MYSTERY DINNER

What is a "Mystery Dinner"?

Today, Debra and I participated in our first Mystery Dinner. About forty of us from church gathered at Richard and Barbara's house and piled into several cars. We left the house and traveled as a caravan through a pre-determined route known only by those who organized the event.

Each passenger in each car, except the driver, was a "detective". The driver was to focus on the road and stay with the caravan. The detectives were given a list of questions about landmarks on the route. The car, or team, answering the most questions correctly would receive a prize at the end of the event at some unknown restaurant, which was to be our final destination.

After about an hour, the caravan stopped, took a break, turned in their answer sheets, and were given a second questionnaire for the remainder of the journey.

During this second leg of the event, we stopped for about an hour at Gary West Smoked Meats, a beef jerky company in Jacksonville where we were given a tour and a bunch of samples for snacking: jerky, cheese, fudge, chips and salsa.

Here is an example of the types of questions we answered along the way: After arriving at a particular intersection in Jacksonville, in front of a particular house, one of the questions on the questionnaire was "What famous clown lived in this house?" The four in our car could only think of one famous clown. We wrote the name "Bozo" on the answer sheet. We were right!

Finally, after driving through Medford and Jacksonville and completing all the questions, we arrived at La Fiesta Restaurant. Debra and I both enjoyed an order of seafood tacos.

And, oh, yeah, our team got the most right answers and won the prize: A big bag of kettle popcorn and some colorful spring flowers to plant in our gardens.

.

.

.

We began the Mystery Dinner event at Richard and Barbara's house.

After completing the fourteen mystery questions on the first questionnaire, we took a break before launching out with our second list of mystery questions to answer.

From the balcony at Gary West Smoked Meats, I took pictures of some of my favorite people.

ROSS / DRESS FOR LESS

PACK FOR LESS, TOO.

A few days ago, I got out our largest suitcase in preparation for my upcoming trip to the Philippines. It was broken. Apparently, it had been stuffed too full during a previous trip, putting too much stress on the zipper, and the zipper broke beyond repair.

So, I went suitcase shopping. But nobody seemed to sell individual suitcases. Walmart sold only five-piece sets. Fred Meyer sold only five-piece sets. JC Penney sold only very expensive five-piece sets.

Then two of Debra's co-workers suggested Ross. They told her that Ross sold individual suitcases. So, I drove over to Ross this morning and was pleased to find one very large suitcase at one very affordable price!

With my flight now only twelve days away, I better hurry up and quit blogging and start packing!

I am pleased with my new purchase.

Josh asked me to bring ten 1-inch washers for some game they play that is similar to horseshoes. He said they have some washers already, but they are all rusted. He asked for stainless washers, so that's what he's getting: ten galvanized steel washers that may very well have eternal life in a tropical climate.

We keep getting stuff in the mail for me take to the Philippines. I am beyond happy to assume my new role as "Moffit Mule", smuggling miscellaneous Moffit material across the US/Philippines border.

FROM 184 TO 169 IN ONE MONTH

On Valentine's Day Eve, about a month ago, Debra and I decided to dress up and go out. We never dress up. The last time we dressed up was over two years ago for a Christmas party hosted by my employer. At that time, I put on my one and only really nice sport coat, a pair of slacks, and a pair of shiny black leather shoes with leather soles and we attended the party. When the party ended, we returned home where I hung up my coat and slacks and put my shoes in the back of the closet. They haven't been touched since.


Then, on the day before Valentine's Day, I took the coat, slacks and shoes from the closet and put them on. Well, I tried to put them on. The coat and shoes fit just fine. But I could not get the slacks snapped. The two ends of the snap would not come together. It surprised me that a pair of slacks could shrink simply by hanging in a closet for two years.


I had no choice but to put on another pair of slacks with a larger waist.


I made up my mind right then and there to get back into that first pair of pants as soon as possible. And I was well aware what that task would require. I knew something that most people either do not know or do not want to admit: You don't lose weight by exercising but by eating less food.


And I also realized that there is a difference between "being" hungry and "feeling" hungry. Most of us say "I'm hungry" when we merely "feel" hungry. And most of us are not willing to spend some quality time feeling hungry and denying self. Consequently, we are not willing to do what it takes to shed a few unnecessary pounds which have attached themselves to our bony frames through a shortage of self-control and a surplus of comfort food.


So, I started eating smaller portions and eliminating evening snacks. I continued to spend about 30 minutes a day on our elliptical exerciser but, as mentioned earlier, you don't lose weight by exercising. You lose weight by eating less food.


On Valentine's Day I weighed 184 pounds. Today I weigh 169. I think I'll stay here for a while.
.
.

Shiny black leather shoes with leather soles

.

.

My one and only really nice sport coat

.

.

As happy as I look in this picture from Valentine's Day Eve, I would have looked a whole lot happier if I didn't have to wear the slacks with the larger waist.

.

.

KICKING YOUR FEET UP

We recently received our tax refund and knew it would be spent on painting the outside of our house. Our house is easy to spot. It's the one on Hybiscus Street with chips of paint loosely attached to the siding and trim.

.
After receiving a couple of bids from local painting contractors, we got an offer from a friend to help paint the house with me. He knows how to pressure wash and how to spray paint a house. I don't. So I thanked him for his offer and took him up on it.

.

Since we are now saving some money by doing the labor ourselves, that freed up some of that tax refund for other things. Things like, for example, kicking your feet up.

.
Currently our family room is furnished with one cheap, broken, uncomfortable love seat and one old recliner which we got free from someone who got it free from someone else who got it free from someone. It's fairly comfortable, admittedly, but the upholstery isn't very modest. It exposes too much under the fabric and it's getting worse as it gets older.

.
So, we decided to use part of our tax refund to replace both the recliner and the love seat with a new recliner and with a new love seat which, by the way, also happens to recline. And the new recliner, by the way, also happens to rock.

.

Now all three of us can end our busy days at work or at school by returning to our home and kicking our feet up.

It's hard to be happy when you can't kick your feet up.

The old recliner came equipped with this separating seam when we got it.

New furniture delivered today

New furniture in place.

Life is sweet when you kick up your feet.

NINE-YEAR-OLD POET

Today the mailman came with something very special.

Daisy, the oldest of ten grandchildren, created a greeting card just for me, Papa, in anticipation of my visit to their home in the Philippines in about three weeks.

The front of the card shows a smiley face. I'm guessing the word "Pop" is short for "Papa".

The inside of the card contained an original poem by a highly skilled nine-year-old poet. (The poem can be enlarged simply by clicking it.)

DRIVEWAY IMPROVEMENT

To the right of our driveway has existed a strip of river rock, about two-and-a-half feet wide, ever since I moved into the house nearly nine years ago. The rocks were initially installed, no doubt, to provide landscape beauty. But it hasn’t been all that easy to maintain.

Weeds must continually be sprayed because to pluck weeds from a bed of rocks is not easy. Plus, the neighbor has a huge tree, which provides great shade during the summer but, when autumn comes and leaves fall, rocks are not the best surface to rake and to sweep.

So, I decided to get rid of the rocks and replace them with something flat, something low maintenance. Many hours of raking and many milligrams of Ibuprofen resulted in the eventual removal of the rocks. Craigslist got me several people who were willing to haul them all away for free just so that they could have the rocks for free.

The rocks are now gone, the new surface was completed today, and I think I’ll take a break from household projects for a while.

This is how the strip beside the driveway has looked, probably since the house was built in 1969.

The neighbor's tree is leafless now, but when the leaves fall, they cover our driveway.

Less than half the rocks have been raked and piled and, thanks to Craigslist, were later hauled away by someone who wanted them.

More rocks raked and a second pile started.

Eventually, all the rocks were gone.

Some of the rocks were reinstalled for base, then covered with sand, tamped down and finally covered with red pavers.

Job completed, except for . . .

. . . 600 milligrams of Ibuprofen and 15 minutes in the hot tub.