An active week

Looking back over the past seven days, I believe it has been a good week. I was able to get in a lot of exercise (pickle ball, running, yoga and strength training), played bridge with former neighbors in our old neighborhood, and concluded the week attending the LWML Indiana District Convention in Bloomington, IN. I returned a few hours ago and, as you might imagine, being short of sleep the last two days, I'm looking forward to being back in my own bed tonight.

Our group of five left Greenwood at 8:30 Friday morning and an hour later arrived at our hotel which was connected to the Bloomington-Monroe County Convention Center. One of our group had a meeting to attend but the other four (including me) toured University Lutheran. The church on the edge of campus has been there for, I think, 80 years and welcomed early arrivals to come and see the church and offer parking for anyone who wished to tour the I.U. Museum of Art. The museum was a short walk of about four blocks. A retired faculty member and his wife, also members of University Lutheran Church, are docents at the museum and gave us and seven others a unique guided hour long tour that we all enjoyed.

The sanctuary of University Lutheran, Bloomington, IN

The main entrance of the I.U. Museum of Art

At the end of the tour we were ready for lunch and found a parking place on the square and headed over to the Uptown Cafe. Next we returned to the convention site to help with a servant event filling school bags and then to delegate orientation. For our evening meal we headed back to the downtown square and this time we chose the Trojan Horse where we were seated upstairs. The atmosphere was quiet and the food good! The convention opening and first meeting included a worship service with communion.

Filling school packs for eventual distribution in Sudan

The next morning two of my roommates and 20 or more LWMLers participated in a pledge walk at 6:30 on the B-Line just a half block from the hotel. The sun was low in the eastern sky and buildings provided shade for this optional activity. After breakfast we were in meetings all day and voted on mission grants, by-law changes and new officers. We also attended several break-out sessions and then enjoyed a delicious dinner before the evening's entertainment.

A very lively and entertaining group: Weaver Believer Survival Revival

At this morning's final meeting of the convention we heard the results of yesterday's balloting, then heard closing remarks by the president before the closing worship service. We enjoyed lunch at the Bakehouse Restaurant and during our ride home had time to share thoughts on the convention and what we heard and learned. I'm still absorbing and reliving some of the events of the past three days.

Happy Birthday & Father's Day!

Our first grandchild, Kylie, is celebrating her 27th birthday today! Where have the years gone? Ray and I recall many occasions when she was very young and spent lots of time with her.

Now, if I was caught up with old photos and had them organized I could upload a few precious photos of her early years. Since I'm not posting any I'm admitting that is something on my to do list. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get around to scanning and sorting old photos. It would take an immense effort to get started.

As a combined Father's Day and Birthday meal, we met at the House of Tokyo at 4:30. Just about everyone took home some leftovers to enjoy another time.

Joe, Nancy, Jayden, Kylie & Dustin
(Ray was to my left)

Standing in front of Joe's restored Chevy.

Oops! I shouldn't have left fingerprints!

The only one missing was Josh.

Perfect day to be in the pool.

Another oops! Maybe I should photoshop this
and give Nancy a coverup!

Last Friday we had lunch with the Walkers after a long hiatus and had lots to catch up with them. Pat is finally feeling better after being diagnosed with shingles 3 or 4 months ago. From her description, it's something I hope I never have to deal with. 

If there are any father's reading this, I hope you have had a beautiful day and may you continue to love your family and be the best Dad possible.

Looking forward...

After a second busy week, I'm looking forward to an ordinary and relaxing few days. Last Friday and Saturday the women's group at Concordia held their annual Rummage Sale. To prepare for the sale quite a few people worked throughout the week and I was able to help every afternoon and then all day on Friday. From what I've learned the sale was successful but I wasn't there for the end.

We had an invitation to our great nephew's high school graduation Open House so I missed the last day of the sale. We drove to Naperville IL arriving at 2 p.m.

Ray, Mark and Ruth

Mark is the oldest son of Lisa and Mark who were so busy that I didn't have a chance to get a photo of them together.

Lisa posed in her kitchen

Mark Sr. piloted his plane in a flyover trailing some smoke as a tribute to his son who is enrolling at Northern Illinois University in the fall.

These homes are across the runway

There were games, plenty of snacks and food and lots of shade making the warm afternoon a delight to visit in their backyard. Quite a few enjoyed the pool, a perfect spot to cool off.

Corn Hole competition

Waiting for a chance to toss a few bags in Corn Hole

We didn't stay late and drove home arriving around 9:45. We were thankful that no showers or thunderstorms ruined the day as had been predicted.

Volunteering

Late last year Ray connected with a former co-worker that he probably hadn't seen in 30+ years. She's quite a bit younger but worked for him when she began at Eli Lilly. She now lives in Greenwood and has health and mobility issues. Ray spent quite a few hours helping with small tasks that she was unable to take care of herself. When it became apparent that with more people involved it would be possible that some of the bigger tasks might be checked off the to do list, we invited members of the church to spend part of their Saturday helping with maintenance projects.

To be ready for yesterday's work day, Ray and I spent a couple of hours every afternoon (Mon-Fri) doing prep work. Most of the projects we had in mind were outdoors and for a while we thought there wouldn't be a work party at all because the forecast was for an all day rain. Because of the threat of rain, we called one of the volunteers and she was able to come on Friday so we could paint the deck before the rain came. However, the forecast didn't pan out exactly as predicted.

When we came together on Saturday morning, two of us weeded the front landscaping, one person investigated the problem of an inoperable ceiling fan, two guys worked on repairing some drywall, another two swept and cleared the back porch.

We were hoping to find a volunteer with a chain saw and were fortunate to have someone point us toward the right person. He came by Thursday evening and cut down several bushes that were overgrown and needed to be removed. He also noticed a dead tree that he thought he could cut down. He showed up mid-morning Saturday with his ladder and climbed the tree to cut off some of the top branches before felling the entire tree. There was some concern that the tree could fall on the fence of the next door neighbor something we definitely didn't want to happen.

Fortunately, I had my camera and was able to document the felling of the tree. I think what I've been learning in the photography course helped me get these photos.

Rope tied to tree to make sure it falls away from the fence.

Starting to fall.

Perfect landing!

Mission accomplished!

After taking down the tree, John saw another opportunity for service and using his ladder was soon clearing clogged gutters! A job that we didn't anticipate anyone would be willing to work on. All our volunteers were served lunch at church which was only five minutes away. I believe everyone was happy that the weather wasn't a problem and that we accomplished a lot.