Tuesday

Tomorrow is Wed. and off to Georgia with the family. Yahoo. Should be tons of fun. Doc appointment went well. Neck pains get muscle relaxing med. with tylenol. Should really relax me for the trip to Georgia. Doc. thinks it should correct itself sooner than later especially if I take the medicine. Yahoo.
Turkey pick up was this m0rning. Clothes are packed and the cooler is waiting to be filled. We're taking clothes and food to Eric's house and will help pack the van and then tomorrow morning expect an early pick up for the trip south.
This morning I took the at least 20 dz. doughnuts to church, waited for Patty to arrive and helped a bit with decorating Christmas wreaths. That's it for now...On the road again tomorrow morning.

Friday morning.

The fifth day since I posted.
This Monday I finalized the calendar that will be given to all the Bread and Bowl folks. We hear over and over...are you cooking today. Well, how would folks remember unless they know what day of the week it is. No calendars is one of the problem. So...one of our church members is printing a 2009 calendar that has information every day as to where one can find a hot meal in the community, health information for the uninsured and food pantry, clothes pantry and soup kitchen sites to find survival information. It's a hard winter for many. Yesterday I took a homeless man who had just been discharged from the hospital the day before to Wishard Hospital, one that helps the poor for medicaiton. He had no clue as to where he would sleep last night. He felt it was safer to be on the street than to be in a shelter for the night. Probably true.
James has been coming to our soup kitchen for years but I've never seen him so sick.

Tuesday, Wayne Edwards, one of our church custodians died, very unexpectedly from a heart attack last Friday. Wonderful man of 54 years. He was a major transporter of left over doughnuts we used at our Thursday B and B. So...just one more thing on my plate for at least a while. That is picking up at least 15 doz of doughnuts at 10 pm on Wed. evenings. Lucky for me...the Dunkin Doughnuts is right here in Carmel. It's just crazy but true that transportation of food to places of need is probably one of the biggest break down for our hungry folks to get food.

Since this summer, I have been having problems with my neck. I thought it was because of my bum shoulder but this lady just is not good when it comes to medical things. Hum...I don't have a medical degree come to think of it. It's not the shoulder but probably a problem relating to my salivary gland surgery. Tues. I see the doc again for a regular visit and this neck problem will be a talking point. Fluid is collecting in a little pocket at the base of my neck and a PT friend suggested that the drainage from the lymph nods is being blocked because of scar tissue from the surgery. Sounds really possible to me. I sometimes can feel the bones of my spinal colum grinding together. It would seem that everything in my neck is being smushed together. So...
there will be lots of talking points Tuesday afternoon.

I'm off to church in a minute to get the advent candles ready for Nov. 30th. We'll be in Georgia but life goes on even when we are not here in Indy. Got to plan ahead. Speaking of...The Xmas Tree is decorated and the livingroom looks like there will be a Christmas for sure. There is a whole bunch of red thrown around the room. I've NEVER been this early with decorating. Just wanted it all done before Georgia for some reason.

Sunday Morning

Where does the time go? Well, to start with...Last night my sister Mary K and I went to an organ, Carmel Orchestra program at St. Lukes Un. Meth. Church. It was WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL. The guest organist was Cameron Carpenter, a 27 yr. old obsessed with the organ. Wow. He played with the symphony the Symphonie Concertonte, Op. 81 by J. Jongen. Most by memory. The orchestra also did The Planets by Gustav Holst. It was a very entertaining evening to put it mildly. Money very well spent. I would say that will be the highlight of the month for sure. Friday Kat/Eric/Andrew had a birthday celebration. Andrew is just a hoot to watch. He jibber constently and is so intent on what he's doing. He loved being the center of attention and after all it was his birthday. The rest of the week was same as some others, bells, choir, desk work getting ready for soup kitchen and soup kitchen. Had some quarterly blook work done and need to do more since for some reason my blood has to much calcium in it. I guess the question is...where is it coming from. I'm hoping not from my bones. I had a great bone density test about 6 mo. ago. I'll get that done tomorrow. Kat is bringing Andrew here tomorrow and then she's on to her PT work. Eric is doing well but needs to get started on his PT. I hope he is a fast healer. This morning we are playing bells at church for both services, working at the hospitality hr. I just heard Doug's alarm so the day is beginning and we're out of here soon.

Tuesday again.

Today was a fun slow day. I spent at least 3 hours talking and eating and more talking with 3 other church friends at Binkley's. We all are turning 70 this year. Don't want to call it a celebration. Maybe happening will do. Lots of good visiting and laughing. This evening the choir is singing at a prayer service on the campus of Marion College. We're singing two things. It should be a good service with many religiions represented in the service. Yesterday Andrew stopped by while Kat has some PT for a sore hip/back. What a little guy. Lots of fun. Tomorrow morning is more PT for Kat and this time Eric and Andrew are stopping by while Kat does PT. It's Andrew's second birthday and Eric is taking off work but still feel a little unable to take care of Andrew. It's the lifting things that he's afraid of so the Men will be enjoying each other I'm sure. His shoulder continues to improve but I think it will be a slow healing process. I'm off to church to do my morning of telephone answering and working on activities for our worship bags that the smaller children use during church. I want to get 6 months of activities ready at a time. It's looking activitiy sheets up on the internet and then getting them all printed and ready for each month. I'll also stop at the store to get necessary food for Thursday's soup kitchen as well as our Hospitality Hr. on Sunday. Tomorrow night is handbells. That's it for now. Go Colts. Super job last Sunday afternoon.

Thursday

Enough went on already this week to do another post. Wow...Tuesday was fun. I spent time in the neighborhoods passing out flyers encouraging people to vote. The weather was perfect and was the right thing to do to keep me from going crazy. Didn't get much sleep that night. Wed. was working at the desk in the morning where I got a phone call from Kat saying that she was in the emergency room with Eric who was forced off his bike by an IPS School bus. Driver never saw him. He has a broken colar bone. I stopped in to see him at home and he's pumped full of drugs. Not worth to much to say the least and will be off work until at least Monday. He's one lucky guy. This is the third bicycle accident. Andrew was carrying on big time while I was there. What an entertainer. Then on to the Med. center to pack another 700 Beany babies for Eldoret Kenya. It's hard to imagine all the joy these little creatures will be bringing to Eldoret children. The container now going soon has at least 1400 stuff animals on their way to Kenya. After that I stopped at Goodwill and bought 5 doz pr. of socks for our Christmas give away at church to Bread and Bowl folks in Dec. We fill them with travel soaps, tooth brushes and lotions that people have collected during the year. I'm also hoping to have a pr. of gloves for folks as well. Cold weather is so difficult for folks with limited resources. Goodwill is another place for new gloves at a reasonable price. Our money can stretch really far with good shopping finds. At this point yesterday it was 5 pm so came home and told Doug it was Steak and Shake and then on to Bell practice. Wow...That was a long day out. Today is Bread and Bowl, meeting with Brian about our Christmas experience for Bread and Bowl along with some other things on the agenda, then a meeting with Janet, our children's Christian Ed. person about some stuff, a hair cut this afternoon and then Choir practice. I love busy days. That's it for now.

Sunday

Well, another busy week. Same old same old as JB would say. I did do a few new things. Thought I should give it a try before I get old. Sat. I worked at a water station for a mini marathon and a real marathon. It was fun. I'd do it again. It was a new race in Indy and the station was staffed by a bunch of North folks at the corner of 38th and Meridian. It was really great to see the first Marathoner pass by which I'm sure was a Kenyan who was at least 30 minutes in front of the next runner. What a fluid form he had. Wow! There were about 6000 runners that passed by, one being our own minister Kevin for the Mini. The whole 4 hrs was just a blast. Then I went right to the Obama Biden voting headquarters here in Carmel and signed up to work on Tuesday. I think I'm called a runner meaning that I'll be running in the car from pole station to pole station. That's a morning committment or until I wear out. Something new to look forward to. This week we also will be keeping Andrew on Wed. while Kat does some PT for a hip that isn't working correctly. Today at church we celebrated all saints Sunday and the new banner that I finished a few weeks ago was used and lots of burning candles were on the altar for those who died this year. It was a pretty sight. So...tonight it's football and then the race for the week starts tomorrow. Signing off from Carmel.