Another "Another Good-Bye"

Jon's  going-away dessert buffet was a surprise, including the fact that his family showed up
to join the party.

Where I work, at Standard Publishing, we're getting good at going-away parties. Today's was to say

good-bye to Jon Underwood who is leaving after 33 years of service at Standard Publishing to serve as the chaplain at Mount Healthy Christian Village, close to his home and next door to the site of the old Standard Publishing building.

"I grew up with Standard Publishing," he said at his party this afternoon. "I grew up in a preacher's family, and we got all our Sunday school and VBS and church bulletins--everything the church needed--from Standard.

"We viewed Standard as the place where the scholars are. I never dreamed I would get to rub shoulders with them. Orrin Root. Mr. Hayden. It was wonderful."
Matt Lockhart praised Jon for his Bible knowledge as well as his ability to work with a team.
The caption on the cake was an understatement: "Jon ... You Will Be Missed."

Here are links to other Standard Publishing (or CFM) good-byes I've noted on my blog (It's a long list, but actually there have been more good-byes than these):

http://taylor-made-digital-diary.blogspot.com/2014/03/another-good-bye.html

http://taylor-made-digital-diary.blogspot.com/2013/10/another-good-bye.html

http://taylor-made-digital-diary.blogspot.com/2013/09/another-good-bye.html

http://taylor-made-digital-diary.blogspot.com/2013/02/one-of-good-ones.html

http://taylor-made-digital-diary.blogspot.com/2012/11/marking-day-measuring-my-words.html

http://taylor-made-digital-diary.blogspot.com/2012/06/men-and-women-in-black-and-other-nice.html

http://taylor-made-digital-diary.blogspot.com/2012/08/congratulatons-jan.html

Mulch and Memories

"It's our red, white, and blue breakfast,"
Evelyn said when I came in from the yard
to enjoy breakfast.

I spent most of yesterday, from before 8:00 a.m. till after 4:00 p.m., working in the yard. I took a break mid-morning for a wonderful breakfast of homemade waffles and fresh, fruit and another break about 2:00 for peanut butter crackers and a Coke.
I planted flowers and tomatoes in the bed beside the driveway and then mulched it all. (I had cultivated it Sunday, so it was ready to plant.) I started there because that side of the house is in the shade in the early morning.
The next door neighbor offered me a whole garden cart full of mulch. He'd bought too much and gave it to me free for taking it off his hands. So I cultivated and planted flowers in the front flower bed in time to use his mulch. He gave me enough to cover the whole bed!
The day grew warmer and warmer, but after my lunch, I planted a hosta in the flower bed behind the pine trees and then spread a bale of pine needle mulch to cover the bare spots all around the trees in the back of our yard.
Through it all, I used RoundUp on weeds and got several shovels full of compost from our compost bin in the back of the yard.

Aided by the chilly days and nights of
late spring, my lettuce patch has really taken off!

We cooked pork chops on the grill (from the freezer, part of our Omaha Steaks Christmas gift from Ken and Susan) for supper, and went to the Cone for dessert later in the evening.
It was a perfect, productive day, the third warm and sunny day of this three-day weekend. And it gave me the chance to make a lot of progress in with my list of spring chores.
Sunday we were at the Welcome Center at church, and I "hosted" in the Classic Service. I came across a headline in The Wall Street Journal that gave me the idea for the Communion meditation and the column I needed to write for christianstandard.com (It went live this morning). I worked on the column at the kitchen table for awhile after we got home from lunch and errands. And then, as I mentioned above, I worked in the yard.
Saturday evening we went to RiverHills Christian Church to enjoy a wonderful dinner celebrating the seminary graduation of George and Zina Dababneh. George is from Jordan; Zina is originally from Iraq, and after hard work and sacrifice, they received their degrees a couple weeks ago at the CCU graduation.

Zina and George are as attractive on the inside as they are good looking on the outside.

While we were there, we got acquainted with another international couple, Miguel and Allejandra Lara. He was an IBM salesman in Venezuela when he was converted to Christ through the ministry of Johnny Dye. Now he and his young family are living in Price HIll, and he is in graduate study at CCU. We discovered that they are attending Christ's Church at Mason, and in fact, the next morning we saw them at church.
Two inspiring couples who will one day use training received in Cincinnati to take the gospel to difficult foreign fields.

A Beautiful Sunday

I heard the sermon twice today, and I was blessed both times. Trevor DeVage preached at 9:00, and Brad Wilson preached in the Classic service at 10:30. We attended the 9:00 audtorium service, and then I led the singing in the Classic service for Dave Lautzenheiser who's on vacation. Actually, I was a sub for the sub! Jason Newlon was supposed to lead, but he returned Saturday from a business trip to India, exhausted from an inability to sleep while he was gone.
The memorable point from the sermon, which retold the story of the remarkable defeat of the Assyrian army against King Hezekiah because of God's intervention to bless the godly king: reliance leads to redemption. I think we all need to learn to rely on God more completely.
For lunch we tried a new fast-food Italian restaurant on Mason-Montgomery Road, Piada. We both liked it well enough to go back, although Evelyn wasn't as thrilled with hers as I was with mine.
Then we went to Natorp's and spent my birthday gift certificate (almost) on a hanging basket and a plant to put in it, plus succulents to plant in the wall planter Jennifer gave me last year, plus my free perennial with coupon and any purchase.
We came home and Evelyn mowed a little more than half the yard while I went on a wild goose chase for coco liners for several of our planters. I was gone longer than I planned, and didn't get everything I wanted, even at that.

I finished the mowing, edged the lawn, and blew away all the clippings. Then I filled the planters on our deck. My idea this year is to have an all-foliage pot garden. It's off to a good start, I think. We'll see how it looks when the plants have grown more, in a month. (The beautiful hosta and the purple heart plant were saved from last year. I saved purple shamrocks all winter, too, which will go in the rectangle planter in the back. And the sedum came from the yard.)
Evelyn made flautas for supper, and we watched one segment of 60 Minutes as well as a few minutes of America's Funniest Videos while we ate them.

Hail, Rain, and Work (Nice Visits Too)

"Just because I don't sleep in on a Saturday doesn't mean I won't take a nap before the day is done."
I posted that to Facebook early, too early, this morning. Evelyn was up by 6:45 to get ready to leave by 8:30 for CCU's graduation, but I awoke a few minutes before that and decided not to go back to bed .
I balanced the checkbook and paid bills. Wendy was up after awhile, and we ate breakfast together while Evelyn got ready to leave.
(Did I mention that Wendy Wagoner was with us this weekend? She came Thursday evening in time for supper and left tonight after a quick Skyline dinner together as she drove out of town. She visited with Cincinnati friends Friday and today during the day, but we still had lots of time to catch up with her. Last night we grabbed dinner at a restaurant in Blue Ash called Through the Garden. [I had a Groupon.] And then back home we watched Saving Mr. Banks via cable On Demand. She hadn't seen it, and we enjoyed seeing it a second time.)
I updated Twitter posts via Buffer and nosed around on Facebook awhile. Then I got to the business of

writing my column that will appear Tuesday. I often do that kind of work on Sunday afternoons. But it was cold and rainy this morning, and it is SUPPOSED to be dry and a little warmer tomorrow. So I decided to save tomorrow afternoon for outside work and get my inside work done this morning.

It was a wise decision. Wendy left after 11:00 to go have lunch with some friends, and while I was working, I heard hail pelting the windows! I decided to snap some pictures for the blog, and I'm glad I did, because it didn't hail anywhere where Wendy or Evelyn were.

I found some lunch to microwave and made a salad of greens that I picked from the flower box 

on the deck. My first homegrown lettuce of the season! I did a few straightening/pitching/sorting errands around the house until Evelyn got home after 1:00 so I could visit with her then.
It finally did clear up, so I went outside and made some progress in the yard: trimmed lilac bushes and a  rose bush, and dug weeds in the big bed with the pine trees in the back of the yard.
All that took as much energy and time as I had (I trimmed two bundles and a garbage can full of branches from three bushes), so I came in to visit with "the girls" awhile. Wendy wanted to leave soon, and I hadn't been to the store yet to buy anything for supper. So we decided just to eat supper with her, as I said, as she drove out of town.
Evelyn made a grocery list while I took a quick shower before we left for supper. Then the two of us grabbed the items on her list at Kroger's on the way home.
It was still early, so I gathered pots and hanging baskets and began the process of distributing them around the yard and arranging them on the deck. Maybe tomorrow I'll fill a few of them. I have some of what I'll use from that Garden Gallop I joined Thursday.
I think we'll watch another movie soon, to end the day.
I never did get that nap.

Garden Gallop

Took a day of vacation today to join Dave Lautzenheiser and a bunch of other (mostly) seniors from Christ's Church at Mason for the annual Garden Gallop. Dave and Sarah Ferris organize this each year about this time; it's a trip to 3 or 5 nurseries/garden centers to shop for plants for spring planting and summer gardening.
This is at least the third time I've joined the group. I go for the fellowship, to keep Dave company (sometimes he and I are the only males), and to ooo and ahhh over all the annuals, perennials, vines, bushes, planters, hanging baskets, and garden doodads one can find at these garden centers. And every year he takes us to some places I've never been before.
This year we visited three garden centers on Ohio Pike/Route 125 east of town. I bought at least something at each of them; two offered us a group discount, and all gave new ideas.
I always have a container garden on the deck, and I decided this year to try something different: all foilage. I was able to find several unusual plants you just don't find at Home Depot and Lowe's. (But I saw some that I HAD seen at the big boxes, at much lower prices, so my shopping isn't over.)

Our gallopers posed for a group shot at one of the nurseries where we visited. We dodged raindrops
all morning. But the heaviest rains were on the way to the first stop and on the way home
after the afternoon was over.

We ate lunch at Quaker Steak and Lube. Great onion rings! They're giving away a Harley later this year, but I didn't enter the contest. Think of it as Cracker Barrel with motor cycles and auto paraphernalia hanging from the ceiling and decorating the walls instead of antiques, washboards, and pictures of somebody's grandmother.
After lunch (a LONG lunch, but it didn't matter; we enjoyed the visiting), we drove back to Natorp's in Mason. It was the first time I'd been there this year: acres of BEAUTIFUL, healthy plants under one roof. Every kind of annual, vegetable, herb, and perennial you can imagine.
I have a gift certificate from there I want to spend, but I didn't have it with me today. (Didn't know we were going to go there.) So I looked at everything and made mental notes. I'm going back to Natorp's!
I began the day by running into the office and visiting with Matt Lockhart for about an hour regarding a proposal we're making to sign-on with a company that creates digital versions of magazines. We're seeking approval tomorrow, along with another significant request at the same meeting. I'm praying about this (and I don't say that flippantly). At home this evening I revised the P&L statement I had created in preparation for that meeting.

Two Days of Disconnect

This is a picture of the inbox for my email account as it appears via the Outlook Web App on my laptop. I took my personal laptop to work today with a plan to find a Wi-Fi connection for accessing email, because we had no email or Internet connectivity in the office yesterday, and as it turns out, all day today.
So much of our work is via email; we go through a huge volume of email correspondence in a week. I had made a bunch of assignments last week, and the people were responding to them this week. And I had more assignments to make and questions to ask.
I went to Panera for awhile this morning. Good coffee. Interesting interchange at the table nearby as I listened to some sort of manager or supervisor interview two applicants for either manager or assistant manager positions. (You can only overhear so much from a distance!)
I was impressed by the way she listened to the applicants, the questions she asked, and little snippets about how Panera does its business. (They grow all their own tomatoes. The chicken arrives in the store presliced. They keep complete records of their business--sales volume, by dollar and by item--so they can predict from one day to the next and one holiday to the next what kind of inventory to stock.)
The first guy seemed to be a winner. The second guy, not so much, for a variety of reasons. Probably the killer was that he'd been fired from managing another restaurant because one of its health/cleanliness standards hadn't been met. After that second interview, she stood up to leave, looked over at me, and smiled.
"You're not going to hire him, are you?" I said.
"Was it that obvious?" she said, laughing. "I could tell after the first five minutes he wasn't for us, and it's so hard to give a reasonable interview to someone you know you're not going to hire." I think she did a good job.
Believe it or not, I did get emails written during that time, as well as some information pulled off onto my stick so I could print a Word document back at the office to give some contract info, etc., to Diane Jones.
They told me there was Wi-Fi access in the small snack room in the main lobby of our building. So I trudged down there about 1:30 and stayed till after 4:30--with 3 or 4 other Customer Service gals on laptops, also accessing the Wi-Fi. We were accompanied by ABC's daytime programming on the big screen on the wall over us. And the little room was HOT. I really think I was more productive at Panera.
I'm a little surprised at myself at the flood of relief that washed over me later when I was back at my desk and my email account popped up open (this was about 5:15). I tried the Internet, and there was Evelyn's latest post on Facebook.
Connected again. Connected again! Thank God, we're connected again!
"Thanks for your patience and understanding," said the note telling everyone that the problem was solved. I'm not sure there was that much of either in my heart today.

Make-Up Monday

Yeah, we've all heard about Throw Back Thursdays. Well, I decided I'd have a couple of "make-up Mondays" to share pictures I took without ever writing the blog post.
Today's Make-Up Monday reports on Easter weekend, April 18-20.
Good Friday began with visits from workmen. One was repairing the hallway and ceiling damaged by

the ice dam in February. Another was here to deal with the big, black ants we'd been finding on the dining room window sill every day for a week or two. The hallway workman didn't get the job finished yet. The exterminator spread lethal chemicals inside and outside all around the house, handed us a bill (a fairly big bill) and left offering us long-term protection for $100 per quarter if we were interested. I don't think we are.
That evening we ate dinner at Raja India with our new neighbors John and Nina Creech, a delightful couple. When we took a coffee cake down to welcome them to the neighborhood, we discovered they had lived in Clifton and they love Indian. So we suggested we enjoy it together. I hope we get to spend time with them again.
Saturday was typically full of errands and grocery shopping. That evening we watched a video from Redbox, Philomena, and we were really glad we did. A gripping story, great acting, lots to talk about.

 Sunday, Easter Sunday, we went to the 12:00 service. It was the fourth service of the morning, and the church asked regulars to attend late to make room for the crowds at the earlier services. We met Terry and Shirley and Brandon Wuske there, and they came to our place for Easter dinner afterwards.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we took a walk to the park after dinner before dessert, and then ate our Easter angel food cake on the deck. Shirley brought the dessert, specially decorated for the day! 

This Weekend, and Last

The road to blog oblivion is paved with good intentions. I have pictures for my blog, but I haven't been

Isn't this a beautiful pie Cindi made for us?

posting them or writing descriptions. Here's a little make-up with a rundown of last weekend and this weekend.
Last Friday we planned to go the Reds game; they were promoting a special buy-four ticket offer in addition to Friday night fireworks. But when we got closer to the day and realized we'd be sitting in about 55 degrees with a breeze, we decided we weren't that big of fans.
We had the plans with Dan and Cindi Cooper, but Cindi offered to bring dinner to our place, and Evelyn and she decided we'd rent Captain Phillips, the Tom Hanks movie about the ship boarded by pirates off the Somali coast. We had seen it at the theater, but the Coopers hadn't, and we were game to see it again.
Cindi brought a wonderful homemade chicken pot pie and a tasty apple salad, and Evelyn bought some Graeter's to go with her homemade cookies (peanut butter with mini Reese's cups melted inside).
What a nice evening, and I enjoyed the movie as much the second time a the first!
Saturday I got up early to get a haircut at 8:30, and then we met Bill and Verna Weber at 10:45 for brunch at Bob Evans. (They were in town celebrating Ruby Weber's birthday with Donovan and Jocelyn and Nora.) From there we drove to Hamersville, Ohio where we attended the memorial service for Tom Friskney at the Church of Christ there.
Mr. Friskney had been our professor at CBS in undergraduate school. I learned much of what I know about page layout from the yearbook class he led and I attended three semesters. His son Paul was Evelyn's supervisor and colleague all the years she taught English, and we're friends with Paul and his wife, Sev. It was a wonderful service. Jon Weatherly's tribute, as so often happens at funerals, taught us aspects of Professor Friskney's life we hadn't known and challenged us with his qualities that we had known but might have forgotten.
The Hamersville church building was packed (we stood at the back); at least half of the congregation were Hamersville locals who had known the Friskneys through the decades they've lived there. Perhaps the most memorable part of the service was the singing: "Wonderful Grace of Jesus" and Mr. Friskney's favorite hymn, "I Know Whom I Have Believed." The room reverberated with the voices of the enthusiastic singers. It's been awhile since I've been in congregational singing like that; it was thrilling.

 Saturday night we fired up the grill for the first time this year: chicken and vegetables, so good.

Sunday morning I heard the same sermon twice; Mark Sullivan preached it in the first service in the

Mark Sullivan preaching in the 9:00 service.

auditorium, and Trevor preached in the Classic service at 10:30. I was hosting there and chose to attend that whole service too. The message centering on the tragic lives of Rehoboam and Jeroboam told the story of the division of the kingdom of Israel. One quote to remember, referring to the effects of Solomon's sin toward the end of his life: "We make decisions, and those decisions turn around and make us."
This weekend on Friday we tried to eat dinner at Dewey's in West Chester, but by the time we got there at 6:10, they were already standing outside waiting to get a seat. So we slipped over to Friday's and had a nice meal splitting a side salad and sharing three small appetizers. We drove up to the outlet mall one exit north on 75 to pick up at item Evelyn needs and then back down to Kohl's to spend Kohl's cash, a $5 reward coupon, and to use a 20% discount coupon. We bought a couple of picture frames, and believe it or not, even with all those discounts, we still owed a little money.
Saturday was rainy much of the day. I paid bills and managed finances in the morning and then went to

the grocery store. Later in the afternoon, when the skies cleared, I drove to Home Depot for mulch and some bags of top soil (it was about the third trunkful of the week) and came home to spread the top soil and trim one of our hydrangea bushes before coming in to take a shower. I grilled a second time, a variation on the chicken and vegetables theme. This time the meat had a fajita marinade, and we ate it in soft tacos with grilled peppers and onions. It was very good!
Terry and Shirley arrived at our place about 8:30 to spend the night. They'd been on vacation all week at the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan (all their stories and descriptions and pictures made me want to go some year!). They brought us a pie they'd bought at a bakery up there: chocolate pecan. Oh my goodness!
We all rode to church together this morning (Trevor's challenging sermon to put our "issue" on the altar

and pray for God to consume it like he did with Elijah's offering), and then returned home to enjoy Mother's Day brunch together. I had said I would cook, but the longer Evelyn and I talked about it, the more we decided she should fix her favorite Amish Breakfast Casserole and her wonderful cinnamon biscuits. I made the fruit salad and poured the orange juice!
Terry and Shirley left early in the afternoon, and I spent much of the rest of the day spreading mulch in the courtyard in front of the house. Jennifer called in the middle of the work, which gave me a welcome break, and later I drove to Home Depot since I was about one bag short for completing that section. I got another trunkful (8 bags), which should take me around the side of the house whenever I get to that.
I took a shower and Evelyn made nachos for supper--we were still pretty full from lunch! Geoff called while we were eating. It's always a good day when we get to talk to both of the kids.
Two good weekends, too good to forget, which is why I wanted to make these notes while I could grab the moments to do so.

The tulips I planted in this pot last fall made a beautiful display on our deck this week.