One Bite at a Time


That’s how you eat an elephant and that’s how we are doing our year-end clean up of the house after the Christmas explosion. Today we took on the living room and dining room. That’s where all the gifts were unloaded, stored and wrapped so you can imagine the clutter left around. There will be no pictures in this blog.


My other task today was to finish setting up the laptop that we are giving to brother Louie. I also ran it on its battery to see how long it would operate. After loading my old Office 97 on it I set about disabling any wi-fi or blue tooth capability on the machine. It’s a shame I had to do that because the laptop had integrated wi-fi and blue tooth that worked better than my laptop (which uses a PCMCIA card and gives me sporadic performance). Louie does not want internet capability on his laptop. I physically disconnected the blue tooth module and removed all the wi-fi software and drivers. Next I loaded an old version of CD creator software on the laptop so Lou can copy his journals from floppies to CD. Finally I checked that the laptop would play a DVD. I put in Seabiscuit . It played nicely and even sounded good through the stereo speakers. I found myself watching the movie for about 20 minutes. It's a good movie.


I’m really impressed by this laptop. It is perfect for Lou, too. It reads floppy disks, reads and writes CDs, plays DVDs and has a built in SD flash card reader. (We are going to give Lou a couple Megabytes on SD cards). To top things off the computer gets more than 3 hours of use on a battery charge – that should give Lou sufficient time to journal while he is on a bus. The 40 Gigabyte hard drive has lots of room for Lou’s journals.

Since we went to church this evening we have nothing to stop us(translation, to give us an excuse) tomorrow (Sunday) from taking the next bite.

Christmas Week

We're home once again after an enjoyable and surprise-filled extended weekend. Most of you who read this already know the events of the week because we were all together. I’ll still record some of the events here for posterity. All the surprises were not nice ones.

The weekend began for us on Saturday morning with our usual breakfast at Waffle House. The restaurant is usually empty at this time on Saturdays but this morning found it busy with only one booth open for us to sit at. We still got our usual waitress (oops, I mean server). I guess we can count ourselves as regulars there now since the server knows our order when she sees us. The car was all packed and ready for the trip so after breakfast we went back to the house and picked up Brie and set out for Jacksonville.

We experienced clouds, fog and drizzle for the entire trip. The only significant event came at our gas stop. One of the gas stations there was shut down because someone drove over the hose that the tank truck was filling the stations tanks with - splitting the 5-inch hose and spilling gas. Everything was at a standstill over there. Nobody could do anything that might spark including starting cars. A bunch of holiday drivers were temporarily captured until the place was cleaned up. We were glad we weren’t there.

Once we got to K&T’s we didn’t do a lot. We unloaded all the gifts – the CRV was full of them including a bunch from Meme. (Penny and I have scaled back our Christmas giving some since we retired but Meme was quite generous this year. I felt bad that we didn’t give her family more.) We got dinner at KFC that evening and they began feeding Sophia some rice cereal that

evening. I found myself getting a headache. I don’t get many headaches. When I do it is usually a bad sign and this held to be true.

Did I mention there was a lot of sleeping going on?

Sophy was all smiles, especially for her Aunt Christy.

Sunday was mostly uneventful. We did church and Famous Amos for breakfast. The rest of the day was spent preparing for Christmas. Tim and I did a grocery shop in the Publix madhouse. I called Kerry and set up a visit for Monday. I was getting queasy on and off all day. Most of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying Sophia and the rest of the family.


Monday, Tim fixed us all French toast for breakfast. We went over to see Kerry, originally planning to spend an hour or so. We ended up ordering pizza for lunch and staying longer. Kerry’s is always a nice place to visit. Kathy and Joe were there. Annie was as cute as could be. Jack was energetic and this visit we got to see John.

I still had breakfast sitting in my stomach and it didn’t seem to be moving in either direction. I didn’t have any pizza, just some diet coke. My feeling bad was relatively minor compared to Penny. In her normal manner she didn’t tell us she was feeling bad. We didn’t know she was sick until she got sick and needed help to clean up. Whereas my body was undecided as to which way for my system to pass food along Penny’s body decided to use all its options.

Penny cleaned herself up and changed clothes. We stayed a little longer at Kerry’s and then went back to Karen’s. Penny slept, I napped and Karen went off to do some Christmas shopping.

Neither Penny nor I felt well enough to go to midnight mass. The rest of the group did including Sophie.

On Christmas morning Penny felt better. I was still feeling strange but was able to eat breakfast – this morning Tim made pancakes and we had cherry topping with whipped cream. Then it was time to open presents. My primary interest was to see if Christy liked the chicken wall clock I made for her. This was the secret project I was making the week before. We had seen the clock in a shop in High Springs. I copied it and made the colors match Christy’s house. My effort was well rewarded. She looked genuinely thrilled with the clock. At first she thought it was the clock from the shop and was amazed that the colors were so good for her house. When she realized I had made it she got even more excited. I like to see that smile on Christy – it’s priceless.

Everyone seemed well pleased with the gifts.

The day shifted to preparation of Christmas dinner. I didn’t help much with the preparations. I still felt bad. I was able to watch Sophie while the others did the real work. I had the best job and her little smile helped keep me going.


The meal was wonderful. We have incorporated traditions from both families. We didn't lack for food. We had turkey, dressing, sweet potato muggin, mac and cheese, corn casserole, apple salad, cranberry sauce, green beans, biscuits and gravy. I ate some of everything. Near the end of the meal Christy complained that she was getting a headache. I thought to myself that it was the symptom that started my problems.


Christy headed home that evening. We celebrated Tim’s Christmas birthday with presents, cheesecake and pumpkin pie. I was still eating and things seemed to be slowly moving in the correct direction but I still felt dizzy and had a mild upset stomach.


The next morning Christy called to tell us she also got sick and did not go to work. Before that Penny and I woke up at 4:30 AM to say goodbye to Karen when she left for work. I laundered the sheets and towels we had used and also Penny’s clothes that got dirty when she was sick. We said goodbye to Sophie when Tim brought her to daycare. Then we packed up the car, caught Brie, bid Tim adieu and headed down to High Springs to see Christy.


The original purpose of the visit to Christy was to see if we could unplug the drainpipe for their washing machine. It spewed water every time they used it. Now that she was sick we had a more important reason to visit.


The drain didn’t appear to be plugged when I checked it. Instead, the combination of the volume of water going in and the air coming out seems to make it overflow. This is like what happens when you fill your car with gas. The pump always kicks off before the tank is full because escaping air backs up the flow of gasoline. So I wrapped a rag around the washing machine’s drain hose and stuffed the hose into the drainpipe. This way air could escape through the rag but backed up water would wet the rag but not splash out. If the drain were truly plugged it would blow the rag and hose off the end . This fix seemed to work. I did 2 loads of laundry without pouring water all over their laundry room and yard.

We offered to stay with Christy over night and take care of her and the animals. She accepted. Penny went the extra mile and washed all their dishes. We pulled out the sleeper sofa and spent the night in her living room. Penny says Christy’s cat Colby spent some time on my chest kneading my neck. I don’t remember. Evidently Brie got a little upset. Considering Colby’s size and weight I’m amazed that I didn’t feel the cat on me.


Thursday morning a slow-moving Christy headed off to work. We once again packed up to head home. The only problem was we couldn’t find Brie. I guess she was going to get back at me for sleeping with Colby. I finally found her, with the help of a flashlight, tucked into the deepest corner of the guest room. She would not come out voluntarily so we had to slide the sofa out a little and latch onto her and extract he against her will. We put her in the carrier and carefully checked that we had closed up the house properly and headed home.


The drive home was normal. We did get to see the results of someone going off-road driving in one of those big RV’s that everyone curses at on the highway. Those vehicles are probably good protection if you hit a car but this one did not fare well against a stand of long needle pine trees. The front quarter of the vehicle was all torn off and pine trees were sticking up where the driver should have been. It was not pretty.


Back home again all was calm, all was bright? There were no problems with the house. The Mod IV automatic cat feeder worked properly. By the end of the day (after I awoke from a short winter’s nap) all the outside cats were accounted for.


Today, Friday, we did our normal Target run and scooped up some post-Christmas bargains. We ordered 2 pieces of cookware for Penny and were expecting delivery today but the doorbell didn’t ring. About 3:30 a noisy thunderstorm was arriving so I decided to check the front door to see if any boxes were there. Sitting on the doorstep were 2 boxes covered in plastic. Evidently the delivery person doesn’t knock or ring the bell. After I got the packages in I stood inside the storm door and watched the storm approach. Christy’s plant outside our front door has just passed its peak in blooming. It was a little late this year with the warm weather. I noticed some motion around one of the flowers and discovered two Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds working their way around the bush hitting all the fresh blooms. I watched them for a while as the rain picked up. They didn’t seem bothered by it. Finally it started pouring and I didn’t see them any more. It was a nice treat to see the birds. They migrate through our area but don’t stay year-round.

So, now you have a brief rundown of this past week’s activities. Penny and I are over our illness and ready to start this week's Saturday back at Waffle House.

The Night Before The Night Before

This Christmas holiday is shaping up to be a good one. Here it is Christmas eve, eve and our whole immediate family is together and having a good time. Sophie is the star of the affair having “baby’s first Christmas” and being blissfully unaware of what all the attention is about. She just likes it.

I’ve been in Publix twice this weekend and the place is a madhouse. I found myself smiling at all the commotion. There was barely room to maneuver the shopping cart but everyone was in a good mood. It wasn’t frustrating at all. Everyone was in the same boat, knew why it was that way and knew they were part of the cause for all the congestion and just muddled through.

The bagger in the checkout line was a very tall happy-looking kid who was so tall his head kept bumping a small glass Christmas ornament hanging from the ceiling decorating the checkout area. I told him there weren’t many people who would hit that ornament. He smiled at me and said he told a lady that it wasn’t a decoration. He convinced her it was the latest technology in security cameras (it was only a 2-inch diameter ball) and explained to her it coul view 360 degrees. He told me he convinced more than a few people. He was enjoying himself.

It is both enjoyable and comforting to be with family on a holiday and I feel fortunate that we are once again able to get everyone in one place. Karen and Tim are being wonderful hosts and tomorrow we will likely go see the Brophys' and sister Kathy.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

I finished the 2nd book sister Kathy loaned me - A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. It is basically a general science book but it is told using ordinary language and the story of science is told with stories about the people who made scientific discoveries. He covers chemistry, physics, paleontology, astronomy, particle physics, the Big Bang, evolution and geology.

I was already familiar with the chemistry, physics and astronomy stuff but the author makes the information much more interesting by including many insights into the personalities involved. It is interesting that many of the people who actually made a discovery weren’t credited with it. I found it incredible that all these scientists put their ego ahead of the science.

I did learn some things about biology, botany, zoology and geology and got an interesting refresher course on the other topics.

Bryson explained that Yellowstone National Park is a huge volcano that is overdue to blow – with hundreds of times the power of Mt Saint Helen’s.

He tells us that we humans are just a flash in the timeline of earth and we are not the ultimate goal of evolution. He points out that extinction is the norm for all forms of life and that humans will likely be replaced somewhere down the line.

Bryson ends the book by noting how many extinctions humans are responsible for, and how lucky mankind is to be living on planet Earth today.

I enjoyed the book and found it to be good follow up to reading after The World Without Us.

That Was Now This is Then!

Penny and I are back from our weekend with Karen, Tim and Sophie. I feel like I’ve stepped back in time. It has been a while since we’ve been this close to a newborn and caring for Sophie has brought back a rush of memories from when Karen and Christy were this small. Most babies at this age do the same sorts of things. Smile at you, drool, chew on your finger. As the years pass you think you remember how it was- until you again hold one of those little creatures in your arms and feed and change them.

I also dug out the cassette tapes I made of Karen at Sophie’s age so listening to them also brought back many memories.

This is a special time that passes all too quickly. I am savoring it. I know Karen and Tim both realize how fortunate they are to have a healthy happy baby.

It is a bit disorienting. We were doing these same things thirty years ago and it’s easy to forget that you are 30 years older – you feel transported back to those days and for a while you forget the achy back and sore hands and just lose yourself in Sophie’s smile.

Christmas in Riverside

I feel as if I spent the evening on a Hollywood set. We went to the Riverside community in Jacksonville, the neighborhood where Karen and Tim used to live, and enjoyed their luminaries and Christmas decorations. This is a K&T tradition. They put reindeer ears on Truman and this year Sophie was with us in her all-terrain stroller. The stroller has speakers so Tim had his IPOD hooked up and playing Christmas music.

The evening begins at Starbucks for a tall hot drink to take with us on the walk. Then it was off to Riverside. Once out of the car and handling the logistics of setting up the stroller, getting Sophie in it and controlling Truman while juggling cups of coffee we set off on our walk.
The weather got cold just in time for the walk. It is dropping to 31 degrees tonight and it was windy. The warm drinks were a great idea. Many of the houses were decorated and a good number had their owners sitting out front wishing all the passers-by "Merry Christmas". Luminaries lined all the roads. Cars, trucks, horse-drawn carriages and trailers full of people throwing candy and beads slowly passed on the road in the crawling traffic. Many shouts of “Merry Christmas” could be heard. At one church they had a live Nativity complete with farm animals. Members of the church were circulating through the crowd with trays of cookies and cider. Truman was a hit with his antlers. Whenever one trailer full of holiday revelers passed another going the other direction horns tooted an candy was thrown between the two trailers. Some of it looked like it might hurt to get hit by the candy.

Sophie, dressed warmly, took it all in. Karen got 3 strings of beads thrown to her. Even motorcycles were decorated with Christmas lights. It was truly a festive air. I commented to Karen that if I had seen something like this in a movie I wouldn’t have thought it to be realistic.(People just don’t do things like this anymore). But here we were walking with a crowd of people (and dogs) smiling and wishing everyone Merry Christmas.

If walking the streets of riverside doesn’t get you in a Christmas spirit it is hopeless. It was a pleasant evening and for us maybe a once in a lifetime experience.

Merry Christmas!

Don’t Retire in Connecticut

AOL ran a piece today about the worst places to retire. My birth state of Connecticut was included as a bad place and they had this write-up about my birth city:



Bridgeport, Conn. :
Highest Taxes In retirement, income taxes aren't going to matter much. It's the property taxes that are going to kill you. This year Connecticut ranked as having the highest taxes if you consider state, local and federal contributions. In 2003, Bridgeport, a troubled city with some lovely beachfront neighborhoods, ranked as tops in local taxes: 17.7 percent.



They did have a nice picture of Bridgeport.




Also, there was this about the Gate River Run ;





It's Official! The Gate River Run, The Florida Times-Union 5K for Charity and the adidas junior river run will all finish inside Jacksonville Municipal Stadium on the football field. Spectators will be able to set in the East Club Seats and watch live race coverage provided by WJXT TV-4. The runners will be able to see themselves finishing on the two large jumbotrons that are used by the Jaguars.

Gifts on the Way

Our mission today was to box up and send off the Christmas presents to the McClure and Hardin branches of the family. After a quick visit to Dr Bartruff to make sure Penny's jaw was doing OK we went home and embarked on the mission. Penny put each item in its Christmas box and then I boxed them up for shipping. We ended up with one large box that went to Nana’s, a smaller box to DeDe and a small box for Rob. We found out that Rob’s box needed a custom’s declaration to go with it. The form was larger than the box and the lady at the post office had to wrap it around the edges of the box when she taped it on. We succeeded in getting everything we needed to mail out today.

On the drive back I noticed that the bayous were relatively flat and it was sunny and in the 70’s so when I got home I put the kayak on the car and went kayaking.

When I got to the park to launch the boat I noticed a cold breeze had started. When I got out on the water and looked up the bayou there was a fog bank rolling in. I ended up paddling mo more than a quarter mile from where I launched. I explored the shoreline until the fog arrived and then went home. I did get some interesting pictures of some pelicans and a foggy tree.

I left the kayak on the car. Tomorrow’s another day.

Feb 1978

I dug out some old tapes that I made when Karen was 3 – 4 months old.. This was before the days of video tape. Kathy and I were exchanging tapes at this time. She was still in NJ and my parents were still in CT.

I’m going to make a digital recording of parts of the tapes I have. The tapes are 30 years old now but still in good shape. This is a good advertisement for AMPEX tapes. Is Ampex still in buisiness?

Here are some of the things I discussed on the tapes. I made this tape when Karen was just a little younger than Sophie is now and the comparison of our lives at that time and hers now is to me quite interesting.

One of the first issues we had with Karen was a 2 week bout of diarrhea. Being new parents we worried a lot. We were told to keep her hydrated and feed her clear liquids whenever she wanted them. We alternated taking days off work. Karen would drink Gatorade (she really liked the stuff) and sleep an hour, soak a diaper and repeat the cycle throughout the 24 hour days. Needless to say Penny and I were quite worn out. Does this sound familiar Karen?

Our daily schedule was – wake up at 4:45, eat breakfast and feed cats before Karen wakes (hopefully). Wake up Karen, Penny feeds her I pack diaper bag. Penny leaves around 6 and takes Karen to Vikki Bass our first baby sitter.

I also found it interesting that I noted that we were molding our schedule to the kid – probably too much so. I explain that we tend to always carry her because if we put her down she screams – LOUDLY! At 3 months we were just learning to leave her in the crib and let her settle herself. I even make the comment (of a guilty feeling new parent) that I didn’t think leaving her to settle herself was harmful. We were very much like Karen and Tim.

By the last week in Feb 78 Karen couldn’t roll over yet. She could get on her side by March 1, but not roll. When she wakes up she does a fantastic stretch - puts her arms up and tilts her head left and right and then rubs her sleepy eyes with her little fists.

At the beginning of April she could roll over easily. She could get up on all 4’s and rock. She could sit well all by herself and stand up as long as you balanced her. She also could say da-da-da-da-da. Put a mirror in front of her and she was happy. We would also play a game we called ping-pong parents. I would hand her to Penny and she would immediately lean back to me with her arms out and Penny would pass her back. She would then immediately lean to Penny with her arms out and get passed back. We would repeat the process until we got tired.


I found that I can successfully digitally record the tapes on the computer so I will make a CD for Karen of the tape I made for my mother of Karen’s first year.

The World Without Us

My sister Kathy sent me a book last week and I finished the 10th and final CD today. Forget global warming y’all. The problems we actually cause are a whole lot bigger and much, much more difficult to reverse.

In the book the author, Alan Weisman, starts with the question; If, for whatever reason, a virulent virus or the Rapture, every human being disappeared from the earth. With the earth depopulated, how long would it be before all trace of humankind vanished?

Rather than me trying to describe the book I’m borrowing this write up about the book:

Given the burgeoning human population and the phenomenal reach of our technologies, humankind has literally become a force of nature. We are inadvertently changing the climate; altering, polluting, and eradicating ecosystems; and driving evolution as other organisms struggle to adapt to a new human-made world. So what would happen if humankind suddenly vanished? Journalist Weisman, author of Echo in My Blood (1999), traveled the world to consult with experts and visit key sites, and his findings are arresting to say the least. He learned that without constant vigilance, New York's subways would immediately flood, and Houston's complex "petroscape" would spectacularly self-destruct. Weisman visits an abandoned resort on the coast of Cyprus and marvels over nature's ready reclamation. Marine biologists share sobering information about the staggering amount of plastic particles in ocean waters as well as vast floating islands of trash. Weisman is a thoroughly engaging and clarion writer fueled by curiosity and determined to cast light rather than spread despair. His superbly well researched and skillfully crafted stop-you-in-your-tracks report stresses the underappreciated fact that humankind's actions create a ripple effect across the web of life. As for the question of what would endure in our absence, Weisman lists a "redesigned atmosphere," astronomical amounts of plastic and automobile tires, nuclear waste and other inorganic poisons, and, eerily, the radio waves that will carry our television broadcasts through the universe for all time. Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Now we are back to me – Weisman is not preachy or overly judgmental. Instead he has done an excellent job of investigative reporting with a blend of the sciences, history, and plausible speculation.

The Green Movement should grab onto this book to further their cause. It is as eye-opening as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. The only problem is that to reverse our impact on the earth means changing the way all of mankind lives. It is not just the rich nations causing the problems. We humans don’t fit into the natural cycles of the planet. Instead we have terribly disrupted them.

The author covers all the bases. Included in his discussions are pieces of religious and meditative thinking. I came away from the book wondering why we are the virus that makes Earth sick.

Bottom line is a quote from the book. “No matter what, life will go on and it will be interesting.” The life it is talking about, however, is not human life. Like any other population that overextends the available resources something will happen to control the population.

The good news is that without us the roaches and rats won’t survive for long.

Men Plan….

Today went nothing like what I had planned. It was too cold to run off and take pictures – Penny’s ears don’t like that. Penny then looked at our reminder board and told me “I’m supposed to yell at you to send in the rebates.” We have $120 worth of rebates. That turned into about a 2-hour task filling out the forms, cutting out proof of purchases and UPCs, copying the completed forms and stuffing envelopes.

Since I had some computer software out I decided to do another job that I had been putting off. We have a subscription to Norton Antivirus that we can apply to 3 computers. I have it on my laptop and the desktop. Penny’s laptop came with a trial version of Norton that has expired. I would simply load her laptop as the 3rd machine under our subscription.

That sounds simple enough – until I went up against Windows Vista. When I tried to load my Norton Antivirus 2006 (good for Windows XP and 2000) the computer informed me that it was not compatible with Vista and aborted the process. It did suggest I go to the Symantec Website to see if they had an update. The Symantec web site did have the solution – It downloaded a trial version of Norton 2008. This process took about 25 minutes and I had to do it twice because I found the old Norton firewall would not let me install the new Norton. I uninstalled the old and went through the download process – now I was at about the hour and a half point in this process. I still didn’t know if Symantec would honor my older version subscription on the 2008 version of their product.

I reached the part of the install where they asked for my product key and I punched in the 2006 versions key, hit continue and crossed my fingers. The computer went away for a long time but finally came back and said I had 286 days left on the subscription. Thank you Symantec. At least their computers work properly.

Mid-way through the installation process I made lunch. We are eating soft food because of Penny’s dental work so lunch was chicken and rice. Soft food or not, while I was chewing, one of my gold crowns came off. There is nothing like chomping down on a hunk of metal.

I called Dr Woo and got worked in to get the thing glued back in place. It was now past 1 PM. Penny and I planned an efficient trip into town. First the dentist, then Catholic Social Services to drop off the food we bought for them. We weren’t sure where their offices were so we drove along First Street until we found them. Next we stopped at a NAPA parts store to get a spark plug (remember the spark plug from yesterday?) for the lawn mower. Finally we hit Jo Ann’s for Penny to pick up stuff for the Christmas stockings she is making. We got back home around 3:30.

Penny was twinging so we decided to relax. We watched two shows on the DVR.

So – no progress on the shed, the lawn or the Christmas decorations today. Maybe tomorrow. Then again, we can always run off and take pictures.

Wasps 1 / Paul 1

Today was a day of partial successes. We had a beautiful cool fall day. I decided to once again try to mow the lawn and clear the way to put up the nativity figures on the front lawn. I cranked and cranked the mower to no avail. Yes it is getting gas. Yes it is getting spark. It just won’t catch. I got fresh gas and that didn’t work either. The next step is to get a new spark plug. If that doesn’t work I may have to open the thing up and look inside.

Lacking a freshly mown lawn to place the Nativity on I decided to string lights around the windows and garage doors as I do every year. As I was stringing them over the front door – I saw it! Another wasps nest! This one was small and it only had one wasp on it. I’m glad I saw it before I startled him. I was standing on a ladder. My last encounter with wasps 2 months ago did not turn out good. I’ve still got sore spots on my cheek, my mouth and my hands. As I stood there looking at that wasp I knew he had to go. I couldn’t get the lights up with him there. I got the wasp spray, tested it and walked over to the little nest. This time I gave the process some thought before squirting. I had on good shoes, I had a clear escape route and I knew that getting stung was not as bad as a trip to the emergency room. One squirt and it was curtains for Mr. Wasp.

Now I’ve got lights on the roof and an angel too. They aren’t turned on yet because of gaps due to burned out bulbs. I need to spend some time replacing bulbs. The lights around the windows are up and lighted. The garage lights are up but not turned on.

Tomorrow may see a mowed lawn and a Nativity. Then again with this great weather we may want to run off and take pictures somewhere.

We did do one worthwhile thing today. We ordered a used laptop computer for my brother Lou to use for journaling on his travels around the country doing God’s work. We decided he would be this year’s angel tree. Penny did most of the legwork, finding what appears to be a perfect computer for his needs. Now that we’ve ordered it we both feel it was the right thing to do. I did a lot of hand wringing before deciding to go ahead with this but when I saw Penny get into her angel tree “zone” and locate exactly what we needed at a good price I knew this was what we should do.

My fear now is that the seller will come back and say they are out of stock or back ordered. I don’t think that will happen - usually when things line up this way they continue to go well, especially when brother Lou is involved. He seems to have someone watching him. When I called him and told him we ordered the laptop he got very emotional. He literally cried tears of joy. I actually could sense this weight coming off his shoulders. His journaling is important. It keeps him grounded. He is about to give up everything, go homeless intentionally and let God take care of him as he does volunteer work for the We Care ministries. We’re hoping the laptop will help him in his work.

Let the Shopping Begin!

We started this Saturday as we do most with breakfast at Waffle House. Since this is December, I suggested we bring pen and paper with us and plan our Christmas shopping. We hadn’t done a lot of it yet.

That’s what we did. This got holiday shopping on Penny’s mind and if you know Penny you know what we did for the remainder of the day.

We hit most of the regular stores in Destin and Sandestin and had a very productive day. We have now completed most of our Christmas list. We literally shopped till we dropped.

Then we stopped at home, switched cars (to leave all the booty safely in the garage) and headed out to Saturday night church.
Now I’m watching Mizzou play Oklahoma for the Big 12 championship, rooting for Mizzou. It’s early in the game so no one is winning yet. Go Mizzou.