Feb 28

Denny fixed grilled chicken for Meg, Bruce and Nancy and me.  Very good with rice, broccoli, and salad.  

Full Day First I day

 I was in bed until 7.  That's kinda long for me.  Shower, Shake and Pickleball at 8 until 9:45.  Denny cleaned while I went to play ladies' golf.  Partners were Marilyn, Jackie, Donna and Kathy.  It was fun, then stop at C&C.  I took a nap at  home.  Denny grilled some of Bruce's fish for supper with Gloria and Gail. Great day.  So glad it was windy, It made it not so hot at the golf course. 

Sunday Fun day

I woke up to voices of family,  We listened to Pastor Dave outside on the bank oof the resaca.  We sorted thru boxes in the shed.  And started to read some books.  We took Kathy and Johnny the $ from the kids.  I played pickleball with G,B,B,S,BILL .  We got  phone call from Melissa.  Lord, guide us in this endeavor. Rose took her birthday money to San Antonio and bought a little kitty purse and doll.  Happy birthday Rose!!            

                                                 

Happy birthday

 I set the alarm for 5:15, but I was up before them and so I showered and headed to the community hall where Finchers were busy making breakfast.  Denny and I helped serve about50 people from 7-9:30.  Great food.  WE went home and then back to the tiki hut to visit with Finchers.  When we came back Denny worked on getting the printer to work.  NOPE No luck.  We went to SPI.  Note to self ... Do not go to the island when you have to wait in line to cross the bridge.  We did make it to the convention center and Denny bought me 2 pairs of plastic sandals.  We went to Wanna Wanna beach afterwards and stayed on the beach until 4:30.  Oh, dear ... the traffic driving home was AWFUL!!!  We didn't get home until 2 hours were gone.   Fincher had headed to bed.  Bruce and Meg were here and Gail stopped over.  Denny worked again one the printer and I went to bed.  Good birthday for me.  72 will be a good year, God willing.  

Cooks leave

 Mandy got most packed, the boys found plastic eggs in the lawn and were so happy.  They opened them at 407 and just about jumped up and down with the toys in them.  With all packed we went to the trampoline business.  Then to the airport.  It was so great to have them here.  I stayed in the car while Denny helped take the 2 car seats and change the boys into sweatsuits.  On the way home we stopped at Best buy to get a new printer.  Then to Walmart and I got some soil for germination of seeds.  At night I planted the snapdragons and some of the yellow ball plants.  The soil cube maker is very small and I ended up skipping some of the cubes.  Uffda!! I hope they grow.  

Lukes leave

 Nice am in park.  We fed turtles, found special seed eggs, Jack took the 3 on the trike.  He needed a little help going up the hill by the gate.  BUT Jack did wonderful.  We went to the pickle ball court and the Grands had fun batting the ball around while Luke and Mandy played pickle ball. SO funny to watch.  Luke and Karen left to head to San Antonio.

Pirate ship

It was a morning in the park, I played pickle ball, kids fed turtles, and ate a lunch.  Our ship sailed from 1-3.  There were lots of activities for the kids: sing alongs, Swab the deck with mini mops, Sing YMCA, squirt guns,  plastic sword fights with mates, picking up gold coins,  Great time!  We ate at the Hopper Haus and then headed home.  Then to the pool, the hot tub with Bruce, and to lot 400 for snacks, Mac and Cheese, pesto and poppers, Icy pops from Bruce and back to 400 and kids to bed.  

                                                      

Parade

 I played pickleball, then went with the grands back to our place.  They spent a lot of time playing with the toys that Gail brought over.  Next was swimming/hot tub.  The Grands watched a video, I combed Rose's hair, and  the rest chilled. We headed down to the Mardi Gras parade lineup about 4:15.  Parade started at 4:30.  Because Denny had set up the speakers with music we led the parade.  Pretty fun.  After the parade all met in the park hall.  Joanna had given us DQ ice cream cake and we shared it with all the park.  About dusk we went to Bill's fire pit, but it was pretty windy.  He moved his truck to the resaca side and the pit burned better.  Mandy headed back and fell asleep before the boys did.  Karen and Luke came to the fire pit later.  Later I put the kids to bed and Luke and Karen went out to eat.

v

Beach

Denny fixed a great breakfast.  We left for the beach about noon.  Super day.  Sunny.  Warm.  We took 2 cars and paid the daily fee at Isla Blanca.  I rode with Luke's.  We stopped at the SPI and had hor deovors.  Then Luke stopped and got taco meat at the meat market.

Thoughts from Facebook:

 Seeds fascinate me. Tucked inside of each one is a sort of code, a prescription for what that plant will be: a tomato or a sunflower or an oak tree or a snapdragon. These minute packages, some mere flecks of substance, never get it wrong. They never emerge as anything but what they were designed to be. A cornflower never blooms as a poppy. An onion never sprouts as a milkweed. God did that. He wrote the code for each of them Himself. It’s almost impossible to imagine, isn’t it?: that the One who spins galaxies also concerns himself with the story a seed will tell. The Counter of Stars also numbers grains of sand. He is the Architect of Continents, but also atoms and sunlight and the patterns on the back of a bee’s wing. I have spent most of my life unintentionally convinced that while God is in the details, He probably isn’t interested in the minutiae of my life. My conversations with Him should be more substantial, more magnificent, more eternally consequential and less laundry and dishes. But then… Yesterday, someone I love came home to find her dog had died while she was at work. It has been a hard, hard year and a half, and this is another in a string of bitter, crippling losses. The sparrow has fallen…again. There are no good words in these conversations, only a swollen silence that concedes to the pain without sending it away. Only questions without helpful answers. Only tears that drip off our eyelashes and slip into the empty places as unacknowledged proof of our shared sorrow…. 

I spent last night alternating between restless sleep and incoherent prayer. Blinking in the darkness and asking God if He was still awake. Did he remember she needs Him right now? Was He there beside her in her darkness too? In her pain? Did she know? She needs to know. Please make sure she knows You’re there, God. Please hold her hand. Please tell her You were there when yesterday was blighted by fresh pain.

My thinking self is sure that the God of the Universe wouldn’t condescend to worry Himself with the death of a dog, to catch the tears and hear the prayers offered up in that aftermath… (continued in comments)

Luke and Karen HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

 May God continue to bless your lives together.  11 YEARS!!!  Yes!!!!

Fun day for kids

Tyler woke up around 6:15 and I had him crawl in bed by me.  He stayed there quietly for over an hour.  Then when Jack stirred we got up for the day.  I took Nancy to Choir practice at 9.  The Cooks and Denny went to the trampoline place and children's museum.  Gail watched the boys while we and Cooks went to the Brownsville Historical get together.  We took an uber down and back.  Boys slept in our room that night.