I’m finally back in the gym one or two days a week and doing other forms of exercise at home on other days. I love going to the classes at the gym. The instructors are excellent and the ladies in class are a wonderful mix of friendly, kind and funny. I am definitely more motivated in classes than I am with regular weight and cardio training. I get bored easily.
Each class has a different form of exercise. One instructor loves to specialize in cardio, while another mixes cardio/Pilates/weights, etc. On Fridays still another instructor’s zany manner makes all of her exercises very fun with great dance moves involved. There is a yoga instructor, but her classes are at a time I don’t attend. Two other ladies substitute at the time I go; one does Zumba (love it!) and the other also does mixed cardio and weights. What’s not to love? I am so glad to be back.
I am still working on the bathroom and specifically the trim work. I had no idea that this would take me so long to do. This job is definitely not done but I put out a video about it anyway. One Piece at a Time can be seen here.
Before I can get my own bathroom finished, Kinzie’s bathroom has an immediate need taken care of. I had wanted to replace a couple of wall panels and her vanity a year or two ago but she told me that she wasn’t ready for her bathroom to be taken apart. Now, the vanity has completely crumbled apart and must be replaced. I got the new one ordered and, after two visits to Lowe’s, I got the vanity and sink home. Tom was on vacation for a week so we got to work getting it installed. With some strategic planning, we got the vanity built and into place around the plumbing. Two more trips to Lowe’s for plumbing supplies and a couple of days of chasing leaks later, I believe we have successfully installed a very nice lavatory in her bathroom.
A member of our church has a beautiful place that he works hard to maintain. He also has built some wonderful things for kids to play on. “Train tracks” line the large back yard that slopes down into a beautiful creek with a gorgeous covered bridge he built. A porch swing hangs from a high tree limb that swings far out over the slope. There’s a zip line that both children and adults can ride that is designed to go out over the creek, then return enough that it can be caught easily and brought back to its starting point. His merry go round is a masterpiece designed after the idea of a May pole. You twist the merry go round several rotations, then ride it out. First, it goes back the other direction before reversing, going slower and fewer rounds until it stops. He carefully rebuilds and paints old cars and tractors, then displays them on concrete pads. The back porch is surrounded by screened windows and chairs are available, both in the room or in the back yard.
I describe all of this to you to tell you that he and his wife invited everyone over, as they do several times a year, for fellowship. We all show up with pot luck food and we sit around, thoroughly enjoying each others’ company. Old people chat right along with young children running and screaming as they take in each and every play element on the property. A dog lies in the large sand box until a toddler starts to cover him with sand. It truly is a wonderful evening and the weather couldn’t have been nicer. Here is a picture of his marvelous merry go round with several “kids” riding.
Another flat tired greeted Kinzie the other morning. Tom tried to change it for her before school but was unsuccessful. Why? Because someone at Ford thought that creating lug nuts that have an extra piece attached to hold on the hub cap was a good idea. Not only that, but they ran with the idea. The problem? This extra piece is a type of cap that actually becomes rounded while you are torquing the lug wrench, making it very difficult to remove the lug nuts. Kinzie has had several flat tires and has had to have someone help her where ever she gets stranded. Even the guys at the tire place hate these lug nuts as they have to pound the air wrench onto the lug nut and then struggle to get the blasted nut out of the wrench once it is removed. The last time this happened, I tried to purchase lug nuts that would hold on the hub cap but did would be easier to remove. No such luck. This time, I decided that she was going to have the cheaper, easier lug nuts and then bought hub caps so she could still be cute in her car. Apparently, Ford did not want that to happen either. Regular hub caps won’t fit on the wheel. Kinzie now has ugly, cheap lug nuts, bare tires, and a four-way lug wrench. Whether she likes it or not, she will be able to change her own tire.
Because this is her senior year, we’ve already had several senior events; senior night at softball, homecoming night at the football game, the cap and gown are ordered, and the first school senior photo session. Kinzie didn’t like those because she was afraid the wrap they provided for her was going to fall off and she didn’t like the fearful look on her face. A wonderful lady at our church is also a photographer and she has been doing beautiful work for many years. We scheduled the first session and her husband and I walked around the nature reserve at the nearby college to be of help if needed, but mainly just talked. Those pictures are going to be wonderful. I look forward to seeing what she does at the next photo session location.
As I work to get caught up on my own video work, I did get The Last Hot Day of the Year? posted. It can be seen here.
I also got one of Kinzie’s softball games posted. This is a game played at a competitive league tournament earlier this summer. It can be seen here.
Also the Bluejacket game at the Copan tournament.
The clothing ministry at our church has been blessed beyond measure, literally. The donations keep piling up and we keep working to sort and hang up clothes. I love this ministry though because everything is at no charge. On the days we are open, anyone can come in and shop, taking as many clothes as they want or need. We only ask that they don’t take them to resell them. I am frequently amazed at the quality of clothing we are able to provide for our community too. I am grateful to be a part of this ministry.
We are on 26 2/3 acres here on the farm and there are large sections of our property that we never even go onto, let alone take care of. I really want to work less (actually need to work less} and I want to travel. I have my sites on camper vans. I feel like this is a valid form of travel that I can actually drive in traffic and will be self-sufficient as I do travel. I need the money to do that and I feel that selling off a section on the south side of the property will provide funding and also less space to try to care for. Because this is land that we inherited from Tom’s father and several aunts and uncles and cousins own land nearby as part of their inheritance, Tom is not prone to selling even a portion of the property. I’m bummed but I will keep on trying figure out ways to come up with the money for the camper van.
One thing we did agree on was to deed a couple of acres to my youngest son and his family on the south side of the property. The realtor, my son and I came up with a good plan on placement of their place that, somewhere down the road, I can sell off a few acres. Tom knows, that if he dies first, that is exactly what I will do, and I wanted to be able to have a viable plan that will work at that time. I believe Tom, Tony and I came away with these conversations feeling pretty good about the situation.
I am part of the praise and worship team at the church and I find it interesting on occasion what is going on out in our small congregation. Our regular praise and worship leader is also a paramedic and volunteer firefighter in out town. He had discretely disappeared and our backup worship leader took over. Other people in the the back of the sanctuary were moving around quietly, intent on something that I couldn’t figure out. It turns out that a young man had killed someone in Kentucky (or Tennessee, I don’t remember which) and fled the state, stealing cars along the way. The last vehicle he stole was in Chelsea and the Vinita police were chasing him. The fugitive sped through our town on the famous Rt 66 and slammed into a car with a mother and adult daughter. The mother was seriously injured and the daughter died. Rt 66 was completely shut down in one direction as life flight helicopters blocked the road. Our worship leader was among those tending those in the wreck.
Just a day or two later, at the same intersection, a young man tried to beat a train and lost. The railroad crossing was damaged and need to be repaired, and the young man’s truck was completely demolished, but he was able to walk to the ambulance.
Now that we’ve had our first freeze, which was early this year, I decided to work on clearing the north garden that never got planted this year. The grass was over my head, so I scythed a large section of it. The rabbits and pigs were happy for the forage.
To help with getting Kinzie found by a college coach, I posted another highlight reel. It can be seen here.
It’s been very dry for quite some time. We did finally get a trace of rain. And then a few days later, we got .1″ of rain. Just that amount got the grass trying to turn green again. There’s still a lot of dead growth out there though.
I’ve been battling another autoimmune flare but I still managed to shoot and post a vlog. Inside and Out can be seen here.
Our church does a Fall Festival the last Sunday in October. This year in the kitchen, they served free hot dogs, Frito chili pie, and popcorn. We have various games set up all over the place. From cake walks to basketball hoops and fishing for candy. I got to do the skee ball game and corn hole games. I always want to do something that is competitive and active. I love participating in the Fall Festival. The kids arrive in costumes and it’s so funny to watch them wrestle with their costumes, play the games and collect the candy. I was thrilled when my youngest son arrived with Ivy, my grand baby so she could play too. He came dressed as a cucumber and she wore a princess dress and wore butterfly wings. For preschool, she wore a different costume. She’s so cute, I have to show you pictures of her.
That’s all I have for you this time. I pray that your upcoming week goes well. See you next time!