MONUMENT — Well, it looks like winter is trying to hang on for dear life! It’s been real cold and then all of a sudden, the weather turns mild. I guess that is the way things are around here in Eastern Oregon.

Our great cooks, Terry Cade and Carrie Jewell, along with Heather Riggs, made us beef burritos, pork verde burritos, spanish rice, refried beans with all the fixings, and a couple of different varieties to choose from for dessert. We thank them so much for their service to our community! They are a valuable asset to all of us, and we love them very much!

Our greeters at the table were Bob Cockrell and Sue Cavender. They checked in the guests and collected and counted up the money. Bob led us in the flag salute and made the announcements. Yours truly prayed the blessing over the meal.

We celebrated Terry Cade’s birthday by singing the “Happy Birthday” song. In the Asian culture, it is an honorable thing to have your birthday and there are special birthday ages that warrant a big celebration. The 60 year mark is especially significant. I guess back in the day not very many people reached that age, so they would throw a big party for the occasion. We hope that Terry had a wonderful birthday.

The free meal ticket was won by Ellie Asher. Heather Riggs wanted everyone in the community to know that there are crutches, walkers, wheelchairs and shower benches that are all available for people to borrow. There are also personal incontinence items that are also available. So if you need these items, don’t go purchasing them, they are available to use from the senior center.

So my mama goats are looking pretty wide. I know they are preggers and I am hoping to sell some of them before they have their babies. Someone told me that goats are in high demand right now. Well, I know that eventually most of my mama goats end up having triplets. The only ones that did not have twins were Marianne and Minnie.

This year, I am not going to be sitting around for hours waiting for that Marianne to have more than one baby kid, that’s for sure! She is a good mama, though. She took care of her baby, Big O, very well. Who knows, she probably will have twins this time around, and probably Minnie as well.

I had a previous customer emailing me about purchasing more goats. Apparently he gave his goats to his daughter-in-law and grandson for them to drink the goat’s milk because of adverse effects from cow’s milk. Now he really misses having goats! Ha. They do grow on you. Sure ,they can be a pain in the butt sometimes when they eat stuff that they are not supposed to or somehow find that one hole in the fence and escape.

I do think the goats have more personality than sheep. Baby goats are so darn cute, too — who can resist that?

Matthew 16:19 And I will give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

PRAIRIE CITY —

Hmmm. Do you realize that it has been a month since Christmas? And only twp weeks until Valentine’s Day? Our saying for the day addresses this reality: “The bad news is time flies; the good news is you are the pilot.” (Michael Altschuler) We agreed that if we were the pilots, we must be flying on instruments cause we sure can’t see much!

Theresa rang the dinner bell, Tom led the flag salute, and Theresa asked the blessing. Pam Howard was the winner of the $10 birthday gift certificate donated by Huffman’s Market. The big order of business was to elect officers and directors for the current year. It was a unanimous vote. Thank you all for doing your duty. Our new board members are Colin Kolb and Debra Rubio. We certainly welcome them to our group.

In the trivia department, famous birthdays included the only one I recognized: Virginia Woolf. Deaths included Mary Tyler Moore and Ava Gardner, two actresses of very different persuasions. This is National Irish Coffee Day! In 1961, “101 Dalmatians” was released. In 1964, Nike was founded. Its original name was Blue Ribbon Sports. The year 1924 saw the modern Winter Olympics begin in France. The trivia question was what was Mary Tyler Moore’s name on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” Laura Petrie. Brings back good memories, huh?

Our faithful volunteers included Mary, Carla, Gwynne, Sharon, Tom, Pam, Chris and Theresa. Thanks to you all. Our wonderful cooks, Pam and Pam, served up sweet and sour chicken over rice, mixed veggies, orange Jell-O, raw carrots, a selection of recent leftovers and birthday cake. For our liquid refreshment, we had a choice of pink lemonade, mango (??) juice, milk, coffee and good ol’ H20. I tell you, that mango stuff is delicious! I forget what the other juice they put in with it is, but the combination is fantabulous!

Finished the 542-page Wodehouse letters book. He was complaining about the state of American morality way back in the 1950s! I keep a book at the dining table to read and was having quite a struggle keeping this book open. So Derrol made me a special “book-keeper-opener” so I didn’t have to rely on one hand and/or a heavy flashlight (which we keep on the table in case of one of our infrequent power outages.). Makes the reading much handier!

Here is a piece of advice: Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad!

Have you got your garden planned out yet? I keep thinking about those Cow Pots from Maine. Maybe they would be the things to put the little tiny carrot seeds in — one seed in each corner. I still can’t figure out how the big truck farmers plant those little seeds and get them to grow nicely when I have such a difficult time getting a few rows to germinate!

Isa. 61: 11-12 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

JOHN DAY —

The last week was an eventful one. Many volunteers worked together to redecorate and change table covers and get tables set up for a special luncheon on Thursday. In the meantime the center was used by other groups, so our volunteers had to work around the schedules to get everything done. I needed to be out of town on the biggest preparation day so several others did it all and I was so impressed by the job they did. Thank you to all who helped create this special ambience for Thursday. More on that later.

Many other things were scheduled for other days in the week also, so it took the person scheduling and others to be at these events to assist in getting work done on the building to keep it maintained properly. So many things to do to keep the establishment running smoothly. There are so many people involved that I hesitate to mention names in fear of not remembering someone and each one is very important to the end result. So, again, a big thank-you to all who were a part of the extracurricular agendas this week.

Our heating system is on the schedule for being repaired, so it will not be long till we will all be warm in every room in the center. Our front door is now operating properly, as this has been a pain in the neck for a long time. We will be starting the 50/50 tickets on Feb. 2. Just a little something extra at lunchtime.

On Monday, Jan. 23, Dave Pasko and Elsie Huskey were at the desk to greet 14 in-house diners to oversee each person getting signed in and their names put into the drawings for the day. Elsie did the announcements and Rachel Carpenter led the flag salute and was also our server, representing The Church of Latter-day Saints.

Sixty-three fresh meals and 32 frozen meals were delivered throughout the area by Rick LaMountain, Mike Davis and Rachel Carpenter. Thanks to all of you drivers for your time of love.

Elsie Huskey asked the blessing for our lunch and Rachel Carpenter assisted in our meal of sloppy joes, french fries, coleslaw, and ice cream and cookies. Thank you, Rachel, and thanks to Shay and Darla in the kitchen getting all this food for the deliveries and in-house dining. Great job.

Ron Phillips won the Len’s card and Gloria Kulis won the free meal. Congratulations, you two.

Total count of meals from our kitchen today was 109. Darla and Shay are to be commended for pulling off this many meals and leaving the kitchen clean. Thanks, you two.

On Thursday, Jan. 26, Carol Roe and Darlene Nodine were the greeters at the desk making sure all 96 in-house diners were signed in and their names in the drawings for the day. Thanks, Carol and Darlene. Elsie gathered all the information for the announcements.

Gregg Starr led the flag salute, and Jimmy Maples and Pastor Levi Manitsas did prayers for our meal. Jimmy told some history facts and Pastor Manitsas told a cute story. A big thanks to all three of these men to volunteer today.

There were many servers today as the room was pretty full of diners. They were Rachel Carpenter, Jeanette Julsrud, Mary Lou Wompler, Barb Combs, Rick LaMountain, Kris Robbins and Veanne Weddle. I tried to get everyone’s name down, so I pray I did not leave anyone out. Thanks to all of you for serving our drinks, condiments and food to each one at the tables. Each one is so important to the success of the luncheon. We dined on pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans with mushrooms, and dark chocolate cake with pudding inside. It was a scrumptious lunch. Thanks, Shay and Darla.

Sixty-three fresh meals were delivered all over the area to folks that cannot get out by Mike Davis, Jeanette Julsrud, Jim Maple and Deena Steach, Peggy Molnar and Cindy Combs. Thank you, each one, for your time and sharing of love to the elderly in our community. There were 22 lunches picked up as well.

The total meals from our kitchen Thursday were 181. Wow! Shay and Darla worked overtime to get to the end of the day and leave the kitchen clean. A big thanks to both of you. I don’t want to forget Nancy and Rachel also helping out in the kitchen doing some dishes and helping fill the bags for deliveries and other jobs. You know how it is in the kitchen. Thank you, everyone, for helping with this great day.

This lunch was special as we were celebrating Lucie Immoos for her work of love for many years coordinating and founding the Carrie Young Foundation. It was so exciting to learn what Lucie does and has been doing for so long. I was extremely grateful in my heart for doing this supreme work of love that is so much of how I feel about people. Thank you, Lucie, for all you have done for so long.

Linda, our librarian, has created a beautiful card to be signed by everyone for Billie Bullard. Billie is not able to join us anymore, and we all miss her. She is 102 years old. We had and still have small cards on the desk for anyone to sign and make a note if you wish to Billie. These small cards will be somehow stuck in the large, colorful card for Billie. Check us out so you can see how creative Linda and others are to make all these beautiful things. Also, Billie would love to get phone calls from all her friends at the center and a visit would be appreciated as well. Her phone number and address are on the desk at the center.

Several people have passed away and ones we know most are Carol Rickard and Sue Lemons from Mt. Vernon.

Kris Robbins brought in two boxes of books for the library. Linda will be happy about that when she comes in next time, and Kris said she has more to bring. Thanks, Kris. We appreciate all you do.

Mark Webb won the Chester’s card on Thursday and Mary Ellen Osborn won the free meal. Congratulations, you two.

Please accept my apology for not having the menu for next week. Thank you.

Jude 1:24-25 To the only wise God, our saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion, and power, both now and forever. Amen

Ps. 121:2 My help cometh from the Lord who made heaven and earth.