Working at a church is rarely boring.

This afternoon a transient who hangs around the church a lot came and wanted to use the restroom. But he was kind of weak and woozy and had to sit down in the hallway for a few minutes before he went back to the restroom area.

When he came back out, he asked me to call the pastor. But the pastor is out of town for a few days. So he asked me to call EMS – which I did. They came out, evaluated him and transported him to a hospital. I imagine he will be back before too long. He is around a lot.

We had a very small attendance at church this morning - only 32, but the pastor gave a very good message.

The lady I usually take to church didn't go today, so since our church service begins and ends earlier than a lot of them, I was home by 11:00 a.m.

We went to Snoga's for lunch. They have a turkey special on Sunday, so I got that with dressing, cranberry sauce, steamed carrots, mixed fruit, and a dinner roll. Then we went on to Wal-Mart and got a few things there.

By the time we got home, I was ready for my Sunday afternoon nap, then spent awhile reading the newspaper.

We had fish fillets for supper with broccoli, cauliflower and carrots in cheese sauce.

Saturday evening

Today has been pretty quiet. We went to Furr's Buffet for breakfast, then took the pickup for its annual safety inspection.

The rest of the day has been pretty quiet. I finished a book I was reading on the Kindle while Sis worked on some more of her craft projects.

These are covers for bottles of hot sauce.


These are crayon wraps. Handy to take along for children to occupy their time while travelling, in restaurants, etc.

This morning was pretty quiet at work. I got off at noon, then we went to Pizza Hut for their lunch buffet of different kinds of pizza, salad and soft drinks.

We stopped at the grocery and I got a couple things I had forgotten the other day.

When we got home, the lawn man was here mowing our yard. It was so long that I had been afraid he would have to bale it like hay if he waited much longer. Ha!

Thursday evening

We had chicken and homemade noodles and homemade biscuits for supper.

It is still 80 degrees here this evening. Soon after I got home from work this afternoon, I started doing laundry and am still in the middle of it.

In the meantime, I policed the cats’ litter boxes and got the trash ready to take to the curb tomorrow morning.

Calvin did not appreciate it when I switched brands of litter last week and made his objections known. So I got him a bag of the brand he was used to and all is well again. His female companion didn’t mind the new brand at all, so she gets to use up the rest of it.

What an exciting day. Ha!

Latest Update on the Tornadoes

The San Antonio area had three tornadoes touch down last night. While two of the tornadoes were actually a little south of the city in the neighboring towns of Devine and Natalia, there was heavy rain and some wind damage in San Antonio too and we found out this evening that another tornado had touched down in the southwestern part of the county and destroyed some homes. The city’s main post office on the north side of the city was heavily damaged and about 35,000 people were without power for awhile. We were fortunate to have only heavy rain. Today it cleared out and has been sunny all day. I was just looking at the pictures of the damage on the news and it's amazing that no one was killed and only a few people injured. All of them are expected to be okay. They sure lost a lot though.

It is supposed to be a bit cooler tonight, but I don't think we are expecting any more rain.

Wild Weather Night

The part of the city where I live didn't get any tornadoes, but the northwest and some other parts of the city did have wind and rain damage and power outages. Right now the sun is shining and I'm not sure what the rest of the day will bring.

From our morning news:

"Severe weather hammered the Midwest and South from Minnesota to Texas including a tornado that touched down in San Antonio, where at least 50 homes were damaged or destroyed.

Residents across this broad region were bracing for flooding Tuesday after the severe weather brought heavy rain and hail that is anticipated to continue for the next few days. With the storm system slowing significantly, tornadoes are becoming less likely but flash flooding becomes a major concern, forecasters said.

The slow-moving weather pattern will bring thunderstorms with heavy rain as it moves over the same area, according to the National Weather Service, which said that some locations will receive a foot of rain by midweek.

The NWS reported that the tornado touched down 25 miles southwest of San Antonio on Monday evening, and that parts of the city and surrounding areas were under a tornado warning. Although some were trapped inside their homes, no fatalities were reported by early Tuesday morning.

Tornado warnings across the San Antonio area were canceled around 11 p.m. Monday, according to ABC News affiliate KSAT. Crews began assessing damage to the area late Monday night.

The sheriff's office in Medina, Texas, reported multiple injuries, but do not have a count yet.

"Pretty much all" of the approximately 50 homes damaged were completely destroyed, a representative from the office said.

Interim Fire Marshal Craig Roberts reported heavily damaged homes and five injuries, and one reported missing, according to KSAT. He said none of the injuries were life-threatening. "

Sunday evening

We had a few more at church this week than last. Sis didn't feel good and didn't go to church this morning.

We didn't go out to eat today. I steamed some fish fillets in the microwave fish steamer. They turned out delicious. We had cauliflower with cheese sauce, green beans, and fresh oranges with them.

Then for supper I heated the rest of a bag of frozen chicken fajita strips in the microwave and we had them on buns with sliced avocado and nectarine slices.

There are still a few of the chicken strips left. I have half a package of homemade noodles that I plan to cook tomorrow and put the chicken in that. It's hard to get things used up with just two people.

Sis participated in a walk/run at a nearby park this morning to raise funds for a group she used to work for when she worked for the temp agency. It was a 4-mile run/walk. She walked but only for 1 mile.

We had to take Sis's cell phone back for service. She couldn't receive calls on it. Then we stopped and had a late brunch at BJ's.

This has been quite a week. There were two break-ins at work in three days. The first time they took some microphones, wiring and cords and got out fast. Then this afternoon the alarm went off again and the neighbor across the street saw a man with a backpack come out the front door and run down the street. We haven’t discovered yet if anything is missing. I suspect that they are looking for things that can be quickly pawned for money for drugs.

It has been very warm today.

No real decisions were made at the meeting yesterday afternoon, but we will have another meeting in two weeks to discuss it further.

A meeting is scheduled for this afternoon at work that will help determine whether we can continue or will have to close. My job is riding on the decision so I am very stressed about this. I didn't get a very good night's sleep. I will have to take the minutes of the meeting too.

Well, I've discovered the cause of my discomfort yesterday. It wasn't something I ate, but a stomach virus going around. Several people I know have it today and/or had it yesterday. I'm feeling fine now.

It is 73 degrees outside right now and expected to get even warmer before night.

Sunday night - March 11, 2012

It rained again yesterday, but we did fairly well on the final day of the rummage sale. We were both very tired by the time we got home.

It rained again last night but was sunny most of today. I moved the clocks forward before going to bed last night.

Sis's church was having a pot luck dinner after church to celebrate their pastor's birthday. Our church is over before theirs begins, so I went on over there for their service after I left ours. Then I stayed for the potluck. But I must have eaten something that disagreed with me because I was sick all afternoon. I'm feeling ok now. There are lots of things I used to eat without problems that bother me now. Most of them are things that are supposed to be so healthy for us.

Rain for the Rummage Sale

It was cold and rainy yesterday for the first day of our church rummage sale, but we didn’t do too bad in spite of the weather. The first hour and a half was the busiest, as is usually the case. There were about ten of us volunteering and when it slowed to a trickle later in the afternoon, we sat around and visited while waiting for customers. So all in all, we had a good time. My former beautician who retired a year or so ago came in, and a couple who went to our church for years until they moved way off on the other side of the city.

We had brought things to put together a little lunch for the workers so it wasn’t a bad day. Today is our second and last day of the sale and it probably won’t draw nearly as many people.

It is raining again this morning and is 44 degrees.

Tonight is when we move the clocks forward an hour to daylight saving time.

It got up to nearly 80 degrees this afternoon, but we are expecting much different weather tomorrow. It is not expected to even get up to 50 degrees tomorrow. Rain - perhaps heavy - is expected overnight and tomorrow.

The church is having a rummage sale tomorrow and I offered to help. This change in the weather may affect our sales.

We went to a fund-raiser meal at a Polish-American Club this evening. It was delicious - sausage, sauerkraut, creamed potatoes, green beans, bread, onions and pickles, with coffee to drink. It was delicious. It was too much for me for one meal, so I brought part of mine home.

After a breakfast of oatmeal, orange juice and coffee, I feel ready to face the day. I woke up often during the night - it seemed like every hour or so, but I must have slept enough overall. I feel okay.

I couldn't get in touch with the woman who usually does my hair, so after several tries, I went to the beauty shop at Wal-Mart and got my hair colored, cut, shampooed and styled. I won't be doing that again there. The beautician was very nice, but it took a lot longer than where I had gone before, cost a lot more, and I don't like the results as well. Next time I hope to be able to get my usual beautician - or find another that I like. I haven't been going weekly this year like I used to, just every few months when it needs cut or colored.

Strange things going on with the HMO

I got a letter today informing me that my primary care doctor is leaving the HMO in May, and I am being assigned a new doctor - or can pick one from the directory of participating doctors if I prefer. That is traumatic, as I have been with the same doctor for 26 years.

I am nearly out of blood pressure pills so I called his office to get an appointment. I mentioned to the receptionist that I had gotten that letter and she said, "No, he's not leaving, but bring that letter along when you come for your appointment." So I don't know what the deal is. In the meantime he is out of town, so she told me to have the pharmacy call them for approval for some more pills. I did and was able to pick them up later this afternoon. The funny thing is that Sis had gotten much the same kind of letter from the HMO about her doctor and pretty much the same response when she called her doctor's office. Weird!

Sunday evening

It was only 37 when I got up this morning but it sure warmed up. This afternoon it got up into the mid-70's.

After church this morning, we went to a cafeteria-style restaurant near us for lunch. Then Sis needed to get some more fabric for some craft projects she is making, so we did that before going home. Her latest project is making crayon bundles. Each is a long strip of fabric with pockets to hold 12 individual crayons. Then each strip is rolled up into a bundle and tied with a ribbon (or could use elastic). They can be kept in a purse to amuse children while they are travelling or when they are in a restaurant, etc. She has sold several of them.

The Chili Cook-Off

We went out to breakfast at one of our favorite little restaurants this morning, then Sis wanted to stop at a fabric store and a couple of other places. That took up most of the morning.

We just got home from a chili cook-off that the men's group sponsored at church. There were quite a few pots of chili. Sis made one too. It didn't win one of the ribbons, but it was good anyway. They all were. The young man who won first prize is about 16 years old and is planning to go to culinary school when he graduates. We were glad to see him win.

It was supposed to go on a little while longer, but we were tired and came home a few minutes ago. We had been there since 3 this afternoon.

March 1, 2012 - This and That

The phone company's repair truck did get to the office shortly before I got off work. One of our trustees was there so I went ahead and left. Hopefully everything will be working fine when I get there tomorrow morning.

Our yard man came and mowed and trimmed today.

We had chicken pot pie for lunch and yogurt for supper. Not sure if that will be enough to satisfy me until tomorrow or if I'll end up snacking before I go to bed.

I'm doing laundry right now.

My semiannual auto insurance bill came today and I went ahead and paid it online. Glad to have that out of the way.

Feb 29 - Leap Year Day

The phone company did not get out yet to fix our lines at work, so I still could not get online.

We finished up leftovers for lunch and then had hot dogs for supper.