February 8, 2014

A Bright Start to My Day

February 8, 2014

What a treat to have this Green Jay come to the bird feeder early this morning.  He is so pretty!  The only place Green Jays are found in the United States is extreme South Texas - our area.  I have seen them about 80 miles north of here, but I think that is about as far north as they go.  They are such fun to spot in the yard.  The sparrows swarmed the feeders after the last few days of cold, wind and rain.  They were hungry!

This was another day when I was thankful that I could hear.  It is such a joy to just be able to carry on a two-way conversation (or 3 or 4 way).  I find it interesting when people I know, forget about the Cochlear Implant.  Maybe they don't know me real well and they heard about me going deaf but haven't thought any more about it.  Sometimes in the middle of a lengthy conversation, they will stop and say, "Oh, you can hear me!"  Yes!!  Most of the time.

As usual, I had to be up early for the house keeper.  I am so thankful for her that I would get up at any hour to let her in, but there are times I would like to sleep a little later.  I am dealing with a bad allergy spell and sneezing a lot and coughing.  The cough has been better this afternoon, but my head hurts and I sometimes imagine what it might be like to not have allergies.  Perfumes can really set me off just about any day, but when the allergies are already bad it just multiplies my reaction to different scents.  My house keeper helps take care of the dust in my house.  That is a blessing.

This morning while she cleaned, I worked again in the sewing room.  I sorted some of my fabric and got out two boxes of scraps that I had prepared for use a couple of years ago.  They are trimmed to usable sizes and ironed and neatly stacked.  That makes projects go much more quickly.  I made another block or two for one of the projects and now have enough to make a baby quilt.  Maybe I will start assembling it tomorrow - depending on how I feel.

I worked in the yard for a while while as my sewing room got a good cleaning.  I put away all the serving dishes from the Sunday school party.  I did a couple of loads of laundry and several other chores this morning.  After I fixed and ate lunch, I went to the funeral for Judge Billy Faulk.  It was a very nice service and it was well attended.  Most of the service was done by members of his family.  What a legacy he has left in his family with some outstanding children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  One of his nephews, Pat Faulk, brought the message at the service and led in some of the music.  Two grandsons sang a duet, other family members shared their feelings about him.  It was a nice service. 

One of the really nice things was the acoustics in the auditorium.  I could hear!  I missed some things, but I probably heard over 95 percent of the main message.  The speaker, Pat Faulk, speaks slowly and distinctly.  What a blessing to be able to hear the words that he brought.  Of the others that spoke, I probably got an average of 75% of what they said.  I was glad I had gone. 

Many of the Faulk family members live away from here and it was good to see them.  Some of the local friends and family attend other churches and I don't see them often, so it is always good to see old friends.  Several of us visited after the service and we all shared our concern about our friend Tate, who had just gotten the news yesterday on his malignant brain tumor.  We love this young man and his parents and siblings who are a very important part of our church.  Our prayers are asking God for healing for Tate, and for strength for him and all of the family as they start down a road they never expected to travel.

From there I went to the grocery store to get some things to make sandwiches for a luncheon at the church tomorrow.  This is for the ladies and it is called Bundles of Joy.  We gather items to make gift baskets for young unwed mothers who choose to keep their babies and not abort them.  These are young women who don't have a lot of financial resources.  After the luncheon, the baskets will be assembled for distribution.

Back home, I spent time on the computer before fixing supper and then watched a little of the Olympic Women's Figure Skating.  I must say it loses something when the music is just a noisy rumble.  I really miss being able to enjoy music.