Busy Weekend!!

It was a busy weekend, to say the least.

Last Friday evening, Karla and I went to a “dinner theater” at my mom and dad’s church in Edmond. We enjoyed a nice meal and then got to enjoy a nice musical presentation. It was something fun for Karla and I do do….and to top it all off, dad had baked his famous chocolate chip cookies and gave us a plastic bag full.

I was up early Saturday morning (as usual) because I had to be at my office at around 8:30 am for the big Line Maintenance turkey giveaway. A few days last week, several of our crews went out into the neighborhood and passed out “coupons” for free turkeys. All the residents had to do was bring the coupons to our office between 9 am – noon to claim their free turkey. Unfortunately, there were many people that heard about the turkey giveaway, but did not have a coupon. Those that had coupons were separated from those that did not have coupons. The ones with coupons went first, then the ones without coupons.

Most everybody cooperated, but there were a few that really got irate because they had been sitting idle for a long time and felt someone would cut in front of them and get a free turkey….and they would not get one. If a car had three coupons, they were given three turkeys. If a car had no coupon, they were given only one turkey. That did not settle well with many people. It amazed me at how many people got mad because all they got was one turkey. They should be happy they got anything, especially for free. We were cussed at and yelled at by some of those who expected free turkeys for everyone in their vehicles, but ended up with only one. It did give me a good feeling to give to others……and the happy and positive people outweighed those that were negative, or mad. It was very interesting to see how many “needy’ people drove up in expensive cars and trucks, to receive a free turkey.

After the turkey giveaway, I headed home to rest. Then, I went to Sonic, bought lunch for me and another friend and went to his house to eat so he could change out the thermostat in my truck. It didn’t take long to change out and, before I knew it, I was back home watching TV. During the evening, I received a text from my mom, informing me my brother-in-law (sister’s husband) had a stroke. They were on their way to the hospital and told me they would keep me up to date on what was going on. Since Karla and I were waiting to see if we needed to go to the hospital or not, we stayed at home and watched TV.

Early Sunday morning, I received a text, informing me that my brother-in-law was doing much better. I then received a text message from our youth minister, informing me he was sick and would not be at church. So, I got to church early to help get things set up for Sunday School and one of the other youth leaders had already taken care of setting things up. Since the children were doing their musical during the morning service, I did not have to run the sound for it. One of the other guys was running the sound for them. I was able to sit with my wife and daughter during church. But, all good things must come to an end. During the children’s musical, Stephen sent me a text message and told me he had a flat….and no spare. So much for my relaxing morning. I left church and headed to near Edmond to rescue him. Unfortunately, the tire was shot, so he was going to have to buy a new one.

My son is not real good at maintaining vehicles. He needs a front-end alignment, but hasn’t taken time to get one. Because of that, the insides of both his front tires are wearing quickly. The radials are showing. We grabbed his tire and headed back to church. As we talked, we decided it would be better for him to purchase a used tire, instead of a new one, until he could get his front-end aligned. Fortunately, there is a place that sells used tires down the street from the church. He was able to buy a tire for $20.00, so he could at least have something to drive on. Since it was a very busy day for the whole family, he had no choice but to hang out with me all afternoon, so it would be later that evening before he could put his tire back on his car.

That afternoon, our REACT team was having our monthly meeting, including a luncheon and our annual elections. Since Stephen was stuck with me, he had no choice but to stay for our meeting. There was free food, so he did not mind. We had a good meal and a good meeting. I did not want to be treasurer next year, so I chose not to run for re-election as treasurer. Instead, I was voted in as Board member. I was happy with that decision and hope to be voted in as Chairman of the Board. That vote will take place at the first of the year. I was also the recipient of the “Most Outrageous Incident of 2011” award, That award was for the day I chased and corralled a donkey that was running loose on I-240 early one Saturday morning last Summer. Overall, we had a great time at the meeting.

I don’t really have that much planned this week. I have Stephen’s bed in our storage building that he is giving away to some friends. I am hoping to get it out of my storage building this evening and get it delivered. I also have to continue to go over my part of the Christmas musical that we are presenting to the church this coming Sunday. I have a major role as an actor, so I have many lines. Fortunately, there is a big screen set up in the balcony that will have my lines on it, so I don’t have to memorize much of anything. I told the music minister at the very beginning I would not do the part unless I had the words in front of me. I don’t do well as memorizing…..so, I now have a big screen to look at with my lines on it.

http://www.centralokreact.org/