Sunday, November 30, 2014

Uganda Kids Choir

This picture taken tonight at Sand Springs United Methodist Church. Pictured are the ten members of the Uganda Kids Choir. They were moving fast so the picture is blurred.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Back from Springfield again

Here are the highlights from this past week:

On Monday, Gail come over for a two-hour practice session. After that I went to Mark Twain Elementary School where I am a volunteer tutor. I met with my student, a third grade boy, and we practiced reading. The program is called Reading Partners. Volunteers from the community work one-on-one with students who are behind in their reading skills.

On Tuesday we did our usual thing with Luke.

On Wednesday, we drove to Springfield to assist my parents. We spent two nights at the Arbor at the Mall. J had cooked a big Thanksgiving meal at home and transported it in ice chests to Springfield. On Thanksgiving she heated it up and the five of us (Mother, Dad, Paula, J, and myself) enjoyed turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, pecan pie, and probably a few other things I don't recall.

We got back to Sand Springs last night. I was tired, even though it doesn't seem like I did much. I guess it was the driving that fatigued me so. I would never make a long-haul trucker.

My hand is no better than the last time I posted here. I have a trigger finger now on both hands. It is the middle finger on both hands. I am to see a hand surgeon soon.

Tomorrow is Sunday. I don't know what will be done about the stolen air conditioning. Something will have to be done before next summer.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

TTH and church

We attended Tulsa Town Hall last Friday. The speaker was Bill Bryson, an expat now living in England. He is in the US on a book tour and Tulsa was one of his stops. A Walk in the Woods is one of his books. He has written more than a dozen.

Yesterday we went to a dinner at the church. There were about 20 people there. It is pledge time. Those making a pledge filled out their pledge cards.

It was snowing this morning as I left for church. There were only six people there today. The big news today was that the church's air conditioner units had been stolen sometime within the past week. That is a serious blow to a small church such as ours. It could very well send us under.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Dan at Silver Dollar City


This shot was taken near the entrance of SDC.

Christmas Tree at night


Tracks overhead

You can walk under a train at Silver Dollar City.

Tree at SDC

Church at SDC

Here is the Wilderness Church at Silver Dollar City.

Branson

I haven't posted anything to my blog in quite a few days. I have been doing a few things which if I don't write about soon will fade from my memory. So here goes...

Last week we spent four days in southwest Missouri. We drove to Springfield to check on my parents and then drove on down to Branson. Earlier this year we had noticed that people who were married in 1976 got free season's passes to Silver Dollar City. Although we have made several trips to Springfield this year, we never found the time to go to Branson. Last week we did.

We stayed at the Best Western which is about a half mile from Silver Dollar City. It was close enough that you could hear the sound of the steam engine at SDC. It was very convenient that there was a Dollar General store next to the motel as we went there for soft drinks and other vacation supplies. The last night we stayed there, Friday, the motel was packed. Returning from the acrobats show, we found only one parking spot outside the motel. It was off in the south forty. The motel needed a shuttle between the parking lot and the motel. There was a good breakfast at the motel, however there were no vacant tables in the breakfast area.

We saw a couple of shows at SDC. One was an adaptation of the film "It's a Wonderful Life" while the other was an adaptation of Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol." Both were musicals. Also, while in Branson we saw "The Amazing Acrobats of Shanghai." Their balance and agility were truly amazing. One man stood on a plank on top of a barrel and flipped bowls from the end of the plank and caught them on the top of his head. Although it was mid-November, there were still plenty of tourists around.

We left home on Wednesday and returned on Saturday. The next day was Sunday. At church Rev. Debra gave the talk. We had seven visitors from a UU seminary visiting. Soon we will be putting up a Tree of Knowledge in the sanctuary.

Sunday, November 02, 2014

Movie; Halloween; Finger; Workday at Church

This past week J and I saw a movie. It was St. Vincent starring Bill Murray. It's a better than average movie, but notinh to rave about. The dialogue has some clever wording. All in all, it's sort of a downer, but I guess you could say it is true to life.

Last night was Halloween. On the way back from Springfield (Friday), we stopped at Vinita and went in to a WalMart and bought candy for the trick-or-treaters we expected that evening. J was not feeling well and went to bed around 5 pm. After watching the evening news, I went outside and set up my candy stand so that the trick-or-treaters could do their thing without ringing the doorbell. It had turned off cold that day, which probably had a lot to do with the low number of t-o-t that came by the house. I would say we had, at the most, 30 t-o-t last night.

My trigger finger is still bothering me. It is the middle finger on my left hand. I am still able to play piano, but not quite as well as before this condition came on. I see a surgeon next month who will advise me on what to do.

Today was another workday at the church. Someone a few weeks back stole the gate to the children's play area. I happened to have a gate (chain-link fence type) that we took down a few years back just taking up room in the shed. I loaded it into the car and took it to church today. It was just the right size. It fit like a glove.