Tuesday a.m.

Good morning! It's going to be a beautiful day - just like yesterday, only warmer! Yesterday I became a viking for a couple of hours. This was inspired by Quince E. who gave me the hat you see pictured above. The annual costume run in Bedford provided the perfect opportunity to allow the hat to lead to the rest of the outfit, and thanks to ReGen and Penny, everything came together nicely.

Kedra helped dress me and then called for Ben to come and see. Ben, who rarely shows emotion and doesn't like it when I do anything that might embarrass him (he's 16, so the list is long), looked at me with a horrible look and said, "Don't do that." I did it anyway!

On my way to Bedford I stopped by to see Nadine, who needed some cheering up after a bad doctor's visit. It took her a little while to figure out the what and the who, and in the process her dog escaped. Oops! Anyway, the dog was rounded up, and Nadine told me that I was really, really ugly. I think that's good?

Running 5 miles through Bedford with the others pictured above was quite a fun experience. Blowing horns, waves, and comments. The funniest comments came from a bunch of kids who were dressed in the Emo/Goth style (their usual dress), sporting various body modifications. They liked what were doing; struck me as funny for some reason.

* * *

Thanks to your prayers, we now have all the papers for the ambulance signed. I will be the first in line at the license branch this morning. Hopefully I walk out of there with a license plate and a "speed title" on order. It should arrive no later than Saturday. I already have insurance lined up and a mechanic's visit scheduled. Now I need to concentrate on packing. I am taking very few things, so I can fly back standby without checking any bags.

We have 2 new prayer concerns related with this trip. The first is that title come back by Saturday, but the more important one relates to Marc Tindall's wife, Terri. She is having surgery this morning, possibly for a blocked intestine. Pray that things go well for her.

Today is going to be good, busy, fun day!

At least I work 1 day a week!

The Trip

Monday!

Good morning! I hope your weekend went well. I had a very nice weekend and will share more about it a little later on. Right now I need you to join me in prayer that I can get a piece of paper signed TODAY. If we can get this paper signed today, then I think we are on track to leave for Honduras on Sunday, driving our ambulance through Mexico and Guatemala. I believe I have supplied all the needed information and pressure that I can.

Last week was kinda crazy. We went to Indy on Thursday for Ben's stuff at Riley Hospital, and then we went back up to Indy on Friday for the rest of the weekend. Kedra took half a day off Friday, so we left early afternoon. I got a nice hilly 10 mile run in before we left, which was good since I ate quite a bit over the weekend. We arrived at Lester and Maddie's place in time to unpack our things, and then we made our way to Avon for my nephew's wedding rehearsal.

The rehearsal went well, and the meal that followed was quite good. When we arrived back at Lester and Maddie's place, Luke and Rebecca were just pulling in from Nashville. It was so nice to see them! Lester and I went for a 5 mile run Saturday morning, and then we all went out to eat at a wonderful pancake place. Following that, the wedding took over and various ones had to be at various places for various roles.

The wedding was nice. It was outdoors, cool, and a bit windy. I kept the ceremony fairly short and to the point. Ben arrived in plenty of time for the wedding. He had been at the IU football game. The wedding and the reception went fine, and we all returned to Lester's place to watch a little football and to get some sleep.

We all got up Sunday morning and gathered with the church at North Central. I always enjoy worshiping there and yesterday was no exception. After church we went out to eat. Following our meal, Luke and Rebecca left for Lipscomb, and the rest of us went back to Lester's for a little while. Then Kedra, Ben and I returned home last night.  It was really, in a lot of ways, an uneventful weekend filled with simple pleasures. That's the way, aha, aha, I like it.

Now, here we are - ready for a new day and a new week! A signature on a paper will determine a lot about my week!



So sad

Indianapolis - A seven-year old boy was at the center of a Marion Countycourtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible.

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him.

After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.

After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Indianapolis Colts Football Team, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

[Don't blame me for this! Sent to me by Mike C.]

More Indy

Good morning! It's Friday, you know! And it's going to be a beautiful day, a little on the cool side, which is no problem. We're headed back to Indy today. This time we're staying for a couple of days. It's my nephew Kyle's wedding. So this evening is rehearsal and the big event is tomorrow evening. We're staying at Lester and Maddie's place, along with Luke, Rebecca, and Ben. It should be lots of fun! I'm taking off Sunday so that we can all spend Sunday together. I'm really looking forward to it. I love going to Lester and Maddie's church.

Luke and Rebecca are driving up from Nashville later today, and Ben will join us tomorrow at the wedding. He, along with some other family members, are attending the IU football game at Noon tomorrow. Kyle's soon to be wife, Charlsie, won lots and lots of points with the men of the family a few weeks back. She moved the wedding time from the original 4 p.m. start to 5.30 p.m. Some of the guys are saying they are wearing their wedding clothes to the game. They made need to, because they are going to be flying in at the last minute, I think. Should be entertaining.

Kedra is working a half day today, so we will leave early afternoon. This morning I need to get the marriage ceremony together, pack, and run 10 hilly miles. I hope to run another 10 miles in the morning with Lester. My running has not been great this week, but that's OK. I should be tapering for Monumental...

I guess I will finally watch a World Series game tonight. I watched some of last night's game but went to bed before all the exciting stuff happened. I used to live for baseball, but now I have trouble getting interested in it. I think all the strikes and greed over the years have put me off. I don't like the NBA either. I still like NFL football, even the Colts are making it challenging this year.

I hope you have a great weekend! Oh, when you are praying, would you please pray a specific prayer that our needed ambulance papers will be signed on Monday? Thanks.

Ben

Today we made the trip to Riley Hospital in Indy. Ben had an ultrasound, followed by an upper GI procedure that involved a scope. He was anesthetized forthe procedure. He was a little nervous about it, and so were we. The good news is that they did not find anything abnormal. The bad news is that they did not find anything abnormal. I guess we were hoping we could find something that was causing the problem, something that could be fixed.

The surgeon was very good and took her time talking to us. During the procedure, she inserted a small chip that will measure Ben's stomach acid. For 48 hours he has to wear a little computer to monitor the activity. He has a button to push when he feels pain. He also has to keep a complete list of everything he eats and drinks.

The doc said about 15% of people have pain like Ben has and never find out what the problem is. She said that people his age often "outgrow it," which is what I hope happens. Soon. She said he is good to work toward bulking up for football with weight lifting and an appropriate diet for gaining weight. We'll focus on that.

She did take 3 biopsies, which is standard procedure, but she does not expect them to reveal anything unusual. They said Ben was a good patient, and we left the hospital around 1. Ben had not eaten since last night around 10, so he was hungry. We made our way over to PF Changs and ate. Now we are back home and settling in for a nice quiet evening.

Tomorrow: back to Indy.