Spring is Nearly Here

It has been a lovely day. We went to church this morning and afterward went to eat out at a Chinese restaurant with our daughter, son-in-law and four friends. Then I spent the afternoon working on my letters and the article for the newspaper for Friday's church page. I preach next Sunday and afterward we will have a small lunch for the ministry of our church and a meeting afterward to plan the quarter's schedule. In our church, we have seven elders and we take turns preaching and presiding. The pastor is actually an administrator. We are all self sustaining.

Bob took Slinky for a walk at the park awhile ago. I imagine he loved that. Now Bob is making a trip to the market deli to get a couple of pieces of chicken. That must have sounded good to him.

This morning before church I went out to take a photo of the daffodils that are in bloom in the west flower bed. I love it when everything begins to bloom. I love spring when the flowers all begin blooming. I have tulips too out there but it's a little early for them yet. That particular bed also has iris so something blooms right along. The clematis is beginning to come up and so are the peonies. I can hardly wait to get dirt under my nails.

Reunion Grounds

I was going to go to our reunion campgrounds today and help clean the camp to get it ready for the camping season, and I got to feeling better this morning so we went. I came back home yesterday after lunch with Gay and Tony and slept most of the afternoon. Then I went to bed at 7:00 last night. Twice last night I woke covered in sweat.

The campgrounds were hit directly by a tornado last May and they canceled the entire camping season.

Bob and I went over there at 9:30 and worked all day and got an awful lot done. He held up well. I didn't have a sign of my cold. It must have suddenly cleared up.

They were expecting 29 to come to this work party and 65 showed up. That's how we got so much done. They served us lunch there and we worked till almost 4:00 before we left. I cleaned the nursery, the child's bathroom, the storeroom (where I tried to organize everything) then I helped clean chairs and wiped down the new mattresses for the bunks.

The refrigerator in the nursery had been left closed after it was unplugged and it was literally covered with mold inside. I used bleach water and wiped the entire thing down. It took me a couple of hours to get it cleaned up.

It was a very productive day. Bob helped to put together the new bunk beds. Everyone worked together well and we had a good time together.

Lunch

We are supposed to have lunch with Gay and Tony today but I'm not sure I ought to do that. Tony suffers from emphysema and I have this horrible cold and rough deep cough. If he got sick, he might not be able to recover. I took my temp awhile ago and it is 100 degrees so I have a low grade temp.

I probably need to call Gay after awhile and explain the situation to her. We can take a rain check on the lunch.

Bob and I had intended to go to the church's reunion grounds tomorrow and help assemble bunk beds and clean the campgrounds in preparation for the camping season. I don't know if he will go on without me or not. They certainly need the help.

On top of that, I had an e-mail from Scott this morning and he plans to come this weekend. He has a date with a girl from Tulsa. I answered him that I was sick and he might not want to come.

I haven't felt like doing anything this week. The house is dirty and I haven't felt like cleaning it. The beds need changing but I'm not up to that either. Thank goodness Slinky has chosen to spend his nights outdoors this week. He hasn't woke me up at 5:00 to fix his food this week.

Everything happens at once.

Update: Well, I am better again so I guess all plans are back on. The terrible cough is gone and the fever is broken. Scott is coming NEXT weekend...not this weekend.

Ministerial Alliance Day

Today is Ministerial Alliance and I have spent the morning working on the agenda and copying the minutes for everyone. We have 15 reservations for today. We meet at Windsor Place and they fix us a nice lunch.

I am feeling somewhat better although I have been blowing my nose all morning. I did sleep well last night.

About 11:30 last night, Slinky decided he wanted to go out and then he decided he would just sleep out on the chaise so I left him out. It was 50 degrees and I knew he could handle that. He came in for his breakfast this morning but wanted to go right back out so I put him out.

Bob has been working on his shed door this morning. He had me come help him hold it in place while he screwed in the hinges. I really wasn't up to it but he has very little patience with anything like that so I forced myself to help.

We will leave for Windsor Place in about an hour and fifteen minutes. Till then, I will just rest. I have all the agenda and minutes printed off.

Planning Day

I went to Independence this morning to get my hair done and afterward to a planning meeting for our Palm Sunday services at Independence. We've pretty much got it all together. I came home intending to attend the Lenten Luncheon but the closer I got toward home, the worse I felt. I called Bob and canceled and went home to bed. I don't feel any better though now. This is an up and down problem but I don't have a temp so I can't see going to the doctor. Besides, in my weakened condition, I would probably catch something worse in the reception room.

It's a beautiful day but I just can't work up any energy. I feel like going back to the bed instead of going outside. I fixed myself some tomato soup awhile ago and put something in my stomach.

Another Quiet Day

I have spent several hours working on the symposium. I think I have gone about as far as I can until we actually get there in April. I did learn that the seminary has cut back on their administrative support and their full time secretary has been laid off. So I don't know what that will mean for the symposium.

This morning I went over to my sister's at 6:45 and stayed awhile so my brother-in-law could go have breakfast with his group of friends. He got back a little after nine since I told him to go vote in the primary before he came home.

My cold...or whatever it is, is loosening up now. I have nothing but a raspy cough. My nose seldom runs and my sore throat seems to be gone. I took some Benadril the last two nights so I could sleep. I have slept like a log. This afternoon, I did something I very seldom do, I took a nap. I am very spoiled. It's been three years or so since I've had any health problems.

Bob has gone to a Red Cross retreat this afternoon so I have had the house to myself. I am reading Dom Crossan's book, "In Search of Paul". So far it's pretty boring. Maybe it will pick up later. Right now he's bogged down in the culture of the Roman Empire.

Busy Sunday

Yesterday was a very busy Sunday. We left here at 9:00 to go to church and get the furnaces going and the building heated up. My brother-in-law and sister are the deacons and they're incapacitated right now and find it difficult to attend services. The services were very good and we served the communion to 17 that attended. Several were ill or otherwise incapacitated.

We went with our daughter and son-in-law and Cyndi to Hong Kong Delight to eat lunch after church and then came home where I did my notes and read the rest of the afternoon. I finished my book, "The Upside Down Kingdom". I was asked to read it in preparation for the retreat I will be attending over the weekend of March 27 - 29. It was a very good book. I am surprised at all the modern writers who have finally come to the conclusion that Jesus taught the Kingdom of God on earth (relationships) and not the salvation theology that emerged later in the early movement and with Paul.

Last evening, we attended our Living the Questions group. There was a good attendance and we had a good time. After the discussion, ice cream and cake were served as a celebration of Joyce's birthday.

I am fighting a cold, something I seldom have to deal with and have not felt up to par the past two days. I am taking my Cold Ease, which usually cuts a cold off at the pass or at least cuts it down to two or three days. We had several days of 70 - 80 degree weather and then Saturday it snowed and got down to the teens. Nothing more is required to challenge one's immune system. It certainly challenged mine.