First Berkshire Week

Our Sunday spent with Brent and Christine was actually Mother’s Day. They surprised me with a small gift of note cards with pictures that Brent had taken. They are very nice. But the biggest surprise was the roses that I received on Friday when we checked into the timeshare in Lenox. Debby had sent me a bouquet of beautiful long stem roses. There were 24 and I counted 2 white, 5 pink, 8 peach and 9 red. They came with a vase and I was able to enjoy them the entire week.

Monday I was able to get an appointment with a physical therapist and will be able to go for six sessions these two weeks, each Monday, Wednesday & Friday. The pain running down my leg is better at times and then at other times not so great. I am trying to walk exactly correctly but that is also quite hard because my ankle still hurts. This is severely cramping our hiking, walking and touring. Bob is very patient and only wanting me to do what I can without exhausting myself. I think there is a little self preservation in there because I am at times very grouchy and no fun.

We did go grocery shopping and stopped at Joann Fabrics for the rings & cording that I needed for my backpack purse. I was able to complete the Christmas ornaments for 2008, made a surprise for our new grandniece Maggie (a classic Pooh pillow and book), mended a couple of more items and then constructed my purse. The pattern was a little lacking at a couple of points in the directions but I really enjoyed it and will enjoy using it. I can hardly wait to make another one.

The kitchen area in this resort was a little challenging but we managed. There was virtually no counter space. They also had the glasses stored above a dry bar area but it was up two steps from the living dining kitchen area. We moved some of them into the cabinets above the sink. We had some rain a couple of days but we were able to take a walk around the resort on a nice sunny day.

We had to check out of the Ponds on Friday so we used some of our Wyndham points to book 3 nights at Bentley Brook, which is right at Jiminy Peak ski area. This helped us so that we did not have to spend 6 hours waiting around and also stay at a hotel. Bob brought everything in from the van and on Friday I spent the day repacking. We need to leave some things in storage and I really needed to sort and repack those items. We also must make sure we have room to put a seat up in the van for our passenger, the first of which will be James in June. I think I have is figured out now Bob just needs to figure out how to arrange everything. What a challenge. Until next week, God bless.

Tiny Baby, Back Pain & Spring, Spring, Spring

We traveled on Saturday from Williamsburg to Downingtown, Pennsylvania (suburban Philadelphia) to visit with Bob’s brother Barry and his wife Karen. We found out about an hour before we got there that their daughter Sara had delivered Margaret June Daley on May 1, a 26 week baby who weighed 1 pound 9 ounces. Things are going well even as I write this. It was just a hectic and very scary time. They are calling her Maggie and she is a tiny miracle. We are so excited for Sara and Dan and continue to pray for health and growth for Maggie.

We had a good visit each evening with Karen and Barry and actually just hung around during the day while they were working. We took a couple of drives but Coleen was up early each day with pain down her leg so we went one day to the doctor. That in itself was an event. We are still learning about our insurance which changed while we were overseas. We have spent 2 months just trying to get our insurance cards. Of course they have to be mailed to our Texas address. They finally came last week and Phil will send them on to us. What we did find out is that since Coleen has been favoring her left leg because of her torn ankle ligament it has caused more stress on her sciatic. She wakes early each morning and in order to relieve the pain has to walk. That seemed to be acceptable until she spent two hours in the middle of the night walking and then she decided that something had to change. She is on some medicine and the pain has been relieved a little. Of course treatment is more complex because we move each week. She will start some physical therapy soon since we will be in western Massachusetts for 2 weeks.

We left Pennsylvania on Friday and drove to Lenox, Massachusetts. We enjoy this area of the Berkshires. The real fun is still watching spring because we are moving north and spring just seems to continue on and on. We are seeing tulips, daffodils, blossoming apple trees, forsythia, lilacs, etc. All of the trees are just leafing out. The weather is still cool most of the time but quite comfortable. Saturday we did our grocery shopping and then Sunday (Mother’s Day) drove to Stow, Massachusetts to see Bob’s nephew Brent and his wife Christine. We were also excited to see Karen’s parents, Kurt and Pat. We spent a nice evening visiting with the four of them.

Williamsburg, Virginia

We spent six nights in Williamsburg staying at Wyndham Governors Green. We stayed in a two bedroom unit so we had lots of space. Coleen spent a little more time in the kitchen and made chocolate chip cookies from scratch. Boy, were they good. She also tried a new bread recipe made only with spelt flour. It has some oatmeal and molasses and we also liked it. We checked out the scrapbook store and then the bike store that was next door. Since our bikes had been smashed in the accident before we went overseas (Nov 04) we wanted to look at some new ones. AND we bought two bicycles. Coleen thinks they fit extremely peculiar on the bike rack but they didn’t fall off. We even got helmets. We didn’t get a chance to ride them since we spent two days seeing things in Colonial Williamsburg. And, yes we overdid because it really threw Coleen’s ankle and leg into extreme soreness and pain. We did see a lot and enjoyed quite a few of the dialogues that they do throughout the area. We even ate at the King’s Arms Tavern which is one of our favorites. Friday was a complete down day as Coleen stayed off of her feet. We are still enjoying the spring flowers and the blossoming trees as we travel to each area. We have not had a spring like this for years. We left early on Saturday to drive to suburban Philadelphia to visit Bob’s brother, Barry and his wife Karen.

We are using our GPS in the van and it is quite fun. We laugh as “she” tells us to prepare to turn, make a right turn, make a sharp turn, go straight, etc. What is really fun is to let the system plot the way and then we deviate and go our own way. Usually then it recalculates and gets back on track. The other thing Coleen learned to do was copy our CD’s with music onto the van’s computer. Once we have them all copied then we won’t need to carry our CD’s with us. We also enjoy listening to books as we travel down the road and are listening to Ambler Warning by Robert Ludlum right now. We have already finished three other books since we started. We thank Debby for loaning these to us.

New Bern, North Carolina

Oh, another week with a couple of really important highlights. We stayed at Waterwood Townhouses at Fairfield Harbour near New Bern, North Carolina. It is about a 45 mile drive to the Atlantic from there. The drive from the mountains was mainly inter-state and was quick but not as quick as Coleen would like. We stayed in a pedestal type building again so Bob had to carry everything upstairs. He sure is getting his exercise and building muscles. The first couple of days it rained and we just chilled out. We left our picture print order at Wal-Mart on Sunday night and anxiously awaited the receipt of the pictures on Wednesday so that we could begin to scrapbook (1). Next to sewing that was the other thing that Coleen was really looking forward to doing. We did not have the supplies to scrapbook in Thailand. And so we did begin on Wednesday and are having lots of fun. It is going to take quite a long time to get three years worth into our scrapbooks but we will enjoy doing it.

I also really enjoyed the opportunity of baking (2) bread. Even though it is not exactly what we ought to be eating, we needed that after having no oven for three years. Actually it is a joy to cook again. With just a two burner electric hotplate my cooking was limited while we were overseas. Now I can really enjoy fixing a healthy meal as well as a few sweets now and then.

We took a trip to Morehead City stopping first at Fort Macon which is a North Carolina State Park now. The fort has been renovated and had excellent audio shows as well as dioramas. It was very educational. We then went into Morehead City for lunch and found a restaurant called Sanitary. We had eaten there about three years ago and ohhh what good seafood (3), something else we haven’t had for a long time. We had clam strips and scallops. They were cooked perfectly and just melted in your mouth.

The weather has been perfect the last part of the week, sun shining and in the 70’s. Friday night we went to the civic theater in New Bern and saw On Golden Pond. We have always enjoyed community theaters and have seen many good plays over the years. One day we walked around both of the large ponds at the timeshare. Each day Coleen’s ankle seems to improve and get a little stronger. No running yet though. We had purchased some DVD’s from The Teaching Company and are beginning to watch the second half of our lessons on A History of England from the Tudors to the Stuarts. We also each finished a small scrapbook and now are ready to start the big ones.

North Carolina Mountains

What a great fun week we have just had. We only had 121 miles to drive from Gatlinburg to Lake Lure, North Carolina so we went through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park into North Carolina. We stopped at the summit and state line for pictures. It was almost 20 degrees cooler at the top. The drive took us about 4 hours as it was hilly and windy roads but it was very pretty and fun. We are really enjoying the spring flowers.

We stayed in a resort area around Lake Lure in the mountains. Our unit was on three different levels and fun to be in. Coleen was so excited to actually have her sewing machine out and be able to sew once again. She did all of the mending and then on Tuesday made a quilted cover for a scrapbook tote bag. She and Debby purchased this tote at Sam’s in Nashville and it was full of items to scrapbook. It had no cover so on the way to Gatlinburg we had stopped at a quilt shop and bought fabric for the cover. In less than 12 hours the cover was made and is on the tote. I wonder what the next project will be.

On Wednesday we went to the Biltmore Estate. We have wanted to visit here for many years but just haven’t been close enough to do it. We left early and arrived right after they opened at 8:30. It was only about an hour’s drive. We rented the audio and thoroughly enjoyed the tour through 62 rooms of the house. I believe there are a total of 68 bedrooms. There is a swimming pool, bowling alley, library, pool room, smoking room and many others. We finished the house tour about 11:30 and then ate our lunch in the Stable Café. We had corn chowder and shared a sampler plate of roasted chicken, barbecued ribs and pulled pork barbecue. It was absolutely awesome. We toured the formal gardens which were full of tulips and listened to music by four harpists. The winery tour was simple and similar to many others.

We spent some time exploring the area. There was a nice big grocery close by and we ate a “birthday” lunch at a restaurant called Point of View. Bob’s birthday was on Thursday. We listened to a book tape, did cross-stitch and spent time on the internet getting all of our email addresses changed so that we can cancel our att emails. Saturday was an all day NCIS marathon so that was our restful day.

News from Gatlinburg

Well we made it to Nashville to see Debby on March 29. We were able to spend the evening with our good friends and tell them about our experiences and see the kids. On Sunday we spoke at Deb’s Sunday school class and really enjoyed that. She made us a lamb roast with sweet potatoes and parsnips, something we haven’t had for a long time. Debby has been storing items for us while we were overseas so we went through some of them and added them to the van. She will have to keep the rest until we come back through Nashville at the beginning of June.

We flew back to Dallas on Monday, March 31 so that Bob could have a test done on Tuesday. We spent most of the day at the hospital. The coolest thing was our rental car was a PT Cruiser and it was a canary yellow color but not as bright as a taxi. We flew back to Nashville on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday we spent with Deb and also had a visit from Coleen’s cousin and her husband. On April 5 we came to a resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Deb came with us until Tuesday. We had a great time and did lots of sorting and rearranging of our items in the van. We even managed to play a few games of Stack. We did some shopping for scrapbook items and organized all of the treasures we brought home from overseas to put in our scrapbook. We couldn’t get pictures printed yet so we are continuing to sort and choose. We got a call from the doctor and praise the Lord, Bob has a clear bill of health. Coleen’s ankle is still sore but continues to improve.

We actually cooked some meals this week and unpacked our suitcases. That is a first since we came back from Thailand. I even made bread for dinner tonight. The weather has been great this week. It is warm and comfortable. We are still trying to get our email organized and switch addresses but that is taking a bit of time. We just continue to praise and thank the Lord for safety, health and protection.

First Days Back

March 26, 2008

Well, it has been a month since posting the last time and we have been too busy to write. We had a good trip back to the U.S. We did the wheelchair thing through the airports and it was a blessing because Coleen could not have walked.

We had doctor’s appointments, visited folks and thought we might do some relaxing. We were able to speak at the Sunday evening service at our home church and at Team Kids. We also had five minutes at Phil & Susan’s church. We spent time with good friends and time with Phil, Susan & James. The hardest part was we didn’t really have time to relax.

Our son, Phil, went on an interview three days after our arrival and was offered a job with a company on the south side of Waco. So after we received our shipment from Thailand (March 10) we unpacked the shipment, unpacked part of our storage at Phil & Susan’s, sorted and sorted, and then repacked again. Since their house will be sold we had to rethink our “storage” issue. We decided to rent a storage unit in Indiana since we intend to be there eventually. We packed and packed and packed some more. On March 20 we rented a 26 foot U-haul truck and drove to Indiana in a two day trip on March 22 and 23. It was a safe trip and we did well even though we were surprised by snow on Sunday. There was lots of blowing snow but none stuck to the ground.

It seemed to take a long time to get through jetlag. It was almost three weeks before our bodies adjusted. One of the biggest changes for us is the fact that you can drink water out of the faucet and that you can get hot water out of the faucet. Coleen still gets ready for cold and is surprised by hot water.

We are in Indiana right now visiting with Coleen’s dad and friends. We are finally relaxing and hopefully will have some time to do our blog site, some scrap-booking and read some books.

We have been blessed by our last three years in Thailand and by all the folks we met and became friends with. We do miss many aspects of our work. But is does feel good to be in the U.S. and we are looking forward to doing some traveling and seeing the rest of our family. We also hope to see friends as we travel through various states. God is good and not only has prepared us for each step but has seen us through each day as we’ve made adjustments to “our plan”. Because we sometimes still have “our plan” we continuously pray that we will listen to and follow “His plan”. We are headed to Nashville, TN next.