A Quiet Day

Saturday was a quiet day. We picked up a few things at a few stores. I waited in Panera and read my book on "The Definitive Guide to Body Language" while Dee did what she had to do. I also was able to call my mother to chat for a few minutes to connect with her and let her know I'm thinking of her. I also got to chat with Kerri and she and Pat are going to have a nice dinner out at one of their favorite places to celebrate his completion of the course work he did for work.

Dee and I stopped at Kohls for her to pick up some items and used the 30% off coupons for some K Cups for our coffee maker. Later we got Bonz' nails clipped at Pet Smart and looked at some storm doors at Home Depot to see what they had in stock. Our hope is to get one and have it installed once the Spring sales kick in.

Although it was cold out today, the sun did shine and I liked the way it lit up the living and dining rooms. The color popped real nice. The more I see it the more I like it.

I also went over my material for preaching tomorrow at Crafton. Dee will go to her Sunday school class at our church. She enjoys it and is getting to know the women there better each week. We'll connect sometime early in the afternoon when I'm done at Crafton. It should be an interesting day.

We finished off the evening at Barnes and Noble perusing the books and magazines for an hour or so. It's always fun and we usually have a specialty coffee drink of some sort to top it off before heading home.

On the Go!

Here are some photos of the living room and master bedroom and bath that were recently painted. Color is so much nicer than plain white walls!

Well we visited with my mom. It turned out to be a much needed visit. We helped her with her paperwork. She needed to get caught up on her bills and especially her health insurance. It's a long story but the ending is good as far as what we accomplished in the 5 hours we were there. Then the next day (Thursday) she followed through on what I asked her to do, with a little reminding and it all came together.

On Thursday I went golfing in the morning at Treesdale Golf Club and then filled out the paperwork to work there again his summer as a "rehire." In the afternoon I went to the dentist and after 3 hours, I had two new crowns and a new filling. The technology now is awesome. They fashion and shape the porcelain crowns while you wait in the chair and then install them on the spot. Amazing. In the evening one of the Bogmeisters came over to the house and I helped him stork on a couple of songs he's having trouble with. He wants to audition to be a member, but is having trouble learning a song by heart. He'll do a try out again this next week.

Today I went to the Dr. for a follow up of my blood work. My triglycerides are up a little even though my LDL is low. Anyway, in addition to taking Chromium and Cinnamon and Fish Oil I need to cut back some on dairy products and exercise more. The Dr. indicated that exercise would help a lot. She wants me to get another glucose test to see if I'm insulin resistant. All my other readings are okay. (Look out treadmill here I come.) After the Dr. I took Dee's car to be serviced for the next 3,000 mile oil change and had the fluids topped off.

After that I went home picked up Dee and we went to Butler to have lunch with Donnie Forcht her nephew. We ate at a Mexican place he really liked. Good food. Then Dee and I went to SAMS, Ollie's and Big Lots. We're looking for a nice table about 24x17 to put the stereo stuff on (right now it's on a snack table behind the sofa in the living room). We're also looking for a nice home desk for in the loft. Nothing larger, but about 4 feet wide. We stopped at Lowe's too to check out storm doors. We'd like to get one this spring and we hear that Lowe's has them on sale usually in the Spring (but not yet) and with installation at a discount.

In the evening I hear from Faye that she'd talked with our mother and that she was doing well and had found some items she thought were lost. (PTL). I also got a phone call from the pastor at the First Baptist Church of Crafton, Marie Brown. It seems she has a throat infection and won't be able to preach on Sunday. She asked me to fill in for her, which I'm glad to do. It'll be nice to meet her congregation and help her out even on short notice.

Finishing Touches - Hanging Curtains

Yesterday we installed the curtain rods and hung the curtains in our bedroom. Dee used the blue ones she had for the time being. But rather than have them tied off to the side they hand straight down. The curtain rod had a double rod design. Whereas when we put the curtains up before we used a spring loaded tension rod with nice finials on it (I dreaded making holes in the wall of our new house), this time I used my trusty power drill and it worked out fine. The room now seems to have some definition and you can imagine other appointments (pictures, a small bureau etc.)for the room. It's nice.

Speaking of the the "new house" it's hard to believe on April 10 it will be two years since we purchased the place. Amazing! Granted we didn't move in for eight months after that, but we will have owned it for two years. We are surprise at how different the fresh paint makes everything feel. Warmer and more inviting I think.

I went to the "networking" luncheon and invited the group there to tell their friends about our invitation to sing the National Anthem at PNC Park this summer. And I called attention to the magazine photo and story of our group in this month's "IN Seneca Valley" community magazine. (included in yesterday's blog).

AS it turned out, yeterday saw 70 degrees here. That made it mild for the evening and so Dee and I used the hot tub at dusk. Dee is a little leary about being out there in the dark with Rocky Raccoon still on the loose. A glass of Merlot and a nice hot tub was nice. God is good.

Today we're heading to my mother's place. We're hoping to help her find some documents she can't seem to locate and likely have dinner with her. It's raining here this morning but is supposed to clear up and get into the 60s later in the day.

It (the painting) is Finished!

Here's an article that appeared in a local magazine about our Bogmeisters. (Remember you can always click on any photo to enlarge it for better viewing.)

The painters have gone and Dee and I are suffering withdrawal from having them in our home the last 8 days. But we'll get over it as we see the difference they've made in our living environment. Here's a photo of the stairs and loft in the new color.

Last night's Bogmeister practice went well and we're going to be ordering tickets for the July 19 Pittsburgh Pirates game when we'll be singing the National Anthem. If you'd like to go with us and sit with us, let me know asap because we'll be ordering tickets in the next week or so. Make the check out to me and I'll write one check to five to the guy ordering the tickets for us. They are $20 per person and you get a Pirate Cap with the seat. Kids also get a Pirate Pillow that day. (Speaking of caps etc. I need some Pirate clothing items for our open house on May 4. Anyone out there have a shirt or hat or banner or anything with a Pittsburgh Pirate logo I could borrow for the open house? I'd get it back to you as soon as the open house is over.)

The great raccoon hunter brought this trap back and we're in the hunt again to capture Rocky Raccoon's sister Rachel. She's been seen sniffing around in areas where she's not welcome.(Like near our hot tub!) Hopefully we'll catch the critter in the next day or so as the temperatures get milder. The snow on the ground (yesterday (fleeting as it was) is a reminder that Spring has not quite yet sprung. However, the weather guy said that March this year had only a "trace" of snow for the month in Pittsburgh, and that that ties a record set only two other times in the last 200 years or so.

A Quiet Sunday

Sunday Dee and I went to church. She likes the women's Sunday school class and I went to the Old Testament class. Listened for awhile, and then went out to the fellowship area. The morning worship service went well. Jim had a good sermon and the music for the service was well done.

Afterward we grabbed a quick lunch at Freedom Square Diner, and then I took Dee home and went to the Presbytery Leadership Training sessions being held at our church. I went to the classes on multi-media in the church. The leader knew his stuff and it was a good presentation in each of the two sessions. Interestingly he noted that it's not wise to advertise in the "church" section of the newspaper because the only people who read that page are "church" people. He suggested putting church ads in other areas such as the want ads or on the movie page with a eye catching phrase.

The weather has turned cold, so we didn't do anything the rest of the afternoon and evening except have dinner and watch television. (We saw Tiger with the Arnold Palmer Classic.)Now that Pitt is out of the NCAA games, we don't watch the other teams. The painters are here now (Monday morning) and will finish up today. Then we'll get our living room back because they'll clear out all their gear. They've done a superb job and I'd recommend them to anyone.

Another day for the painters and preaching

Well, on Saturday one painter returned to do the first coat on the doors and to touch up the kitchen where the chair rail meets the colored walls. We thought he'd be here from 8 till noon. He stayed until 4 p.m. doing his thing! Wow what attention to detail these guys have! They'll finish on Monday with the mater bathroom and the second coat on the doors. I'm glad we had the doors done, they look soooo good. .

In the early evening I drove to Beaver Falls to preach for a worship service in support of our military. Here is a photo one of the people took with my camera. Kind of fuzzy because they weren't close enough for the flash, but you get the idea

It was a nice service and gave people an opportunity to write the names of service personnel they knew and then walk up to the microphone and say the name and location and relationship of the persons they'd written on the cards. My message of "the importance and power of intercessory prayer" was right on target. Little did I know when I wrote it that it would fit for that service. I used a microphone that clipped over my ear and was flesh colored so that it was almost invisible to the audience (who sat around round tables). That was a first for me. That microphone was more effective than the ones you clip on your tie under your chin and more true to the voice (a lot less fading in and out of volume).

I spoke with Brad Neel, the pastor, about how he found me. An interesting story. He googled my name, clicked on a link that took him to Vic Jochen's church website, where he had a church bulletin posted that had my name on it for preaching there last summer. He called Vic and Vic gave him my phone number. I noticed that when they introduced me, they used a paragraph I'd written about my background for Vic's Church. Amazing!

The ride to Beaver Falls was 18 miles over mostly farm country roads. They gave me directions, but I was glad I had the gps to help on my way back as it was dusk, and I wasn't sure of a couple of the turns. The GPS was useless getting there though because it took my via the turnpike (which I chose not to do. I was almost 3/4s of the way there before it decided to direct me the way I was headed.

We watched the movie "Leagelly Blond" and then switched back and forth with the Pitt basketball game. It was a white knuckle game. Pitt lost by two points in the final 10 seconds of the game. Go Pitt!