EYE MAY See Better

We remain in Texas while awaiting Ron's cataract surgeries May 14 and June 11.

9 May (tomorrow) Lakeside Pharmacy, Walgreen’s Storage Unit, Dr Sharpless, Jon’s, dry cleaners, Oscar’s. 

8 May: The packing process begins six weeks ahead of departure because Ron has to move heavy boxes back into the storage unit before next Tuesday when we go to Brenham for surgery on Wednesday. We will overnight Tues and Wednesday, returning Thursday.  We successfully completed two walks, closed all of the rings on the Apple Watch. 7.13 miles, plus 11th week fitness workout #2. yaay! We will rattle our tambourines, play the drum loudly, and sing a new song. 

7 May:  MEDICAL. As retirees, we object to arising at 5:15am, but today we had to drive to Brenham for Ron’s ophthalmologist appointment.  Poor Cynthia has to drive since she refuses to ride on the motorcycle with Ron becuase he cannot read road signs.  Everything is all set for the first surgery on May 14th, two days after his 78th birthday.  Wish us luck.   James Lea must be set aside until next week. We must move the heaviest boxes to the storage unit. 4.55 miles. 

6 May:  A rainy day is forecast, but we walked to the lake, sat on the bench, smooched, and returned home without a sprinkle.  After Ron ate breakfast, we drove back to the fitness center for Cynthia’s workout week #11 of 17.  Yaaaay!  4.8 miles.  We shopped at WallyWorld and made it home before getting wet.  Heavy rain started about five PM.  Ron finished compiling Volume II although bit of editing remains.  Cynthia’s excitement builds for possible publication date for James Lea by our departure date of July first.

5 May:  Happy Cinco de Mayo!  The past few weeks have been exhausting with many trips to doctors, hospitals, baptism, and extensive driving.  Tonight, we will sleep early.  We are tired!  We did walk to the lake and back early before the rain started around 3 PM.  We attempted a second walk late, but the rain resumed, so we walked on all the floors and stairs of the condo building.  5.0 miles.  Great granddaughter Becks baptism was a week ago.

Baby Becks baptised by Grandmother

4 May, Sunday: Worship was followed by lunch at The Oscar’s!  Pastor Mark gave a great sermon about the disciples being told to go tend the sheep.  Ron worked on his Mac; Cynthia emailed folks, and then they both rested.  The temperature has cooled slightly; it is time to walk. 4.76 miles

3 May:  We slept late! 6.18 miles plus ending week #10/17 workout at the fitness center.  The day is Glorious!  Yaaay! Ron worked on James Lea. CFB has a happy ❤️ 2 May,\:  MEDICAL.  Another early to rise AM to meet Jon at 7:45 to take us to the Methodist Hospital in the Woodlands for Cynthia’s endoscopy. Roxanne will pick us up at noon.  All is well indeed! Cynthia’s endoscopy showed her stomach lining had a recent inflammation.  EVERYTHING LOOKS GOOD.  Of course, we didn't walk.  Now, we will sleep. 

1 May:  Connie and Chris stopped to say good bye as they head home to Iowa after wintering in Texas.  We are up, ready to hike, and Ron sees completion of James Lea, Vol. 1-3, in the very near future. God willing!  The appendices are Vol. II, and the DNA study is Vol. III.  We walked in the AM.  But when we attemmped to walk out the breakwater in the PM, threatening dark clouds and lightninginspired us to boogie back to our condo.  5.32 miles.  Hopefully, it will rain enough to wash the bike. 

April fleurs -still seen through a glass dimly

We are in Texas until Ron's cataract surgeries May 14 and Jun 11

30 Apr: Goodbye April.  5.94 miles.  My gosh, here it is May 6th, and we haven't created a new post for May yet.  Not to worry, we are still alive and well and having fun.

29 Apr:  What a day that began in the dark, arising at 5:30, we exercised, ate, dressed, drove 1.5 miles to Brenham to see the ophthalmologist by 8:45, then drove to Hempstead to pick up the mail, to Jason’s Deli in the Woodlands, and then to the Woodlands gastroenterologist for Cynthia’s appointment.  She is scheduled for an endoscopy on Friday.  Everything serious is ruled out.  Do not be concerned.  2.77 miles 

28 Apr:  MEDICAL (don't forget paid cash for driver)   Sometime in the dark of night, Ron arose, showered and shaved while Cynthia slept soundly.  At 3:30 AM, she arose and did her exercises without disturbing Ron in the living room.  And then, boom, he heard the sound of crunches and discovered her completing the exercises. She showered, we ate, dressed, and were downstairs waiting for the driver to take us to the Houston Medical Center at 5:30 AM, a 1.5 hour drive.  Ron passed his physical exam for the cataract surgery, and we were back home by noon after a quick stop at Walmart.  Total walking miles including week #10 fitness center for Cynthia was 6.21 miles.  We are exhausted.

27 Apr:  After worship we enjoyed brunch with Connie and Chris at the Walden Yacht Club.  Cynthia drove to the Fitness Center to complete week #9 of 17 workout.  Ron endured 87 degree heat and high humidity wearing shorts.  No doubt the shorts kept him cooled off.  3.18 miles. Later,  we walked the Breakwater  Scroll way down to discover yesterday’s 

26 Apr:  Cynthia baptized Rachel and Ryan’s baby, Becks.  Afterwards the family ate at the Pizza Shack.  Cynthia and Ron split a grilled salmon, and Ron had a humongous salad.  After we came home, she slept for at least an hour.   It is 85 degrees and too hot to walk until 7:15 when we walked the Breakwater.  2.44 miles

25 Apr:  Sleeping late is a good thing to do once in a while.  We were out the door by noon-thirty and home by 2:30.  The walk was hot and humid, almost hard to breathe. Ron finished cleaning the kitchen and vacuuming; Cynthia baked oatmeal/banana cookies; today’s mileage was 4.79.  She did upper body fitness workout #2 of 3 for week #9-17

23 Apr:  We arose early to get out the door and walk as soon as the rain stopped, except the rain continued all morning. We walked after Cynthia’s  1:00 hair appointment.  Ron cleaned the kitchen.  Cynthia is preparing for the baptism of great granddaughter Becks on Sat  6.0 miles

22 Apr:  We enjoyed a lovely day exercising, eatingi, walking, computer ing, sleeping, and managing a second walk on the Breakwater with very light rain.  It was lovely seeing the Great Blue Herons fly up as we walked, and we marveled at how the baby ducks have grown in just a week. ( 5.84 miles plus week #9 of 17 in fitness center)

21 Apr:  MEDICAL Stomach is gradually better.  Cynthia had an appointment with a periodontist, followed by a late lunch at Jason’s Deli. She needs to eat soft food like soft serve ice cream, two little cones one in each hand.  We stopped at Walmart where Ron bought Haagen Daz Dulce De Leche.   Mmmm! We walked a second time accruing 6.57 miles

20 Apr:  We woke up well rested and thankful Easter morning and enjoyed a significant sermon from Pastor England.  After lunch and a nap, we were unable to get out for a walk because rain just kept coming all afternoon - - - and it is time to get to bed again.  Goodnight. 

19 Apr:  MEDICAL We didn't sleep better, and Cynthia's stomach pains were finally distressing enough to go spend the day at ER.  As days spent at ER go, it was a wonderful day.  They did chest X-Rays, CAT scan, and decided that thtere is no medical emergency to worry about.  Best we can figure is that Cynthia might have stress-induced ulcer.  After all, she has a difficult hubsand to live with.  4.0 Miles 

18 Apr:  Good Friday was indeed very good for us, thank God.  Ron slogs ever so slowly through the James Lea appendices, mostly wasting his time looking for better news in the media.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day - - - and it is time to get to bed again.  It would be nice if we slept better for a change.  Goodnight.  5.72 miles

17 Apr:  We arose reasonably early, exercised and got distracted by e-mail.  The day had already warmed up a bit before we started our walk.  It was pleasant and windy until we turned around to come back.  Cynthia finished her second day of workouts this week.  After eating a bit of lunch (Cynthia drinks hers now) we embarked on the motorcycle for more fluids for the girlie.  We are home and preparing to work more on James Lea.  Cynthia has nearly finished her book of scriptural meditations.  The breakwater walk at sunset is always so lovely, with Great Blue Herons flying right in front of us, a lot of ducks in the no wake area with their babies are precious.  The wind from the lake was strong tonight.  6.60 miles. 

16 Apr:  Pacemaker Recorded Late!  Walking ran late!  The plan was to walk early to beat the heat, however, it didn’t happen until noon. The walk was pleasant because of clouds and wind.  Cynthia started fitness center week #8 of 17.  She is proud of herself!   She has had a stomach ache for two weeks, likely due to gorging on Brussel sprouts at Oscars Bistro; he prepares way too much delicious food for us.  Therefore, Cynthia is drinking meals for a few days.  ClearLiquid, not liquor, in the blender is tasty.  Our total mileage for the day: 6.66 miles.

15 Apr:  MEDICAL: Our $15.00 IRS tax bill is paid.  This is another early to rise AM for the ride to Brenham, Texas for a physical by the ophthalmologist in preparation for Ron's cataract surgery.  The visit was brief; Ron is fit for the surgery in a month.  We had breakfast/ lunch at Magnolia Diner, followed by a late afternoon zoom call with our fiduciary. 2.46 miles.

14 Apr:  Ron wanted to get up at eight AM, but he stayed quietly in bed letting his beloved sleep.  The success of our relationship is because we want the best for the other.  This is most certainly true.  Therefore, we are up and ready to venture forth into the heat of the day.  It was indeed a great day.  The trek to the lake was uneventful and the heat bearable.  With tonight’s walk on the Breakwater, we totaled 6.0 miles, and Cynthia closed all her rings.

13 Apr:  Palm Sunday worship at Grace Lutheran was followed by lunch at Oscar’s Restaurant.  We over-ate, Cynthia napped, then downloaded the Family TreeMaker update before driving to the Fitness Center for upper body work.  She completed week #7 of 17.  Ron worked on his Mac, and he walked to the lake despite the 86 degree temperature.  Walking the Breakwater tonight was pleasant because of lake breezes.  Three cute momma ducks were swimming around with their six babies each. 3.20 miles for CFB; Ron likely totaled six or seven miles.  A couple at the restaurant said they enjoyed watching us, asked if we are married.  Evidently most married couples don’t act like us, like high school freshmen.

four generations of girlies

12 Apr:  Four generations plus Ron, ate lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in the Woodlands.  Actually, Hayden drank her lunch.  The Sourdough bread has 50 grams of fat and 260 calories!  We walked the Breakwater just before dark.

11 Apr:  A glorious day awaits.  Yay for Ron who completed all four of Raquel’s reports and started on James Lea Country Line.  We walked this AM until one-thirty.  After lunch Cynthia left Ron without adult supervision to get prettified.  The weather tonight beckons us to do a second walk.  6.02 miles

10 Apr:  With high temperatures forecast for later today, we got out for our morning walk "as early as possible" and finished before 1 o'clock including Cynthia's upper body workout at the fitness center.  Ron is determined to finish Raquel’s four reports for the appendices today. 6.13 Miles 

We saw one field like this.

9 Apr: MEDICAL Uffda! That is Cynthia’s favorite Norwegian word to express “Uffda,” for a 5:30 AM arising.  We managed to exercise, shower, eat and be on the road by 8:00, arriving in Brenham, Texas by 9:13, only 32 minutes early for Ron’s ophthalmologist appointment.  Dr. Beim marveled that Ron was motionless while he took measurements of his eyes.  The ride home was a feast for our eyes!  It is bluebonnet time in Texas, wildflowers are covering the fields.  The bluebonnet fields we saw were almost as lush as shown in the photo above of Ennis, Texas by Gary Meisel.  We had lunch in Montgomery at Magnolia Diner and rejoiced at the market upturn. 4.0 miles.

8 Apr:  After oatmeal and exercise, the rising markets captivated our attention before focusing on the gorgeous day: the weather is sunny with a high of 73 degrees forecast by three PM.  We did our morning walk to the lake and went shopping for groceries.   6.45 Miles, Week #7 Fitness Center, the increased weights produced fatigue followed by increased endorphins

7 Apr:  The market remains volatile, but news reports are more positive.  The temperature at 53 degrees was delightful walking to the lake this AM.  We walked the breakwater twice later in the day to make certain all of the rings are closed on Cynthia’s Apple watch. 7.19 miles and 16,860 steps.  Yay for us!

6 Apr, Sunday:  Worship was followed by Pastor Diane’s retirement luncheon.  Cynthia completed week #6 of added fitness training.  We walked to the lake in real-feel temperature of 46 degrees.  Ron enjoyed visiting with bro Dean on the phone. 5.20 miles that includes extra walking at the fitness center. 

5 Apr:  We were up early again to retrain our bodies for very early ophthalmologist appointments over the next six weeks, starting Wednesday.  Except that this AM, forecast to be rainy, Ron fell back to sleep.  He even smiles in his sleep!  Rain was forecast for the day, beginning at ten AM, except it didn’t rain until noon, and thunderstorms never did arrive.  Ron is continuing work on Volume II. Ron is walking tonight  Cynthia is editing meditations.

4 Apr:  Can we get up early again tomorrow??  Ron is delighted the .pngs in Volume I are already gray and 300 DPI.  He will correct two items in Volume I and not duplicate the two appendices already in Volume I in the Volume of appendices, Volume II.  He has six of the remaining thirteen appendices almost finished, but the remaining appendices are extensive.  Can you tell that Cynthia is obsessed with this project.  I, Ron, should tell y'all that I love her dearly. Cynthia is letting Barb know what we are accomplishing, but she really is obsessed with getting three volumes to the publisher…(from The beloved bride)  Our total mileage today is 6.12.

3 Apr:  Can we get up early today??  Well, yes! but by the time we were walking, the day was hot and humid.  We oatmealed and exercised before enduring the elements.   The stock market fell so abruptly and so far that Ron was able to sell his most recent QQQ put for a profit.  Now he has the wherewithal to continue "playing" for at least a little while.  Neither of us can tell the difference in the 200 ppi pages versus the 300 ppi pages, but there is a lot to do between now and Volume 2 completion, but all systems are go - - - for tomorrow.  We walked 6.85 miles plus worked out at the fitness center.  Ron has been doing fitness center workouts every walking day. Cynthia started 3 times a week six weeks ago and we have twelve more weeks to do this before we start traveling. 

2 Apr:  Can we get up early three days in a row??  Not so much, but we did get out to walk before the day heated up.  Ron is experiencing approach avoidance with James Lea.  The new LibreOffice 24.2 works wonderfully for the new huge files including hundreds of JPGs, but it changed the pagination on volume 1 already completed.  Fortunately Ron was able to also install the old version 7.6.4 which read the old file correctly. (From his beloved bride: isn’t Ron brilliant?)  Cynthia’s lab results are excellent.  We walked twice but not so intense, so we walked only 5.65 miles. 13, 750 steps. 

1 Apr:  MEDICAL: Can we get up early two days in a row??  Yay!  We did it, groggily.  We exercised, then walked to the fitness center for Cynthia's upper body workout.  After noon Cynthia saw a periodontal dentist at one, after a stop for fitting at Carmen’s Alterations.  The peridontist was such a lovely, sweet lady from Greece, and we had a nice visit besides Cynthia's diagnosis.  After the dental visit we ate lunch at our favorite Jason’s Deli, shopped at ALDI, found Ron’s old hard drive at the storage locker, picked up a James Lea 200 ppi versus 300 ppi print comparison at UPS, got groceries at Wally World, returned to our condo, and walked a second time today. 5.12 miles.

Marching toward better vision (we hope)

We are in Texas until Ron's cataract surgeries May 14 and Jun 11.

Ron's defense

31 Mar, Mon:  What a surprise!  We were up by 7:00 AM and out walking at 9:30!  Cynthia continues working on her meditations book.  Ron is documenting the indexing of the James Lea book but he doesn't remember much.  We walked morning and evening for 6.9901010123 miles

30 Mar, Sunday:  We made it to the church on time and afterwards enjoyed a pleasant fellowship with others from Iowa and Minnesnowda.  Then we enjoyed lunch at Oscar's, but without Jon, who was working his second job.  Ron slept nearly two hours this afternoon while Cynthia edited her book of meditations for publication.  Ron walked, Cynthia continued editing. 

29 Mar:  Our day was productive!  We walked twice.  Cynthia completed week #5 adding the fitness center workout to exercise routine with three sets of 12 reps each machine and weights.  Genius Ron updated Libre Office on his new Mac and he is very pleased to have created a pdf of six Lea files in 300 DPI and 200 DPI for comparison in gray tone.  Yay.  7.0 miles.

28 Mar:  Cynthia’s Clergy luncheon was held at the Blue Agave Mexican cantina south of I-10, the widest and maybe busiest freeway in the U.S.  Our travel time was an hour and eighteen minutes to our destination.  We were blessed to miss heavy rain, but it rained heavily into the restaurant.  On the way home, we stopped at the bank, loaded up with groceries, ate salmon dinner at Oscar’s Bistro, and then we walked to the fitness center with 4.01 miles total for the day.

27 Mar:  MEDICAL We are quite proud of getting up earlier today, especially since Cynthia has an appointment with her foot doctor.  The doctor said everything looks good, sounds good and that Cynthia can consider herself an elite athelete because of all the walking we do.  (I think her age has something to do with it also… 18 again is youthful)  Then we dropped off recycling and bought new shoes at FleetFoot - from the same delightful sales girl.  Once again we escaped from Jason's Deli waaay too much overfull (and happy).   We walked despite mist and Cynthia completed her fitness center circuit. Ron was too full from lunch. We walked the breakwater tonight. Ron is working on Zachariah Lea. 4.87 Miles 

26 Mar:  We will be quite proud if we get up earlier today.  Hmm! We did not and have been crazy busy.  Ron is quite happy that he found another disk for his backups, tried a couple of new things, and upgraded to LibreOffice 24.2.1.  He also retrieved a few directories sfor from backups that had failed during migration to the new computer last Dec 2023.  Cynthia has new exercises from Lauren. 5.38 miles 

25 Mar:  We are trying to get up earlier without much success because we need our sleep and don't get to bed early enough.  Nonetheless, we did manage to get out the door for a nice walk before the day heated up too much and enjoyed a second short walk out the breakwater at sunset.  Since Ron has been experiencing difficulties with LibreOffice, he found that there is a newer version available, but backing up the computer before installation is recommended.  The first backup went fine, but using the old Aitport Time Capsule for a backup has proven to be the next stumbling block.  Stay Tuned.   6.10 miles 

24 Mar:  MEDICAL Quest Labs.  Our early start was only so successful, and we had to rush to get out the door at 9:40, but we made it to the lab early.  After that we stopped at the Conroe Library, where Ron discovered that they no longer have the DAR Patriot Index.  Strange how things have changed so fast; they had them only ten or twenty years ago.  Next we got on the road and almost overshot Jason’s Deli because it came up so fast.  Once inside we stuffed ourselves comatose.  We are now attempting couch potato detox.  5.11 Miles 

23 Mar, Sunday:  Ron is excited to see if his Sunday dress clothes fit more comfortably today.  Unfortunately we discovered a leak when we parked at church; we suspect the radiator.  After anxiety and Google, Ron discovered that his automotive knowledge is centuries out-of-date.  Coolant is now brightly colored, and air conditioners drip lots of water on humid days.  Cynthia has reached goal of 52 Sunday Offering meditations to be published.  She will organize and edit into five topics.  Now that Ron has finished four appendices (again), we need to print them to see if 200 PPI is sufficient for this book.  5.02 Miles 

22 Mar:  Since Ron's cataract schedule in April is five early morning appointments 50 miles away, we decided to start getting to bed earlier and getting up earlier.  We will let you know how this works out.  We enjoyed our late "morning" warm walk.  Today Ron weighed in at 175.2 pounds - - - FINALLY.  Cynthia completed week #4 of adding fitness center exercise circuit to the usual morning stretches and crunches.  Our second walk was on the breakwater with a lovely sunset, lots of fishermen, and duckies captured on video.  The last 14 days Cynthia has burned six hundred calories a day more than she has eaten, and her weight is good.  6.41 miles. 

21 Mar:  MEDICAL  We are totally unaccustomed to arising at 5:30 in order to be on the road at 7 AM in order to see the dentist for an evaluation of Cynthia's jaw discomfort after the root canal.  There is good news and bad news.  The good news is that the root canal is healing nicely.  The bad news is that Cynthia has bone loss around the two adjacent teeth.  (Ron is too hard headed to lose bone.)  Then we had errands to run and arrived at two places before they opened, got the emissions tested, the registration renewed, and had another breakfast at Magnolia Diner.  We are back at the condo at noon:thirty.  Ron finished checking the James Lea appendices and finally remembered that he needs to redo all the JPGs into PNG files so as to crop, resize and grey-scale them.  No wonder he set it aside for so long.  We went for a lovely walk, returning home just as the evening was starting to grow dim.  6.07 miles, 14,810 Steps. 

20 Mar:  Cynthia survived even more weight and more reps at the fitness center.  We walked twice today, second time on the breakwater in a chilly wind. 6.18 miles

19 Mar:  Happy Birthday Grandson Steven.  (He teaches 8th grade science and chemistry.)  Ron continued checking James Lea appendices while riding with Cynthia to do errands.  This evening Ron enjoyed listening to Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, talk about AI.  3.79 miles. 

18 Mar:  We got out the door earlier (11:something) and were pleased that it was quite windy which made the warm day very nice.  Ron called the doctor's office, and his cataract surgeries are scheduled for May 14 and June 11.  Whoopie.!!  And we walked to the point again tonight, but there were no spectacular sunset clouds.  Life is still good.  Actually, quite good.  6.54 miles.  Cynthia started week #4 doing upper body work at the fitness center by adding extra weights. 

17 Mar:  Happy St Patrick’s Day!  Ron’s QQQ bid was successful.  We are crazy busy, but we walked mid-day despite the heat.  Ron walked out the breakwater at sunset and was rewarded with terrific red streamers across the sky.  4.64 miles 

Happy grandmother holding Hayden

at six weeks, Theo is this active

16 Mar, Sunday:  Son Jon picked up our car from the mechanic in Willis who did some fine tuning.  We drove to Roxanne’s and enjoyed Baby Hayden for two hours,  then drove to Jason’s Deli for lunch with granddaughter Samantha, her husband Adam, Noah (3) and new baby Theo (2 months).  After we returned home we walked for 5.36 miles with 13,030 steps.  We've seen the red buds and a couple of other budding trees, but it was quite a shock to realize that several trees are already fully leafed out, fully green.  Yayay, while Cynthia was driving, Ron started the James Lea appendices for Volume II and was delighted to discover that he had done more on it than he remembered. 

Pritikin Super Stars ;)

15 Mar:  Two walks, 9.02 miles.  We stopped to chat with Kyle and Leslie who live along our usual walking trail.  Lesley took our picture, and Brian from Pritikin posted the picture on Pritikin Peeps labeled Pritikin Super Stars.

14 Mar:  We slept better and late and had a very nice, warm walk starting shortly after noon.  Looks like another lazy day developing.   We had two great walks before watching the Space X launch.  Cynthia watched the Challenger launch blow up and hasn't watched another launch until tonight.  This launch was marvelous.  Ron was absolutely astounded to see the booster rocket reverse trajectory and return to land upright on a launch pad.  5.18 miles

13 Mar:  Cynthia didn't sleep well for the third night in a row.  We had a nice walk, beginning about noon (warm), and were able to take an hour nap after that.  Retirement is great !!  It s amazing how little we can get done in a delightful retirement.   4.14 miles 

12 Mar:  Our walk started at 11:30 AM with wind and ended warm.  4.64 miles.  Other than that we accomplished nothing.  Lazy day.  Cynthia delivered a three minute reflection on John 6 at the Lenten service tonight.  Jon drove us because our car is being worked on.  4.64 miles

11 Mar:  70 degrees, sunshine, a great breeze and low humidity created a great day in Texas.  And wow!  We reached the lake to discover two college girls sunbathing.  Ron enjoyed seeing a bikini.  Our evening walk to the point was delightful.  As we approached, a huge flock of ducks (actually American Coots with their bright white beaks - click here) flowed into the water like a giant wave and several great blue herons kept watchful eyes on us.  It is wonderful fun to hear Ron belly laughing watching old Red Skelton shows (click here).  7.05 miles, 17,206 steps

10 Mar:  On this gorgeous, sunshiny day, we walked 7.14 miles in two trips.  Ron continues compulsively attending his financial accounts.  Cynthia is preparing a three-minute reflection on John 6:51, (Jesus is Living Bread) for the first Wednesday in Lent.

9 Mar, Sunday:  We need to get up in the dark to get to church in time.  Oops!  We were unable to sleep last night and finally fell asleep when we should have been arising for church.  It was so bad that we didn't fully wake up until after noon.

8 Mar:  Cynthia was on a tear, cleaning house with smelly cleaners that forced Ron to finish breakfast outside.  Cynthia walked to the fitness center; Ron walked to the lake and back doing his usual trail maintenance.  All is good.  5.02 Miles. 11,933 steps for Cynthia 

7 Mar:  7.0 Miles, 17,183 steps.  Ron was quite impressed by a ninety-year-old man at the fitness center.  We intend to be that able when we get to 90 and beyond.  QQQ came up enough for Ron to squeak out of one option (gamble) with a profit of $64.

6 Mar:  7.17 Miles.  Cynthia gets close to closing all of her Apple watch fitness rings many days, but today we closed them all.  Yay !!  17,399 Steps

5 Mar:  4.93 Miles  Thankfully, after our AM walk, success was also achieved in the QQQ world. 

4 Mar:  Ron finished writing postcards and did get to the post office in time to buy postcard stamps, but his latest gamble in QQQ options tanked due to the fright over tariffs.  It took a while to understand that the Value Added Taxes imposed by most other countries in the world force Americans to pay towards the support of foreign governments. 4.68 Miles

Mardi Gras

Tina's Glass Valentine Tree

3 Mar:  Our string of afternoon naps came to an end.  Ron wrote postcards, planning to mail them but arrived at the post office too late to buy stamps.  On the ride to the Post Office, a few budding red buds caught Ron's eye.  Spring is coming soon to a Texas near us.  We were delighted to get to bed reasonably early again this evening.  5.5 Miles 

2 Mar, Sunday:  Today we got up early enough to be ready when Jon showed up to give us a ride to church.  Afterwards we all enjoyed lunch at Oscar's Bistro (click here).  Ron spent an hour lining up which postcards he wanted to send to which people as a reply to Christmas cards, and then we laid down for a nice afternoon nap.  Retirement is wonderful.  4.6 Miles 

1 Mar:  Here we are, lying in bed thinking about exercising.  Here we are, sitting and eating after our 4.24-mile walk to the lake and back on this beautiful spring day in Texas.  Cynthia is doing circuits in the fitness center on T, Th, and Sat., half-way through the walk.  Here we are, sitting and staring at our electronics after a long afternoon nap. 

February in Sight, but cataracts remain

No, the snow man didn't last from January 20 until today, but Cynthia needed a photograph to brighten up the blog this month.

created by Charlotte, Lauren, & Tyler

28 Feb:  Ron did well with QQQ today.  He hopes that he is finally learning how to profit from options.  We enjoyed a lovely walk in mild weather today and met the most interesting 66-year-old marathon runner.  We also learned the names of John and Cathy the day before they are to return to Le Mars (click here) for a grandchild's birthday.  Two more projects completed this evening; plenty left for tomorrow, but it is time for bed in order to get a good sleep.  Yay - Yay -!!  5.01 Miles. 

27 Feb;  is another memorable day of zero accomplishments, but we had a marvelous time discussing AI, the markets and politics.  On the other hand, part of the beauty of this day is that we both have enjoyed a couple of good nights of sleep, and we got to bed promptly at 9 PM for yet another good sleep.  Isn't it amazing how precious sleep becomes as we age?  I would say that consciousness has a lot to do with sleep.  4.46 miles.

26 Feb:  Up "early" and out the door for a shorter-than-usual walk to the fitness center and back.  Reason being that Cynthia has TWO fingernails in desperate need of professional repair.  (There are some things Ron will never understand.)  After pedicure, her son Jon will bring her back to me and take her car to the mechanic for maintenance, convenient because he will pick up his '69 Cougar from the mechanic.  We were lucky and got in a second walk at 5 pm as it cooled down from the forecast high of 76 degrees.  Winter is over again here in Houston. 7.83 Miles.  We attended the Walden Community Improvement Meeting; what a show.!!  

25 Feb:  A beautiful day is forecast and has arrived.  We walked early in hopes of getting a second walk later today.  Pat (Hi Pat!) noticed that we mentioned her a couple of days ago, so we intend to keep her checking by continuing mentions.  Cynthia did a circuit on the machines at the fitness center under Ron's watchful eye, as supervised by the two ladies working at the gym.  Paul reintroduced himself to us; he is from NE Minnesota, up near Lindstrom.  This area is the first Swedish settlement in Minnesota.  I should thank him for setting me off in search of Pastor Ingqvist (click here).  Yahoo for us! 7.18 miles after two walks!  

24 Feb:  MEDICAL (45 Miles) Today we see the dentist in Montgomery again, to have him fix a sharp edge exposed by the cleaning last Wednesday.  Then we walked to the fitness center and back before going to another dentist on 336 NE for Cynthia's root canal.  WOW were those ever long needles on his syringes, and the dental probes were also amazingly long.  The dentist and his assistant had a great juggling act with her feeding him yet another instrument again and again and again.  No need for painkillers or antibiotics, so he says.  Nice guy with a winning smile, just like brother Dean.  Ron walked a second time at dusk, and it got very dark by the time he was returning.  Mark hailed as he was passing the Lodge, and we talked for fifteen minutes before he left on a 20-mile bicycle training ride after dark.  Ron is still finishing up other projects before commencing work on James Lea volume 2, appendices. 4.20 miles. 

23 Feb, Sunday:  Sundays we get up early to get to church on time.  After church we stopped at Oscar's for lunch wth Jon, and a good time was had by all.  It was already 3 pm before Ron headed out the door for his usual walk.  There were puddles on the pathway, but they were not as big as usual, but then again, the wet grass was also not as soggy as usual.  Apparently Ron's puddle filling has been at least a little bit successful.  We are in the deep freeze again with this second episode of winter.  Wednesday's high was 29 degrees.  We thought winter was over when we had highs above 80 degrees for the entire week of Feb 2-9.  This is the second installment of winter, but a warm up is forecast for tomorrow onwards.

22 Feb:  After a day indoors avoiding any possibility of rain, Ron decided to embrace the risk by walking at 5 PM.  Oops, no, there was a wet mist.

21 Feb:  Ron took another slow day to get through his exercises and eat, but there is no rush with temperatures outside in the 30s.  Isn't Texas supposed to be warm in the winter?

20 Feb:  Pat (at the fitness center) wanted to see her name on the blog; Hi Pat.  We went for our walk later in the day, hoping to be a bit warmer, and that sort of worked except that Cynthia no longer owns a pair of gloves that will keep her fingers warm.  We were quite surprised to see a younger woman and her daughter without particularly warm clothing in the parking lot.  She laughed and said they are from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  We were proud to make it all the way to the fitness center and back.

19 Feb:  Medical-Dental 12 Miles.  The new dentist gave us both good reviews, but the teeth cleaning lifted an edge of one of Ron's crowns so that his tongue is constantly drawn to that sharp edge and began bleeding - - - after we had left the dental office and eaten at Magnolia Diner.  The appointment schedule is full for the next several days, so we have to hope that Ron doesn't bleed to death before Monday.

18 Feb:  Cynthia is making good progress preparing Sunday Offerings for publication.  Ron continues to have fun learning more about those descendants of Peter Rambo of Mercer County.  5.20 Miles

17 Feb:  President’s Day.  4:45 Miles 

16 Feb, Sunday: Go To Meet-in Day,  Salmon dinner at The Oscar’s was marvelous.  How fun to meet Mark and his California Valley Girl beauty on the trail. 5.08 Miles. 

15 Feb: Sat:  Ron continues genealogy research on Peter Rambo descendants in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  5.0 Miles

14 Feb:  Happy Valentine’s Day to the most incredible husband in the world.  And Happy Valentine’s Day to all of our friends!  4.32 Miles

13 Feb:  Another lazy, slow day starting out cold and foggy but becoming sunny after a few hours in the morning.   4.53 Miles 

12 Feb:  MEDICAL 12 Miles Dr Sharpless.  Cynthia is organizing her Sunday Offerings for publication.  We walked late afternoon for 4.81 miles.

11 Feb:  Solid fog out the window early this morning with a forecast of rain all day, so we didn't hurry to get out of bed, exercise or eat.  It has been another lazy day of accomplishing next to nothing and enjoying every minute of it.  The new microwave arrived; we made popcorn and are very excited.!!  1.11 miles! 

10 Feb:  We went for a walk late, after the heat dissipated somewhat.  It was very pleasant.  It was great fun to see Mark at the fitness Center. 4.91 Miles 

9 Feb, Sunday:  We attended the Walden Community Church (click here) and enjoyed seeing people we know there.  We decided to walk only to the fitness center and back after the heat diminished just before dark to take it easy on Cynthia's feet and my knees.  We met a couple from Iowa.  John and Cathy. 3.43 miles 

8 Feb:  Another awesome day!  We walked to the lake earlier, but not EARLY.  At three PM, we shopped Walmart for groceries.  On the way home, we stopped at the Cafe on the Green for salmon, but bummer, under new management,  they no longer serve salmon!  So we left, drove home and walked to the Yacht Club for delicious salmon and baked potato.  Feeling energized, we did the lake walk again and met the nicest guy named Shane, who described being in love with his wife: How great is that!  And we did great: 20, 751 steps, 8.73 miles.  Cynthia closed all of the rings on her Apple Watch.

7 Feb:  What a fabulous day, the sun is shining, and half of we are going walking after dark.

6 Feb:  MEDICAL, Ophthalmologist consult in Brenham, Texas 120 miles  Ron is pleased to think he is correct to stick with Dr. Beim, who is a self-professed perfectionist.  His first degree was in aeronautical engineering before he enrolled in medical school, so he is an engineer at heart and communicates with Ron on that frequency.  The downside is that Ron's surgeries will likely be scheduled after Dr Beim's second shoulder surgery.  Oh well, perfection takes a little longer.

5 Feb:  Ron enjoyed a relaxing day after finishing the latest genealogy addition from cousin Jessica.  We walked once to the lake with a reduced schedule of trail maintenance to continue Ron's physical recovery from over-indulgence on trail maintenance.  The stock market closed, so it is time to ride the motorcycle to get groceries, raspberries and frozen mixed veggies in particular.

4 Feb:  MEDICAL:  (40 miles) Woodforest CVS supposedly takes RX bottles to recycle.  Maybe not.  We dropped ours off, but Ron is uncertain the drop off isn’t specifically for medications.  From there, we went to the podiatrist, and then to Fleet Feet to get new shoes with a 10% doctors discount.  Finally, we enjoyed dinner at Jason’s Deli on 336 N.  There was still daylight time to walk.  Because we enjoyed a lovely visit with a couple at the lake, we walked home in the dark.  5.02 miles for the day.

3 Feb:  We slept crazy late, walked 4.05, miles and Cynthia baked salmon for our dinner.  Ron walked a second time after dark.

2 Feb, Sunday:  After worship. we ate lunch with Jon at Oscar’s Bistro.  4.6 miles

1 Feb:  We walked earlier today than usual because the forecast was for warm.  We were happy that it was quite warm enough without being too warm except in places.  Trail maintenance continues albeit at a slower pace, and we met a very friendly guy at the bench, Mike Butler.  Cynthia got away in the afternoon for her essential girliecures, but Ron kept typing genealogy.  We look forward because, "After All, Tomorrow is Another Day." 4.65 Miles

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025

31 Jan:  How did another day sneak by without us noticing?  This getting old stuff is rediculous, the things that happen when you aren't watching.  I guess I do remember that we rushed out the door after our walk to drive to Oscar's to eat, and were greatly surprised to find Jon there ahead of us, since he was hungry and decided to eat before dinner time crowds appeared.  Then we picked up packages for Cynthia from his house and grocery shopped before arriving back at the condo in the fading light of evening.

30 Jan:  Another month is rolling to an end, and we are happy to be alive, thankful to God for whatever still works, and very thankful for our life together.  Thunderstorms in the forecast and reports of nine stalled cars on I-45 convinced Cynthia to cancel her appointment with a foot doctor today, but we did walk and splashed through a rivulet from something burst somewhere.  4.51 Miles 

29 Jan:  MEDICAL ENT (40 miles) appointment for Cynthia's hearing aid adjustments after we dropped Ron's recycling in Spring.  The rain, foggy windshield, and cloudy skies made driving unpleasant until the return trip when Cynthia's iPhone connected to her hearing aids and she was able to hear the iPhone GPS instructions.  Ron walked in the evening with more trail maintenance, but his knees and hands are complaining that they are overworked, so he might have to take a break for a week. 

28 Jan:  Ron FINALLY managed to get the kitchen counters cleared so that Cynthia could wax ecstatic cleaning them.  Then we walked out the door before noon for our walk across the peninsula, hoping that Mauricio would be able to fix the microwave while we were absent.  No such luck, so our popcorn consumption habit is awaiting a new microwave to be ordered, delivered and installed.  Until then Ron will have to be content eating carrots.   We were delighted and surprised to run into Jon in Walmart.  4.39 miles 

27 Jan:  We walked together for 4.45 miles, and Ron walked again after dark night.  (Trail maintenance is much more difficult when you cannot see the trail.)    

26 Jan, Sunday:  We drove to church in light rain and were surprised to see a good attendance despite the rain.  After church, we enjoyed lunch with Bill and Merry at Oscar’s Bistro.  Ron told them he had the perfect life as a bachelor, but leave it to God to improve upon perfection.  Son Jon is mostly over his cold, but decided against subjecting us all to possibility of contagion.  The rain seems mostly over, but the fog is so thick that we cannot see the boats in the marina 200 yards away. 

25 Jan: Cloudy and cold, but we ventured forth to walk 4.96 miles.  Cynthia made oatmeal/banana cookies.  Ron walked a second time ar dark. 

24 Jan:  Friday, Today we woke up feeling wonderfully fine and well rested.  Hallelujah.!!  4.45 miles for the two of us, then Ron walked a second time while Cynthia watched the movie Bonhoeffer.

23 Jan:  After awakening, exercising and eating, we set out on our usual walk and then went grocery shopping, ate dinner at Magnolia Diner, and suddenly the day was over.  How does times fly so quickly?  At least tonight we got to bed a bit earlier (11 pm). . 4.54 miles 

22 Jan:  Jon said that he was happy to have his mom in his house, so we stayed until Oscar's opened at 11 am and went there for lunch.  Ron had enjoyed the flounder, vegetables and rice so much yesterday that he ordered the same meal again today.  W were honored that Oscar came out to deliver a plate of food and stopped to chat with us briefly.  He is a great chef.  Once back in our condo, we walked our usual and returned to our usual activities (genealogy for Ron).  Despite good intentions, we seldom get to bed early enough.  4.76 miles 

selfie, Jon, Mom, & Ron

21 Jan:  We awakened to a cold house, 53°, and no electricity, so after exercises, Cynthia called son Jon to come rescue us from the cold.  He did, and we discovered that many restaurants are closed, particularly the Magnolia Diner that we count on for our egg white veggie omelets made without oil.  The local ABC news channel is reporting NOTHING but the snow; kids are sledding, and highways are slushy and empty.  The official advice is stay home; stay off the roads.  We had a text message the electrical problem was resolved at our condo.  On the way home we stopped for lunch at Oscar’s new Bistro (click here). During lunch, we had a new txt message the electrical problem returned.  We are back at Jon’s house for the night.

20 Jan:  Our heat and the electric outlets on one side of the condo go on and off sporatically.  The power company is still working to fix it tonight at 8:31.  Cynthia made yummy chili and watched the Trump inauguration; indeed many of the speeches were very inspiring.  Ron walked twice today and thoroughly enjoyed snow flurries after dark.  As he returned home, the shrieks and noise of children playing in the snow warmed his heart.

19 Jan:  We enjoy watching the Trump rally.  For those of you that missed it, you failed to see the numerous women he placed in cabinet positions and the many "persons of color" similarly honored.  It was too windy for Cynthia to walk, so Ron had to walk twice. 

18 Jan:  Disappeared in the usual fog of genealogy.  But we walked 4.5 miles. 

17 Jan:  Despite our best intentions and commitments, we lounged inside all day without walking because the forecast was rain, which never actually materialized.  Maybe we will walk now at 4:40 pm.  Ron spent the day on genealogy again after first tending to QQQ and the LA fire briefing at https://www.youtube.com/@calfireimt2390.  Then, since Cynthia's sister, niece, daughter and granddaughter are all realizing a need for and are motivated to engage in better lifestyles, I looked for the Finnish studies we learned about at the Pritikin in 2021.  I discovered that I was searching for Dr. Pekka Puska and North Karelia, Finland.  I found a couple of wordy papers and a great hour-long video of Dr. Puska, but I needed a short summary and eventually stumbled across a fascinating fifteen-minute U-Tube video about Dr. Scharffenberg espousing much the same mantra in fifteen minutes.  It was time well spent, even if no one out there is ready to consider changing their diet and lifestyle.  Tonight, Cynthia encountered a fraudulent News Nation website, entered her credit card for a free subscription and stopped when a price appeared.  She received a fraud notice from Visa to phone them.  She had encountered a fraudulent website.  Thankfully, she escaped being a victim of fraud.  4.48 miles.

16 Jan:  Our 13th great-grand baby, a boy named Theo, was born last night to Samantha and Adam, joining three-year-old Noah in the family.  He is very big and so cute!  It was exciting to see Ron’s QQQ Call prove fruitful.  We are glued to our computers doing genealogy, but we walked 4.57 miles, doing trail maintenance en route.  Cynthia prepared salmon baked with blueberries and raspberries for dinner.  The spring flowers Ron bought made a festive date night.

15 Jan: MEDICAL. (40 miles) Cynthia had a 2:30 appointment with Allergy Dr. who refilled her nasal spray RX and said to come back next year.  Our day was so fine.  We enjoyed a lovely, pleasant walk with Ron doing trail maintenance. 4.76 miles.

14 Jan:  The LA fire is shifting.  It is three miles east from Cynthia’s nephew in Westwood and five miles from her niece in Montecito.  Today, we housecleaned. 4.54 miles

13 Jan:  was a great day!  The sun was shining, the weather comfortable for walking without jackets.  The warning dash lights in the car went out after getting air in the tires and the oil change completed.  We shopped for groceries, Ron watched a helpful video from the LA fire department, and we responded to genealogy email. 4.5 miles.

12 Jan:  Sunday… we worshipped at Grace Lutheran; friends were happy to see us again. Jon joined us for brunch at Magnolia Diner. After taking him home, we walked to the lake and back. We met the Iowa Couple, Chris and Connie, in the parking lot next door and enjoyed the chat. The deer were out and about in droves!  Ron is working on Rambo lineage.  Cynthia is writing the SCS committee report   4.5 miles

11 Jan:  We moved at a snail’s pace until afternoon working on genealogy.  Cynthia checked the LA fire frequently, concerned about her nephew who lives minutes from UCLA.  At two PM we walked 4.53 miles.  The temperature at 52 degrees felt warm because the sun was bright.

10 Jan:  Today dawned dry, cold and windy, so Ron is walking by himself again while Cynthia sits inside to allow her cough more time to disappear.  Ron bought a QQQ call option, but jumped the gun and bought while it was on the way down.  Instead of turning around, it went down further.

9 Jan:  It rained a lot today, so we only ventured out for groceries.  (Although Cynthia indulged in some sort of feminine facial enhancement. Cf: she dyed her eyebrows.)  Ron addressed the remaining cards he plans to mail out to friends tomorrow.  (The goal was to reduce his footprint in the storage locker.)  Now he is cleaning the kitchen a bit to assuage his weefee's ruffled feathers.  Tomorrow beckons as a day to straignten up the condo.

8 Jan:  Our appointment with the electrophysiologist, Dr. Dougherty, is today at one PM.  The wildfires in Pacific Palisades are too close for comfort for Cynthia’s nephew.  Both of his sons attended high school and junior high in Pacific Palisades.  The high school burned down. Robbie evacuated his in-laws from PP last night.  Ron is delighted to have discovered DNA that comes from a Peter Rambo born in 1751, thanks to new GEDmatch users. 

Houston sunset from the 17th floor

7 Jan:  We are excited today to see Sasha . . . and to eat at Jason's Deli (although Salata was a better choice and cheaper).  The Uber ride worked nicely.  Cynthia is very happy with today’s haircuts saying: “Ron is exceedingly handsome, and Sasha capitalizes on Ron’s good looks with a great haircut.”  We walked the Rice University perimeter once again, but our days mileage was only 4.5 because we did not have the long morning walk.  Our lab results are returned with excellent results.  Cynthia’s triglycerides were slightly elevated due to eating more bread than normal this past month.  Too bad! Dave’s thin-sliced sprouted grain bread is so good.  Ron is working on Rambo Genealogy with plans to begin the Lea appendices in a few days.  The photo is a view of downtown Houston from our 17th floor hotel room in the medical center at sunset. 

6 Jan:  BRRRRR! 30 degrees with a real feel of 16 really wasn’t terrible walking five city blocks to our medical appointment at 7:30 AM, but it seemed colder walking back to the hotel at 10:30.  The Dr agreed we are still alive.  He had no changes to our lifestyle, our weight, nutrition or exercise.  We will see him next year.  Back at the hotel, we ate oatmeal before walking 5.5 miles around the Rice campus perimeter until we reached a needed necessary room in Dr Gould’s office building. We next stopped at Salata Restaurant (click here) to enjoy a huge salad with salmon.  Cuddled up to watch Bill O'Reilly, we called this our date night.  Cynthia is not over her cough. 

5 Jan:  MEDICAL  (250.00) Jon gave us a ride to the medical center for a 3-day stay for annual checkups with the cardiologist on Monday and the electrophysiologist on Wednesday.  Hilton staff delivered a microwave to the room ASAP, so we are off to walk around Rice University on their delightful gravel path stepping around and sometimes in rain puddles.  We turned too early and wandered around lost on the university grounds for a while.  5.25 miles! Woohoo

4 Jan:  Ron Beatty: “Time is a luxury.  Why waste it in pursuit of "luxuries" that mean nothing?  Instead, enjoy experiencing the luxury of time (to do genealogy?.”   We have luxuriated until 3:30 PM.  Ron walked at 5:26.

3 Jan:  This new year Ron has taken to lying in bed for hours until his back warms up before beginning exercises.  It might not be most helpful and is certainly not productive, but he enjoys this little bit of luxury.  We had a nice walk to the lake, trail maintenance included, and drove to get groceries.  Ron finished transferring numbers from his account statements into his spreadsheets.  Next is to find all the numbers for QQQ transactions, and then we can wait for 1099s to arrive.

2 Jan:  Cynthia kicks in a New Year’s resolution to arise early, walk soon, and eat light.  Instead, she kicked that can down the road to begin the original resolution Jan. 3.  Ron went for a second walk after dark.

1 Jan. 2025:  Wishing all of our friends and family a happy, healthy, and WISE New Year.  Today’s weather is lovely.  We walked to the lake and met the three of the nicest young people who were preparing to grill a lunch.  It was great fun talking about hiking and national parks.  The young lady was named Marya.  I did not catch the names of the guys.  4.0 Miles 

Merry December Together in Texas

Cynthia is the shorter one

31 Dec:  We have thoroughly enjoyed the day!  It certainly is a day for reflection on all we have to be thankful for.  Cynthia is baking salmon.  Apologies to Barb for allowing the blog to become boring.  (Barb says I did better after updates.)  Once Ron finished with genealogy, he had to attend to finances, RMD and asset allocation calculations.  Things should be better in the New Year (for at least a few days.)  Today we took a break from walking although Ron did ride the motorcycle to get groceries.  He was quite surprised to get a call from Emily Rice and then even more surprised to discover that she is a world famous astrophysicist.  There were also a couple of genealogical e-mails of great interest - new cousin connections dating back to the early 1800s.

30 Dec:  Rise and Shine!  We are headed out for a long walk on this glorious day.  It was a surprise to see the markets drop so much.  Ron completed his required minimum distribution (good thing he called Fidelity - that avoided a mistake and possible penalty), and he is nearly finished with his asset allocation.  Cynthia treated herself to a mani/pedi cure, feeling fully recovered from bronchitis.  Ron walked to the lake again at dark thirty.

29 Dec:  Another quiet day putting walnuts in their proper place.  (That is an in joke.)  Ron was downloading and recording financial statements into his spreadsheets all day and walked just before dark

28 Dec:  Worn out, guess what we did today?

27 Dec: Worn out, we slept late again!

26 Dec:  Worn out, we slept late.  Ron mailed more cards late.  He walked to the lake after dark as usual.

25 Dec:  The family Christmas gathering at Paul’s with his siblings, replete with a British Christmas dinner, was fabulous.  Paul and Cheryl tempted us with food that was just too good.  Ron succumbed to chicken Wellington (divine) and cherry pie (delicious).  Everyone behaved themselves, and Fyn (ten years old) played a Christmas tune on piano that she had taught herself in only two hours by watching a video.  Roxanne and Julie gave Christmas presents to Ron & Cynthia; they gave us healthy foods !!  Kiira brought one-month-old Hayden Grace but kept her in the library away from potential colds & flu.  Son Jon drove us to and fro, so we were entirely relaxed for the whole time. 

24 Dec:  Cynthia, after much internal debate and soul searching, is well enough to go to the family gathering tomorrow.  Ron mailed more cards.  This might be the day Ron decided to do trail maintenance to fill in the holes that have jarred his back while walking after dark.  Interesting that so many people use this trail, but no one maintains it.

23 Dec:  Ron mailed Christmas cards; we shopped for groceries and picked up a prescription at Lakeside Pharmacy.  MEDICAL 6 miles) We will decide tomorrow night if Cynthia’s cough has improved enough to attend the family gathering with a newborn present.  Ron walked at 5:16 PM 

22 Dec:  Ron walked before breakfast today, i.e., 9:30.  He walked again at 5:30 PM, and he recorded receipts the rest of the day.  Cynthia’s cough continues to improve.

21 Dec:  Today Ron is walking right after breakfast, i.e. noon.  Late in the day, Ron realized that Cynthia's use of the inhaler was not providing the relief that it should, so he asked Cynthia how she uses an inhaler.  She neglected to breathe out forcibly before inhaling deeply while squirting the inhaler.  These inhalers squirt a mist that immediately penetrates whatever it hits, i.e. usually the back of the throat where it does no good for the breathing.  Cynthia is improving after a good sleep.  The wracking cough stopped wracking and is down to hacking.  It still is exhausting.  Ron walked twice!

20 Dec:  MEDICAL 8:50 AM (72 Miles) we left for Cynthia's annual retina specialist appointment.  This was strictly a routine exam to make certain dry AMD has not turned into wet AMD.  All is stable.  We decided to go to ER next since Cynthia's cough is worser and worser.  Besides Ron was not confident that the Urgent Care nurse practitioner was competent.  Four hours later, after blood pressure, EKG, X-Rays, blood work, inhalation therapy with steroids, we were able to eat at Jason's Deli, our favorite hereabouts.  After dark, Ron walked to the lake and back. 

19 Dec:  And we are awake early today.  Cynthia's cough sounds more normal today, and she is feeling better.  Ron has thought of another couple of people to send cards.   Cynthia needs to get the car license numbers to send to EZ pass.  Turns out the message from TxTag was a scam.  Last thing in the evening Ron walked to the lake and back.  Cynthia's cough is still fierce at times.

18 Dec:  MEDICAL; 36 Miles. Cynthia had a miserable night coughing, so we are visiting Urgent Care first thing. The first Urgent Care doesn't take Medicare or medical insurance, so you are expected to pay out-of-pocket.  We didn't.  The second one was a couple of miles further away, near the marina.  The nurse praticianer said that it is either a cold or allergies.  Cynthia was given a steroid shot and anti-cough pills.  Pills, not syrup for the diabetic.  We fell back to sleep soon after getting home.  The meds are helping.  Ron is writing more Christmas cards!  And Volume I is completed.  Thank you Smooch!  Last thing in the evening Ron walked to the lake and back.

17 Dec:  We again arose late and walked after noon, 4.44 miles.  Ron then finished addressing Christmas cards and rode to the post office to buy stamps, and Eureka, the cards are in the mail.  Now he is working on a few more, but has decided upon the Christmas annual letter; the brief note he sent to cousin Kamie will do nicely.  Cynthia's runny nose and drainage suddenly turned into a dry cough before bed time.

16 Dec:  Ron planned to mail Christmas cards to family and friends.  Oh well, maybe tomorrow?  We enjoyed sleeping late.  Now, onto the big 4.30 mile walk.

15 Dec, Sunday:  A hard freeze last Wednesday ushered fall into SE Texas.  Leaves are turning bronze, orange and gold, are now falling; golden sunlight filters through the treetops and casts a magical glow.  Christmas worship was lovely; children and tweens performed the Christmas story and the congregation did our part by adding on cue, “Do not fear!”  We had brunch at Magnolia Diner, followed by a Rip Van Winkle nap for Cynthia while Ron corrected a mistake he made in the manuscript.  Cynthia watched the Reagan movie reaching the conclusion that Ron Beatty is like Ron Reagan in amazing ways.  We walked 3.2 miles.  

14 Dec:  promises to be rainy?  Ron was relieved to sleep until 10 AM after his late bedtime last night.  Then he worked on the index a tiny bit and wasted more time on basketball videos of Marques Haynes (6') and Lance and Lawrence Cudjoe (5' 5" twins), whose three short guards college team won 112 games while losing only 3.  They even beat the Harlem Globetrotters, but the next year all three joiined the Globetrotters.   

13 Dec:  Oh, what fun! Oh, what fun! Oh, what fun!  Indeed!  We worked on the index.  Ron again wasted much of the day watching basketball videos.  We walked 5.33 miles;  Cynthia thought she lost her cell phone until she discovered it right where she left it on the kitchen counter.  We enjoyed baked acorn squash, baked potato, and baked salmon.  The Lea Book index edits are updated.  Volume II is waiting in the wings until after Christmas.  Fooey, Ron found more things needing fixes throughout the index and stayed up until 1:30 AM working on them.

12 Dec:  Today Ron WILL get Christmas cards written and into the mail.  (or at least written.)  We walked to the lake and back about noon, and we drove to Walmart to get groceries, including coffee and oatmeal.  Now Ron is back to work on Christmas cards - after adding Cynthia's index fixes.

11 Dec:  Tomorrow.  Ron enjoyed frittering away the entire day watching U-Tube basketball highlights of Pistol Pete Maravich, Dr. J, and Larry Bird.  He still thinks that Wilt Chamberlain, the Big Dipper, was the greatest of all time, and Wilt said that Meadowlark Lemon was the best player he ever played with or against.  We listened to a couple of KISS songs when Cynthia thought that Bill O'Reilly was going to interview one of those guys who dated Cher, and that led to another distraction finding out how much Cher has done in her life and that she wasn't so disrespectful of Sonny after his death.

10 Dec:  Without snow it doesn't feel like Christmas, despite all the adorable photos of great-grandchildren with Santa Claus we are receiving in emails.  Ron has Christmas cards on the counter to send.  The Smooches walked four-plus mile.  The attendant at the Fitness Club calls us “The Lovebirds.”

9 Dec:  It was a cloudy and then a sunny day in Montgomery Town.  We walked five miles, which is a good thing.  Cynthia went the weekend without her hand brace and paid the price of the pain. 

8 Dec, Sunday:  It is a rainy Sunday in Montgomery, Texas, but our brunch guests brought laughter and sunshine into the Cafe on the Green.  Cynthia forgot to take photos of her son Jon, granddaughter Samantha and her three-year-old son Noah, and grandson Steven.  Noah is a delight to be around.  When he was ready to leave, he walked around the table to pleasantly tell everyone goodbye, it was time to go.  We are very proud of granddaughter Sam who is the Director of Counseling at a school for autistic children.  Her husband Adam is an engineer with Forde Construction.  They are expecting new baby Theo in six weeks.  And wow for grandson Steven who teaches science and chemistry to eighth graders at Cy-Fair.  Fifteen rahs for you Steven!

Lunch with Jon (photographer)

7 Dec:  No schedule !!  We can and did sleep in today.  Rainy day, so we are indoors working on the index until noon or later. Uffda.  The index was completed and inserted into the book, but the concordance disappeared when Ron attempted to format a couple of lines that appeared to be in a larger font.  What a sick feeling that was until he discovered that TextEdit comes with at Revert To previous version choice.  All is well, the index is in the book with a total of 489 pages.  We went for a short walk just before dark and dined on popcorn again.  Now, after taking a couple of days off, he will add the appendices to Volume II.  Thank God! 

Cynthia is the shorter one

6 Dec:  Up early again, this time to get the car seats recovered.  At 42 degrees, this was a Brrrh motorcycle ride home for Cynthia.  After noon, when Cynthia had thawed out, we walked across the peninsula and back for our usual four miles.  The upholstery shop did a fantastic job for Cynthia, improving her seating position and lumbar support.  Ron again spent the day indexing, and since it is now nighttime, eating popcorn.  Lauren sent this photo of Lauren and Grandmother Cynthia, a memory of the last family Thanksgiving.  

5 Dec:  We had a lazy morning and went for our walk at noon.  Ron spent the day indexing; only 280 lines left to finish.  What a relief.!!  We are back to eating popcorn in the evenings to avoid calories.

4 Dec:  We did it!  MEDICAL Dr Beim. (100 Miles). We were up at five AM, exercised, oatmealed, and in the car by 7:15 for the 1.5 hour drive to the ophthalmologist in Brenham, Texas, arriving with three minutes to spare.  The Dr. dilated Ron’s eyes, but won't do the cataract consultation until 6 February.  Bummer.  It is likely he will have more lab and measurement appointments prior to surgery.  This postpones departure and scheduling indefinitely; we will know more 6 February.  We had lunch at Magnolia Diner, where the waitress remembered us and greeted us cheerfully, and we slept the afternoon away. 

3 Dec:  Ron indexed; we walked four miles, brought home a load of boxes from the storage unit, and shopped for groceries,  After some popcorn, it will be an early bedtime because we leave at seven AM tomorrow for Ron’s dilated eye exam, a prerequisite for cataract surgery. 

2 Dec.  There are only 23 days until Christmas.  We enjoyed sleeping late and having a lazy morning, although Ron continues working diligently on the Lea index.  We walked almost four miles on a lovely, warm, pleasant day.  Cynthia is re-reading Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship.  A significant chapter deals with denying self by forgiving others.  

1 Dec:  Ron completed his PACEMAKER test - again.  He also announced the December blog title: I love you!  Cynthia spent the day going to the Nutcracker Ballet again, but this time with her two sons, Jon and Paul, plus Paul’s two daughters, Zoe and Fyn.  Zoe received highest honors for her MA dissertation from University of York. 

Thank God for Thanksgiving. Thankful in Nov. Despite Distance Apart

The Smooches are together again in Montgomery, Texas. Oh Joy, oh Joy.

Mom and Jon at the movies, having fun

30 Nov: (4)  Ron called ElaRuth and joined her for breakfast at the IHOP in Nacogdoches for two hours.  The ride was still not really warm although it was much better today. and best of all, he was able to hug Cynthia three days earlier than originally planned.  Whoopee.!!.  An Amen is heard in Texas!  Cynthia, Julie, Corrie, Abigail, Eleanor and Caleb enjoyed attending the Nutcracker Ballet at the Brown Theater in Houston. And yay is us today!

29 Nov: (5)  Oh My God, the forecast is for a high of 31 degrees in Mount Olive.  That is brutal on a motorcycle, so Ron left on Thanksgiving, a day earlier, and arrived in Memphis "warm" and dry.  He enjoyed a good night sleep with plans to be on the road at warm-thirty.  The big surprise was to find frost on the motorcycle seat the morning after Thanksgiving in Memphis.  After another chilly start, the day warmed up quickly to a high of 55 degrees in Little Rock, Texarkana, and Nacodgoches.  Thanks be to God, after a long day, he made it to Nacogdoches,TX!  That is only 125 miles from Montgomery!

28 Nov: (6)  Happy Thanksgiving.  Ron thanks God for Cynthia and thanks Cynthia for our wonderful life.  He did enjoy "warm" weather (above freezing) all the way to Memphis Tennessee, starting at 32 degrees in Livingston, IL, 37 degrees at the Jefferson Barracks Bridge, 40 to 44 degrees through Missouri and briefly 48 degrees in Marion, Arkansas.  While riding through Missouri in 40 degree temperatures, Ron was amazed to see three other motorcyclists heading north on the I-55 on Thanksgiving Day plus another two elsewhere.  Cynthia went to her bishop’s home for their Happy Hour and drank Apple Cider.  Ouch, it has 24 grams of sugar in it.  The roast turkey was the best she has ever eaten.  Cynthia and the bishop walked four miles.  Cynthia thanks God for Ron and thanks Ron for our wonderful life.  Ron arrived about ten miles from Memphis, TN. Yayayay. 

27 Nov: (7)  After his usual communing with nature and decimating bush honeysuckle, Ron is celebrating Thanksgiving with Carol and Bill on this day and packing to be ready to leave Illinois Thursday morning heading south.  Carol's dinner of roast turkey was absolutely delicious with homemade cranberries, fat-free mashed potatoes, peas and homemade persimmon nut bread.  Ron ate until full and then we all returned to the jigsaw puzzle.  By the time Ron checked the weather, it was raining, so further bush honeysuckle escapades are postponed until next year.  Despite his curtailed day, he felt rewarded to cut a couple of large bushes, one of which had red berries.  Ron was happy to be able to do his laundry so that no one can tell that he scooted down a couple of hills on his butt.

26 Nov: (8 days until the Smooches reunite)  The temperature in Mount Olive, IL at 8:30 AM was a chilly 30 degrees, and in Montgomery, Texas it was 46 degrees.  Cynthia ran errands and walked almost four miles at eleven AM.  Ron told his sister about the forecast for Friday, and she suggested that we celebrate our Thanksgiving meal a day early so that he can travel on Thanksgiving day in above freezing temperatures.  He wonders if he can find gasoline that day.  In celebration Ron walked the woods twice and pulled 178 bush honeysuckle, including a couple that were too large and required sawing.

25 Nov: (9)  Oatmealed, ready to exercise and hit the trails walking before running errands.  Lunch and dinner today was soup.  Ron was a bit slow early in the day, but warmed up after noon and managed to pull 213 bush honeysuckle, a new record.  He was falling asleep sitting while Carol and Bill played Mahjong but didn't fall sleep in bed until midnight.  Indexing continues apace after dark every day.  There are less that 1600 "lines" of the book that need indexing attention. Yayayayay! 

24 Nov, Sunday: (10)  Julie and I enjoyed a lovely visit.  Her home is beautifully decorated in every corner, even down to unique toilet paper. Oh My!  Cynthia was delighted to visit new baby Hayden Grace, Kiira, Roxanne, and Austin.  Roxanne wasn’t excited about the oatmeal and banana cookies sans sugar.  

23 Nov: (11)  Cynthia is going to daughter Julie’s to overnight after walking to the lake late morning. 5.0 miles.  Ron got out into the woods to pull bush honeysuckle three times and wore himself out each time.  The hills around here are steep and footing is uncertain.  121 bush honeysuckle.

22 Nov: (12 days until the Smooches reunite)  Cynthia and Jon are going to find out about replacing auto seat covers this morning.  She has an appointment in Hempstead with the CPA at two PM.  She baked three dozen more cookies. 💋  Ron dragged his feet a little bit in order to ride warmer, but it didn't help.  It was a cold, 47 degree ride from Carlyle to the Denny's in Edwardsville, where he met Maxine and Doug for a late lunch (of egg white veggie omelets).  The rest of the ride to Mt. Olive went quickly and seemed less cold at 44 degrees.  Carol had salmon and sweet potatoes for dinner, delicious.

21 Nov: (13)  Cynthia walked almost five miles in fabulous 66 degree weather.  She baked three dozen cookies for Ron today; additional bananas are ripening to be turned into banana oatmeal cookies.  Maybe the frozen mango will need to be eaten fast so there is room for the cookies.  Ron ventured out into the cold wind once for a three mile walk along the haunted trail, sheltered somewhat by the forest.  He attended to genealogy and indexed a bit.  

20 Nov.  We are both energetic this AM; exercised, oatmealed, and we were ready to roll onto our trails at 8:20 AM.  Cynthia took Ron’s advice to not overdo it after several days of rain and the five mile jaunt yesterday by turning back at the fitness center; mileage total is 3.21 at noon-thirty, no doubt energized by the cool temperature of 62 degrees.  She is still doing tax bookwork.  Winter temperatures have arrived in Illinois.  It was no warmer than 55 degrees with a very strong and cold wind as Ron rode from Carlyle 50 miles to Belleville to see a Junior High School classmate.  Bill wasn't home, but Ron was delighted to meet his son Matt, a well groomed, well dressed, good mannered 20-year-old.  Next was another brief visit to Cynthia at the Cambridge House, who was leaving for a shopping trip to Dollar Tree with a cousin.  And finally Ron caught Dick at his law office at 3:30 and enjoyed listening to Dick's stories about college, cars, military, etc.  The return to Carlyle was even chillier in gathering darkness.

19 Nov: Cynthia walked 5.0 miles and had dinner with Jon and friends. Ron walked the dam twice.  See the photo of sunlight sparkling like trillions of diamonds on lake (in Texas).

sunleght sparkling like trillions of diamonds

18 Nov:  Ron enjoyed a nice visit with Ann and Diane at Cedarhurst in Highland.  Diane picked him up at Mariner's Village at 9:30 so that he didn't have to risk getting wet and windblown.  Cynthia (in TX) drove to the bank to figure out what eye online DDA’s were in her checking account.  No, she was not hacked.  The items were reimbursement to son Jon for shipping prescriptions.  Jon took Cynthia to see the movie "Bonhoeffer" tonight. 

17 Nov, Sunday:  Ron transitioned again to Mariner's Village at Lake Carlyle in order to visit other friends from high school and junior high, starting with a different Cynthia at Cambridge House in Belleville.  That visit went very well, and we enjoyed chatting for more than an hour.  Ron’s Texas Cynthia sat inside the entire day because of rain.  The best part was watching Martin Scorsese new series, The Saints, with episode one about Joan of Arc.  That was followed by a great story about George Washington before and leading up to the Revolutionary War.  Following that was a documentary about James Armistead Lafayette, a slave who was a spy during the Revolutionary War.  She feels very inspired and patriotic. 

16 Nov:  Saturday in Texas will be lovely with a high forecast of 78 degrees and sunshine.  It is a great day to walk to the lake.  Ron received cataract aftercare instructions from Bonnie: 1. Do not sleep with pets.  2. Do not wear make up.  3. Do not bend over or lift over 5 lbs.  Ron appreciates the good advice.  He walked to the mailbox again after dark this evening (a mile each way).

Cynthia with newborn Hayden Grace

15 Nov:  Cynthia thoroughly enjoyed seeing new born baby Hayden, her mama Kiira and her grandmother Roxanne.  (The hospital was unable to force Roxanne to leave her new grandbaby.)  Ron went into the woods twice again today and pulled another 132 bush honeysuckle.  That and a trip to town for groceries consumed the day.  Carol again cooked a delicious dinner of salmon and sweet potato.  Eighteen more days until Ron arrives in Texas.  Joy is us!

14 Nov: MEDICAL. (60 Miles)Cynthia has a dental appointment.  Cynthia and Ron have a 12th great-grandchild, Hayden Grace, just born!  Ron again searched in the woods for those lost clippers and pulled another 130 bush honeysuckle.

13 Nov:  In Mt. Olive, Illinois, Ron hunted (without success) for his clippers hanging in a tree somewhere in the woods.  He did find the last honeysuckle he cut, retraced most of his path and pulled another 51 honeysuckle, so the time was not entirely wasted.  And true to forecast rain began after noon for which genealogy projects were waiting.  Cynthia bounced out of bed at five AM, exercised and ate a hearty bowl of oatmeal and berries.  Taxes, a trip to the pharmacy for a RX,  plus attending a funeral are on the ticket for the day.  She is to stay out of the sun on her skin for a couple days so will work out at fitness center.  Thanks to ‘Lizabeth in South Carolina for the following amusement: Remnants of the old Richmond, Nicholasville, Irvine & Beattyville Railroad (RNI&B) are still visible today, including these bridge piers in the Kentucky River at Valley View, Kentucky.  The RNI&B once stretched from Frankfort to Airedale, but much of it was abandoned in the 1930s.  The bridge over the river was dismantled in 1942, though the piers were left in place to serve as supports for the nearby Valley View Ferry.  More photos and history of the RNI&B from our partner site.

12 Nov:  MEDICAL (130 Miles) Jon is taking Cynthia to her dermatologist appointment.  A good day despite waking up at 3:30 AM.  She put the brace back on her right hand after too much work on the IPad keyboard.  Ron pulled 105 bush honeysuckle and left his new clippers somewhere in the woods.  He got off to a sluggish start this morning and afternoon before finally feeling more energetic after a couple of rest breaks.   

11 Nov:  Cynthia is on a sleeping binge.  She had a three hour nap yesterday afternoon and went to sleep last night at 9:00, arising this AM at 5:50.  She walked almost six miles.  Ron also slept well and pulled bush honeysuckle in three bouts, the rest are shaking in their roots!  What a fabulous day! 

10 Nov, Sunday:  Ron, in Illinois, pulled a lot of bush honeysuckle and snipped multiflora rose bushes today, with more of the same planned for tomorrow.  Cynthia walked four plus miles.

9 Nov:  We both slept wonderfully well last night, and Ron awakened ready to burn leaves, which we did until the rain started at 10 AM.  Then we made a trip to town for groceries, and Ron went out to pull bush honeysuckle for an hour in the afternoon.  We might have figured out all Eric needs for his web site.  Cynthia walked exactly six miles in two trips, plus bookkeeping and writing a meditation. 

8 Nov:  MEDICAL (60) Miles) Cynthia is delighted that she can now hear the GPS clearly and that her iPhone relays the messages to her hearing aids.  Jon fixed something; we don’t know what happened, but she enjoyed the drive to MD Anderson for her annual mammogram.  This was a very long day at MDA.  But, thanks be to God, it is a negative mammogram.  After having breast cancer in 2011, going in for a mammogram creates anxiety.  Now, praise God, and home to relax following several over-filled days.  Ron returned to Carol and Bill’s tree farm, stopping first in Trenton to see Dean, a high school classmate, and then following GPS directions over innumerable one-lane asphalt roads.  No wonder county roads have a reputation.  Carol and Bill welcomed Ron with a delicious salmon and sweet potato dinner.  Route: The route to Carol's farm was quite an adventure.  Ron had decided to try the back roads and turned west toward Panama, which went well enough until he couldn't decide which road to take out of Panama and picked the wrong one (again), eventually wandering through Sorento and Walshville before skirting Mt. Olive and finally seeing familiar sights.  Upon arrival, he told Carol and Bill that it is no wonder that the county roads are poorly maintained; there are endless one lane paved roads in this county.

7 Nov: Cynthia and Jon tried to install a new Bluetooth dash mounted GPS.  The installation was seamless, but it will not work because Bluetooth only sends sound to car speaker blocking sound to hearing aids.  The device is the size of a cell phone, too small to see while driving.  It is being returned in the AM.  Exciting to see and read Wall Street’s reaction to the election.  Ron walked the dam twice today and ate a baked potato and steamed veggies at Los Amigos.  Between walks, he rode first to Edwardsville to the Credit Union and to his storage locker to pay rent, then to Fairview Heights where he got to see and briefly say an unadorned "hi" to a junior high classmate, Dick, and while riding on U.S. 50 towards Lebanon, the road was closed, causing Ron to search for an alternative route with his GPS for a guide. Extensive detour, Silver Creek is flooded.  US 40, ten miles north, was the alternate route.

6 Nov:  Historic Election!  Congratulations to the American People!  2:00 AM in Texas.  Ron has had a lazy day, getting up late, breakfast late, a walk on the formerly haunted trail mid-afternoon, and he has quarters for laundry.  Maybe laundry is why he dragged his feet today.  Cynthia walked almost five miles.  Ron did walk the dam once today.

5 Nov:  Election day with all the media fanfare and BS.  It is raining again this morning here at Lake Carlyle.  Sistah Carol reports that her pond is full.  Now if only the well would replenish its supply.  Another day indoors with indexing.  Maybe after 2 PM it will stop raining so that Ron can walk the dam.  But instead, Ron watched Larry Bird basketball highlights for a couple of hours, Bill O'Reilly for another hour or more, and finally started walking 10:20 to 11:26 PM.  It isn’t raining in Texas; Cynthia walked to the lake and home, enjoying a phone call from Smooch. 💋 Once home, she ordered the protein (for Ron) which will arrive 7 Nov.  Cynthia is working on the Rambo DNA Project; FTDNA was helpful in restoring ten kits (that she deleted) back to the project.  Carol is very happy. We want Carol happy.   Our God reigns.  

4 Nov:  Jon is driving Cynthia to her ten AM Dr Appt at St Luke’s.  Medical, 60 Miles) She ordered a $109.00 GPS for the car as recommended by the former owner.  Ron was tired last night while walking across the dam and went to bed about 6 PM, slept until 5 AM and still feels a bit lethargic this morning whle indexing.  It has been raining in Carlyle non-stop since well before dawn.  Odds are good that the lake level will rise and more water will be released from the dam.  Nephew Eric visited but Ron was unable to figure out what Google has done to prevent photos from showing up on his web site.

3 Nov, Sunday:  Ron did depart at dawn for church in Trenton to see if twins Cheryl and Carol are there.  Don and Ann told him last year that Cheryl's husband is homebound requiring constant attention, so the odds are good that still applies.  The greeter at church said that they attend a different church in Carlyle now.  As of 10:00 AM, Ron and Cynthia are both at worship, different churches, different states, but united in Thanksgiving.   Cynthia and son Jon enjoyed a lovely birthday party at Good Charlie’s Oyster Bar.  Ron was delighted to learn from the other couple in his pew an address for his classmate Dean, but Dean doesn't answer his phone.  Indexing always continues.  This route was selected to get to the church on time, I-55 S to IL 4 S to Lebanon, L on US 40 E through Trenton to the Methodist Church.  Peculiarly IL 4 was amazingly smooth until five miles north of I-70 but became very rough north and south of I-70.

Cynthia and granddaughter Lauren

2 Nov:  Reading news before bedtime is not conducive to a good night sleep…  tick tock…the hours passed.  Finally,  at 11:30 Cynthia slept until close to two and Boinnggg!  Awake again, dozing/dreaming and awake at five AM.  The dream might have made a great movie, if she could remember it.  Exercised, bathed, weighed, and fed, she is preparing for a 10:00 brunch with Lauren’s family and Jon.  It rained all afternoon in Texas.

2 Nov:  Ron enjoyed a second night of good sleep.  Cynthia was plagued by restlessness.  Ron went into the woods three times pulling bush honeysuckle and clipping multiflora rose.  His knee and back seem to be improving as he continues taking it easy on them.

1 Nov:  Meanwhile in Texas, Cynthia slept ten hours before exercising, eating, calling Ron, responding to messages helping two people with their Rambo DNA questions, calling FTDNA, reading the news, walking four miles, calling Ron, eating lunch, responding to MD ANDERSON about next week’s Mammogram, and she is now on hold with Customer Service at 1:25 PM.  But she is ever so thankful for life in Christ, Ron, our life together, family and the return of health! .