Medical innovations

All three of us have been embarking on medical innovations. At a quarterly visit with one of Vincent’s doctors, the doctor heard more stories about Vincent’s long sleeping and sometimes sleepless nights and laid out a path for Vincent to take a waking-up medication that might require a sleep apnea diagnosis – so off Vincent is to a sleep specialist later this month. Although Vincent’s got less than a month to finish his English class, he’s been periodically energetic, apparently writing down ideas for novels, scripts, or video game storyline ideas. Vincent apparently came back from a counseling session with this idea – ostensibly to do research for Asian-themed story lines – by going back – 2 ½ years after quitting – to St. Matthews Martial Arts, where teachers all seemed to remember him.

As I continue to go to physical therapy to work on my knee, I’ve gone back also for an aspect of the shoulder-neck-back problem that began during a June 2006 visit to Michigan. I had hoped to combine knee and shoulder visits – but I’m having to separate them , for reasons of time – and so I’m going not only for essentially do-it-yourself work on my knee, but also work on my shoulder, for which I need more help. On my first visit my PT found evidence of shoulder problems and gave me a chiropractic-style intervention that I’ve only gotten for this injury (not for the knee injury). We also took about her idea (an epidural) and my idea (acupuncture?). PT for two different injuries for a while.

Stephanie’s forays into sewing classes helped her realize that it’s not easy to find patterns that fit her, and some patterns may produce clothes that need to be altered. That – and a return to Weight Watchers, with its new Points Plus system – got her not only to count points (plus) again but to use our gym membership regularly. After going to the Breckinridge Inn gym/pool twice in one year (for some $600 – that’s $300 per family visit), we’ve gone five times in the past month – including three times in the past week. Now, in turns out that some of the knee weight machines actually bother my knee. But between swimming and weight machines and the stationary bike/”elliptical” machine – both of us have been losing weight.

-- Perry

2010 Outreach Council Annual Report

Outreach Council serves as a hub and catalyst for Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church’s outreach, mission, and evangelism activities. In 2010 Agnes March, Bob Abrams, Chris Snyder, Izzy Jones, Janine Linder, Jeff Gilbert, Lowell Linder, Lucy Steilberg, Marcus Perry, Perry Chang, Rebecca Barnes-Davies, and Wanda Abrams participated regularly in Outreach meetings, with Amy Linfield, Carlos Lara, and Pastor Jane Larsen-Wigger also participating periodically. Marcus and Perry led the Council as co-chairpersons. Participating in individual meetings were Alan Pauw, Brooke Pierson, Diana Stephen, Gail Bingham, Jennifer Thalman Kepler, Kashama Lengulula, and Paula Tibbs.

Everyone is welcome to Outreach meetings at 7:00 p.m. on the second Wednesday of every month, in the Fireside Room.

Key activities of the Council, and the church, this past year included:

- Book distribution. Thanks to the generosity of CHPC’s Ann Yeargin, the church gave 1,000 books (Bluegrass Breeze and One Tiny Twig) to local children and families through half a dozen partners: United Crescent Hill Ministries, Presbyterian Community Center, Eastern Area Community Ministries, Breckinridge-Franklin Elementary School (in Irish Hill), and Fairmont Elementary School (in New Albany) (pictured above). The council worked with the books’ author, Dan Rhema. Among the others who helped with this were: Alan Pauw, Chris Snyder, Dave Bush, Diana Stephen, Gayle Trautwein, Izzy Jones, Pastor Jane, Johanna Wint, Marcus Perry, and Stephanie Gregory.

- Food for Thought series. Working with Pastor Jane, Charlie Boyd, Molly Boyd, Bruce Whearty, and Lora Whearty began this series of light lunches and presentations by Crescent Hill folks involved in various missions and ministries this past spring. Many presenters made PowerPoint presentations, and most let folks know how they could get more information and what follow-up action they could take. Making presentations were Anne Del Prince, Bruce Whearty and Lora Whearty, Christi Boyd and Jeff Boyd, Fletcher Padoko, Jerry Van Marter, Mary Love, Stephen Bartlett, and Tricia Lloyd-Sidle. These lunchtime events gave people a chance to hear about different mission, outreach, and advocacy opportunities, and gave individual CHPC folks a chance to reflect on what difference their work (paid and volunteer) has made in their lives and the lives of others.

- Mission month. With a kickoff sermon at the beginning of the month by Pastor Jane that reminded Crescent Hill folks why we do mission, Crescent Hill celebrated August as mission month. Church mission teams that traveled to Appalachia and Guatemala (and participated in the Presbyterian Youth Triennium) led worship services. All long-term Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers who Crescent Hill supports participated in this. Christi Boyd and Jeff Boyd (in west Africa) spoke at a Food for Thought lunch, and Jeff also gave a Minute for Mission during worship. Amanda Craft (in Guatemala) spoke to a Wednesday evening audience (pictured below), before Council meetings. (Our own Hunter Farrell, director of PC(USA) World Mission, also preached.) Carrying over into early September were: (1) a worship service led by participants of Louisville Presbyterian seminary Brazil mission trip (with Rebecca Barnes-Davies preaching), which Outreach had recommended for church support; (2) a sermon by JoElla Holman, who later this past fall left for the Caribbean became a fifth PC(USA) mission co-worker the church supports; and (3) a dinner with Nancy Collins (in east Africa) and some Outreach folks. Carrying over into December was a talk by outgoing Young Adult Volunteer Luke Van Marter to current Youth Group folks and Youth Group alumni/ae. The month plus helped focus the church’s attention on mission.

- Ministry opportunity fair. In October Outreach put together displays about its work and arranged for displays by several CHPC ministries and CHPC partner organizations (many of them staffed with people to respond to questions): greeters ministry, Guatemala mission partnership, Habitat for Humanity, joint three-church English as a foreign-language teaching ministry, PC(USA) international mission co-worker liaison team, Presbyterian Community Center, Sustainable Agriculture of Louisville, and United Crescent Hill Ministries. Participating in this were Amy Linfield (who designed two beautiful displays), Ana Lara, Bob Abrams, Diana Stephen, Jamie McMillin, Jennifer Thalman Kepler, Lowell Linder, Stephen Bartlett, and Wanda Abrams, along with mission partners Irene Spicer and Lori Jacobs. Several dozen Crescent Hill folks signed Christmas cards for the mission co-workers, and their families, who the church supports, and several people signed up for volunteering or to receive more information for each of the ministries with displays/sign-up sheets. The Latin American food in the Outreach Council corner (which Lowell supplied) was among the most popular at this very successful event, and drew more people to the displays (pictured below). The event also pushed Outreach to pull together more detailed information about fall 2010 volunteer opportunities with some dozen ministries with which the church works.

- Preschool. 2010 was a time of promotion, reflection, and restructuring for this 50-year-old-plus children’s ministry of the church. Licensing issues, up-and-down enrollments, staff changes, the economic downturn, and changing marketing strategies helped trigger a discussion among Outreach Council, the session, and especially the preschool board about the preschool’s future. A mid-year marketing campaign that included several dozen Crescent Hill families and individuals putting CHPC Preschool yard signs in their front yards, and inviting opportunities to talk about the preschool and the church in general with neighbors, netted just enough students to continue preschool operations during the 2010-2011 school year. Discussions about the future (of both the preschool and ministries to children in the community, in general) continue. Participating on the board are Ada Asenjo, Katherine Futrell, Pastor Jane, Janine Linder, Julie Leake, Lucy Steilberg (board chairperson), Lowell Linder, Sally Flick (preschool director), and Tom Peterson.

- New members. Two classes of 16 people total joined, affiliated, or associated with Crescent Hill church, in March and October. Those included: Andrew Black and Dawn Black, Anne Del Prince, Dana Hemming, Donna Burch and Marsha Berry, Eric Proctor and Laura Hayes, Jennifer Thalman Kepler and Paul Kepler, Jim Hubert and Kristy Hubert, Kara Smith and Taylor Smith, Risa Musto, and Stephanie Gregory (who moved from affiliation to membership). Pastor Jane and Lucy Steilberg helped coordinate new member activities and connecting new members and sponsors.

- Giving and benevolence. Outreach helped coordinate the church’s participation in four churchwide special offerings, the One Great Hour of Sharing offering (which helps fund the PC(USA)’s Disaster Assistance, Hunger, and Self-Development of People ministries), Pentecost Offering (which funds PC(USA) ministries for at-risk children), Peacemaking Offering (which helps fund the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program), and Christmas Joy Offering (which helps fund assistance to needy active and retired church workers and PC(USA)-related racial ethnic schools and colleges). This year the church received about $7,300, down slightly from the previous year, when there were fewer competing giving opportunities. That includes $2,715 for the One Great Hour of Sharing offering, $1,321 for Pentecost, $1,862 for Peacemaking, and $1,398 for Christmas Joy. Two of these offerings include local funding opportunities, and Outreach recommended that $330 of the Pentecost Offering receipts go to support the Bellewood Presbyterian Home for Children and that $465 of the Peacemaking Offering go to help support the peacemaking lecture series at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, in honor of Professor George Edwards, who died in 2010, and Jean Edwards. Brad Wigger, Chris Snyder, Janine Linder, Jerry Van Marter, Martha Gee, Ruth Farrell, Sally Pendleton, Shannon Langley, and Stephen Bartlett helped promote the offerings. Outreach made recommendations about use of the brand-new CHPC Mission Fund, including $1,000 that went to the United Crescent Hill Ministries (and got the church a logo on the December Santa Sprint and Stroll promotional materials and T-shirt) and $500 to the EFL ministry. Outreach also worked with Dave Bush and UCHM to turn some $800 Crescent Hill church folks donated into $4,000 for utility assistance for Crescent Hill residents (through the Metro Match program) and to have Crescent Hill church folks donate nonperishable food items for UCHM’s emergency food assistance program once a month, instead of just once a year. Outreach played a role in a successful December effort to shore up end-of-the-year finances, which helped the church keep its 2010 benevolence commitments.

- New ministries. Outreach Council blessed and helped provide an advisory committee member (Lowell Linder) for an outreach ministry with French-speaking African immigrants and other French-speaking people. Helmed by Kashama Lengulula and Paula Tibbs, the ministry began offering Sunday afternoon worship services in the CHPC sanctuary in November. Outreach also helped provide a member (Lowell Linder) to a new board for the CHPC Community Garden, as well as $500 to the year-old EFL ministry.

- Neighborhood outreach. Outreach Council talked periodically during the year about ways to reach out to Crescent Hill/Clifton neighbors. The Council continued to have the church buy ads in the Crescent Hill Community Newsletter, mailed to residents, and considered other strategies.

-- Perry

New ventures

Only one of three new endeavors for us today panned out. After a 2 ½-year absence, Vincent went back to martial arts classes – Kenpo – down the street, and that seemed to go well, although he said he was a little sore. Although Stephanie and I going back to the gym for the second time in a month (after an eight-month-plus absence) went OK, my effort to shift from physical therapy for my knee to PT for my shoulder, etc. failed, as I miscomunicated in appointment-making with the staff (and I stuck with my knee instead). I’ll try again next week. After sewing lessons with her colleague and twice at Joann Fabrics, Stephanie was excited to go to a two-hour in-home class, with someone she had found on the Internet. But the woman was skeptical about whether Stephanie would be able to alter dresses that Stephanie had found patterns for – patterns that it turns out weren’t exactly Stephanie’s size – and so Stephanie mainly went back to making pajama pants something she had learned and mastered at JoAnn’s last week. Bummer. Now Stephanie’s back to the drawing board, trying to find patterns for clothes that will fit better.

-- Perry

"How to Maximize Your Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Productivity"

Key points from the final (Wednesday, November 10) workshop University of Louisville business professor Russ Ray (pictured above) offered on time management and related topics (a workshop that I attended):

- Spend 10-15 minutes every morning planning, going over your calendar and to-do list for the week, month, and further. Review goals/goal-setting. Emphasize goal-setting.

- During large swaths of time, minimize interruptions – perhaps including not checking e-mails or ignoring all e-mails except for immediate colleagues and known clients.

- Work on whatever is most important/urgent in the morning, when you are most productive, including setting aside time for big projects that you need uninterrupted time to work on.

- Minimize subscriptions/listserv subscriptions, etc. Only read that which is essential.

- Avoid meetings. If meetings are absolutely necessary, start meetings on time, end them on time, and stick to an explicit agenda.

- Avoid having conversations in your office, as you can’t control as easily how long someone will stay there.

- Delegate as much as possible.

- Say “no” politely to non-critical tasks.

- Participate in Toastmasters, learn speed-reading, and develop an exercise routine. Get enough sleep. Take real vacations. Nevertheless, go in to work early and leave late.

-- Perry

E-mail from outgoing Congressman Baron Hill

Dear Perry,

I want to take a moment thank all of you who have supported this campaign with your time, your effort, and your generous contributions. None of you need me to tell you that this was a tough race. And while the outcome may not have been exactly what we'd hoped, I want you all to know how incredibly proud I am of the organization you helped build. In all my years in Congress, I have never seen anything like it.

This job has never been about winning elections for me. It's always been about fighting for the people of Indiana and about doing the right thing.

I'm proud of my record, and of all the things we've accomplished over the past two years:
- We created over 3 million jobs and turned around the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression
- We saved the auto industry, preventing the devastation of Indiana's workforce.
- We made college more affordable for millions of students.
- We passed important regulations ending the worst practices of credit card companies and protecting consumers and our economy from risky Wall Street investment schemes
- And of course, we passed historic reform of our broken health care system, expanding access to millions of uninsured Americans.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I believe that when the history books are written, it will be said that it was the Democrats who saved this country. I have no regrets from the last two years, and neither should you.

Betty and I have been deeply moved by the support, hard work and dedication you have poured into this campaign. I don't know yet what the next step is for me in my career of public service, but I hope to see you all again, and I look forward to continuing our walk together.

Sincerely,

Baron

Time for a change?

Five races we’re watching that could be decided early (as all polls close by 8 p.m. Eastern time): For southeastern Indiana’s U.S. House seat: U.S. Rep. Baron Hill vs. Republican challenger Todd Young; for Kentucky’s open U.S. Senate seat: Attorney General Jack Conway vs. Dr. Rand Paul; for Metro Louisville mayor: Democrat Greg Fischer vs. Metro City Council Member Hal Heiner; in Ohio: Gov. Ted Strickland vs. Republican John Kasich; and for Florida governor: FL Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink vs. Republican Rick Scott (pictured above). If the Republicans take all of these (certainly possible), I predict they will also take the U.S. Senate.

Watch Perriello-Hurt in VA and Chandler-Barr in KY also. In two other Congressional districts where we have roots, Democratic incumbents Allen Boyd (in FL) and Mary Jo Kilroy (in OH) seem already headed for defeat.

- Perry

More victory!

Surprise!

Thursday night my new urologist called and said that my blood test results with regard to my prostate were OK, but that I had low testosterone. TOngith Stephanie read more about this and this can be connected with a whole nexus of male menopause/andropause symptom and it has some weird treatments, which the doctor alluded to. I am to get another blood test and see him in six months.

Friday - after almost finishing one of his on-line classes in time for his Mom's birthday - Vincent first said explicitly what we suspected recently - that he thinks he'll stay here with us instead of going back to Ohio and staying with his father. He was somewhat disappointed with his father aborted a planned-for move to Florida and he told Stephanie he's been surprised how easily he's almost finished this class here. They don't currently have Internet access in the RV they were staying in - with no working toilet or shower. Today Vincent highlighted the creature comforts - a bed, food (homecooked by Mom), Internet access, video games - and didn't say what I think is also true: we've been getting along pretty well, enjoying each other's company, and for better or worse we haven't been bugging Vincent much about things we used to (school work, getting a job, cleaning his room, bad language, etc.). We've also done some fun things together. I wouldn't say Vincent is that much less isolated here - he's really disengaged from his friends (including ones we don't like) and stayed in the house for the most part - as in Ohio - but in principle he still knows how to get around here more (and Meemaw is no longer in Ohio). (We also do a better job of taking care of him - with doctor and dentist et al. visits - and he seems to have quit smoking here!).

Sunday night two more surprises awaited us when I pulled the two baby turtles out fo their habitat and put them in bowls of dechlorinated water with a piece of dog food I'd been soaking. First, it appeared after a while that Big Mac - who I saw on Saturday in the contained with food in the habitat - had defecated (which they would do in the water), and then Filet of Fish - the scrawnier, less active baby turtle - whom Dr. Williams and her colleagues had tube fed - began to bite at the piece of dog food. Filet of Fish ate! Check out the video above for more evidence of this.

-- Perry

- Perry

New Albany night

Stephanie, Frisco, and I were all in New Albany until late Thursday. I planned to take Frisco with me to an “Organizing for America” phone bank making calls to Southern Indiana Democrats to urge them to call U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) to urge him to vote for financial industry regulatory reform. First time I’d phone banked for several weeks, and the first time not for health care reform. Frisco came along with me. Stephanie stayed late for a “family literacy” program put on by Indiana University Southeast for her English as a New Language students and their parents. Stephanie was kind of a star, as the MC essentially interviewed her, asked her questions about the families. Plus there were two IUS ENL education grad students who said they had heard of Stephanie , were excited to meet her, and hoped to follow up. A new READ 180 coach also appeared during the day to offer Stephanie feedback.

Things weren’t so great back on the other side of the Ohio River. Thanks to me leaving Frisco in the back yard during the afternoon (and taking him to New Albany with me), he had no accidents for the first time in three days. Back at work, however, things did not go so well. Some long, closed-door meetings, and rumors from other sources, suggest that the cuts – in general and in our offices – may be quite severe, which leads me to believe the Presbyterian Panel, which I’ve administered in 14 months in my new position, may be on the chopping block. Hard to see how they could justify keeping me – instead of some of my colleagues – if they got rid of my research program. Mid-week next week will find at least three people from my office headed to a de facto job search workshop at work (why before the layoffs? Asked my colleagues; I answered: because if they do it afterwards, the laid off people will all be gone – it will be too late). There are other interpretations out there. This may not be by accident – we may all three be on our way out. Thursday I came closer to finishing a draft of another report and signed up for the new jobs e-mail distribution list at church.

Mom went into work for the first time in months and found that her new medication doesn’t seem to work as well as her old medication. She was sleepy at work, but – more importantly – she found some of her Parkinson’s symptoms – ones she may or may not have missed in recent days – were more in evidence – which made it tougher for her to walk. She’s going through her files electronic and hard-copy and logging more hours in so she doesn’t use up all her vacation.

-- Perry

Decadent and depraved

Excerpt from Leah and Delilah's readers' theater plus performance of Hunter S. Thompson's "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" 1970) at Friday evening's extreme infield/gawking party (click on the arrow):

Pre-Derby week news

Mom got the OK to start back to work late last week – getting medical permission for working at home – and worked through the weekend. While she worked she started getting dinner take-out and eating in her apartment instead of in the dining room. Mom has been exercising at the retirement center gym every day since her therapy wrapped up more than a week ago.

Mom has been limiting her driving, but did get out to a Tallahassee American Association of University Women annual social event – to which she invited some other friends – last week (over the weekend – besides the funeral and wedding in Ohio – she missed the state AAUW – an event she twice ran for an organization for which she served as Historian during the past year).

Friday Mom’s realtor met with the contractors. Another damaged wood spot outside was found, this one on the bank of the house. Mom has spent about $5,000 on fixing up the house. The realtor sounds close to taking pictures of the house and putting it on the market. I hope it hasn’t closed by late May, when I’m planning to visit – I’d like to see the house one more time and like to check out what the contractors did.

Although we visited Ohio this weekend, we didn’t get to see Vincent. He started his new job as a dishwasher at a Bob Evans near Graceland shopping center in north Columbus. He worked a few hours Saturday and then more hours Sunday. He had to be there at 8 a.m. Sunday and seemed tired Sunday afternoon. The only bus that goes near his apartment goes across Morse Road to near his restaurant, but it sounds like he’s gotten rides from his father or grandfather (who’s been staying at their one-bedroom with Vincent’s grandmother and their dog) so far. We offered him a ride home Saturday but he didn’t go for that. Apparently he may have opportunities for advance, but we’ll see if he sticks with it. It’s ironic because until very recently he associated Bob Evans with breakfast food and complained when we tried to go there.

If Vincent sticks with a job he may not have a week every month or two to visit us – as he’s been doing since he no longer had a job as of early January. And given what happened late Monday night to the people he hung out with while he was here last – including hanging out with them all night exactly a week before this – http://www.fox41.com/Global/story.asp?S=12362720 – we may not want him here either. Not the comments also.

Vincent has apparently tried out some of his on-line classes he signed up for and says some of them are easy. We’ll see if he can work on school and work simultaneously.

It remains to be seen what if any classroom space Stephanie will have available to her once her school takes in 100 or so new students over the summer.

I’m excited to have Oaks Day (the day after the Pegasus Parade before Derby – the Oaks is the all-fillies race that Rachel Alexandra won last year) sort of off. We’ll see if I can get the problems with my work laptop power cord/adaptor fixed before then (which would allow me to work home some that day) and whether I’ll still have a job exactly two weeks (14 days from Oaks Day) later.

Penny is busy preparing for a series of dance performances this weekend in Virginia, where she will receive an award.

-- Perry

Vincent news

Vincent’s two classes had timed out. He can’t get his old work back. Vincent and I toyed with the idea of signing him up for the high school General Equivalency Diploma pre-tests. Vincent had been signed up for dual enrollment English and math classes, which cost us $100. The English class, which is required to graduate, he had almost finished. (Both of these classes he had taken before, at Brown.) Jefferson County High School did not kick him out of school. In fact, he signed up for FIVE classes: the dual-enrollment English class (again), a whole year of dual-enrollment computer class (for which he may need to buy Office for his father’s laptop computer), and two easier lifeskills and career development classes. Since he needs to take the second semester of the math class, I’m not sure he really needs all of these classes, but I decided not to argue with the school official. She still has to find his second-semester World Civilization, which she couldn’t find a record for. We’ll see if he does better at taking five classes than he did at taking two. It’s still not clear whether these time out in five months or one year. This cost us $150. It remains to be seen whether Vincent can make any more progress over the next five months than he did during the past five months (not any progress).

I told Vincent Stephanie would probably want us to take him out to dinner for his birthday on Friday evening or Sunday after church, which he seemed OK with him (probably Friday). He mentioned also the possibility of seeing a movie Friday, which I had wanted to do also. We’ll have to see how it will all fit in, since I must get ready for a worship service Saturday morning. He was threatening to go off with his friends today (on to Brown School vicinity after our JCHS visit) and during Thunder (I imagine he’ll start with us). He said he had a headache which he partly attributed to not smoking. He said he blew off a young woman with whom he had exchanged text messages during the past month.

-- Perry

Big week

Today (Monday) we heard from Vincent, whom we haven’t been able to reach several days, that he may come here for 10-14 days for a concert (with us) and for Thunder Over Louisville (with us). It’s possible he could take care of some legal issues while he is here. Tuesday Stephanie will find out from her principal, who is staying, who will be teaching at the school next year. Receiving 100 new students and losing 4th and 5th graders, Fairmont may lose some 5th grade teachers and gain teachers from some of the four elementary schools that are closing. This will help determine whether Stephanie will get any kind of classroom. On Wednesday Mom will go to a neurologist for the first time. Mom took the bull by the horns and pushed for a different neurologist than our doctor in Tallahassee initially referred her to. Mom also took the bull by the horns and asked a friend of hers (from AAUW) to go with her. Mom had done something similar last week when she pushed back when the physical therapists who worked with her tried to get a walker that Mom thought was too flimsy and low-end. Late last week Mom got the walker she wanted, but the therapists asked her not to use it until they show her how. Also this week, Sunday was the deadline for submitting to deposits for our church’s summer Guatemala mission trip. Only a few people signed up, and so Monday the pastor and I agonized about whether to plow ahead. The suspense continues.

-- Perry

On the way back home

Click here on the arrow in the white box far below to see a video of Frisco running across the parking lot of the hotel where we walked minutes after I'd returned to Louisville from Tallahassee and had picked him up from boarding. The hotel is the one whose pool and exercise room we use periodically throughout the year.

-- Perry

Remembering winter

It snowed several times this winter - starting in December and then increasingly frequently and heavily in January and February. Stpehanie's school district had about a week's worth of snow days. These are various similar pictures of our home in the snow, but taken after different snowstorms.

Here's a picture of a snowplow at work down the street from us. We live in a suburb with some excellent services, including plowing of side streets like ours relatively early on. Our street is also quite wide for an old side street, which may make it easier to salt and plow.

We share a driveway with our next-door neighbor Diane. I often plowed first, but on her days off especially Stephanie got into the act, using our snow shovel and a broom to clear off the driveway. Below Diane and Stephanie join forces.

(Diane is our neighbor who knew the woman who lived in our house for 50 years before we did. When lights go on up in Vincent's room without anyone touching them - or occasionally other odd things - we say that Martha (or Mrs. Loran) is at it again. Stephanie - and to a lesser extent I - have stripped out much of the paint and wallpaper that this family had on the first floor. We still occasionally get mail for her. Diane tells us that she fell and went to a nursing home, but then came back and lived on a hospital bed in what is now our dining room before dying at home.)

This winter I actually liked shoveling. We didn't have any super heavy snows, and I always went out before it had turned to ice. Also, I sometimes shoveled after waking the dog or when I was dressed as if I was walking the dog. Either way, I would not be very cold (except for maybe my extremities). In fact, shoveling is hard work/good exercise, and so I might actually get hot pretty fast. With relatively light snow and not a huge area to shovel, I could get my part done in 20-30 minutes. Stephanie might shovel our walk and driveway much more thoroughly later. It took some of our neighbors much longer to shovel the sidewalk in front of their houses. The house, neighborhood, and area could be quite pretty snow, at least until it started melting - especially before other people had really started shoveling/plowing. One more set of winter pictures later.

-- Perry

Car accident

A little more than a week after being at Bobby’s service, we’ve been to a couple of visitations in the past weekend. More harrowing, even, was visiting one of Stephanie’s English as a new language colleagues at the same downtown hospital rehab center where I visited another church member a month after he’d had a stroke. Stephanie has been to several conferences around Indiana with her colleagues – mainly from other schools – and then last July she and one of the middle school ENL teachers, Laura, went to the READ 180 conference in Nashville together, roomed together, and went on the ghost tour together. Practically the same month, Laura had gotten married to a man she’d known less than year and moved with him and her kids out to the country. During one of the snowstorms in February, she drove off the road and suffered a head injury (also in the car was her won, who turned out to be OK). It took four hours to get her to the hospital in Louisville and she was in coma or unconscious for a couple of weeks.

We visited her Sunday afternoon. Her brother and nephew had just flown in, but her new husband – who’s been there a lot – told us most what was going on. When we got there, Laura was taking her first shower. After she came out and sat in a wheel chair, she mainly stared into space or interacted with her husband. But she did smile at a joke Stephanie made and looked over at her (although I never heard her speak). I had never met her before. (I’ve visited one other person in the hospital after she suffered a head injury, but Laura’s injury seemed even more severe . . . ) She’s obviously made a lot of progress, but Stephanie said it’s hard to imagine she’d be ready to go back in the classroom. She and her husband are obviously very religious – in an upbeat way – but – even with the progress – it’s hard not to be sad too. Laura is probably going to come out a different person, for better or worse. Laura’s husband talked about some logistical issues too – like car registration, bank accounts, power of attorney. It makes you think – puts current challenges in perspective, make you wonder how things would go if we were in their shoes.

Say a prayer for Laura and her family.

-- Perry

Surprise visit

We knew on the eve of my Aunt June's key doctor's visit that June and son Dustin - and, it turns out, Dustin's aunt on his father's side, Brenda - traveled to Missouri so that Dustin could meet his biological father for the first time. June called from the road - traveling from Missouri to Ohio in one day - to say hello and said they couldn't stop - but then Brenda helped change her mind. We met Brenda and heard about the trip - where Dustin spent a couple of days with his father and was emotional on the way back.



June has lost some weight and was about to find out that her illness has not grown worse but not grown better. June, Mom's youngest sister, has been eating partly through a feeding tube through her stomach and showed us some of this. This is another health issue, since it has not been working properly.

After June got home, the doctors put her on an IV, in hopes that she would gain weight. A week later June spent several hours at home - with her son and sister at home but not noticing her discomfort - with a blinding headache and vomiting. Eventually, son-in-law Jay called 911 and the squad took her to Mt. Carmel East hospital. Blood pressure spikes sometimes precede the headaches, but health care providers have never figured out what might be behind the headaches. Days later Stephanie actually drove June home, and she got to see Dustin again, as well as Barb, Diana, and Jay. Although we gave June, Dustin, and Brenda no grand tour, Stephanie had just put up a bunch of Christmas paraphernalia (see "Christmas preparation") and I had been cleaning the house. I feared that no one would see the Christmas paraphernalia - since Vincent was gone and we'd be gone for 2-3 weeks at Christmas - but June et al.'s visit - plus those by our plantsitter Jessi and her family - assured that someone would see our handiwork.

-- Perry

Big day

This Thursday Vincent went out to work - helping a family move - with his father, for the first time since his own Ohio move. He said it was hard work, much harder than unloading Halloween costumes into the Halloween Express store. I got word that - thanks to Obama/Democratic Congress reforms to student loan programs - my lender has approved me for income-based loan repayment, which means Stephanie and I should just barely be able to afford to start making payments not just on her loans but also on mine. And at work and church, everything finally got turned in on the World Mission strategic planning project I worked on a lot in September and October and Wednesday PM I finally led a church Outreach Council meeting that I was pretty happy with. Mom and I continued to talk about both her future and ours. And I completed another stage of helping to prepare for a gathering of the non-Anglo folks who work at the Presbyterian Center, the Presbyterian Distribution Center, and the Presbyterian Foundation. And - last but not least - although plenty of fall leaves will continue to come down into our yards - we had tried harder this year (not waiting for Vincent) to rake front-yard leaves onto the "curb," where the City of St. Matthews picks them up - but, awfully early, for our trees - and today - after I've been raking for 5-10 minutes every morning after walking the dog - and after I got in a last 5 minutes of raking - city staff picked up our front yard leaves (pictured above). We'll still have plenty - esp. in the back - to rake into big brown paper yard bags - but not as many as most years, since we got so many in the pile for the city.

-- Perry

Tough season

We've stuck with the Seminoles and embattled Coach Bobby Bowden throughout this difficult college football season (tough for University of Louisville fans) and have gone to several Kentucky Seminole Club events. Vincent of course missed the disappointing Clemson game this past Saturday night. Above our president, Mark, and we helped his girlfriend - they met on Facebook - celebrate her birthday. Below one of the more serious fans ponders the second half. Behind him is John, the former club president, who's active in local Republican party politics. I'm on afraid on this night - during a rare not close game - we drowned our sorrows in a little too much food.

-- Perry

Au revoir, Vincent

Stephanie and Vincent's father (pictured above) chat while Vincent and his friend Aaron (not pictured) say good-bye, at 6:15 p.m. Friday. The streaks are from the camera trying to take pictures without flash at dusk, with the main light from Vincent's father's and Vincent's lit cigarettes. After smoking since the day he turned 18, Vincent had quit for several months, but started smoking again this past week. Aaron and Jessi had helped Vincent pack belatedly as he threw books, DVDs, video games, and a few clothes into two duffle bags - and then went back to get the Wii. We wouldn't let him take Frisco.

We've talked with Vincent episodically since then - and he's talked and texted with other Louisville friends (including two different young women). He's stayed and visited with relatives, then moved into a house near Morse and Westerville roads (and Easton) in Columbus: http://columbusoh.apartmentfinder.com/Columbus-Apartments/Thornapple-Apartments-Apartments. Unfortunately, his name is on the lease and the utilities. He's moved in some of his father's stuff and played video games, eaten cookies, and slept some at home.

-- Perry