it's been a long time since last blog

I can't believe it's been so long since an update on what's happening!! Actually, I lost my log on information -- shame on me!

The big news here is that the church where I serve as Senior Minister is gearing up for its 100th anniversary in April. We are busy getting programs in place, speakers arranged, building spruced up -- it takes a lot of hands to do all that we want to get done before the big weekend celebration. So if you're looking for somewhere to go on the weekend of April 11-13, you're welcome to spend the time with us celebrating the ministry that God has given us in this part of his wonderful world.

After that, we will be look forward to an extended trip to Anchorage, Alaska in July. The trip will start in northern Idaho with four (my sister and her husband and my wife and I) of us driving by car through Canada and into Alsaka and Anchorage. There we will meet another brother and his wife and a sister and her husband. We will stay in the Anchorage area for several days, taking in all the sights and sounds and anything else that comes our way. We will also spend some time in the Denali area before going back to Anchorage to send both sisters and their husbands to the airport. My brother, his wife, my wife, and I will drive back to northern Idaho -- do you have any suggestions for us? It will be the first time that the 8 of us have spent this much time together -- we are looking forward to a great time.

It's been a long hard winter here and I'm so ready for spring -- the crocus are coming up outside my office window and that's a good sign. Now if we could just get the campaigning finished -- it's hard to believe that we still have so months to go before the election and the candidates have been going at this for so long already -- It's obvious that even in this economic slow down, there are people who are willing to spend a lot of money on the election. I wonder what the media would report if there were no elections and no snow storms -- here the major TV stations even report on the potholes -- is there nothing going on that's newsworthy??

I hope your day is a good one!!

long hot summer

This has seemed like a long hot summer here in the norhtwest -- our experience here is that we usually have a few hotter days at the end of July and the beginning of August and then it's back to the 80's or so -- not this year -- the heat turned up early and is still in full force, and it's not even August yet. So I made a decision: with no a/c in the office in which I work, and no a/c in the car that I drive, a/c is now being installed in the house. Even if we don't use the a/c as much as people do in other places across the country, it will be a 're-sale enhancer' at the time I retire and move to 'wherever.' Last year we installed ceiling fans, and thought that would take care of most of the 'warmer' days'. This year we had to rethink that. Even so, I'm very thankful for the fans!

Shirley, my wife, is leaving tomorrow for an extended time with the Grandkids, Son and Daughterinlaw in the Chicago area and then on to Michigan to spend time with a friend at their lake house. So for a couple of weeks, I will be home alone -- but air conditioned.

First Day

This was the day that I visited the doctor to get the results of the x-rays and MRI that have been taken of my hip and back. A couple of weeks ago the dr suggested that I might need a hip replacement to reduce the back and legs pains that I've been experiencing. So after all the tests, it was determined that a hip replacement is not needed -- that's the good news. However there is a stress fracture of the L5, along with some arthritus and muscle atrophy (mostly resulting from the polio). There seem to be some options available: strong meds to counteract the pain, back fusion, or the possibility of therapy. At this point I'm opting for the therapy. Not sure how long it might be until I will be able to talk to the therapist -- nothing is as easy as one would think.