June 25, 2005

PRMC Meeting at the Pike Church	I got up in good time Sunday to study to teach.  The lesson was "Jesus, Falsely Accused"  It was an interesting and challenging passage but I didn't have my thoughts together very well...  Wendell preached on "The Wages of Sin are Hard" based on the story of Rehoboam.  After the service we were invited to Hendricks for dinner with Wendells, Patricks, & Dr. Akor.  Hendrick fixed a wonderful dinner of baked chicken, cucumber & tomato salad, black rice & mushrooms, bread.  For dessert he had a delicious bowl of mixed fresh fruit.  We enjoyed the meal immensely and the fellowship afterward.  Home then for a short nap then I went and picked up Thomas Brubaker & Andrea Skrivseth to practice our story for children's meeting tonight.  We based it on the story/poem "Clean as a Whistle".  Ina Sue acted the part of the little old lady that couldn't half hear.
The PRMC Board having BarBQ & hash for dinner at the Showalters	After church we invited Thomas Peacheys (visitors from PA) and Duane Banges over for a snack.  We left fairly soon after church in order to get home and get things prepared.  Unfortunately we ran out of gas on the way home.  When this minivan says it's empty it really means it!  I'm used to running a while on fumes but not with this van...  Wesley picked me up on the way home and let me pick up a gas can from our house to replenish the van's supply.  We still beat our company home.  We served some of my homemade bread with butter & honey, popcorn & fruit slush.  A nice time visiting then off to bed.
Aunt Maude takes Carolina for a ride...	Monday morning I hurried off to a full day at work.  Bonnie Peachey stopped in for a while in the afternoon to chat with Ina Sue while she did the washing.  For supper I picked up some delicious sweet corn from Myrons and Ina Sue sliced up our first big tomato from the garden for sandwiches.  After supper I worked at making the potato salad for our PRMC dinner on Wednesday.
Helping Grandmother shine shoes	Tuesday was a horribly hectic day.  I was hoping to have a fairly calm day so that we could leave for Virginia a bit early.  When I got to work the alarm was going off on my computer saying that one of our tower radios wasn't working right.  I had to put off all my other calls and spent the morning and part of the afternoon working on that.  It still wasn't completely fixed when I left.  I tried to hurry through a couple more calls before coming home around 5:00.  Ina Sue already had most of our stuff packed so we got left around 6:00.  We realized around the NC border that we hadn't packed my Sunday shoes.  I've been needing new shoes so I stopped at a Charlotte exit and bought me a new pair at the Shoe Carnival.  The price was good and they had a deal for a 2n'd pair 1/2 off so I also bought me a much needed pair of tennis shoes.  We got to Virginia a little after 1:00 and went straight to bed.
Grandpapa shows off Uncle Gary's puppies	Wednesday morning I got up soon after 6:00 and got ready for our Puerto Rico meeting.  The meeting started at 8:00 at the Pike church.  My brother Kent was absent at the meeting because Rhonda is expecting a baby a week ago....  This is the first meeting he says he has ever missed.  The agenda went well and we were over most of it by the time we broke for lunch at 12:00.  We all drove back to Ina Sue's home for a dinner of southern BarBQ, hash & rice, potato salad, rolls, mint tea & pecan pie.  After lunch we went back to the church to finish off our meeting and to present next years budget to the Southeastern Finance Committee.  They approved it....  I went shopping at SharpShopper with Mother & Ina Sue in the afternoon then prepared to leave for home.  Ina Sue was planning to stay up until the weekend but I felt I couldn't hardly take off for that long.  I actually started driving home when Ina Sue called and told me that she was afraid she was having a miscarriage.  I quickly called my customers and told them that I wouldn't be able to help them then turned around and drove back.  We called and talked to our Dr. in SC.  He was hopeful that perhaps it was not as serious as we feared....
Putting Mother's bench back together.	All day Thursday we still hoped that everything would turn out alright with our baby.  I helped with numerous misc. tasks around the house and Ina Sue just took it easy.  In the afternoon Mother & I went to Costco for some grocery shopping and to buy me some pants.  I found a pair of black slacks, tan khakis & a pair of blue jeans.  After I got home and tried them on I was disappointed to find them all too small.  Papa and I left around 8:00 to return and swap them out but someone who will remain nameless claimed that Costco closed at 8:00 so we turned around.  (Turns out they really close at 8:30)
Rockingham Memorial Hospital	Friday was a difficult day.  Things seemed fairly well in the morning.  I went with Papa to Costco to switch the pants then we made numerous stops around town before getting home around 3:00.  Ina Sue had gotten worse while we were gone.  We called our midwife in Bamberg and she told us that we definitely should see a doctor.  Every doctor we called in Harrisonburg refused to see us because we were not their patient.  They all told us we would have to go to the emergency room.  We did not want to do that but after calling the midwife again we decided it was our only option.  By that time Ina Sue was feeling rough enough that she wasn't sure she would be able to make it to the hospital.  God answered our prayers though and she started feeling a little better.  We got to the hospital around 6:00 and they were able to take her in fairly quickly.  They pretty quickly confirmed that what we feared was taking place.  Thankfully with their help, everything was over and she was discharged by 9:30.  We were so very disappointed that the baby we were looking forward to so much would not be here.  We are trying to look at all the other blessings that God had given us and being thankful for the wonderful little girl we do have....
Kevin S. of Dogwood Ridge Photography seems stumped trying to position Mother....	Saturday morning was the Showalter family's scheduled photo shoot with Kevin Shank (Dogwood Ridge Photography)We had almost cancelled it the night before but Saturday morning Ina Sue thought she felt well enough to go through with it.  It was quite a job for him to get everyone situated and the babies all happy for the pictures.  We hope that at least one of the hundreds he shot will turn out well....  From there we drove to the Israel Rohrer family reunion.  This would be all of Mother Showalter's cousins on her father's side, with descendents.  There was quite a few people there including many that I recognized but didn't realize were related to Ina Sue.  It was a carry-in dinner with unbelievable quantities of delicious food.
The Israel Rohrer family reunion.  (Mother Showalters cousins etc.)	After visiting a while in the afternoon we headed back to the house for a small break before going over to Uncle Everett's for supper and games.  Roberts & Keiths were also there with us along with Uncle Everett's children.  After supper we enjoyed the beautiful weather outdoors for a while then came in and played a delightful game of Balderdash together.  It was after 10:30 before we finished the game and came on home.
Playing Balderdash at Uncle Everett's.