At Last a Church We Like

Sunday we went to two churches. The first one is where I preached. It was good to preach again after a 5 month break. I thought it went well, and the folks seemed to appreciate my message. We were glad to be there. Afterward, we stopped at an independent living home called Seneca Place and visited with Ginie Gage and Martha Oden. They were members of our Wilkinsburg Church whom we hadn't seen for ages. Ginie was the wife of my predecessor at Wilkinsburg. They were bout to have lunch in the dinning room, so we just stayed a few minutes, showed them some pictures of Kerri's wedding and then left.

On the way to the Pittsburgh Symphony at Heinz Hall, we stopped at another church. We really liked it. We liked the feel of the place, and it had everything we wanted. The "service" was great! Here's a picture of it. And you can visit their website to learn more about the church, it's history and how it was rehabed to it's present condition. The have a unique use of the old church pews you can read about at the end of the "history" section. We had been by the place several times and always wanted to stop in. The food was great and reasonable. We plan to return often with friends, for sure. Nice place. The church website is http://www.churchbrew.com/

Then we drove downtown to the Symphony. Our neighbors had given us the tickets and a parking pass. The Symphony had two Mozart selections (one a piano concerto) that was superb by Garrik Ohlsson. He did an encore. We didn't stay for the second half by Shastacovitch. We walked around town a bit and planned to go to the arts festival. But decided we were over dressed for a 94 degree day in town. (I had a sport coat and long pants, and Dee had shoes that were't good for lots of walking.)

We headed home, stayed inside and read the paper. Later we walked Bonz and watched a movid called "War Games" on TV. Dee wasn't into the movid and so she began working on the puzzle the Thomases gave us. It's a very colorful puzzle called the "Fabulous Fifties" and has a lot of the items from the fifties on it. The puzzle is shaped like a juke box. All in all it was a great day. I'm glad I decided to preach again. My next time on on the 22nd of June at Monroeville First Baptist Church.

Over 90 Again

Yesterday the temps soared to 91 so we kkept activity to a minimum. We took Bonz for his walk around the court and again he was great - no tugging on the leash, just a leasurely walk. What a great change since he went to doggy camp. He also no longer jumps when we come home. When John the neighbor came by yesterday, Bonz just sat and waited for us to finish talking. John gave us tickets for the symphony for today, so we plan to go after church today. (I'm preaching at Penn Hills Baptist. The first time I'll preach since retiring on January 1.)

We had a late breakfast at our favorite breakfast spot - Early Watch, in Cranberry. and then stopped at the church "Spring Fling". They had baked goods, flea market stuff, lunch foods and a car wash. We had Dee's car washed and looked at the flea market things. We searched out the Mars Farmers Market, but it was nearly finished when we arrived shortly before noon. It's there every Saturday from 9 to Noon. So we'll have to try again sometime. As it started to get hot we headed home.

Later in the afternoon we went to Barnes and Nobel to look over the books and have a frappachino. I read about Robert E. Lee's faith development in a book that had many of his own letters and comments about the contents of those letters. Then I checked at Best Buy for a home theater system. They had been out of the one I wanted, but now they have it again, but the price is about $45 more than when I saw it on sale on line a couple of weeks ago. (I'll monitor the online price for a while again.)

In the evening Dee went out to dinner with the ladies from Contours, and I stayed home and worked on my sermon for today.

A Hot One!

Yesterday the temps soared to 90 so I knew if I wanted to golf, that it would be best if I did so in the morning. I had a good time and even had a couple of pars. While I went to the driving range and then played 9 holes at Treesdale, Dee went to exercise class and then to see her mom and shopping. We connected for lunch at Giant Eagle.

The afternoon was hot and so we stayed inside, turned on the air and hibernated. Eventually I worked on follow up stuff for the conference I attended and then my sermon for this Sunday at Penn Hills Baptist. I think I'll take the Qchord and play something as part of the service. WE finished off the day watching "McBride" on the Sleuth channel. We like mysteries and that channel has a ton of them. This was a new one.

The Movies

While we were in NJ we took a sunset cruise with Andy and Paula. Here's a photo I took with my cell phone camera through the screened window on the boat.

Yesterday we decided to go to the movies. So after Dee did her exercise at Contours and lunch at home, we visited the local theater. they have a nice rate for senior citizens - $6.25. I saw the new Indian Jones movie, and Dee saw the Sex in the City flick. As I watched Indy I realized that Dee would not have enjoyed it, so going our separate ways was a good idea.

Later, she did some shopping for her mom. Picked up a couple of robes or something that she could wear at the neursing home. We also decided to rent a movie for the evening. We selected "No Reservations" with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Nice story.

I also took Bonz for a walk around the court and he really did well. He walked beside me and didn't pull on the leash. So it appears his lesson at Misty Pines is paying off big time. Also, he no longer jumps when you approach him, nor when we come home and let him out of the crate. He gets excited, but not at all like he did before. We were told not to use the word "no" with him, but rather the words "off" if he jumps up on someone or something and the word "easy" if he's walking too fast (followed by a quick jerk on his leash). Also we're not to repeat a command. Say it once and wait for him to comply. And don't look him in the eye, in fact, turn away till he does it. It seems he's getting the idea. He's now even more fun than before. Since is was a perfect evening to sit on the deck and read, I read through the entire August issue of "Civil War Times." Fascinating stuff. It's nice to read things I've never had the time to read before. My neighbor is a Civil War buff and so I'll give him the magazine when I'm done. He seemed to appreciate it when I gave him the last one. We're going to have to gete back to Gettysburg again soon to walk some of the battlefields while learning of their history.

We Returned Home to a Better Bonz

During the morning, Dee and I went to Misty Pines Dog Park to get Bonz after his 6 day stay there and to meet with his dog trainer, take a lesson, and hear his take on Bonz behavior. It was a good meeting and very worthwhile. We learned a lot. The one hour class gave us time to practice what the trainer told us about how our behavior affects the dog's behavior. I was please that we'd had the trainer work with Bonz on the day before so he could get used to Bonz. It was obvious he'd made progress in that short half hour class. Bonz did well. The hour we spent with Bonz and the trainer was good for both Dee and me.

When we got home with Bonz he was like a different dog. We'll see as he goes along, if we can be consistent and he can continue to practice what he (we) learned.

Later in the day, Dee went to Butler with her sister to make arrangements with the Funeral Director. Of course our hope that those plans are not carried out any time soon, nonetheless, plans were set in place for the eventuality. They were pleased with the progress they'd made in a short couple of hours. While they were doing that i went to the Rotary Club meeting at Treesdale. It was a good meeting and I met and visited with some new people I hadn't sat with before.

I've been reading a new book, "How to Talk To Anyone: (92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships)" by Leil Lowndes published by McGraw Hill - 2003. It's filled with a lot of insights about how to talk with people you don't know very well. And how to do it in a way that will move the conversation along in a meaningful manner. Good stuff.

Toward evening, before the Penguin Hockey game, I did some work on my sermon for this Sunday at Penn Hills Baptist Church. Since I haven't preached for over 5 months, I'd like to do this one well. They gave me a topic indicating it's "Children's Sunday" at their church and so they want a message about ministry to and with chidren. I've decided to use the children's book "Horton Hears a Who" as one of the illustrations. You may recall his famous line "A person is a person, no matter how small." It's a neat story that everyone should read. It takes about 7 minutes to read it at Borders or Barnes and Nobel. Or you can see it at the movie theater this summer. (Likely, it'll be on DVD before long.)

We're Back !

Well the trip to NJ was all we'd hoped it would be. Not only did I get to provide training for 22 military couples and work as part of a chaplain team of 5 chaplains (1 Air and 3 Army), but it was also good to review the PREP materials we used to teach them better communication skills. (Check it out at http://www.prepinc.com/ ). It was very windy the day we arrived and so the walk on the beach was less than what we'd hoped it would be, but it was nice to be there and Sat. was a better beach and pool day. The pig roast on Friday night was very nice with music provided by a guy who played an accordion hooked up to a midi board. It sounded like he was an orchestra. Superb. Dee hung out by the pool and did some shopping while I did the conference. Then later Sat. night we had dinner at Neils in Wildwood. (And saw Carl Davis there with friends. - Nice little reunion as we hugged and greeted each other.)

Sunday morning we went to Seaview for worship. It was wonderful to see the folks there again and to worship in the sanctuary again hearing Paula play the organ. (We stayed at Paula's place on the Thursday night and went to the Ancorage for soup after she finished choir rehearsal.) Afterwards, we joined Kay and Mae, Andy and Paula for lunch at the Club. It was relaxing and great to get caught up with people after being away for 5 months. Later we hung out at Steve's and then stopped to see Bob and Betty Morris in their home. What a great visit that was! Later, Donna Thomas hosted a gathering for us of people who'd come to Kerri and Patrick's wedding. There was food, lots of laughs and some birthday cakes for Paula. The Thomases went all out for us and even gave us a new puzzle to build. (Which of course we'll photograph once it's completed.) Dee had brought some of the wedding photos for people to see. http://kpjwedding.googlepages.com/reception has more of them.

We ended the visit with a Sunset Cruise on Andy's boat watching a beautiful sunset over the calm waters of the bay off Margate. All in all a nice trip. Dee got to visit with friends from where she used to work several times during our brief stay. And I got to golf twice with Steve to reconnect and have fun together.

While we were gone, Dee's mom, who'd been in the hospital, was moved to St. Johns Senior Care in Mars, PA. That's just down the road from us. So when we got back home, we unpacked the car, relaxed a bit, and then went to see her there for the first time. She looked stronger than the last time we saw her at the hospital. It's nice she's so close. Dee plans to take advantage of that and since it's also the place my Bogmeister's practice each week, I'll be able to pop in on her on Monday's while I'm there.

Today, we go pick up Bonz and have a lesson with him at Misty Pines Doggy Camp. It'll be interesting to see how he did and to train him to relax around new people, and when he come home to him.

Memorial Day

Yesterday was Memorial Day and my Bogmeister Harmony Chorus sang a 30 minute program at the Passavant Retirement Home in Zelionople. It was a first for me and quite an experience. The director put me smack dab in the middle of the front row. (So I could hear the basses behind me and hear the notes I wasn't sure of.) It went fairly well. The director said if you don't know the words, just smile and mouth the words "watermellon" and "cantalope". That way, your lips are moving and your not creating "noise" for the actual singers. Anyway it was fun. I concluded that knowing the words is more important than knowing the notes. Once the words come, then the notes will follow. So, back to working on memorizing the words. Dee went along, and the group went out for lunch at UNOs after it was all over. We had a nice time and sang about 4 songs there including "Happy Birthday" to someone there celebrating their birthday.

We discovered an "off leash dog park" in North Park about 12 miles from our house. It was fascinating taking Bonz there and watching him interact with other dogs off leash. There must have been about 30-40 dogs there. Lots of room to run. He was cautious at first, but after a few minutes took to it real well. Occasionally, he'd seek us out to make sure we were there. We're hoping to take Bonz to the park about once a week.

Since we're getting ready to go back to NJ for a few days when I help lead a marriage communication seminar for the Air Guard and also visiting folks in our former church, I'm taking a break from doing the blog. Not sure when I'll start resume it... Thanks for reading.