Saturday, January 11, 2020

Saturday and a Very Cold Snowy Day

I slept well last night with the rain and all. I still got up at 5:00AM. I dressed and had my oatmeal and coffee and Chai and then checked for the cats. Two of them were out there wanting breakfast. After all that rain last evening, they never made it out for supper so they were very hungry. I had to go out through the garage to feed them. They were right up against the front door and would not move away. When I finally got their food out there, they ate voraciously. When they were finished and left, I brought the bowls back in.

I watched the weather all morning until 8:30AM and then turned off the TV to check this blog. I would like to go to the library to get another book but am not sure I should get out with all this snow on the ground. Yes, it started about 8:00AM and is really coming down hard now.

 Image may contain: tree, snow, basketball court, sky and outdoor

And my watch battery quit again in the night last night.  It has only been lasting about six months at the most. I had Mr. Cantrell, the jeweler, put the last one in. I was thinking maybe Walmart was putting old batteries in my watch. Cantrell charged me $10.00 for his battery and it didn't last any longer then Walmart's.  When I can get out of town the next time, I will get Walmart to put another one in for me. At this rate, it may be next Wednesday. Two of our members come from Neodesha, seven from rural Independence and four from Coffeyville. I am the only one from Caney but it may be too treacherous for me to drive to church tomorrow. There is at least an inch out there already and it is still really coming down.

More later...

It's snowing even heavier now. Now even the grass is covered. We may all get snowed in today and not be able to get out at all tomorrow morning for church.  The weather here says there is heavy ice under this snow.

More even later...

I finally noticed people were out driving and the snow had stopped.  I got out and went to the library and took back yesterday's book and checked out three more. I read one of them this afternoon.

It is 5:30PM now and I will try to watch TV. again.

I watched TV until time to take my bath at 7:00PM and then read one of my books until 9:00PM when I went to bed. I have slept much better since I started sleeping with that little stuffed dog.  I miss sleeping with Missy, my cat.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Friday and Finally Vacuuming

I woke up early as usual and had my usual breakfast, I did sleep well though. I dressed and later fed three cats. I chased off an opossum who thought he would help himself to the cat food too. Then I took the dishes into the apartment.

I watched the weather and the news and saw we were finally going to get some winter.

After the news went off I went out to Dollar General to get a few things. Half of what I had on my list they didn't have. What is new?

I will finally vacuum today. I did another load of laundry while I watched TV last night so I never got around to vacuuming.  I read my latest book until I finished it.

I will drive up by the library and see if it is open. I am never sure when it will be open. It has irregular hours. I could use another book if the weather is going to turn bad...and I guess it is.

So more later...

I got another book at the Caney library this afternoon. We are under a winter storm advisory so I may as well read. I am reading another book by Patricia Cornwell called "Hornet's Nest". So far it is interesting. It's pouring down rain outside so I may as well just read. I'd like a Sonic Blast but don't want to go back out in the cold to get one so I will just stay in and read.

More later...

I finally got the apartment vacuumed before I sat back down with my book. I put it off as long as I could. Then I sat down with a Trix ice cream bar. That's a pretty good compromise.

The rain is really coming down now!!

More even later...

I read until 10:00PM and finally finished my library book. I had taken my bath at 7:00PM so I was  ready for bed. l went on to bed after that book was finished. It was still raining hard.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Thursday and A Laid Back Day

I slept well last night. I have been sleeping with my stuffed animal, a Shar Pei dog Scott gave me after I took Slinky for him and it reminds me of sleeping with my cat, Missy. I sleep better that way. I slept with Missy for almost 16 years.

I got up this morning and dressed and had my oatmeal breakfast with coffee and Chai Latte. I fed three cats this morning. They were determined to push themselves into my front door so I went out the garage door and took their food out that way. After they finished, I brought their bowls in again and will keep them in the apartment until it gets dark this evening. That way I don't lose any more bowls.

After the post office opened , I took all 62 of those class newsletters in and mailed them off.  That;s finished now for another year.

I washed all the bare floors this morning but didn't vacuum. I will do that in the morning.

I washed all the bare floors today but didn't vacuum. Instead I read the rest of my library book. I finished the book about 3:30PM. and went out to Sonic to get a small Blast.

I thought I had better catch up this blog before I get too far behind.

It's a little after 4:00PM now and I will go watch the news for awhile.

More later.... I just learned this from our Mission Center President:


Leslie Brooks, Congregational Financial Officer and co-pastor at Crossroads Community of Christ, located in rural Coffeyville and Independence Kansas  has been appointed Chief Financial Officer  for the South Central States Mission Center of the World Church of the Community of Christ. South Central States Mission Center is the largest Mission Center in the church.
Leslie is very gifted with a knowledge of the financial business of the church and is currently the Area #3 Financial Officer, CFO of her local congregation, Business Manager of Ozark Reunion #2 and Treasurer of the Ozark Camp and Retreat Center Board of Directors. She has an extensive operating knowledge of the Shelby and Paycom business operating systems.
Leslie has a deep and abiding faith and is a gifted leader.

Leslie is my daughter.... I am very proud of her!!



Wednesday and a Busy Day

I awoke early as usual and had my oatmeal for breakfast along with my coffee and Chai Latte. I got around pretty early because I wanted to fix all those strawberries for my Bunco treat. And I was going to pick up Bob at 7:00AM for a later breakfast.  It was very dark driving over to Coffeyville but somehow I managed. I picked him up at 7:00AM and we went to Eggberts for their senior breakfast.

After breakfast,I took him back home and left the groceries I could not use at their free table at Sycamore Landing where I was sure they would be used. Then I went to the bank and cashed a check before going out to Woodshed and filling my car tank with gas. After that, I went out to their Walmart there for some groceries.

When I finished that. I went to my hair appointment. I went to the library afterward there in Coffeyville and picked out a book. It was called "Post Mortum" by Patricia Cornwell.  It was a real  cliffhanger.

Then I went on to the senior center for Bunco. I ended up winning "most wins". After we finished, I came on my way back to Caney. On my way, Leslie called to say my class newsletters were finished and were in her office. So I turned north at Dearing's cut off and went up to Independence to her office and picked them up. They had even folded and stuffed them into the envelopes for me.

When I got back home, I put the stamps on them but it was too late to mail them off.

I watched the news until 7:00PM and then read in my book until bedtime. I went to bed at 9:00PM.

It had been a big day.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

A Good Philosophy to Share

I promised myself years ago, every time I saw this I would re-post. Happens about twice a year. Rings true EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.... Here goes!!!

Most people won't take the time to read this all the way to the end. I hope that you will. 17 INCHES" - you will not regret reading this

An excellent article to read from beginning to end.

Twenty years ago, in Nashville, Tennessee, during the first week of January, 1996, more than 4,000 baseball coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual ABCA's convention.

While I waited in line to register with the hotel staff, I heard other more veteran coaches rumbling about the lineup of speakers scheduled to present during the weekend. One name kept resurfacing, always with the same sentiment — “John Scolinos is here? Oh, man, worth every penny of my airfare.”

Who is John Scolinos, I wondered. No matter; I was just happy to be there.

In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung — a full-sized, stark-white home plate.

Seriously, I wondered, who is this guy?

After speaking for twenty-five minutes, not once mentioning the prop hanging around his neck, Coach Scolinos appeared to notice the snickering among some of the coaches. Even those who knew Coach Scolinos had to wonder exactly where he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home plate since he’d gotten on stage. Then, finally …

“You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck,” he said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with the others, acknowledging the possibility. “I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”

Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. “Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?”

After a pause, someone offered, “Seventeen inches?”, more of a question than answer.

“That’s right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth’s day? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?” Another long pause.

“Seventeen inches?” a guess from another reluctant coach.

“That’s right,” said Scolinos. “Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?” Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear. “How wide is home plate in high school baseball?”

“Seventeen inches,” they said, sounding more confident.

“You’re right!” Scolinos barked. “And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?”

“Seventeen inches!” we said, in unison.

“Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?”............“Seventeen inches!”

“RIGHT! And in the Major Leagues, how wide home plate is in the Major Leagues?

“Seventeen inches!”

“SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. “And what do they do with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?” Pause. “They send him to Pocatello !” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter. “What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. If you can’t hit a seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.'”

Pause. “Coaches… what do we do when your best player shows up late to practice? or when our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him? Do we widen home plate? "

The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach’s message began to unfold. He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two windows. “This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids.

With our discipline.

We don’t teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. We just widen the plate!”

Pause. Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag. “This is the problem in our schools today. The quality of our education is going downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting us?”

Silence. He replaced the flag with a Cross. “And this is the problem in the Church, where powerful people in positions of authority have taken advantage of young children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the rug for years. Our church leaders are widening home plate for themselves! And we allow it.”

“And the same is true with our government. Our so-called representatives make rules for us that don’t apply to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyists and foreign countries. They no longer serve us. And we allow them to widen home plate! We see our country falling into a dark abyss while we just watch.”

I was amazed. At a baseball convention where I expected to learn something about curve balls and bunting and how to run better practices, I had learned something far more valuable.

From an old man with home plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about myself, about my own weaknesses and about my responsibilities as a leader. I had to hold myself and others accountable to that which I knew to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an undesirable path.

“If I am lucky,” Coach Scolinos concluded, “you will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this: "If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools & churches & our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to …”

With that, he held home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside, “…We have dark days ahead!.”

Note: Coach Scolinos died in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds of players and coaches, including mine. Meeting him at my first ABCA convention kept me returning year after year, looking for similar wisdom and inspiration from other coaches. He is the best clinic speaker the ABCA has ever known because he was so much more than a baseball coach. His message was clear: “Coaches, keep your players—no matter how good they are—your own children, your churches, your government, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches."

And this my friends is what our country has become and what is wrong with it today, and now go out there and fix it!

"Don't widen the plate."
3

Tuesday and Dusting

I got up at my usual 5:00AM. I had my oatmeal and coffee and am now working on my Chai. I slept fairly well last night. I woke up once with my legs cramping and got up and took a pill for that. Then I got back to sleep. 

I had two cats waiting for breakfast this morning...mama cat  and Yellow Tom. A little later yellow kitten came and ate too after the other two were gone.

I was worried some about Nancy and her situation last night. But I had done all I could do yesterday by mainly just hearing her out and trying to salvage the rest of her day.

Today I will read and also dust the apartment. Tomorrow I get my hair done and will see about having breakfast with Bob. I want to give him the groceries I got at the distribution center yesterday. He can distribute them to folks at the Sycamore Landing building where he lives.  Maybe Joanne, his girlfriend,  can use them too.

I kept the fruit which was all I really wanted but they give you a big bag of veggies too. You have to take all they give you. I always either let the church distribute it or let Bob give it to needy folks at Sycamore Landing. I kept the strawberries and the blackberries and will make smoothies out of them.

Thursday I will clean the apartment again. That's my regular schedule. It's supposed to be another week more like April then January.

More later...


Monday, January 6, 2020

Monday and Laundry

I got up shortly before 5:00AM this morning and stripped my bed and did a load of laundry. I put some old sheets on the bed and made it up. The bottom sheet has a three corner tear toward the bottom.  I need to find some sort of iron on tape to repair it. I guess. I sleep on the opposite side of the bed so I may just wait to try to repair it until I change the sheets again. The laundry is in the dryer now.

I have had my breakfast of oatmeal, coffee and Chai  and am dressed and ready for the day. I had three cats come for breakfast this morning. I couldn't get them away from the front door so I went out into the garage and opened that door and took their food out to them. When they finished eating and went away, I brought in their bowls and I will put them back out this evening.

Nancy wants to go to breakfast or brunch today and I may do that. I am watching the news right now so I will get back to this later.

More later...

I finally got a hold of Nancy. Her son is determined  to put her in a nursing home but she is not fragile. She is fully capable of taking care of herself at 85. I call her every day and her cousin looks in on her most days. But her son lives half a continent away and he does not keep in touch with her well..in fact seldom calls and visits with her. Today he sent two women from a Bartlesville nursing home to interview her about her capabilities.  She is a little forgetful but aren't we all.... in our middle eighties.    She has lots of friends and they check in on her regularly. They take her to dinner out of town and she enjoys their company.

If he moved her to Bartlesville she wouldn't know a soul. She has a beautiful home and wants to live in it. If she could find someone she knows to move in with her, that would be the the best thing for her.

We went to lunch and she had an opportunity to talk to me about it. Then we went to the distribution center and picked up some groceries. She had expressed interest in seeing my church so I suggested we go look at it. After I gave her the grand tour there I asked her if she would like to go to Independence and get a blizzard at their Dairy Queen. She was game so we did that.

She was feeling a lot better after our beautiful day. The weather was more like Spring.

I came on back home after that and watched some TV and read in my book. I worked over my sermon for January 26th. I put the groceries I had picked up in the frig.

This evening  I fed three feral cats their supper and when they finished eating I brought in the bowls.

I took my bath about 7:00PM and it's almost 8:30PM now. I am watching Heavy Rescue 401 about wreckers in Alaska trying to keep the roads free of wrecks.

I will go to bed when it's closer to 9:00PM.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Sunday and Coffeecake and Church

I got up at my usual 5:00AM and had my oatmeal and coffee and Chai after I got myself ready for the day.  I had two and then three cats here for breakfast. Mama cat was first and then Yellow Tom and the young Tom. I fed them and watched while they did that. I brought the bowls in when they were finished.  Then I made my coffeecake. It is cooling now and I will put an icing or glaze on it after it is cool.

I see by the news that Trump has threatened Iran that we have targeted 52 Iranian sites if they retaliate. He is going to fool around throwing his weight around and get us into an atomic war. This from a man that dodged the draft himself.

More later...

I have the coffee cake iced and now the cake for Tuesday is cooling. That cake goes to the First Christian Church in Independence, KS. for their Tuesday evening dinner. He and Karan and Phyllis will also have cakes.  Bob will take them all up there on Tuesday. If this cake cools and I can get it iced I will take it to church this morning and freeze it. He can then pick it up on his way to Independence on Tuesday.

More even later....

I got the cake out of the oven and after it cooled I iced it.  I took it to the church and put it in the freezer. We had a smaller then usual attendance because at least at least five of our number were gone. Two texted me and told me they were on their way to Wichita. The other three, I don't know about.

I took my car and four of us went to "Just Us" in Cherryvale for lunch. We had a good well rounded $10.00 lunch there, complete with dessert as usual.

Afterward I took the others back to their cars at church and came on back home.

I got the congregational newsletter done and in the e-mail. I had five I needed to put in my mailbox with the flag up so the mailman would pick them up tomorrow. That job is finished for another week.

More even later...

I went over to Nancy's later in the  afternoon and took her the two pieces of coffeecake I saved for her. I gave the rest to Kelly.

I read all evening.  I bought the book called "Wonder". It was written by a boy who has a very rare condition that makes the face all scrambled up from birth. It is called Treacher Collins syndrome and  I saw a TV show recently about another boy who had it and his experience.  I then decided to buy the book. They have  a very difficult life because of this terrible disfigurement.

I finally put the book down about 7:00PM and took my bath and at 8:30PM I went on to bed.