Chaplain Sam

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2021-02-01T21:12:00.001-05:00

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2021-01-29T21:12:00.001-05:00

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The Prodigal Son, Part 4

2011-09-19T10:23:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I completed the four-part series on the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Here is the Part 4 sermon:

(Click here to download the MP3 file.)

A Delightful Weekend

2011-08-02T11:22:00.001-04:00

Margaret and I just had a great weekend! Saturday night we, and our friend Ron Jones,
went to Stewart’s Brewing Company for dinner and to hear some good music.

Ron and Margaret

The food here is very good! I had crab cakes (bottom), Margaret had a steak (middle),
and Ron ordered the salmon (top)

We had also gone to Stewart’s to hear the Barrelhouse Blues Band whom we enjoy a great deal.
I tried to get a couple of pictures of the band playing but the pics didn’t turn out. Click on the link and
you can view their website. The group is led by Charlie “Choo Choo” Rickner who does
the lead vocals and plays harmonica. If you like Blues, you gotta’ hear these guys!

Sunday I preached at Pleasant Hill Wesleyan Church (PHWC), located about 5 miles NE of Elkton, MD

Our first introduction to PHWC was back in 2007 when we were invited to share our
missionary work at the TFC Chapel in Elkton. Since then I have preached there many
times. They are currently between Pastors and I am preaching some of the Sunday
morning services. It feels good to be preaching more frequently again!

Our Friend Jack Clark

2011-08-01T08:31:00.001-04:00

This video is about our friend Jack Clark. Please add him to your prayer list and feel free to email him at jackwclarkjr@gmail.com and say “Hi”!

Kittens

2011-07-28T12:00:00.001-04:00

We have two kittens, Peregin “Pippin” Took ,and Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck. Pippin is an 11 month old 12 pound male. Merry, despite her name, is female, 10 months old and about 8 pounds. Technically, Merry is Merry II. Pippin and Merry I were litter mates we got from a friend. Merry I had to be put down shortly after we got her because of a birth defect – a perforated bowl. We quickly replaced her with rescued Merry II, aka “Squirt”.

Pippin and Merry I were still on the bottle when we first got them. Pippin, aka “Pip”, is a gray short-hair with a white blaze on his throat. Merry I was jet black. Merry II is a yellow long hair with white socks.

Pip takes after me, over-weight and lazy

He has two favorite activities: eating and sleeping.

Despite our similar dispositions, Pippin has adopted Margaret as his servant and Merry me.
Yes “servant”. You don’t know that dogs have masters but cats have staff?

Pip is very outgoing and eagerly checks out all visitors to our home, be
they 2- or 4-legged. Merry is more shy and cautious.

Merry was born with her spring wound too tight. She is a playing machine,
and our resident cat burglar. She can easily open drawers, cabinets, and etc, looking
for items to run off with for play. You have to be careful what you set down near her,
she is likely to grab it and run off with it before you know what happened. Size of the item
is not a issue. She has made off with items as large, or larger, then she is,
i.e. - stuffed animals, Margaret’s feather duster, and etc.

Merry with the feather duster when she was only a few months old

Merry playing with one of the cat toys.

Most of the time she has to play alone. Pip is usually too lazy to join in.
He also gets upset when she pesters him too much while he’s napping.
Being much larger than her, he can get pretty rough with her if she gets on his nerves.

You can see our photo album of Pippin, Merry I, and Merry II here.

Trip To The Delaware State Fair 7/25/11

2011-07-26T10:55:00.001-04:00

I didn’t realize it had been nearly a year since I posted to this blog! I’ve gotten lazy just posting pictures and comments to Facebook. We’ll, I’m back, at least for now!

Yesterday Margaret and I made our annual trip to the Delaware State Fair. One thing about Delaware, nothing is very far away. It’s only about a 30 minute trip for us to get the the fair grounds. Yesterday was the day for us to go partly because it was Seniors’ Day—we got in for free. There are some good things about being a senior! :-)

We arrived about 11:30 and our first objective was lunch at the Grange

Margaret in front of the Grange dinning hall

Margaret had the fried chicken platter (right), and I had the ham platter. Good stuff!

Next we went though the wildlife exhibit and then on to Margaret’s favorite stop, the peeps in the fowl exhibit.

This farm girl was right at home!

Next we were off to the 4-H exhibit hall

This is about 1/2 of the Place Setting entrants

Our favorite Place Setting exhibit was a 1st place winner, the Blue Bunny Willow

We loved the rabbit ear napkins

Among the numerous science exhibits was this one about the affects
of various styles of music on plant growth

Apparently they didn’t include Southern Gospel music in the experiment

Just a small portion of the equipment on display.
The two items in the bottom right, with the chimneys, are outdoor wood/corn furnaces.

There are small garden plots throughout the grounds. This one includes a waterfall and pond.

We had to stop at the farm animal petting area which included this miniature horse
(included for our friend Elaine)

Next to the peeps, the baby pigs are Margaret’s favorites

This was one of the vendors in the Marketplace under the grandstand.
We had to get pictures of this for our daughter Sheri who LOVES all things purple!

The Purple products

Some of the craft exhibits in the Dover Building

More crafts

Our very own Smyrna Citizens Hose Company volunteer band parades through the grounds each evening at 7 PM

Our last stop of the day was the Ice Skating Club’s presentation of Peter Pan
(click the image to watch a video of the closing number)

Weekly Bible Study

2010-09-02T13:33:00.001-04:00

Margaret and I have been hosting a weekly Bible study in our house for quite a while. Some of the participants have asked for a way they could participate remotely when they could not attend in person. We are excited to now have the option for people to attend via conference call!

The Bible studies are every Tuesday at 2:30 PM EST. To join via conference call just phone (712) 432-3030 and enter PIN 852153#. You can enter the conference call from up to 10 minutes before the beginning of the study until the end of the session. The studies last from 30 to 45 minutes each.

Each Bible study is recorded, podcast, and archived. You can subscribe to the podcast with iTunes®, your favorite RSS reader, or via email at this link: http://ChaplainSamsBibleStudy.com. You can also listen to the archived studies at the same link.

This week’s study, covering Acts 4:1-17, was our “dress rehearsal” conference call and it is now in the archive. We will officially begin conference calls next Tuesday, September 7th, when we will start with Acts 4:17. Please join us!

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

Blue Hubbard Squash Soup

2010-01-20T12:08:00.001-05:00

A friend gave us a Blue Hubbard Squash. I had no idea what to do with the monster. It weighed about 10 pounds and was approximately 18 inches long, shaped like a giant football.

Here is a picture I downloaded from the internet.

I searched the internet and found directions for preparing a Blue Hubbard here. After washing the monster, the next step was to open it.

Per the directions, I borrowed a hatchet and took a good wack at it to split it in two.

After removing the seeds and fibrous stuff I hacked away some more to chop it into manageable size pieces which filled Margaret’s largest roasting pan. This is a great way to work off your frustrations!

This is what it looked like after 90 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

The chunks cooled for a few hours and then I removed and cubed the flesh. I got about 6 or 7 cups of cubes to use to make soup the next morning.

My all-time most favorite restaurant is L’Auberge Provencale Bed & Breakfast located in White Post, VA. They recently posted a recipe for Winter Squash Soup on their Facebook site. I have a copy of the recipe posted here. I decided to make this soup using the Blue Hubbard Squash.

Each Tuesday we host a business luncheon at our home with two of our business partners. This Tuesday morning I made the Winter Squash Soup and served it at the luncheon. It was a big hit! Thanks to L’Auberge chef/owner Alain Borel for the recipe, and his wife, Celeste, for posting it.

Margaret and the Choir

2009-12-25T14:11:00.001-05:00

There was a beautiful Christmas Eve service at our church last night. One of the highlights was my first opportunity to hear Margaret and our recently formed church choir.

l to r back row: Sharon Daniels; Estelle Zane; Joyce Collier; and Billy Kinsey
front row: Genevieve Yost; Margaret; and Marnie Kinsey

Sharon Cahall, choir director. David Kinsey on piano in the background.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

Snowed In

2009-12-22T12:57:00.001-05:00

We had expected to spend Friday night in Lansdale, PA with our friends Sam & Alice Rittenhouse. That turned into three nights when a snow storm dumped about 12 inches of snow in Lansdale. It snowed from Saturday morning through early Sunday morning.

Alice and Sam
We were blessed by their hospitality, they made us feel like family. Thank you Sam & Alice!

Margaret took a number of photos after the storm. You can view a slide show of them here.

The storm dumped twice as much snow at our home in Smyrna, De – 24 inches. Margaret stayed in touch by phone with our neighbor who kept telling us, “Don’t come back yet.” It was Monday before the streets in our development where plowed but there was still a lot of snow between the road and our front door. Monday afternoon we decided to go home after our friend Jim Tracy offered to meet us there and help us get into the house. On the way back we got a call that two other young men from church were also going to come by and help did us out.

All of the roads on the ride home were in pretty good shape. This was our last turn off of the main highways toward home.

The street into our development.

Margaret talking to Corey Clampitt, on the right, and his son Tony (in red).
Home at last! Tony and Corey had much of our parking spot done by the time we arrived.

You can see there is still a lot of snow between them and our front door.

Our shovels are in the shed on the left with a snow drift half-way up the door. I don’t think we’re going to get to them soon!

Jim Tracy showed up and helped finish from our sidewalk to the front door.

Jim brought his dog Baby Girl with him. Margaret helped out by holding her leash. That worked fine until Baby Girl decided she wanted to explore the show drifts and Margaret tried to keep up with her.

Corey taking a well earned break while Tony takes a turn with their large snow scoop.

Jim, Corey and Tony finishing the last bit up to our front door.

What wonderful unplanned blessings we have enjoyed from our Father during this event: an extended time of fellowship with good friends, Sam & Alice; and the Lord sending us three young men from church at just the right time so we could get back into our home. God is so good to us. PTL!

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

Bucks-Montgomery 2009 Christmas Breakfast

2009-12-22T11:55:00.001-05:00

Friday afternoon, 12/18/09, we drove to Lansdale, PA to spend the night with our friends Sam & Alice Rittenhouse. We did that so we would already be in the area to attend the TFC Bucks-Montgomery Chapter 2009 Christmas Buffet the following morning.

At the lower left is Alice Rittenhouse, next to her is her sister May, and then Margaret.
The buffet is held on the mezzanine of Henning’s Market.

The view from the other end of the room.

Folks queued up for the buffet

Christmas music was provided by the praise band from a local church.

After the entertainment Bunny O’Hare and Dwayne Johnson gave TFC ministry updates.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

Christmas Ice Show

2009-12-13T23:40:00.001-05:00

We went on another date this afternoon. This time it was to the Center Ice Rink at the Delaware State Fair grounds in Harrington, DE to see the 2009 Christmas Ice Show.

The main entrance brings you into this area which includes a store and snack bar

It is a full-size rink that is also used for ice hockey

Just a few of the people who were there. Margaret is seated in the middle front behind the man with the yellow sleeve jacket. We were only about 10 ft from the edge of the rink.

Santa riding on the Zamboni. During the show’s intermission he was rink-side giving candy canes to the kids.

Sitting in a room with a lot of ice means it is COLD.

Margaret also brought two throws to fold up and make seat cushions for us

The show was based on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. This is a brief clip of the scene with Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim

Before the intermission there were performances by singles and pairs skaters who had competed at the national and international level. Shown here is an excerpt of Cassandra Jeandell and Damian Dodge. They are alternates to the 2010 US Nationals competition.

Margaret loves figure skating and we go to events whenever we can. Both of us enjoy watching the youngsters in these local shows. The little ones are so precious! There are also two rinks in Newark, DE plus another in Wilmington, DE. Now that we are retired we can attend more of the shows.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

A Time for Christmas

2009-12-09T22:10:00.001-05:00

Margaret and I went on a date tonight to see the 25th Annual Christmas Production at Calvary Assembly of God Church in Dover, DE. This year’s play was A Time for Christmas.

The picture quality is not great as we were sitting back quite a way from the stage. We arrived a half-hour before the curtain and the place was already mostly full. We thoroughly enjoyed the performance. In all the years we have lived in the area this is the first year we were able to attend because we are not on the chapel.

The play continues through this week. You can get the times at the church’s website. If you live in the area, I encourage you to go to one of the performances. There is no charge to attend. The production is a gift from the church to the community. Plan on arriving early!

The cast received a standing ovation at the end.

What a wonderful evening out with my best girl!

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

1st Christmas Decoration at Home

2009-12-08T20:44:00.001-05:00

Our primary Christmas decorations at home are centered around the front window in our living room. Margaret, with some help from me, has been working on that area the past few days. (Margaret is the resident home decorator!)

This is the view from inside. The platform, skirt, train set, and tree stand were put together by our friend Ron Jones and given to us, along with the tree, for Christmas last year. This year we added the country church as our first building under the tree. The red clothed dolls on either side of the tree belonged to my mother. They are animated, the arms and heads move back and forth slowly. The small doll in the wicker stroller on the lower left was a gift to my mother when she was a little girl.

Here is the view from outside. You can see the train below the tree in this picture. The train runs only occasionally when we manually turn it on. Everything else stays on all the time.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

Christmas at Macy’s in Philadelphia

2009-12-02T21:30:00.001-05:00

This morning Margaret and I left early on a date. We drove to Newark, DE and boarded a train to downtown Philadelphia to visit Macy’s store and see their Christmas displays.

Riding the train to/from is so much nicer than driving and paying to park. We did not have to change trains and there is a train station only a block from the store.

We first checked out some of the window displays

This large display was just inside one of the store entrances

This picture is for our daughter Sheri, who loves all things purple

There is a light show every hour followed by a selection played on their pipe organ. This is a brief excerpt.

One of the nicest Christmas displays was a tour of “Dickens’ London”, a series of animated figures and recordings in various scenes from the story A Christmas Carol. This is the first scene which depicts Dickens introducing the tour. Below are pictures of just a few of the scenes.

The young girl on the right was one of the visitors taking the tour. These were large displays, not small dioramas.

The poulterer’s shop.

Tiny Tim

Margaret checking out Scrooge’s office

Marley’s ghost visiting Scrooge. Other ghosts and chains are suspended from the ceiling above where I am standing.

The entrance to Fezziwig’s. Note Mr. Fezziwig on the right ringing the bell to begin the festivities.

Young Scrooge and Belle

Dinner at the Cratchit home

Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas future.

We had a great date. It was nice to relax riding the train home, especially when it began to rain during the ride.

Clothes Problems

2009-12-02T20:32:00.001-05:00

I put on a pair of dress slacks to wear to the chapel and discovered a problem.

I think they are a little bit too large now?

Time to get some new dress slacks!

Our Thanksgiving Dinner

2009-11-26T18:32:00.003-05:00

Today Margaret and I had our Thanksgiving meal. I took her on a date. She is the love of my life and deserves to be spoiled much more often. We went to the DuPont Country Club outside of Wilmington, DE.

Main entrance to the club

Once inside the doors, we were met by a uniformed man who asked our names and escorted us to the dinning room.

About half of the tables were empty for our seating time. I made our reservations only a few days ago and the only seating available was an early one. That worked for us as we’re not much on being out late anyway.

The first course was a scrumptious pumpkin soup followed by salads.

Margaret’s entree was rack of lamb.

No way was I going to have turkey! I had a Filet Mignon and mashed potatoes.

Desert was two different small chocolate parfait, one white and one dark chocolate, plus a small wedge of pastry covered with fresh berries for each of us. It was a delicious meal and awesome service by the Club staff.

An ice sculpture located at the dinning room entrance.

Margaret wanted a picture of each of us while we were all dressed up. Doesn’t she look great?

And then there is this ugly guy! This jacket is actually too big for me now. I have another 90 pounds to lose.

I don’t think I was using wisdom when I scheduled my November weigh-in at the doctor’s. It is tomorrow morning! Oops. After the meal last Saturday and the one today I may only break even on weight loss this month.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

2nd Annual Thanksgiving For Trucker Friends

2009-11-22T20:40:00.001-05:00

Three of our truck driver friends live near us. Last year Margaret invited them to join us for our Thanksgiving meal. We repeated the invitations this year. The past eight years we were always at the chapel on Thanksgiving day. Also, the drivers and our family have other commitments on Thanksgiving day, so we have our meal the weekend before the holiday.

Our daughter Sheri and her two sons, Jonathan and Patrick Sean, came up from Virginia Friday night. Sheri fixes a deep fat fried turkey for her family and agreed to bring her fryer with her this year. Margaret had tasted one of Sheri’s fried turkeys before and loved it.

Sheri setup the fryer in the back yard. It uses about 4 gallons of oil and has a propane burner.

When they thought the bird should be done, Jonathan lifted it out of the fryer so Sheri could check it’s temperature

It’s done!

Our three driver friends, left to right: Jay Jones, Tony Kong, and Ron Jones. Jay and Tony are now retired from truck driving.
Lower right, Baby Girl was also spending the day visiting with us again.

I wanted a picture of the table before it got messed up!

Ready to begin the feast! Left to right: Ron Jones, Sandy Jones (neighbor and friend from church), Tony Kong, Jay Jones, Jonathan, Sheri, Patrick Sean, Margaret, and Baby Girl. Even though we had three Jones’ with us, they are not related.

Margaret, Jonathan, and Sheri did an awesome job preparing the meal. The fried turkey was delicious. Sandy provided the desert—two pumpkin pies. We have so many blessings to be thankful for!!!

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

Pet Sitting

2009-11-17T15:58:00.001-05:00

We have been pet sitting for friends the past few days. Over the weekend we had our friend Jim Tracy’s dog, “Baby Girl”, a Red Bone Coon Hound. She and Jim have been to our house numerous times so she was very comfortable being with us.

Baby Girl thinks she is a lap dog!

She was a good house guest. It is a good thing we have a king size bed! She slept between us all night.

Baby Girl went home Sunday afternoon and Sunday night we got our friend Sandy’s cat, “Odie”, pronounced Oh’-dee. Margaret and I had both met Odie at Sandy’s house but this was to be his first visit with us. We were not sure how he would do in a new environment. We need not have worried. He did just fine. After and hour or so of cautious investigation he made himself right at home.

This is where he spent most of Monday afternoon napping. Margaret said he is our first visitor who can do nothing for as long as I can!

Odie also slept between us on the bed. He did not take up nearly as much room as Baby Girl. He is also very helpful around the house. He inspects the waste baskets for us and today got into the clothes dryer to help with laundry. Odie goes home tonight or tomorrow.

Being “grandparents” to pets has the same advantage as with kids—you get to send them home when you’re finished.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

I’m Back!

2009-11-11T20:03:00.001-05:00

I have not been posting or doing much more than email on the net for quite a while. The hard drive on my laptop crashed and I have had limited internet access. Even when I can get on via someone else’s computer, I don’t have all of the software I normally use, including my favorite blogging software, Windows Live Writer, and Digsby for twitter and IM. (Thank the Lord I had already moved to web based email!)

Right now I have temporary custody of an eMachine laptop from a truck driver friend, Ron. He purchased it this summer with Vista already installed. He gave it to me to upgrade to Windows 7 for him. Now he has decided to just leave it at our house as this is the only place he has [free] internet access plus he doesn’t want it to get banged around in the truck during the week. So, I have set up an account on his machine for me and am installing some software.

With the Lord’s help I continue to do great on my weight loss. I have now lost 74 pounds which puts me at 293 pounds. That has reduced my waist size by 8 inches. Margaret had kept one previous sized clothes which is what I’m wearing now. A few more inches and I’m going to be out of clothes that fit. Then its off to Salvation Army and Goodwill to get some temporary stuff to tied me over. The plan is still to be down to 200 pounds by Christmas 2010.

I have already gained some health advantages from the weight loss. My blood pressure and cholesterol are now normal. PTL! Also, I have not had any vertigo attacks for at least three months. I believe the cessation of the vertigo is an indication that my sleep apnea is becoming less severe. Margaret says I appear to be sleeping much more soundly.

In addition, my doctor has agreed to let me stop all of my prescriptions. I have blood work done again in three months to confirm that decision. Of course I am taking vitamin and mineral supplements.

God is good!

In His Name,
Chaplain Sam

Another Eleven Pounds!

2009-09-03T15:26:00.001-04:00

I was at the doctor’s office this morning for my monthly weigh-in and check up. I weighed 313 pounds today which is another 11 pounds lost since last month and a total of 54 pounds lost so far. I am pleased with that, especially as last month included two days off the diet during our anniversary weekend. We celebrated by going to Outback Steakhouse one night (we had a gift card) and lunch with friends at a Mexican restaurant the next afternoon.

My blood pressure was 128/80 today which is good. Overall the doctor is pleased with my progress and encouraged me to keep doing what I’m doing since it is working.

My next goal is to be at or below 300 pounds by my birthday, September 27. I’ll have to do more exercise to loose another 13 pounds in less than a month. I certainly can’t eat any less. My daily average last month was 698 calories/day, including the anniversary weekend. My overall goal is to be at 200 pounds by Christmas, 2010.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!

In His name,
Chaplain Sam

Official Weight Loss Numbers

2009-08-03T19:40:00.001-04:00

I had a good visit with my doctor today. I like his scales! According to that I actually lost 19 lbs in July. That makes my overall weight loss 43 lbs so far. PTL!

Additionally, my blood pressure was down to 123 over 84. I think my pressure at the previous visit was something like 180 over 95.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam

Weight Loss Update

2009-08-02T22:00:00.001-04:00

I am starting my second month on a Very Low Calorie (VLC) diet of 600 to 800 calories/day under my doctor’s supervision. I began a food diary on July 2 and have been daily entering everything I eat since. At the end of July I had averaged 683 calories and 20 grams of fat per day and lost 13 lbs that month. You can view my food diary online (click on the tabs at the top left to switch between months). Weekends, when we are most likely to eat out, are my biggest challenge. I am often over my goal during the weekends. Even so, I’m still not way over in any one day and have been able to maintain my overall average.

My first two days in August were a weekend and I’m a little over my goal for that two day average (817 calories/day). I expect that to get back on target during the week. Unofficially I have now lost 37 lbs from my peak weight last March – down to 330 lbs from 367 lbs. That is unofficial until I get weighed during my next monthly doctor visit Monday, 8/3/09.

I’ve had a number of questions about our protein intake. We use powdered whey protein mixed with liquid to supplement our daily protein consumption. We began mixing it in milk but that added more unnecessary calories. Now we mix it with water. The powder has 23 grams of protein per scoop and we are using 2 scoops per 8 oz glass of water.

I am now in between belt sizes that I own. My largest belt is now way to big but I’m still a little to large for the next smaller one I have. I may have to break down and put a new hole in the large one to tied me over for the next few weeks. That’s a wonderful problem to have!

Exercise is another story entirely. Margaret and I have been walking for our exercise but that has been really hit or miss. We have to move that higher on our list of priorities!

Thank you for your continued prayers! We are dependent on God to continue to help us see this through until we have regained our health.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam

A Weekend Away

2009-07-13T17:22:00.001-04:00

Last Friday afternoon we drove to Sayre, PA to check in to the BriMarie Inn for the weekend. The BriMarie is a Victoria bed & breakfast plus a restaurant. I had stayed there once before but this was Margaret’s first stay. We were there to attend the American Evangelical Christian Churches (AECC) Annual North East Region Conference in Waverly, NY. Sayre, PA and Waverly, NY are adjacent to each other on opposite sides of the border.

The conference began Friday night but we were delayed by construction on the drive and arrived too late for that. It should be about a 4.5 hour drive but took us almost 6 hours. The conference continued through late Saturday afternoon. We did not want to drive back Saturday night so we stayed through Sunday morning. After breakfast Sunday we returned to the conference host church to attend Sunday services.

I had Margaret’s camera which is smaller than than mine. I intended to take a bunch of pictures but the camera batteries died after only two shots and we didn’t have any spare ones with us.

Talking to Margaret is Bonna Brown. Next to her is her husband Jim. Jim & Bonna are from Hagerstown, MD.
The couple next to Jim made a seven hour drive from New England.

The man on the right, in the red shirt, is a full-time truck driver, Jim, who has visited with me in the chapel at Elkton.

Saturday night we opted to eat in the BriMarie Inn restaurant. The menu had a couple of appetizers that looked like they would be within our diets (and budget). One was steamed mussels for me, and a vegetable pizza for Margaret. Those plus a salad each sounded like a good plan. Wrong! At that restaurant the appetizers portions are what we think of as entrées. I got 21 mussels and Margaret’s pizza had eight pieces. Of course I forced myself to eat all of mine. I went way over my goal on Saturday and over again on Sunday. Even so my daily average is still good and I’m back on target today. You can see my food diary here.

All in all it was a nice relaxing weekend away with some good friends. As Margaret said, “It is nice to attend an event and not be working on staff!”