Guys'- and Girls'-Night-Out

Since Dan's heart attack, we've been sort of tied at the hip. It was time for some "apart-time" tonight! Dan went with some guy-friends to a baseball game at Round Rock. The Round Rock Express played Oklahoma City, and won 5 to 2.

While our husbands enjoyed a night out at the ball field, Kay, Trish, Twilla and I had a girls' night out. We all agreed that we had more fun than any of us had had in a long time. We went to dinner at the Backporch, and then walked next door to the theater to see Poms, starring Diane Keaton, Rhea Pearlman and a slew of other female stars from "our era." We loved it, and saw ourselves in so many of the antics of these "senior ladies." Trish sat to my right, and laughed so hard at times that she could hardly catch her breath. I had almost as much fun watching her as I did watching the movie!

As much as we love our husbands (and we DO), there's just something so special about a night out with the girls! 

The Best Laid Plans . . . (you know the rest)

I don't like to advertise that our house will be empty by posting upcoming travel plans on my blog, so I usually wait until I get back home to share away-from-home adventures and photos with my readers. Ever since we booked our European river cruise, way back on June 7, 2018, I've been restraining my urge to post that exciting news. We were due to leave, flying out of Austin to Heathrow and on to Amsterdam, on Sunday, April 28. Our tour would have taken us 15 days, and would have gone from Amsterdam to Budapest. It was to be in celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary, coming up in June.

But on Friday morning, around 4:00 - two days before our anticipated departure - Dan woke me saying he didn't feel well. He was in a great deal of pain, mostly in his teeth, upper jaw, back of his neck and down his back. He was feeling nauseated, and was sweating profusely. It took me about five minutes to determine that he needed to get to the emergency room, so I told him to throw some clothes on and get in the car. Luckily Baylor Scott & White Hospital is about seven minutes from our house, and at 4:00 in the morning, I may have gotten him there even faster.

Once we were in the ER, things moved very quickly. I sat in a corner of the examining room, trying to stay out of the way of the 16 medical professionals diagnosing and caring for Dan. The EKG confirmed what I feared ... he was having a heart attack! He was immediately whisked into a surgical room, where they fed a catheter from his right wrist up to his heart and placed a stent to open the artery. Dan tells me that as soon as that stent was in place, the pain ceased. By 5:30 or 6:00, he was being taken to a room, and he spent two nights in the hospital, coming home after lunch on Sunday.

Tests confirmed that, because of the speed with which he came in, was diagnosed and treated, there was little to no damage to his heart. None the less, he will be on a regimen of various medications for at least a year, and some of them for longer. He is feeling good, and resuming most of his normal activities already. He'll be seeing our primary care physician today, and has a long list of questions for her.

This morning, at breakfast, feeling fine and looking like normal again!

I can't begin to express my thankfulness - first to our son, Chris, who drove from Houston and was at my side all day Friday and until Saturday morning; and secondly to our church family who outdid themselves with prayers, visits, gifts and taking care of not only Dan, but me. If my memory serves me right, 19 folks came to see him in his hospital room over those two-plus days. Some of them took me to lunch or dinner. Some brought books and snacks to help pass the time as I sat by Dan's bedside. They all asked what they could do once we got home, offering to mow the lawn, shop for groceries or help with anything else we might need. Three more, plus a neighbor, dropped by the house yesterday to check on us. It has humbled me and made me so grateful for these amazing friends. I don't know how people face trials like this without faith, prayer and the support of God's people.

On Monday I went to see the travel agent to begin the process of making a claim against our trip insurance. That is in process now and, hopefully, we'll get back our money and be able to re-book a trip, sometime in the near future. We're not thinking of it as having been canceled ... just postponed.

Many have expressed sympathy that we didn't get to go on our big European adventure, but all I can see is God's providential care. If Dan was going to have a heart attack, it was a huge blessing that it happened BEFORE we left. I shudder to think what the outcome might have been if we were stuck on that 9-1/2 hour flight, over the Atlantic, when this hit him!

Wildflowers, Grandkids and Song

We've lived in Temple, now, for seven years. Each year I go a little crazy over the bluebonnets and other wildflowers in the fields and ditches alongside the roads. But this year there is a bumper crop of flowers! They are just everywhere, it seems.

On Wednesday I took my Temple Literacy Council student on a field trip to see some of them. She may be heading back to her home country (China) in the next couple of months, and I want her to remember how pretty the springtime is here in Central Texas.

Dan and I took off, on Friday morning, to Brenham, where Kelsey and Robert met us at the Blue Bell Creamery, for lunch. They came on the school bus, along with the 3rd-5th grade choir, from Mayde Creek Elementary, in order to visit the creamery and, later, to participate a choir competition at Blinn College.

At the creamery, the kids loved going up to the observation deck, where they watched assembly lines of different flavors of ice cream flowing into the cartons. Then they came back downstairs, each one getting to choose one scoop of ice cream - any flavor - to eat before lunch!

The choir did a beautiful job of singing their selections, and we were proud to learn, a little later in the day, that they scored all "1"s on their performance! Way to go Maybe Creek 3rd-5th Grade Choir!

Robert standing beside the bronze Blue Bell Cow and Little Girl

Robert with his good friend.

We drove from Brenham to Katy, and spent the night with our Chris, Kelsey and the kids. That evening we had pizza for dinner, played a great board game - 7 Wonders - and watched Solo: A Star Wars Story together before bed.

On Saturday Chris, Dan and Robert met some of Chris' friends for a guy's lunch, and the girls - Kelsey, Clara and I - went out for lunch and a little shopping. 

Dan and I headed back home shortly after lunch, once again reveling in the wildflowers gracing the fields and ditches along the roadside.

Friday with Friends!

Poston Gardens  was the main destination of our day-trip, yesterday, with Andy and Kay. But - first things first! On our way we stopped at the Little Czech Bakery, in West, for a breakfast of kolaches! They were delicious, and were a perfect start to our day.

Poston Gardens, in Waxahachie, TX, is a 60-acre tulip farm, planted and tended by two tulip farmers from Holland. There are several different fields, each with rows and rows of brilliantly colored tulips.

We strolled through two or three of the fields, stopping now and then to pick a tulip to take home. We purchased a pass that allowed us to pick 20 tulips, so Kay and I each pulled ten to take home. We weren't sure they'd survive the rest of the day in the back of Andy's vehicle, but we wrapped them in damp newspapers and hoped for the best.

From the tulip fields, we headed to historic downtown Waxahachie, which was great fun! Waxahacnie boasts lots of artsy shops, antique shops and restaurants. We decided to eat lunch at the Dove's Nest, a gift shop and restaurant with a French Country air.

Leaving Waxahachie, Andy drove us to Old Fort Parker, a historic site near the city of Groesbeck. Not having grown up in Texas, nor having attended school here, I was not at all familiar with the story of the Parker family. The Parkers and a number of other pioneers traveled to Texas, together, in 1833. They built the fort and lived inside the stockade walls, trusting the walls to offer protection from Indian raids. The most famous family member, Cynthia Ann, was captured by Indians, as a child, in 1836 and adopted by a Pahuka Comanche family. She later changed her name to Naduah and married Chief Peta Nocona. She bore him three children. In 1860 the Texas Rangers attacked the Comanche camp and re-captured Naduah and her infant daughter. After living the life of a Comanche Indian for many years, she was now returned to her family in East Texas. Sadly, neither she nor her baby daughter survived the transition. At the age of 37, only six months after the death of her baby daughter, Naduah (Cynthia) also died "of a broken heart," longing to return to the free life of the Comanche.

Cynthia Ann Parker "Naduah" on day of re-capture by the Texas Rangers, with infant daughter.

From Groesbeck we headed back home, stopping along the way for another bite to eat. When we got them home, our tulips were wilted and sad looking. I put them in the kitchen sink, sprayed them with a cold shower of water and then put them into a vase with fresh water. By morning they had perked up and were no longer drooping. They are now sitting on my kitchen island, a proud reminder of the fun day we had yesterday with our good friends.