IN Carmel

 Church was so good today.  SOOOO good.  Everything was SOOOOO good.  The music, prayers, message and being with friends.  Friends bring the cherry!  Yes, Easter service was just great.  Once again Handels Halleluiah Chorus with everyone singing happened.  This congregation surely can be called a singing congregation. Once again we were the last to leave with a final visit in the parking lot!  Kathy and Eric are back from a month in Greece and Albania.  Their kids/families were with them in Greece.  Patty is back for a week this time.  K P Sing was at church with his son.  Just a lot of dear memories with so many folks we haven't seen for a while.  ``````````````````The children hid their alleluias in the chest at the beginning of Lent. `````````````````````                Today the chest, filled with flowers and alleluias cards were found throughout the sanctuary. It was a...

 Yes Dee.  I attended two Easter Vigils years ago and spent time planning another one and miss that service so much.  I should look for it again although this year my energy level is at an all time low.  Today reminded me of that again.   And what was today.  An 8:30 arrival at church to pack away the black and bring out Easter.  And we did it. The troupe working did a commendable job although there is not much that is new.  Doris always stressed that keeping things fresh was important. There is some fresh but not much. And I forgot to take any pictures of our work.  Dah!  Most of it is centered around the front of the sanctuary.  Not all but most.  So Easter will arrive again.  Doug picked me up at noon and we headed on home.   I did some sleeping and just trying to find where my body was.  The weather has been wonderful, and I felt obligated to use the outdoor weather to make a difference.  So I ...

 The end of the five-day week.  I've always felt that Sat. and Sun. were bonus days.  So the bonus will soon be here.                                                                    One of the Lenten Rose flowers. Today a few things were on the agenda.  First of course was getting up and getting started.  And that happened.  At 10 Susan, the PT lady came.  I got moving right away with all kinds of leg lifts and then counter work which she said would get easier.  I'm sure it will.  Better balance is always the goal.  And improving balance when turning is another goal.  I watched a little TV with more naps along the way.  The bird feeders were filled with the news that a trip to Wild Birds was in order.  The Blue Birds c...

 What happened today? I don't have much to show for it.  I did a lot of sitting around.  Some walking the garden.  Texting Eli and then it was Holy Thursday evening church service of communion remembering the Last Supper.  So what did I see in my walk?   The Blue Bird mom and dad are busy stuffing the box with Georgia pine needles.  I'm really happy about that.  So far the box is about 2 inches full and will get at least another 2 inches before Mom and Pop are satisfied.  So far the danglers are keeping the sparrows out.  Their nest building skills stink so neat says Blue Birds.  They have been busy.   The Lenten Rose Hellebores continue to look fresh ad beautiful.  It's so nice to have flowers that are happy when the environment is not so forgiving. And the size of the beds tells me that they have been around for some time planted at least 10 years ago.   I pulled a few weeds.  Worked on not tippi...

 This morning started a little different with an 8 o'clock visit to a PA that works with my heart doctor.  I was pleased. She was a great listener.  I'm on a heart monitor for two weeks to see if there are any peaks or valleys in heart rate.  I'll be checking blood pressures as well looking for highs and lows. We may discover something and we may never discover anything. My doctor friends who were with me when this all happened Sunday are very happy about the heart monitor decision.  I am as well.                                          My hope is the memory will repeat itself in the garden this summer.  Back home I tried to schedule a follow up after hospitalization with a neurologist.  That was a trial of errors taking a lot of time with nothing scheduled. The neurologist referred to has nothing available for a year. I'm wonde...

 Today started slow and then it got really busy.  It's Holy Week with a whole lot of do at church.  Doug drove me to church and I joined Julie and Heidi for a morning of preparation for both the Thursday and Friday evening services.  Easter work can't start until Saturday morning. We moved to the chapel with Darren who gave us what the room needed for the Thursday evening communion service.  We moved the altar out and then positioned chairs in a circle formation.  We will worship in the round.  My four years of college was done that way and a favorite for me although some seem to be a bit uncomfortable with that.  But Thursday will be in the round.  I anticipate that the room will be full.  It usually is.   Friday evening's service will be in the sanctuary and led by the choir sharing The Last Seven Words of Christ in music.  I remembered to take pictures.  It took us most of the morning to get all the spaces ready....

 Today started out pretty slow.  Just the way I like it.  Nothing to hurry one along.  Just mosie at a slow speed.   I made another phone call this time to Dr. Baker's office hoping for her PA to make a return call.  The morning was filled with sleeping and just taking it easy.  No response from the PA and it's evening.  I'll give them until sometime tomorrow. Now I have a neurologist.  So another phone call tomorrow for an appointment. There are a lot of doctors in my life.                                                                                              Spring.  Early afternoon the home health care guy arrived with lots and lots of questions...

 Today was the day to meet back up with those who had traveled the trip with me last Sunday.  It had to happen at some point and it wasn't as bad as anticipated.  They knew more about it than I did.  I would say the church family came through with flying colors.  And I survived the morning without any harm.  From John cutting the live stream to Mark and Heather providing music till everything quieted down again, I would say all did a yeoman's job of filling in during the EMT time. I am more than grateful.  We scheduled some things that usually happen during Holy Week.  And the rest of the week will be just fine with helpers.   The afternoon was once again full of basketball, this time the biggie was Purdue which was a run away game with Utah State.  They have made it to the sweet 16 pretty easily.   A short walk told me that the Ginger was showing up.  It's such an interesting hardy plant. The leaves need to unfurl. S...

 Today has been slow in some respects.  I must admit that isn't too bad.  The morning started early as usual.  Quiet and slow.  I woke up with CNN hearing about the disaster in Russia.  The world isn't so happy at this point in time. I had a scrambled egg for breakfast topped with some sour cream.  Eggs have no taste and I love sour cream on anything.                                                   A beautiful sign of the emerging world waiting for us. I made out a grocery list and just before lunch we headed to Aldi's and then to Krogers.  Doug is a great cart pusher.  I got some soup making stuff and at some point that will happen.  I did get a container of tomato bisque out of the freezer.  TV showed me a whole lot of I U ladies basketball in the afternoon.  It was an awesome...

 A little more get up and go for today.  I did some sitting.  And then I ran the sweeper on two levels and the steps and Doug did his room.   PT is coming Monday to do an evaluation, so I need to be ready.  Something tells me that I won't need them but then again maybe I do. A cleaner house makes me feel better. It's just a little cleaner.  I need to do windows.                                                                       Such a pleasant place to eat a meal. I dumped the flowers that were in the kitchen and snipped new Forsythia, Lenten Roses and Jonquils.  This is the view from the kitchen table.  This is such a great picture from Kimmy's window on a beautiful early winter morning. I can pretend I'm in her kitchen.  I wis...

 I woke up this morning with my mind...stayed on Jesus.   I love that song.  It just comes around every once in a while.   This morning was busy.  I loaded all the palms into the van taking it easy and slow.  Thank goodness I had enough sense to get two palms purchased last week because the weather was good and the other three were left over from last year.  Doug drove me to church and the three of us got busy.  Mostly the two but I helped.  This is what we came up with for Palm Sunday.     This cross has been in the sanctuary during Lent.  We've added palms for palm Sunday and wrapped it i in flags.  Then a large fishing net is draped over the cross. This is the pulpit area beside the large cross.  For Good Friday we'll drape this whole area in black for the evening service.  Saturday will be the big work day with transforming everything to Easter.  It was great to see a few folks and reassur...