October 12, 2014

Another Quick Trip to Houston

October 12, 2014

written on Oct. 13

Ron and I left home Sunday morning, the 12th, to go to Houston for an appointment I had with the audiologist at the Houston Ear Research Foundation.  We left around 8:00 and even as Ron packed the car that morning, he took a minute to photograph the clouds for me.  It became a weekend of cloud and weather photos.

We made good time and had a few stops.  Rain did start as we were on the King Ranch.  It started out as a light rain...

but the rain got heavier...

and heavier!

It did cool things down for a while.

A couple of rain showers off in the distance.

As we got to Houston, the skies darkened again and shortly after that, the rain started returned.

The heaviest rains were to the southeast but we got our fair share.

The rains had about stopped by the time we got to our friends' home.
Our good friends the Reeds had invited us to stay with them and we gladly accepted.  God has given them both the gift of hospitality and they use it to the fullest.  We always are so comfortable in their home and feel so welcome.  This time was no exception, but it was in a home we had not ever visited.  They had sold the previous home and downsized some to a Patio Home.

There had been several construction delays and work is still in progress, so the first floor had no furniture except 2 folding chairs and a small hall table.   "Our" bedroom was ready for us and could not have been lovelier.  It was on the third floor and we got in our exercise climbing stairs.

"Our" room - their guest room

The second and third floors were mostly furnished, but the entire place is lovely and I know they will continue to minister to many with the relaxing house that they are now making into a welcoming home.

After visiting for a while and getting advice on decorations for Stephen and Kristina's rehearsal dinner, we all went to church.  Their church just recently moved into a new facility.  It is wonderfully designed to encourage visiting with one another and with guests.  We got a tour of the building before the service and then worshiped with our friends in a very nice service with a packed auditorium (on a Sunday night).  They told us that Sunday evenings are mostly singles and young families, and we saw few school-aged children.  Most children there were in the pre-school wing of the church.  They said Sunday morning services have more of the families with school aged children.

We visited with several of their friends after the service before going out to supper at a place that served wonderful burgers and assorted other things.  I was the only one who did not eat a burger.  I had bar-b-qued chicken and sweet potato fries.  Perfecty cooked chicken made my meal a pleasure and Ron said his very thick burger was excellent.

The church service was great, the food was excellent, and the friends are jewels, but the noise in both places drowned out the things I wanted to hear.  During the church service, the music was a loud rumble to me.  I did figure out a couple of the songs and joined in the singing.  The sermon was a little better, but it again made me appreciate the system our church has for the hearing impaired with the transistor radios.  I missed a lot in the sermon and I am sorry, because what I did hear was very good.  At the restaurant, the place was packed and they were playing music through the sound system.  Shortly after our food arrived, a noisy bunch from the table beside us left and that helped a lot.

Especially at the restaurant, I tried several different setting on my Cochlear Implant using the remote device.  I finally found a setting that helped, but there was just not a way to get rid of all the background noises.

Once we were back at the house, we talked for a while before all giving in to a good night's sleep.