April 7, 2016

The Lovely Landreth Ladies

April 7, 2016

It is not often that all the ladies in my family get together.  My mom lives here in town so I see her often.  One sister lives near the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport and is able to fly down fairly often; the the other sister lives in Idaho a long way from a major airport and only comes about once every year or so.  This week, we are all together in town and tonight we went to supper at Pepe's Mexican Food Restaurant.  We had good food and a good visit.  A lot gets squeezed into these visits.

Mom has scheduled several doctor's appointments while my sisters are here to get her to and from the visits.  They have done some shopping.  We will do a lot of good eating. 

My day was spent on my computer.  Finally I had a working computer on my desk.  The repairman has it all working, but not all the things back in it that were in it before the problems.  He thinks a power failure caused the problems.  He came back late this afternoon and did a little more tweeking and I will probably have him come back one day next week to add anything I am missing. 

I was able to get the statements printed for our customers and will get them out in the mail tomorrow.  I did have him download one game for me.  There were none on it after the previous work.  He offered to download others, but one temptation is enough.

The baby of the family, Janet, then me, 

next Mom, and last the middle sister, Debra.

My sister from Idaho had an emergency dental appointment this afternoon.  I picked her up after that and then we met Mom and our other sister who had been at one of Mom's appointments.  Supper was relaxing and good. 

From there, I came home and slept for a few hours.  When I woke up it was about 10:45 and I called our son in New Mexico.  He said his wife was not doing well from pain in her knee.  She has had 3 blood clots in the leg for about a month, but this pain was new.  She will see another doctor first thing in the morning after seeing two today.  Wish I could hop a plane and be out there with them.  Our son was to be out of town next week but will cancel that trip.

There are so many things going on.  It seems my prayer list stays long.  Many prayers are answered and can be removed from the list, but there are always more to add.  God answers prayers.  Sometimes with a quick, "Yes" while other times it is, "Wait" or "No".  It is a matter of trusting Him that His plan is always the best.

April 6, 2016

Are You Tired of My Song?

April 6, 2016

The miniature red rose bushes are blooming nicely.

 
My Computer Blues song is getting old; the computer guy sitting in my office every day getting old!  He was back this afternoon to try to get my bookkeeping program working.  I had taken a back up disc that I made at the end of January of the bookkeeping program, so he could use that.  It would mean I would have to enter 2 months of transactions, but I could do that easily.  He spent a couple of hours trying to find that information in the things he had downloaded from Carbonite.  He finally gave up and used my disc and had it restored in a couple of minutes.  After I left he found what he had been looking for so I will only have to enter a few transactions.  He will be back tomorrow.

Somehow I managed to get to the office with out either of my Kindles, so I did not have reading to do to pass the time.  I used an old computer on the other desk in my office and manged to do most of my monthly reports on it.  Now all I need is the balance in the accounts once I am able to use my computer.

Ron was out of the office for several hours.  I had seen the public utility trucks in front of our house before I left for work and had stopped to talk to one of the men.  They are replacing all the underground cables in our neighborhood.  They are ahead of their schedule as we had figured it.  So I asked him when he expected to work at our house and he said the start of next week.  They are hoping to replace the cables without tearing up the yard.  In most of the area they have been able to do it that way.

When I got to the office this morning I mentioned to Ron that they were just a couple of doors down from us, so he came and talked to the foreman for a long time.  The man was very nice.  The utility company sent letters out to all homes in the area about 6 or 8 months ago telling what they would be doing and inviting people to come to a meeting where they would explain it and answer questions.  Ron and one other person showed up.  They spent a long time explaining what they were doing and how it would impact the home owners.  This man said that some customers have been so angry when he would need access to their yards that he would have to call for help.

 If these people had just gone to the meeting...  When the cable was laid 40 years ago, it had a life expectancy of 30 - 35 years. I think it is great that they are replacing the cables.  I love living in an area with underground utilities.  Few areas in our city have them underground.  It is such a shame that people get upset about things like that.  They have promised to repair anything they damage, but the way it is being done, there is probably no damage. 

This day has been difficult in several ways.  I have really been patient with the computer guy.  I am concerned because I need to get the statements in the mail.  If I don't mail the bills, I don't get paid!  So I am frustrated, but not angry.  I love that the utility company is going to do the work; my husband has done more yard work in the last week or two than he has done in a long time as he has cleared the area they will need to dig into.  These things are minor; especially when compared to other things.

First thing this morning I found out the the son-in-law of a very good friend had died.  The man was in very poor health and was awaiting a transplant.  It did not happen in time.  When we shared prayer requests Sunday, the first one on the prayer list was for him; he had been moved to the #1 place on the transplant waiting list.  He died.  He was about the age of our oldest son, I think.  Those are the things in life that matter: life and death things, people.  He leaves a widow who had found such love and joy in her marriage to him.

Today I asked someone if they were involved in a church.  Their answer was, "My mother is."  I told this person that God did not have grandchildren.  That each person has to have their own personal relationship with Him - being a child of God.  I hope that your relationship to God is a personal one.  We don't go to Heaven because our husband loves the Lord or our Dad or Mom.  We must confess that we have sinned.  We must repent of those sins and ask God to forgive us of our sins.  Then we must ask Him to be Lord of our life.  We must trust in Him and in His plan for our lives.  God loves you.  He will forgive your sins if you confess them and turn from them.

April 5, 2016

Same Song, Second Verse

April 5, 2016

The computer has now been wiped clean; Don't really know what that can mean.

The programs are now all put back;  But the files that were in them we lack.

I'm singing the ol' 'puter blues.

The computer repair man spent most of the day at the office working on my computer.  He had downloaded everything to save on another device, and then cleaned the computer of any virus or other problem, but I am about to run out of patience.  Do you remember the old commercial where the auto repair guy sees the fancy sports car and says, "I always wanted to work on one of these!"

My day was spent waiting on customers and reading.  I did some filing of both last year's receipts that have shown up in the time since I boxed all of last year's files away, and current filing.  It is frustrating when I need to get customer statements in the mail.  I am looking at new computers.  Ron gave me information on one today and he thought it would be just what I needed only it turned out to have just about all that my current one has - no improvement.

After work, I came home and spent some time in the yard after reading a little.  I transplanted some ferns and did a little other work, but did not stay out long.  I had been planning to go to the airport about midnight to pick up my sister, but my other sister is also coming and their flight has been delayed, so they will take a cab to Mom's house.  Oh, well.

Late in the evening, I talked to our oldest son.  He is going to have to have a tooth pulled tomorrow.  I can sympathize with him.  I am so tired of dental work!  It just dawned on my that tonight's blog sure includes a lot of complaining.  Sorry about that.   

April 4, 2016

Singing the Computer Blues

April 4, 2016

"My computer just sits; Something's messed up its bits,

True Solutions came quickly; Seems my 'puter is sickly.

So I'm singing those ol' computer blues."

After hours and hours of trying different things, the computer repairman started backing up everything on my office computer to another one and will come back tomorrow to wipe it clean and start over!  As I said the other day, this only happens when I need to send out statements to our customers.

Ron was out of the office for much of the day and I was out of my desk for most of the day.  The walk-in traffic was heavy while Ron was gone and it was 3:00 before I got to have my lunch.  I did hook up my Cochlear phone clip so that I could call the computer repair place this morning.   Thankfully, they sent someone quickly, but as my sad song says, it is not proving to be a quick fix.

Once I got home this evening I mixed up a meatloaf and stuck it in the oven and went to work in the yard.  I did not get a lot done, but accomplished a few things.  Ron got home about 6:30 and worked in the yard for a while before coming in for supper.

I got some laundry done and ran the dishwasher.  I gathered a bunch of trash that now has the trash can about full and the trash men don't come until Friday.  I miss my housekeeper! 

A couple of my customers today wanted to talk for a while and I always am so thankful for my Cochlear Implant allowing me the chance to talk to them.

April 3, 2016

Beautiful Sunday

April 3, 2016

This is the area Ron has been clearing the last few days.

What a beautiful day we had today.  The high was in the low 70s and it was perfect for yard work.  Of course we started the day with Sunday School and church.  We had a good group in class but some other needs took up much of the lesson time.  All of the prayer requests were important.  One is for the son-in-law of one of our class members.  He is #1 on the transplant list for a liver transplant.  We are praying he stays clear of infections so he can be ready as soon as the organ becomes available.  There were other serious concerns.  It is so good to be able to pray together for these needs.

The church service was excellent.  The pastor recognized our music minister, Craig Smith for having been at First Baptist Church for 29 years.  Wow!  That is unusual in many churches, but over the years we have kept many staff members for a lot of years.  When Craig and his wife came to our church his wife was pregnant with the first of their 3 children.  We have watched this family over the years and they are a great example to all of us.

Ron and I came home after the service (and business meeting) and had the leftovers from last night - ham and sweet potatoes.  It was a good lunch.  I went to sleep after lunch, having not been able to go to sleep last night until about 4:00 this morning.  Then I slept ALL afternoon.  Ron spent the afternoon working in the yard.  He has got to be exhausted.  After my nap I went out for about an hour to do a little work.  I guess this is my favorite time of the year. 

The back yard after a weekend of work.

This evening I talked to two of our sons.  The one in New Mexico had gone yesterday with his wife for a drive in the mountains and found snow still on the ground at the higher elevations.  Of course, they had some snow this past week at their house, so they expected to find some.  Our son in San Antonio and I had a good visit.  His nephew who lives with them will graduate in June and I was checking on the date.  We hope to be able to be there. 

Our oldest grandson in McAllen, had a speech contest yesterday and came in first place.  He got a very nice gift certificate and an A+ in his speech class.  He is taking this class at the community college along with a writing class at the college while finishing up his senior classes in his home schooling.  He will graduate in May.  We have a busy Spring ahead.

Talking to both sons using my Cochlear phone clip sure was a blessing.  One of them had to repeat several things but the other did very little if any repeating.  I love that little device!

April 1 & 2, 2016

The End of the Week

The Start of a New Month

April 1 & 2, 2016

Butterfly

 

Sometimes I feel like a broken or scratched record that plays the same thing over and over.  It it the start of a new month and that means I will be busy with accounting things.  It seems that my office computer works well until the start of a new month - when I need to send out statements to our customers.  Recently I have had a couple of little problems with the computer but Friday it decided to play an April Fool's joke on me.  At least I hope that is what it is and that Monday it will be fine (but I doubt it).

Ron was out of the office for several hours Friday and I was busy all morning, but the afternoon was very quiet.  If my computer had been working, I could have gotten everything done that I needed to do.  I did go to the bank late in the afternoon before we met our friends for supper at Carl's Jr. Hamburger place.  It was not very noisy and we had a nice visit with our friends.

Saturday morning I slept until 9:00 and then got up, had breakfast, and went out to work in the yard.  I was enlarging a flower bed.  I dug up about 1/2 of the area I wanted and then loosened the dirt in another bed that was already done, but had gotten hard.  Next I mowed the back yard and part of the section out by the water before I took a break and came in the house to relax.  I had spent 3 hours out there working and then went out for another 30 minutes or so before coming in to read for a bit.

 If you will look at the top half of the photo, it is almost solid

 with red-winged blackbirds in flight when something startled them.



I called Mom and told her I would pick her up at 4:30 to go get groceries.  Before I went, I finished the area out by the water so I could put the mower away.  Ron was working  in the yard taking out some bushes and trees.  Mom and I went to Wal-Mart and each got groceries and I get a few things for the yard - sprinklers and some zinnia seeds. 

It was 7:15 when I got home and unloaded my groceries.  I put away the cold things and then went back to working in the yard.  I finished enlarging the flower bed as well as a few more chores.  The yard is looking nice.

When I got it the house to stay, I put a ham in the oven and cooked some sweet potatoes and stripped the bed and sorted laundry.  Ron had done some laundry while I was gone.  He doesn't cook but he does do laundry. 

March 31, 2016

Two Thursday Testimonies

March 31, 2016

My day at the office was busy in the morning but the afternoon was slow.  Ron was out of the office much of the day.  I started working a little on the end of the month stuff.  It was a good day, and other than the nagging headache I had, all was well.  This headache was different than the one that is always present, but once I had supper, it let up.

We had supper with Mom at Luby's and then she and I went to the church for a service they were having.  This week a group of 70, students and sponsors from a church in Louisiana, had come on their Spring Break to do mission projects at our church.  They spent their days on construction projects and painting at our mission center  (dorms for work groups that come).  Then they passed out invitations to a giant block party at the church Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings from 4-6.  Those were followed by church services on those evenings from 6:30-8:30.

The group of young people were amazing.  They were well trained, happy, energetic, and obviously they love the Lord.  They presented music, a drum line, a stomp team, and a drama team as well as several praise teams.  Then one of their young ladies gave her testimony.  The home she had grown up in was filled with many of the wrong choices people can make.  Her parents' lives were filled with illegal choices while they loved drugs more than they loved their daughter.  In time, the daughter gave her life to the Lord, and God gave her a new home with loving Christian parents and brothers.

 Drum Line

 

Then the man bringing the message gave his testimony and there were a lot of similarities to the early life he had lived and the young lady had lived.  Their stories started in such horrible circumstances, and sadly, too many young people are living in similar situations today.  I have always believed that children think their home setting is normal.  It takes a while for them to find out that not all homes are like theirs.

I remember a friend and I who had grown up in loving Christ centered homes had listened to several you people tell of the terrible homes they had grown up in.  The friend and I later were telling the pastor that we didn't know that we were the only ones in the group who had normal homes.  He said, no, their homes were normal and ours were the exception.  I see that more and more.  Adults with broken lives because of the abuse they faced as children.  Christ can change the course of those lives, but many scars will last a lifetime.

The service ran very late, but life changing decisions were being made and I pray that new directions are being set for many who were there.  After the service I took Mom home and then headed to my house, while I chatted with our oldest son on the phone.  He will be giving a talk soon at his work place, to people from several sections.  He just gets busier and busier.  Later I talked to his wife.  She got more rest yesterday.