It's Belinda's Birthday!

What a wonderful day was Belinda's birthday! Charles went out early and put the "birthday" cover to our mailbox.

Then he made an early run to the store, where he bought beautiful flowers for both inside and outside the house, AND he got a lovely painted ceramic pot with bird houses on it. Belinda really loved it all!

Then the ladies in the Gurley/Dalton Bible Study Group, who agreed to migrate to Sidney for a study and a birthday party, arrived at the parsonage. We had a great time! The fellowship, the study, the tea and pumpkin bread: Everything was "spot on!" They brought some beautiful/fun birthday cards, home-made jelly, Belinda's favorite coffee cake from the Gurley Cafe AND Cadbury's chocolate AND.. "the" most gorgeous rose just picked from the rose bush that very morning!

Afterwards, Belinda gave them a tour of the parsonage. It was a great morning!
Cindy had to leave before the rest, but we did get a picture on the front step of those of us remaining.

You can see the family "birthday bear" on our dining room table. We also have it sing the birthday song to the birthday person.

Then Fed Ex delivered a gorgeous flower arrangement. Belinda's brother and his family sent this spray of autumnal flowers with a beautiful vase. It was a delightful surprise!

In the evening, the "Bad Girls of the Bible" Study Group surprised Belinda with birthday cards, presents and a chocolate cake! Yum, yum, yum! We had a great study and terrific fellowship!

Praise be to God for loving friends who take the time to celebrate the good times with you! It really was a blessed day!

Friday Night Date: Attending Opening Night of "Hello Dolly!"

Tonight was so much fun! We attended the opening night of "Hello Dolly!" The music, the costumes, the story: It all was wonderful!!! It was great fun to be there!

Praise God for folks who are willing to share their talents with the rest of us... in such a special way!!!

We're Getting Our Annual Physicals Done

It's that time of year: we're getting our annual physicals done. This means that we had our blood tests done this morning. Charles went in first, and he did well. Belinda tends to be rather apprehensive about it, so Charles was a dear and volunteered to go in with her. He chatted her up, and he kept her mind off what was happening, so before she knew it, Belinda was done. Whew! (In the picture above, Belinda is both smiling and gritting her teeth. It was taken just as the process was beginning.)

Belinda looks tired, because she was. For her, it was early... around 8:30 a.m. Since they had to fast before the test, Charles took Belinda out to breakfast afterwards, as a treat!

Praise be to God for dear spouses who know your concerns and fears and volunteer to help you get through them all... and then celebrate with you when it has all passed!

A long, long week

What a week this has been (for church life details, see www.sidney-firstumc.blogspot.com)

A week ago today our beloved friend, Nick the Cat, passed away with Belinda and Charles by his side. It has been hard to say goodbye, he was such a part of our lives these past fifteen years.

Sunday we turned our attention to the work of the church and the worship services were really special for us. Many offerings of support for our grief were given. The confirmation class enjoyed a viewing of "Godspell" which tickled them with the "ancient" outfits as much as the message being offered.

Monday was a truly sad ocasion in the life of Sidney when over 700 filled the FUMC sanctuary and chapel for the funeral service of a local Sidney teen who had died the previous Wednesday.

Thursday was another funeral at the church which was for a well-known local businessman. We followed that with the arrival of the India Children's Choir and a delicious supper prepared by the church ladies.

Friday Charles accompanied the choir and their leaders to the mothership of Cabela's and a tour of the store. The choir members were a real hit with the shoppers when then performed two numbers for those in the store. That night a good turnout was on hand for the concert by the wonderful singers from northeast India. It was so nice to see the sanctuary filled with so many people, basking in the warm smiles and wonderful music.

Saturday was a bit slower with the choir taking its leave by 11am and Charles taking advantage of perhaps the last warm day to play a round of golf. Tomorrow the high temp is expected to be around 40F.

We think we are ready for another vacation!

Friday and Saturday's Journey... Farewell, "Nick the Cat"

We took Nick to see a local veterinarian Friday morning. He said that Nick's heartbeat was muffled, difficult to hear. He ran a blood and urine test. He said that Nick's organs seemed to be shutting down.

Truth is that Nick hit a low health point last weekend. He was having difficulty keeping his food down and had vomited a few times. Throughout last week, Nick had no appetite; he vomited occasionally; and he did not want to drink water.

The veterinarian gave us an antibiotic for Nick to take for the infection he had. We were given some pureed cat food and a dropper for it. Nick just couldn't keep the food and the medicine down. He grew more lethargic. In the end, we just gave him water, dispensed from a dropper.

The three of us had a quiet evening at home. We took turns sitting next to Nick and then holding him. He quacked/meowed at us several times. We could tell he was slipping away. Praise God that He helped us to know that. We spent the evening telling stories about Nick, remembering all kinds of things about our times together.

This morning, we took Nick to see the veterinarian around 9:00 a.m. The doctor said that Nick's eyes were dilated; his heartbeat was barely audible. Charles and I had our hands on Nick as the doctor administered the drug that very, very quickly helped Nick to be released from the confines of this world. In a matter of seconds, Nick was at peace. We were amazed how quickly it happened. The doctor was amazingly supportive and tender towards us. It helped so much!

We brought Nick home. Charles prepared a special place in our back yard for him, directly under the bird feeder. Nick always loved looking out at his friends the birds. He delighted in their activities. He would often quack/meow at them.

Charles wrapped him in a white sheet, and then he placed him into the big box, in which he always stored his Navy "covers"/hats. We collected pictures of Nick, and placed them in zip lock bags, along with a note detailing Nick's name, birth and death dates and... praising God for the gift of Nick in our lives.

Charles placed Nick into the ground. And then he walked over to the rosebush in our back garden and selected a lovely rose, handed it to Belinda, and then she placed it over Nick. We said prayers of Thanksgiving for all the great memories of Nick, and then Charles completed the burial. We placed a special marker over where Nick is buried. It states: Cats Leave Paw Prints on Our Hearts... Loveable Tabby, You Are Always in Our Hearts.

Afterwards, we planted a chrysanthemum next to where Nick is buried. It had a lot of "spent"/dead buds on it and also loads of brand new buds on it. It seemed symbolic: yes, there were so many "dead" buds, but the plant still has so many new buds on it... more life to come. After we buried the plant, we removed all the dead/spent buds. We look forward to the new life that will spring forth from that plant. It is something to which we can look forward!

Nick is gone from this earthly realm, but now he is at rest; he is in a much, much better place! Life changes, rearranges and evolves... Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow... and one of those many blessings was the joy of knowing "Nick the Cat" Alkula!!!

P.S. Nick has started something. We plan to develop all along, up and down that side row of the back yard, i.e., landscape it and plant some special plants in it... come spring! Praise God that we can always look forward to spring!!!

Our "Nick the Cat" Enjoying Being at Home

This past Tuesday morning, we collected our sweet cat Nick from the wonderful folks at the Coastal Cat Clinic in Jacksonville, North Carolina. We had not seen him since the middle of February, just after we returned from our 3-year tour in England.

It was so good to see him again! His veterinarian, Dr. Crystal Smith, said that she could not tell how much time he had left, but that it was good that Nick was finally going to be home again with his family.

We drove to Raleigh-Durham Airport and caught the direct flight to Denver. Afterwards, we drove home to Sidney, Nebraska. Home... we were all together... home again! Praise be to God!

Here are some pictures of Nick relaxing at home. He really enjoyed himself on Thursday when he was able to hang out and sun himself on the deck. It was a beautiful afternoon, about 72 degrees, with a lovely breeze. We think he was happy to be home with us again. We know that we were very happy to have him back with us again!

Praise God for happy reunions!

At Long Last: Nick the Cat is Home in Sidney, Nebraska!

Finally, we have our boy "Nick the Cat" home with us here in Sidney, Nebraska. Praise be to God! We spent virtually all day yesterday getting him home.

We got to the Coastal Cat Clinic in Jacksonville, North Carolina, in the morning. We were greeted by Annie, whom you can see sitting behind the check-in counter. The next picture shows how we first saw Nick... sitting in his box behind Annie's chair. He has been serving as the official greeter for the clinic for this last year. Praise God for amazing people like Nick's veterinarian Dr. Crystal Smith and her fabulous staff members, one of whom is "St. Annie!" Nick has had THE BEST treatment and loving care this last year. We are forever in their debt for taking such good care of "our boy!"

Thank you so much, Dr. Smith, for getting all the paperwork done so we could fly Nick to his new home in Nebraska!

You can see Nick and his friend Charles at the Raleigh Durham Airport, getting ready to check in!

And you can see Nick in his new kitchen, relaxing on his new cat pad.... well, yes, in his new pad/home!

After all our travels, we should all get one amazing night's sleep!

Thanks be to God!!!

(P.S. You can double-click on any picture, and it will get a LOT larger!)

A Wonderful Saturday at the Storytelling Festival in Tennessee!

Here we are in front of the Washington County Courthouse, situated in downtown Jonesborough.

This Storytelling Festival started 35 years ago, with some folks sitting on hay bales in front of the courthouse and swapping tales.

Thirty-five years later, we enjoy popping from one large storytelling tent to another. There were five of them this year, dotted all around the town.

The whole town is decorated so beautifully! There are loads of hay bales and gorgeous flowers and scarecrows and all things autumn... all around the town!

Don't let the pictures of folks in the tents fool you! Every tent ... every session... was stuffed to the gills with people. We just had to get there early to get good seats and settle in before all the festivities started.

Belinda loved discovering the doll's house, where children could actually go inside and play!

It's a great experience to see folks relaxing and telling some of their stories and smiling and having fun... why, it really is a good time for all! Yea, God... for such a fun place to be this weekend!

Last Friday, October 5th: North Carolina & Tennessee

Last Thursday, after Charles finished playing his round of golf at Pinehurst, we drove to the western part of the state of North Carolina, just past Asheville, to a lovely place called Lake Junaluska. We spent the night at the Lambeth Inn there along the lake. It is a hotel at Lake Junaluska, a United Methodist conference and retreat center. We had visited there in February of this year, when the snow was on the ground and the lake was frozen. Now we enjoyed seeing flowers in bloom. It is such a beautiful place to visit!

Just days before, the brand new Bethea Welcome Center had opened. We were so impressed with it! The first picture is their "front desk," over which is hung beautifully decorated old organ pipes. At first, it looked like really pretty pencils, but they are old organ pipes that were donated for this special artistic feature at the center.

Outside we saw a lovely display of fall ornamentation, which really put us in an autumnal mood! We loved our room at the Lambeth Inn. Our room overlooked the lake, and it was great to be able to sleep with the window open, so we could enjoy all that great fresh air. Great sleeping weather!

Friday morning, we visited their amazing cross which overlooks the lake. It is a wonderful place for prayer and reflection!

We drove about two hours to Jonesborough, Tennessee, which is the oldest town in that state. AND ... it is the home of the National Storytelling Festival, which is always over the first full weekend in October each year. We quickly registered and hopped over to our first storytelling tent experience. It was just as wonderful as we had remembered it. It had been four years earlier when we registered for our first festival experience. It seems like there are more people at this year's festival. We guess that word has gotten out about what a fabulous weekend it is!

Jonesborough is a lovely little town. It is so easy to get around. All we have to do is look on the schedule and decide which one of the six tents we should visit.

More to follow...

Thanks be to God for such a wonderful weekend get-away experience!!!

Pinehurst at Last!

The time had finally come. Charles got to make the golfing pilgrimage that is Pinehurst!

As dawn broke over the Carolina pines, he drove up to the clubhouse at the center of the eight courses that make up this mecca of American golf. With some hope, he went to the starter's desk and asked about the possibility of getting a tee time on one of the courses. He was told that not only were there tee times available, but that he could play Pinehurst No. 2 (the most famous of the eight courses) in 45 minutes!

Well, he jumped at the chance, and after warming up on the driving range, it was time to see what the fuss was all about. He and with another golfer from Chicago set off to face the challange!

Wow: Generous fairways, deep bunkers and some of the most treacherous greens he's ever seen were the order of the day. The course was in fantastic condition, and at the end of the round, Charles was thrilled to claim a 98!

Praise God for such amazing opportunities!!!

We're on our way to the festival!

We left our home in Sidney at 5:55 A.M.! We stopped at the Rooster Restaurant in a village off I-76, about half an hour before we got to the Denver International Airport. We had SUCH a good breakfast; it really put fuel in our tanks, so we could keep going today. Charles' mother loves chickens. Everything in this restaurant is so cute, complete with chickens on cafe curtains all around the dining room. We'll have to take Mom Alkula there some time.

We parked at USParking, long-term parking for the airport. Thanks, Rilla, for the tip to park there. They are so efficient! The signs guide you into exactly where they want you to park. Shuttle buses are waiting for you to board. A fellow even gave us a slip of paper detailing exactly where we left our car parked. The shuttle bus was comfortable and got us to the airport right away. Most impressive all around!

Once we got to the airport, we were processed through "the process" of getting to and on the plane. Shoes off; laptop out of its case; shuffle, shuffle, shuffle down the security lines! The 3-hour flight went by fairly quickly. And then we emerged into the warmer, more humid climate that is in North Carolina, at this time of year. After the dry air in western Nebraska, this humidity felt quite oppressive!

OF COURSE.... the first stop after getting our rental car.... was to dine at the nearest Cracker Barrel we could find. It was SO GOOD!!! Praise God for all good things... including Cracker Barrel stores and restaurants.

We decided to drive an hour and one-half south of Raleigh, to get to a hotel in Southern Pines, which is a stone's throw from Pinehurst, which is considered to be one of the world's premier golf destinations. The plan is for Belinda to rest tomorrow morning, while Charles gets out around 6:30 A.M. and plays a round of golf somewhere in Pinehurst. His dream realized. Her dream realized. What a great start to the vacation! Afterward, we will be driving toward Jonesborough, Tennessee, where we will enjoy the National Storytelling Festival.

Stay tuned for more info tomorrow.

And, yes, thank you, God, for a wonderful start to our week vacation!!!