Charles' day in Big Spring

While Belinda continued her orientation activities with the VA, Charles set out to explore some of the sites in Big Spring.

_____

First up, the Heritage Museum which contained some really cool exhibits. The museum has a great collection of Longhorn cattle horns, orginal gramaphones, dolls, and an exhibit featuring Patricia McCormack (a famous female matador who grew up here).

_____

Next was the Hanger 25 Museum which was the last remaining hanger from Webb AFB (a training base from WWII to Vietnam. Among the many aircraft used in training at this base was the B-52. The museum has a cockpit from a B-52 and Charles was thrilled to be able to sit in the pilot's seat.

_____

Even though the weather had taken a decidely chilly turn (nearly 40 degrees colder than yesterday!), Charles braved the elements and got in a round of golf at Big Spring's Commanche Trail Golf Course. Even with the windy conditions Charles was rather pleased with his round of 89!

____

After golf, Charles checked out the spring from which Big Spring takes its name. Very pretty spot, a real oasis in the west Texas prairie.

Belinda's Great First Day at Work!

Belinda took the picture of herself (below) before she set off for her first day working for the Veterans Health Administration. She met some wonderful folks who are committed to providing THE BEST health care to our deserving veterans. It was a very good day. Yea, God!!!

Belinda's First Day at Work!

Greetings from Big Springs, Texas!

This afternoon, Belinda drove to Big Springs, so she is pre-positioned for her return to Civil Service tomorrow. She will be attending newcomers' orientation for the next couple of days. While she was driving around the town, she saw the First United Methodist Church and the district office nearby. Praise be to God for all the blessings of this day!

March comes to a close!

We had a great day today! The sunrise today over the mesas was really beautiful, it never grows old watching the scenery from our kitchen window. It being the fourth Sunday of the month, we began the day at Iraan with the congregation's breakfast potluck, boy, there are some mighty-fine cooks in that community!

After finishing this afternoon at the Convalescent Center this afternoon, we went for a late lunch with Bill & Bobbie Lester. A great way to unwind after a full morning!

Belinda then drove to Big Spring where tomorrow morning she'll begin working with the Veteran's Affairs (VA) hospital system. She's going to be the Admin chief of the clinics in Ft. Stockton, Odessa (both in Texas) and in H0bbs, NM.

More work at the parsonage

Thanks to all of Charles' hard work in the parsonage's back garden, everything is looking great! What a great husband he is!

It's a McCamey Cleaning Day!

Today was the annual "Great American Clean-up" in McCamey, and the turn-out was fantastic. (Sadly, we had it on our calendars, but we forgot!). Belinda spotted some of the volunteers at work, including a lot of students from the high school. As we went to lunch at Benoit's, we could see the fruit of their labors. What a blessing it is to live in a place where people care for each other in this special way!

And we're off!

Belinda had the "honor" of the first run of the year with our lawnmower today at the parsonage. The yard looks great, and it felt great to have a pleasant day to be out and about on a windy west Texas day!

Back in McCamey

Belinda returned from her overnight trip to San Angelo this afternoon, just in time for a massage! Then it was straight to the church for choir practice. She may need to go to work just to get some rest! Charles had a full day with church activities in McCamey and in Iraan. Never a slow day in west Texas!

While Belinda was away, Charles had done a lot of yard work, including planting roses in the front flower bed. He also added a horned frog to the "boot planter" we had in front (with the cross made by Burton Lanehart, FUMC - Iraan member). Our house is showing a Texas-flair!

Now that the garage is cleaned up and we have two cars, it was fitting that we also have "his & her's" designated parking in the garage! We've settled into our home now! Thanks be to God!

A busy couple of days

We've had a busy couple of days here in west Texas. On Monday, Charles spent the day at a Midland hospital with a family of an Iraan church member (who was having surgery). That evening, we attended the monthly United Methodist Women's meeting at the McCamey church. Belinda was the hostess and served up a wonderful fruit medley and angel food cake, yum!

In case you have not heard, Charles is a candidate for one of the positions on the school board here in McCamey. This morning, Charles went to the school district's administration office and took part in the drawing to determine the order of the candidates on the ballot.

Meanwhile, Belinda was packing up some of the dishes from the McCamey church kitchen clean-up for transport to the Goodwill store in San Angelo. After Charles returned from the drawing, Bill Lester and Charles went to lunch with Belinda, before she headed east to "the city."

This evening, Charles did a lot of gardening to continue the work begun last weekend. We were thrilled to see the crepe myrtle planted last year with buds. Buds were also spotted today on some of the cacti at the parsonage!

Thanks be to God for His gift of spring each and every year!

Full moon and more in west Texas

The "super full moon" last night was something to see! The pictures don't capture everthing, but wow! Our Sunday was very busy, just peak at the two church blogs and you'll see why we are two tired puppies tonight!

A Lovely Spring Day!

What a lovely day it was today! Charles and Belinda drove to Odessa and did some shopping AND enjoyed a delicious lunch at Charles' favorite place Schlotsky's Deli! This evening, they enjoyed a yummy meal at the local Benoit's Restaurant with other fun-loving United Methodists. Afterwards, Charles planted some beautiful plants in the parsonage's back garden. AND Belinda enjoyed testing the motion detector light outside the south door of the church. (Thanks so much, Gary Elliott!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you! We had the opportunity to visit St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland in 2004 (we had just arrived in Cornwall - southwestern England where Charles was stationed with the US Navy).

We went to worship on St. Patrick's Day in the cathedral (shown in this picture) and then watched the parade as it went past the cathedral.

Happy St. Urho's Day!

Ode to Saint Urho
by Gene McCavic and Richard Mattson (Virginia, Minnesota)

Ooksi kooksi coolama vee Santia Urho is ta poy for me!
He sase out ta hoppers as pig as pirds.
Neffer peefor haff I hurd tose words!
He reely tolt tose pugs of kreen
Braffest Finn I effer seen

Some celebrate for St. Pat unt hiss nakes
Putt Urho poyka kot what it takes.
He kot tall and trong from feelia sour
Unt ate kala moyakka effery hour.

Tat's why tat kuy could sase toes peetles
What krew as thick as chack bine neetles.
So let's give a cheer in hower pest vay
On Sixteenth of March, St. Urho's Tay.

A New Chapter Begins

Her errands in San Angelo accomplished, it was back to McCamey for Belinda today. Charles returned yesterday and got the garage set up to accomodate having two cars in it. We've gotten by with just one vehicle since we left Cornwall in January 2007. Praise be to God for the blessing of having two cars that can take us in different directions... and then bring us back home... together, again! (AND... what a blessing it was to enjoy tonight's sunset in all its glory!)

A full day in San Angelo

We had a really busy day running errands in San Angelo! The windy conditions didn't stop us from getting everything done that we needed to get done. Charles drove back to McCamey late afternoon, in order to have a full day of sermon-prep tomorrow. In the meantime, Belinda enjoyed a restful evening with her mother back in San Angelo. Charles reported that the drive back to McCamey was relaxing in the "new" car and that he only spotted one deer en route!