Back from a brief vacation

Wednesday morning we left for a brief vacation. We drove toward Oklahoma City but got off the turnpike at Stroud. We took highway 99 south to Ada. We had a reservation at a motel there. On the way, we stopped in Seminole at a Taco Bell for lunch. Then we went to a Braum's for a chocolate shake. Once in Ada, we checked into our motel. That evening for dinner we ate at a Santa Fe Cattle Co. I had salmon. J had a steak.

The next day we drove to Sulphur. We visited the Chickasaw Heritage Center just southwest of the town. There are several building on the campus. In the auditorium we saw a stomp dance and watched a film. Afterwards we ate Indian tacos in the cafeteria. There is a reconstructed Chickasaw village on the grounds. The village is enclosed in a palisade made of wooden posts. The tribal council building was the largest in the fort-like compound.

The museum contains several artifacts. It would take several hours to take it all in. We hurriedly went thru it in about an hour.

Going back to Ada, we took the turnpike. I have a Pikepass and did not check the fee to use the turnpike. But the turnpike is a joke. It is nothing more than a two-lane highway. I have traveled on much better roads for free in the state.

That evening we dined at Prairie Kitchen in Ada. The decor was very interesting. I took several pictures of the interior. I will post some later.

To Springfield and back

We made another trip to Springfield this week. We left on Wednesday and returned on Friday. It was good to see my parents again and take them to various places they needed to go.

While there I walked the hallway on the third floor of the Abbey for an hour. That brought my total for the year to 369 miles. That means I have achieved my goal of walking an average of a mile a day. I will continue and see if I can make it to 400 miles for the year.

I went to the church work day on Saturday. There were about 20 people there. Other groups use the building where we hold services. There is the SOS group - a secular organization for sobriety. The Muslims meet there, also. All together there are four or five groups using the building. A lot of work got done Saturday. We cleaned out the religious education room, throwing away three large plastic bags of out of date material. There is a paper recycling bin across the street. I took several boxes of paper and dumped them in the bin. Outside I dug up irises from the flower beds.

Attendance at church was down today. The speaker was Rev. Debra. We had only six in attendance at the start of the service. A couple more came in as the service was going.

Sebelius - Goodbye to Bob - trigger finger

While at church Sunday someone had tickets to an afternoon concert at the Tulsa PAC. Bill D. claimed the tickets, but upon phoning his wife, he discovered they had other plans. So I ended up with the tickets. I phoned J but got her voice mail. I left a message telling her I had tickets and headed home. When I got there she was with Luke. She told me to go on to the concert without her.

I arrived at the PAC about 10 minutes before the concert started. It was an all Sebelius concert. "Finlandia" was the opening work, followed by two other short pieces by Sebelius. After the intermission, Symphony No. 2 was performed.

After the concert, I headed home (a 20 to 25 minute drive)and picked up J and we went back to Tulsa to say goodbye to Bob Pugh. Bob had died on Thursday. Bob was one of the founders of the Tulsa Walking Club. He had walked in all 50 of the states and in all 77 counties of Oklahoma. He had also walked in 9 foreign countries. He held key positions in the TWC, including trailmaster. The Club is going to miss Bob. He was just a couple weeks shy of his 89th birthday.

I continue to walk several times a week. I am now up to 357 miles this year.

In the past month I have developed a condition known as trigger finger. I went to the my doctor's n.p. who checked my hand and referred me to a hand surgeon. I have been reading articles on the Internet about the condition. It is more of a nuisance than anything. I am supposed to see the surgeon in a couple of months. I hope by that time that it has gone away. It is my middle finger on my left hand that has the problem. I have seen advertised a device that looks something like a ring with a flange on it. I might get one of those to see if it resolves my problem.

Returning to my blog

It has been a while since I last posted anything to this blog. There is a lot of catching up to do. The last few days have been busy.

Mondays are my busiest day. Gail comes at 10 and leaves at noon. Then at 12:30 I have to be at Mark Twain Elementary School where I tutor a student.

Yesterday, J and I drove over to Gail's where we all (Gail, Glenn, J and myself) went to eat lunch at The Foundations restaurant. The restaurant is operated by the Platt College Culinary Arts school. The food was excellent. The meal was just $9 each. That included beverage and dessert. Each Friday the school has a theme, such as Mexican or Chinese. The theme last Friday was Home-style cooking. Food is served as a buffet. Choices included fish, meat loaf, and chicken. As you sit at your table you can view the students preparing the food just inches away by looking thru the plate glass to the galley nearby.

Last night I was going to eat some ice cream. As I dug the scoop into the ice cream, I noticed it was unusually soft. I checked the freezer and discovered things were thawing out. Friday evening is probably the worst time to have an appliance failure. We will have to wait until Monday to have a serviceman check out the fridge.

J and I had talked about having a secondary fridge back in the office area. Now was the time to get one. (Actually, Friday would have been a better time.) Anyway, today I went out and bought a compact fridge for $100.

It's always something. Last week it was the garbage disposal. It started leaking and had to be replaced.

This Sunday, Gail and I will play a piano duet titled "Summer Samba." It is Humanist Sunday this Sunday. The speaker will be Bill Dusenberry. He will speak on "Why Republicans Can't Be Humanists."