-did the front. It was beginning to look pretty shaggy next to the west side. Now the entire yard looks neat.  I am pretty sweaty however. I brushed off my feet and mowing shoes and then came in and blotted off my face. I haven't yet tried to comb my bangs down. I imagine they are still pretty wet. But maybe this mowing will last a few days.



After I mowed the west side, I re-mowed the front. This is the front.

It is 76 degrees right now. I got that yard finished right in the nick of time. After I drink some tea and cool down, I will go out to Dollar General and buy some more. I go through a lot of peach tea.

More later....

I went to Dollar General and bought the three things on my grocery list. While I was still in the parking lot, I saw Keith and Barbara Rogers and briefly visited with them. Barbara is doing most of the driving now because Keith has macular degeneration in one of his eyes and doesn't see well enough to drive. Barbara also mows although she does have a riding mower to do it with. I sometimes wish I had kept my Dixon. Right now I can mow with the kids' push mower just fine. But at 83, going on 84, I don't know how much longer I will be able to do that especially in late July and August. It is good exercise though. And I enjoy it.

I ate lunch late. I had one of my chicken pot pies for my lunch...with some peach tea.

Then I sat down to watch a program I had recorded on 20/20 on the life and death of John Kennedy Jr.  It's now 88 degrees outside and too hot to mess around outside.  It's 2:50PM now.

More even later....

I tried  to call Nancy a couple of times today and even went over and rang her doorbell but there was no answer. I drove through town to see if she was in the museum but her car was nowhere to be found. I am concerned. I tried to call Sandy too but she was not there although her car is there. Maybe they are together. I hope so. I would hate to think that Nancy is home and incapacitated in some way.

The computer is freezing up again sometimes. I had hoped that Cox Complete Care who worked on it all evening last night had fixed that and thought that they had. But evidently not altogether.

It is 4:45PM now and I really have not got a lot done today outside of mowing..

I watched another episode of "Murder She Wrote" on Amazon Prime at 7:00PM , took my bath and went to bed early. I had been up and around too long to stay up until 9:00PM.

Minister's Message July 27th Find Balance

Balance is hard…isn’t it? We get involved with one thing and let something else equally as important go altogether. Our lives then become lopsided. 

A couple of weeks ago, I was busily involved in making potato salad for the recent cookout at the church.  My doorbell rang and I answered to find one of my dear friends there almost in tears. She asked me if I was busy. I told her I was making potato salad for a cookout at church but my potatoes weren’t finished cooking yet so I was ready for a break. It was obvious she was upset. So I pulled out a chair and asked her sit down and tell me what was troubling her. She told me she woke up that morning and couldn’t remember the last two days. She was very upset. I told her she had had lunch with me the day before and did she remember that? After thinking a moment, she said she did now. She had been upset over the pending visit of her son who wanted to put her in a nursing home and was stressed over that. I suggested that might be the problem. Stress can do that.  She agreed that could be the case. 

Later, I realized she might need even more support. So I went to her home and she was very glad to see me. I suggested we go get a milkshake at Gabbie’s downtown and that too seemed like a great idea to her so we did that.  I spent the afternoon with her. I realize it’s only a temporary fix but when he is gone, perhaps I can get her to a doctor. 

Luke 10: 38-42

This is a story of Jesus and two sisters. He is visiting them at home. It is a “cottage meeting” type visit. Remember those? We used to have visits in the home from ministers or missionaries. Sometimes their visits would upset our TV watching but if we were wise, we would turn off the TV and enjoy a real opportunity to discuss the mission of Jesus and what that had to do with us. We may have chosen “the better half”.

In the case of Martha and Mary, though, we may sense a bit of sibling rivalry. Perhaps even some jealously.

The house is small. Indeed, it may be just one tiny room. There is no separate kitchen. Do Mary and Martha live here alone? What is it that keeps Martha so busy? What are her many tasks? As we try to imagine the scene, we can see Jesus and Mary sitting (on the floor most likely), and Martha bustling about. Is she tidying up? Is she fixing something for dinner?  We can only guess. She is not cut out of the conversation. However, she is a whirlwind of activity, racing against an unknown clock. And there sits Mary. “Can’t you tell her to get up and help me?” Martha asks Jesus.

A guest has arrived. Hospitality is freely given. In fact, hospitality is a hallmark of many cultures, both in Jesus’ time and now. It is odd how some interpret this passage as placing more importance on learning from Jesus and studying the “word,” to the neglect of hospitality. Although Jesus suggests Mary has chosen “the better part” (v. 42), he contrasts that with Martha being “distracted by her many tasks,” not that what she was doing was less important.

I was working on my next talk and my doorbell rang. It was my new neighbor..the young man. He had found one of my windshield notes.  I had not seen them for a while. They moved boxes in on two weekends ago and I didn’t see them for the next two weeks. He rang my doorbell and when I answered it I could see he was very hot so I invited him in. I had noticed his grass was very high.

I had an ulterior motive for wanting to talk to him about his grass. I thought he might not have a mower and although my original ulterior motive was to make him a proposition. If he didn’t have a mower, I was going to offer to buy the gas and let him use my mower if he would mow my yard too. But he told me he had a mower. In fact, the reason I hadn’t seen them was that his wife had had their baby prematurely and was in the hospital at Joplin. The baby weighed 3 lbs, 4 oz. and was doing fine. It was up over 4 lbs now and was nursing with his wife. So my entire strategy changed.  I congratulated him and asked him if it was alright if I put them all three on the prayer list at church.  

Looking at this text through the modern, clock-oriented lifestyles that are more and more commonplace today, gathering as disciples can become routine, task-oriented, and time-limited. How often do we watch the clock, rushing through an agenda of business, pushing the discussions to a decision so we can move on to the next task? As we rush from one minute to the next, do we remember God’s role in all that we do? God is present in our business meetings, if we but pause to recognize the divine presence. Christ sits at the table with us during potluck,   if we would just relax and not worry so much about the decoration or the spilled milk. More of what the “church” is about takes place around the table than sitting in the pew—just look at the first-century church experience for that!

We need the Marthas. We need the Marys. We need the Kevins. We need the Garys. Sometimes we need to cut the grass, replace light bulbs, prepare meals, plan a Sunday school lesson, select a pastor and congregational leaders, or plan budgets. Sometimes we just need to listen  to sermons, pray, and read the scriptures.  And sometimes, most importantly, we need to be available for anyone who needs us.

Being and doing are essential in the lives of disciples. Preparing a meal and listening to the teachings of Jesus are the beginning of mission.

Friday and Mowing and Trimming the Back Yard

I slept well last night and got up shortly after 5:00AM. I have eaten my oatmeal and had my coffee and am now working on my Chai.  I have fed the mama cat and two of her kittens three times this morning. These three, the mama and two of her gray kittys are the only ones I have seen in days. There were five kittys originally. I don't know what happened to the other three.  It has been at least a week since I have seen the rest of them.

Last night a strange truck pulled up in front of my apartment and sat there for twenty minutes with the lights on and the motor running. I finally called the local dispatcher and asked her to send the officer on duty to come by and check that out. I was not comfortable going on to bed with that truck sitting there with the lights on and the motor running. After an hour though, three more trucks came and parked in front of the east side of the duplex. One of them had a large trailer attached to it and it was parked across my drive...blocking it. Luckily my car was at Gary's in Coffeyville overnight.

Finally, I went on to bed. I figured they were all friends of Zeke, my new neighbor. I hope they don't make a habit of that.

Sometime this morning, Gary will call and tell me my car is finished.  Then I will call Bob to come get me. and take me to Coffeyville to pick it up.

I would like to mow the back yard this evening but I would like to buy a headband before I do that. I want to put it across my head to hold my bangs down and keep them from curling up and also to absorb the sweat.  I also need to trim.

More later....

The temperature was only 68 degrees this morning at 8:00AM so I went out and mowed the back and part of the west side before I played out. I will finish that later...maybe this evening.  I am drinking lots of tea this morning to cool off. And I still have the trimming to do too.  That will be my project for today.

It's 9:00AM and I still haven't heard from Gary yet about my car.  I was hoping he would get it finished early. This is Bob's birthday and he and Joanne may have plans.

It's 10:30AM now and 80 degrees out there. I will finish mowing the side yard later after it cools off some. However, I did get the trimming done in front and back just now.





Still no call from Gary.

He called about 11:30AM and I called Bob. Bob came over and got me and took me to Gary's. I picked up my car and left his check in the key drop. It was not quite as expensive as he told me. But he is concerned about the compressor and we are looking at over $700 if I should need a compressor down the road in time.  I just hope it holds up.

I have read the Reporter and done the crossword puzzle.  I will take the papers to Karan. She takes hers to the shelter in Coffeyville. I have never been there and am not sure where it is. It is east of the highway 169 just off Walnut in Coffeyville. That's all I know.

More later..I'd better fix something for my lunch now.

I had sweet and sour chicken for lunch. It's a frozen meal from Walmart...just the right amount...not too much. I had it with peach tea.

Now it's 6:20PM and in just awhile, at 7:00PM, I will take my bath and put my PJs on. It's still too hot to mow...maybe in the morning.  It was just right this morning.

Well, I didn't take my bath at 7:00PM after all.  I was having trouble with the desktop computer freezing up so I called Cox Complete Care and had one of their techs work it over. That was an hour ago and he is still at it....deleting old useless files and tuning up the old computer.  I don't want to take my bath until he is finished or he may call me back while I am in the tub.  So, I am still waiting for him to finish here at 8:30PM.

I just ate some yogurt. I hadn't had anything to eat since noon or so.

More later...

Saturday morning: 

I finally just went to bed at 10:00PM Friday evening and the tune up was not finished then. I got up to go to the bathroom at 4:30AM on Saturday  and  found a note on the computer of all the tech had done. It told me I needed to reboot before using the computer again. So I did that. The computer seems to run smoother and is not freezing any longer....yet.

Thursday and Perhaps Lunch Out

I slept fitfully last night. If I were to try to decide why that was I think it would be too much tea all afternoon.

I finally got back to sleep around 3:00AM and woke up shortly before 5:00AM and got up. I dressed, ate my oatmeal and coffee and got myself ready for the day. I even filled the cat's bowl.

Today I only plan to have brunch with Nancy...if she still wants to do that.  Then, this evening, I will take my car over to Gary's to have the air conditioning serviced. Bob will bring me back here after I leave it there. Then Friday when Gary finishes it and calls me, I will call Bob and he will come over to get me to take me over to Coffeyville to pick it up.

I see the mother cat is eating the food in the dish now. None of her kitties are with her. I don't have  a clue what happened to them. She just finished and I re-filled the dish and put clean water in the water part.

More later...

Bob just texted me about when I wanted to take my car over there this evening. I suggested 7:00PM. I will see what he thinks of that.

O.K. He thinks that is fine.

More later....

In just a little while, I will call Nancy and see if she wants to go to brunch. I will wait until 10:00AM.  It's only 9:35AM now.

I went over and visited with Nancy for an hour or so. She had lots of leftovers to eat so she was not interested in lunch...not today anyhow.

I got my mail and had the new registration for my car in it along with the Reporter. And the car registration had my old Coffeyville address on it.  Then I realized that in the hub bub of moving and settling in the new place, I had forgotten to change the address on my registration and driver's license. So I called Heather, figuring I would pay my car insurance and apartment insurance when I went over to get my tag and registration taken care of. I got that done and went over to re-register my car and pay for that,

I figured I would have to go to Independence and get my address on the license done but that woman at the registration told me to go to the library and they would do it for me free of charge. That was wonderful! Plus... I decided to just take my car by Gary's while I was in Coffeyville if I could get Bob to bring me back to Caney that early. That too worked out fine. So all that is done and it's not yet 4:00PM in the afternoon. Of course, I am a lot more broke then I was this morning!

I have worked the crossword puzzle and will find something to eat now. I haven't eaten since 5:00AM this morning.

I found the rest of the chicken and noodles I had a couple of days ago and ate that for lunch. I also had an ice cream bar and some trail mix I had in the cabinet. 

I don't know when Gary will have my car finished tomorrow. When he calls me, I will call Bob and have him come over to pick me up so I can go back to Coffeyville to pay Gary and pick up my car. 

Between the bill for the air conditioning on my car, car registration and tag sticker, the car insurance and the apartment insurance... this has been an expensive month.

And  I am still kicking around buying one of those yard swings over at Tyro and borrowing the money out of my savings and paying it back $100 a month for three months. I would have to ask the kids to get it picked up in their truck and I hate to impose on them any more then I already do. I wouldn't use it much until fall anyhow though so there is no rush to make such a decision.

I plan to mow the back yard Monday sometime. It is really getting high but I want to wait until Monday or Tuesday to do that. I hope it doesn't rain anymore this weekend.

I have had my bath at 7:00PM and it's now 7:45PM. I will wait until 9:00PM to go to bed. I hope to sleep better now that I have all my errands done.

Wednesday and Hair Day

I slept well again last night but got up about 4:30AM after I felt I had my sleep out.  I dressed, had my oatmeal and coffee and fed the cat. I have only seen one  or two kittens with her lately. I don't know where the other four have disappeared to. I wondered if someone had taken them to the pound in Coffeyville, ....or worse. I will keep feeding those who show up. Mama cat and the one kitten showed up this morning and I have filled the bowl twice already.

My County Chronicle hasn't shown up in my online mailbox yet today either...which is strange. Usually it's there early Wednesday mornings.

I will go back over to Coffeyville today to get my hair done at 10:00AM. I want to take my plastic grocery bags to Genesis while I am there too. When I have given Bob a chance to get up and around, I will text him about breakfast and see if he wants to go. I will wait until after 6:00AM.

I am doing laundry again this morning. Primarily I am doing towels and my underwear. 

More later...

Yes, Bob wanted to go to breakfast so I went over early and picked him up. I went to the bank afterward and later to Woodshed to get gas. Then since I was that far already, I went back out to Walmart to get the two things I didn't get yesterday. I was just going to get them at Dollar General but I was almost out to Walmart so I just went there.

Then I got my hair done, went to the bank to get a new check register, and then out to Gary's to see if he could check my car's air conditioning. It was not cooling well. He said the air had never been serviced since I had it and would need to be done in order to be sure it had plenty of coolant so I made an appointment. He is booked for two weeks but he said if I can get it over there tomorrow evening, he will get it in the first thing Friday morning at 6:00AM.

I called Bob to see if he would take me back to Caney after I left the car on Thursday evening and he was glad to do that. Then Friday when Gary calls to tell me it is ready, Bob will come get me and take me to Coffeyville to pick it up. That's two trips for him but he was willing to help me out that way. I have known Gary for years and I trust him. I couldn't trust just any auto repair man.

More later...

Jenny e-mailed and reminded me that the Chronicle comes out on Thursdays and we get the e-edition late Wednesday evening.  So it will come later this evening. It was a day early last week because of the holiday.

The smoke alarm went off again.  I poked on it time and again but it buzzed and buzzed. Finally after I tried poking it again, it stopped. I did not want to climb on a step stool to try to take the top off it and pull the battery, so, once again, I called Steve. He will come by sometime this afternoon after a funeral they are going to attend. I hate to be a trial for them but it seems to be just one thing after another.  First the power breaker to the dryer, then the air conditioner breaker and now the smoke alarm.

It is thundering and windy now and I imagine we are going to get rain again. I raked and bagged all those leaves last week and now the wind is blowing them off the neighbor's tree again and the yard is full of them again. This time, when the wind dies down, I will just get my blower out and blow them off the yard instead of raking them. I still have a painful blister from last week's raking. When I rake in the fall, I will wear gloves. It is beginning to rain again now.

More even later..

Steve and Suzanne came and changed the battery in the smoke alarm again. Steve thought it might have been an old battery he changed out with last week. They stayed just a little while and then left, They had been to another funeral and were on their way home when they stopped.

I watched another "Murder She Wrote" episode this afternoon. I had tried to clean up the mess of leaves from my neighbor's tree after the wind and rain this morning. After blowing it off my yard the best I could and into the street, I started sweeping the mess up and putting it in my Bag Buddy, I finally played out. It was just too hot to do that today.

Then the Tivo quit when I started to change from Amazon Prime back to the cable. I rebooted a couple of times and it finally reloaded. But it took awhile. It's 3:30PM now.

Nancy came by about an hour ago and stayed until just a few minutes ago..  She told me about her experience with David, her son, and his wife. She is rather exhausted from their visit.

It's 4:45PM now and I want to watch the news when it comes on at 5:00PM. I will finish this when I am ready to take my bath at 7:00PM.

Tuesday and No Plan

I slept very well last night and got up shortly before 5:00AM, dressed and had my oatmeal and coffee. I fed the little mother cat then refilled the dish for the kittens. I haven't seen the kittens yet this morning.

I don't have anything in particular planned for today. I may do my bare floors and finish the vacuuming I didn't get finished on Friday.  I still have the den and the dining room to vacuum. I also want to look for another small rug for the area in front of the front door so I may go out to Dollar General again after they open.

So, more later...

I found a little rug for the back door out at Dollar General. That meant I could keep the small one that had been at the back door, in the living room by the front door.

Then when I got home and put the small rug down, I noticed that after all that rain yesterday, the front yard looked like it had grown an inch. So I went out and mowed it again. I had mowed it first, before the back yard and the west side yard. Now, hopefully, that will hold it for awhile....at least five days.

I am watching some programs I had recorded yesterday for awhile to just sit and cool down.

I still haven't cleaned the floors or vacuumed the last two rooms.

More later...

I decided to go to the church and take the letter off the door window and then go on to Independence to get some frozen meals at their Walmart.  I got as far as Dearing and found that the county was spreading gravel on the road and there was a backup at 3900 where the church is located clear to Independence. By the time I finished at church, the cars were backed up clear down the south south toward Dearing. So I went south and east to Coffeyville instead and stopped at El Pueblo to get Bob a gift certificate for his birthday which is on Thursday. Then I went on out to Walmart there and bought my frozen meals and a birthday card for Bob.

I go to Coffeyville again tomorrow to get my hair done. I will get gas again there then.

It's time for the news now...so I will get back to this later...

I took my bath at 7:00PM and then watched an episode of "Murder She Wrote"  on Amazon Prime. Then I played solitaire for thirty minutes or so and finally went back in to watch some more TV..

I plan to go to bed at 9:00PM.

Monday and Mowing

I slept pretty well last night. I woke up several times and did have some trouble getting back to sleep. Finally, I just took some melatonin and slept fine until 5:00AM, my regular rising time. I have dressed and had my coffee, oatmeal and fed the cat. I haven't seen any of the kitties yet....just mama cat.

About 8:00AM, if it is still cool enough, I want to mow the west side yard. It is supposed to rain this afternoon and I would like to get that done before that happens. Other then that, I don't have a plan. I do want to get over to Dollar General sometime this week before laundry day and buy another mesh bag for washing my underwear. I really don't have to do that today but if I can get it done that's would be fine.

More later...

It's 8:20AM and  I just finished mowing the west yard. It took me a little over 20 minutes and it's done for another few days. I wanted to do it while it was just 77 degrees out there.

Now, I think I will go out to Dollar General and pick up the few things I need. So more even later...

I did go to the Dollar General Store and got some more net bags for washing my lingerie. I also went ahead and bought more cat food. I know I am going to need it in a day or two so I may as well get it today.

I fixed myself a broccoli and chicken frozen dinner for lunch. I had that with a glass of peach tea.  Then I finished off that piece of cherry pie I brought home from church last Sunday a week ago. It was still good! Now, later I will have an ice cream bar.

This is enough for now.

Bob called to ask if I still had my banker boxes and if I could let Joanne use them to move her daughter.  I told him I would get into the attic and get them out. He came right over and we loaded them into his car. Then we had some peach tea and visited awhile. Then he went back to Coffeyville to take them to Joanne.

After he left, I went to the Caney Car Wash and washed my car. 

Finally at 5:30PM, it started to thunder at last. It has supposed to have rained this afternoon. I moved the cat food  back a little closer to the door so rain wouldn't get into it if it finally rains.

In another hour I will take my bath..

At 5:59PM the rain finally started. It rained here for over an hour and then stopped. I took my bath at 7:00PM and went to bed after "Bull" was over at 10:00PM.

Sunday and Probable Rain

I slept well last night and it doesn't appear it rained here last night. We do have a 40% chance of rain here today though.  In a little while, I will text Leslie and find out if they got rain or are expecting rain today. I really don't want to try to drive in the rain. ...especially on the interstate.

I have dressed, eaten and fed the cats and am now enjoying my Chai.

I see California has had a 7.1 quake now. Between the wildfires and the earthquakes and the terrible high rent, you couldn't give me California as a precious gift. I'll take my chances with tornadoes. They are a lot more rare and localized.

I will wait another hour before texting Leslie to find out what their weather is to be like today.

More later....

Leslie just texted me that it is not raining at the reunion grounds and it is clear there. So if all is well with no rain at 9:00AM, I will drive on over there.

More later...

I just contacted Karan and she is going with me so I will pick her up at 9:20 or so.

We drove over to the campgrounds visiting all the way. We saw a lot of folks we only see at camp or conference. It was a long service and they served communion and then we had lunch.  After lunch we stayed until 2:00PM or so and visited with some of them and then drove on back home. I saw Nolan Scarberry again with Deryl. We never did encounter any rain.

I was pretty tired when I got home. But I sent out an e-mail about Elnora's services. Then I opened an e-mail from one of my classmates and sent it on to all the online classmates. So I have been busy ever since I got home. It's now 5:10PM and I still have to get away from the computer and go watch the news and eat some yogurt.

More later...

At 7:00PM, I took my bath and got ready for bed.  It's been a long day. I will try to stay up until 9:00PM. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, I want to mow my west yard.