July 28, 2007

Telling Grandpapa goodbye. Papa & Mother went with us to church Sunday morning.  By odd coincedence, Clair Heatwole from up in their neck of the woods was visiting and preached the sermon on "The Life of Daniel"  We came home then and grilled up catfish for lunch.  Along with the catfish we had grilled vidalia onions,  fried rice,  green beans almondine, cucumber salad,  and caramel custard & bars for dessert.  What a meal!  Papa and Mother loaded up their car and left around 2:00 to head back to Virginia.  We wanted very badly to get in a little nap in the afternoon but Landon seemed to have other plans.. :( In the evening we went to church for the service.  Myron Brubaker had the main topic on "What to the Masons Believe?"
Sucking down orange drinks. I went in early to work on Monday and Ina Sue was already started on the washing when I left.  I had a service call to finish up for Grant Forest Products up in Clarendon (about 2 hrs away)  Ina Sue kept the children for Mary Korver for a while in the morning.  After I got home from work we ate a quick supper then I worked out on the deck while Ina Sue took care of the children and finished folding and hanging the clothes.  She worked on finances then while I made some Puerto Rico calls.
Landon loves the telephone.  (Ina Sue is afraid he is going to be a telemarketer) I had to get up early on Tuesday and drive down to Ridgeland to pick up a load of hamburger.  We have gotten very low on hamburger and I had mentioned to Wendell that we would be interested in buying one of his cull cows to turn into hamburger.  They took the cow down to the butcher last week and it was ready to be picked up this morning.  I got back to Govan around 9:00 and we now have plenty of hamburger.  We weren't sure we were going to be able to fit it all in the freezer but did get it all packed in.  I went on in to work and Ina Sue & Carolina worked for part of their day scrubbing off the facia around our back porch and deck.  (Everything is covered with dust from the concrete stamping)  I left directly from work around 5:00  to ride with Carl & Uncle Enos to a finance meeting at Hephzibah.  It was after 11:00 before we finally got back to Govan
Helping Mommy cook breakfast. A very normal day for me at work on Wednesday.  Ina Sue had another back appointment, then did some shopping in Barnwell.  She also fixed me up a big container of mustard pickles.  She is not a fan of them so she obviously did this special for me.  In the evening we met at the church for our annual church & school cleaning.  We were detailed with Joshua & Marcia to clean the balcony & steps of the church.  We got done in fairly good time and tried to help some of the other groups a little.  Then we all shared in a carry-in snack/supper.  The homemade icecream was quite a treat!  After eating I actually was able to play a couple games of volleyball before we took the children home.  It was fun to play again but I was quite obviously a little rusty.
My little helper hands me screws I got up at sun-up on Thursday and worked on putting down some more decking on our new deck.  Ina Sue made us sausage gravy and corn bread for breakfast. (My favorite)  I went on in to work then and Ina Sue spent some time on washing windows, making bars, watching children, etc.  In the evening I babysat the children while Ina Sue went to Karla Heatwole's shower.
Making progress. I just about lost my wife on Friday. (According to her at least)  I wasn't there to observe but the story goes that Landon had deviously spilled Mr. Clean on the vinyl floor right off of the step.  Ina Sue unknowing rushed through the doorway nearly knocked herself out when her head hit the floor.  The only lasting damage seems to be a really bruised (or chipped) elbow.  We are hoping she will recover.  I had gone in to work first thing in the morning so I was not there to witness and offer comfort after this disaster.  She was able to make us a delicious supper of lasagna, green beans, garlic bread and cuke salad.  After supper we lounged around, made blackberry milkshakes and played some games.  Nice!
Enjoying the fruits of our labor. I was off from work on Saturday and hoped to get a lot done on the deck.  Unfortunately (or fortunately because we need the rain) it drizzled most of the day.  I had to come in a couple times when it rained too hard but was able to stay out and work during most of it.  Ina Sue started trying to give Prince a haircut in the morning but quickly became discouraged and overwhelmed.  We decided to make an appointment with the dog barber for next Saturday.  She spent most of her day sewing and taking care of the children.  I was able to get just about all the decking on the deck today.  It is nice to have actual deck to walk on instead of the dirt we've been stepping on everytime we go out.