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Just to change things up a bit, this month's Journal will touch on a
sample of what happened each day in a calendar format.
November 1: An Afternoon with Galen
When Galen first saw me, he quickly made
the hand sign that he wanted to go outside and "drive the car."
It's one of his favorite things, and on this visit to Berrydale we took
two trips out to the car.
Visiting Jean and Joel gives them a break. On this occasion, they
got a short dinner out at a new restaurant nearby. Jean left Galen
with his dinner and a spinning Halloween light toy that mesmerized him.
Later, he and I went downstairs to visit Glyph and Verin who now had the
run of the whole basement. They were still quite timid toward me.
On the way home, I stopped by the Covington Walgreens and got spinning
light toys for Charis and Valerie for their December birthdays. I
do enjoy shopping for half-priced holiday items on the day after
the holiday.
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November 2: Road Trip to Long
Beach, WA
 Randy
picked me up at 10:00 AM and we headed for a three day trip to
the WorldMark resort at Long Beach. On the way, we stopped
for lunch at The Rusty Tractor in Elma for an overpriced "Black
and Blue Burger" with an upgrade to onion rings from fries.
Randy had a cup of soup and a $3 single piece of garlic toast!
Gas prices all along the way were
$4.99/gal. But we made it to the Shoalwater reservation
near Tokeland and got $3.89/gal gas.
In the evening, I introduced Randy to
two of my favorite movies that I'd brought to the resort,
Chariots of Fire (1981) and Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo
in Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951). We thoroughly enjoyed them
both.
Randy served his home made split pea
soup with ham for dinner with still more ham on the side.
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November 3: A Rare and Restful
Study Day
 Randy
left around 6:30 AM to drive two hours to a continuing education
class at Clark College in Vancouver. I slept in.
I was able to begin some serious study
in John Stott's commentary on Galatians.
When Randy returned at 7:30 PM, we
headed to the hot tub in a driving rain. I also swam in
the pool which was warmer than the cool wet night.
Randy served more soup and baked
potatoes for dinner. My blood sugar suffered on this trip.
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 November
4: A Study Day at Clark College and a Big Husky Win
  We
checked out of the condo at 7:15 AM and Randy drove us via
Astoria through Longview/Kelso to Vancouver. While Randy
attended an LSAW board meeting back again at Clark College, I
finished studying chapter one of Galatians in the PUB,
the Penguin Union Building. Even though Randy's event
seemed to be the only one in the nearly vacant building, I had
the nostalgic feeling that I still belonged in a college
setting.
On the drive up Interstate 5, we began
listening to the UW vs. USC football game on the radio. At
home, I enjoyed watching the second half of an amazing Husky
win. Dillon Johnson (#7) rushed
for 256 yards and four touchdowns,
Michael Penix Jr. passed for 256 yards and two
scores and No. 5 Washington's prolific offense kept the Huskies
unbeaten at 9-0 with a 52-42 victory over No.
24 Southern California on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
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  November 5:
A Birthday Party for Galen in Berrydale
  Galen
turns two on the 14th but he had his big party on the 5th. All his
cousins were there as was Elowen, the three-year-old from two doors
east. With eleven kids under six and thirteen adults, it was a
full house in Berrydale.
Jean baked the fire truck cake and Julie Adams
brought the eyeball.
After lunch, things quieted down when the kids
were led downstairs to a big maze created by Jean out of cardboard
boxes. This was reminiscent of the maze Jean, Nathanael, and Annie
enjoyed at the annual Westminster Chapel "Pumpkin Party" in Bellevue
many years ago.
Cake (and ice cream also brought by Julie),
followed by presents concluded the afternoon. The "family" Tonka
fire truck was duly passed down once more as a big birthday gift to
a delighted Galen.
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November 6: Writing for the
EmeriTimes Newsletter
Steady rain meant today would be an
indoor day. Nancy had a 9:00 AM Physical Therapy
appointment. At 10:45 AM, Susan picked her up to go to a
Chapter A P.E.O. meeting. After I made lunch for
Thomas and Valerie, I returned to my writing and photo editing
in my man cave while entertaining Valerie with Cinderella
and Sleeping Beauty on Disney+.
My
TO DO list includes many writing projects. Today, I
completed two of them. The first was the report on the
October 30th Emeriti Luncheon at SPU. The second was the
report on the dedication of the Dr. Ken Toleffson "friendship
bench" on campus on October 31st.
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November
7: Errands
Nancy chose to
renew her life insurance for another month, supposedly giving her time to
research other plans. I chose to end the
Prudential policy that insured me.
 We
needed to take Goldie, our gold Chrysler Town & Country van, in
for car service at TLC Auto Care in Kirkland, so Nancy dropped
off our ballots at the Bellevue Library and I met her with
Sillie at TLC. We made a grocery run to COSTCO on the way
home.
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 November
8: Skylight Work
Nancy is not one to take a break from the many projects on her
plate. Here she is working at the top of the Great Room on
our new solar powered skylight opening. We tested it and it
opens and closes and its shade works.
I emailed PEMCO about the completion of the new roof.
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November 9 and 10:
Roofing the Shed
On Thursday the 9th, Nathanael stopped
by after work to help clean off the 31-year-old shed roof as we
began to reroof it. We have left over steel roofing sheets
with which to roof it.
The next day, Nancy and I spent the
whole day on the shed roof project. That project will
continue for many days since Nancy is a perfectionist.
When she gets into a project, I often remind her, "It's not a
piano."
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  November
11: A Big Husky Win and a Surprise from Charis
Utah (7-2) came to Husky Stadium to
face 9-0 Washington. They went home 7-3, losing to the
Huskies 28-35. The first half was windy but the rain held
off until the second half. It should have been
28-40 if one of our
defenders had not dropped the ball a few yards short of the end
zone as he was about to easily score a pick six.
I was surprised when Charis sat down on
the sofa where I was holding Irene and began to read a book out
loud. She sounded out each word! She's officially a
reader now, and only after two months in Kindergarten.
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November 12: A Sermon on Romans
12, and a Seattle Seahawks Win 29-26 Over the Washington Commanders
I've probably included this story elsewhere in
this Journal. Back in 1982, I sat on the steps of Miller Hall and
prayed if I should pursue a Ph.D. in the College of Education. The
answer came back in the form of a verse, rather than a YES or NO.
Romans 12:2 came to mind while I prayed.
And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
I took that answer as permission.
 I
went into the building and upstairs to Dr. David Madsen's office.
He was in and, despite not having an appointment, invited me in and
encouraged me to apply. He later became my doctoral advisor and a
member of my dissertation reading committee. He was the first to
come out of the special seminar room where doctoral oral exams were held, the
final defense of the dissertation
with the candidate's doctoral reading committee. His right
 hand
 outstretched, he was the first to say, "Congratulations, Dr. Sleight."
(In the 1982-83 school year, before beginning my Ph.D. studies,
I took
three courses from Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary.)
I mention this because the sermon this morning
at UPC was on Romans 12. The Rev. Dr. Mark Labberton, Past
President of Fuller Theological Seminary, and on two occasions a pastor
at UPC, brought the sermon, "The
Deep Work of a New Creation."
Later this Sunday, Nancy and I watched the
Seahawks game. Jason Myers kicked five field goals and the
Seahawks won on his last one on the final play of the game. Myers accounted for
17 of "our" points. Touchdowns by Kenneth Walker III in the third
quarter and Tyler Lockett in the fourth, both on passes from Geno Smith,
added the other 12 points. And while I was happy for the win, I
was reminded of the sermon and how empty (vain) are most of our modern
amusements.
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November 13: Odds & Ends
I began a big outdoor project
relocating
the many tree rounds that fill our north yard.
Nancy wants to see the wild flowers next Spring that are planted
there. I moved 17 logs this first day.
I made lunch (as usual) for Thomas and
Valerie, then watched over Valerie in the afternoon.
I went
with Nancy to pick up Goldie at TLC Auto Care. On the way
home, I shopped at
COSTCO while Nancy took Goldie to shop at Home
Depot.
I watched Russell Wilson lead Denver over Buffalo
24-22 with a last second field goal on Monday Night Football.
The Broncos' kicker MISSED the field goal, but the Bills had
twelve men on the field! The kicker got a second try from
five yards closer to the goal posts and split the uprights.
(I only watched this game because I still like watching Russell
Wilson play.)
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  November
14: Happy Birthday Galen!
After morning chores, playing with
Valerie, and making lunch for Thomas and Valerie, I drove down
to be with Galen. Jean and Joel had scheduled a church
visit to learn about getting Galen baptized. But they were
not feeling well, so that meeting was put off. Galen and
Grandpa still had a great afternoon playtime.
I found ways to make my drive south
productive. Of course, I got to help celebrate Galen's
actual birthday. I also got to gather five big bags of
leaves for mulch and compost for my 2024 garden. I was
delighted when Galen, now having just turned two, helped fill
three of the five bags. (I had to follow him back to the
house when his interest faded.)
I installed a new coach light on their
garage. Its built-in outlet allows them to plug in
their outdoor Christmas lights. In the process, I also was
able to make the GFI outlet work on the similar coach light at
their front door I'd installed last year.
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  November
15:
A Day in the Yard
The morning found me working on the shed roof and moving more of
the felled Douglas Fir rounds.
In the afternoon, Valerie helped me plant 32 cloves of garlic
for a harvest next Summer. Then we picked the last of
the peppers and still more cherry tomatoes. Doing this
half way through November is amazing.
We also harvested the
horseradish but won't keep it.
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November 16: Annual Dermatology
Check-up
I
got up at 5:30 AM (before my 5:45 AM alarm) and made it
to the Everett Clinic in Shoreline at 7:00 AM, early for my 7:30
appointment.
I was in fear of bad traffic from Bellevue. I had my
annual dermatology skin check with Dr. Tiffany Shih. She
was training an intern so I got two full skin checks for the
price of one. Fortunately, they found nothing of concern,
only spots to keep an eye on next November
—
Monday the 18th at 8:00 AM.
On the way home, I picked up
a 21.4 pound turkey at QFC for $0.89/lb.
Sadly, when I got home, Nancy pointed out that a raccoon had
gotten to the goldfish in my 25 gallon hexagonal tank outside on
the north patio. When I drained the tank, I found one
goldfish still alive and one deceased. The raccoon must
have gotten two or three. The largest one was over 13
years old and had come home from SPU when Annie graduated.
The lone remaining comet goldfish is now swimming with six gold
barbs in the 20 gallon tank in my office.
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 November
17: Work on the Shed Roof
Other projects seem to me to be more vital
than reroofing the shed, but Nancy makes those decisions.
Today was another one dedicated to the shed roof. Nancy is
reinforcing the old roof supports before we install the new one
over the old.
Back in 1992, before we tore down our
old house, my dad and I took siding off of the east side of our
house and took apart the south deck. We built a foundation
with cement blocks and framed this shed with 2x4s over a floor
supported by 4x4s. The old
deck plywood became the floor and roof. The cedar siding of the
old house became the walls of the shed. I added three
tiers of deep sturdy shelves inside on the east wall and one on the
north wall. The old bathroom window became the shed window and the
old kitchen door became the shed door. I later ran an
electric circuit underground from the basement of the new house
to the shed.
We added a loveseat, a heater, a TV, and
a VCR, and this became the daytime playhouse for Annie and
Nathanael, and after December 9th, for Jeannie Beth too. It was
Nancy's headquarters as she managed the whole construction
process of the new house.
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 November
18: Off to Berrydale
Nancy and I continued our work reroofing the shed. Then Nathanael stopped by with his family and
took my place as Nancy’s assistant. I’d promised to drive
Jean, Joel, and Galen to the airport the next morning, so I
headed south in the l ate
afternoon. I stopped in Renton to watch the 5th ranked and
undefeated Washington Huskies versus the 11th ranked Oregon
State Beavers with Don and Judy. Don made a tasty turkey dinner
for us to enjoy during halftime. The Dawgs managed a 22-20 win
on a rainy and windy night in Corvallis.
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November
19:
At the Sittes
I dropped off the Sitte’s at SeaTac around
10:30 AM and drove back to their house to dog and cat sit. I listened to
the Seahawks lose to the Rams 16-17. My radio cut out on the very last
play, a 55-yard field goal attempt by Jason Myers which would have won
the game. Alas, he missed it after making three other long field goals
earlier. An elbow injury to Geno Smith and too many Seattle
penalties and some very questionable calls by the refs sealed our fate. |
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November 20: Slept in until 11:00 AM
 I
caught the sunrise but then took advantage of my situation and headed
back to bed. Late to bed, late to rise would be my lifestyle if I
were single.
In my effort to complete at least one of my four lectures on the book of
Galatians, I at least finished the PowerPoint presentation that
accompanies the first lesson. I made sure Luna had a run in the yard and
finally managed to hold Verin and pet Glyph. They are certainly more
willing to be friendly when they are being fed. Mr. Glyph is
quickly growing larger than Miss Verin. |
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November 24: Black Friday
For a few years, Nancy has asked for a laptop computer.
I decided to get her one for Christmas. I liked
the Lenovo Slim 5i at COSTCO, but she said she liked the
similar Lenovo Flex 5i 16" Touchscreen 2-in-1.
Both had a supposed Black Friday price of $649.
But I assumed, correctly, that the price would come down
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more from the MSRP of $900.
Sure enough, I was able to order the Flex 5i (with the Intel i7
processor) today for $599 + tax. It's more powerful than
anything I use.
My
tradition is to get the Christmas lights up on Black Friday.
I got these up on the front of the garage. Others will
have to wait until the roofers return to finish installing the
custom ridge cap.
I also began splitting my many logs for winter
firewood. My maul did a good job, but I'm sure
out of shape. "Burning wood warms you twice."
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November 25: The UW Huskies Win
the 2023 Apple Cup
 The
last Apple Cup of the PAC-12 era ended with a last second field
goal. The Huskies got the ball back with 1:59 to go on
their own 10 yard line with the score tied 21-21. The
Cougars seemed to out- play the Huskies for most of the
afternoon.
Coming into the game, the now #4 ranked UW
Huskies were favored to win by 16.5 points. They were
fortunate to win by three. This win capped a
perfect 12-0 regular season record.
 The
key play of the game, with 1:15 to go, was a gutsy 4th and 1
call on the UW's own 29 yard line. Instead of handing off
again to running back Dillon Johnson, Michael Penix faked to
Johnson and handed off to wide receiver Rome Odunze who raced
around the left end to the Washington State 48 yard line, a 23
yard gain.
Washington will face a rematch with
Oregon on Friday, December 1st at 5:00 PM for the 2023 (and
final) PAC-12 championship. The game will be played at
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, NV.
 Washington
beat Oregon 36-33 back
on October 14th in Seattle.
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November 26: Rest, Work,
and Cough, Cough, Cough
I am a friend of Israel, yet I am glad
I am a Gentile. According to Acts 15, Gentiles are not
asked to "do no work" on the Sabbath.
Pastor Aaron Williams gave a sermon
this morning on "worry" titled But Seek First... taken
from Matthew 6. He had to fill in suddenly for an ailing
Prentice Park, our Senior Pastor George Hinman being away on a
three-month sabbatical.
I enjoyed watching Russell Wilson lead
his Denver Broncos over the Cleveland Browns 29-12. He's
having a much better season in Denver this year than last.
Back on October 29th, the Seahawks beat the Brows 24-20.
 When
I finally got outside, I got a lot done. I carried bags of
leaves to the south yard, blew off the driveway and north patio,
cleaned out the gutter on the west side of the garage, and
chopped nine more rounds of Douglas Fir into firewood.
In the evening, Annie asked me to make a
special trip to the store. All the little girls had been a
chorus of coughs all day, when they weren't sleeping.
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November 27: One Last Day
with Valentine Roofing
 I
got up at 6:30 AM to move the cars out into the cul-de-sac to
make room for Valentine Roofing's truck. Our Autumn
roofing job was completed today with the installation of custom
ridge pieces to top our unique roof.
This photo also shows the new solar
powered skylight on the right which should allow for hot air to escape
from the top of the Great Room.
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 November 28: A Sick Day
Before
I got up in the morning, Annie had already taken Valerie to see
a doctor. The entire household has a bug. In order
of severity of symptoms comes Valerie, Irene, Charis, Nancy,
Thomas, Annie, and myself. Annie will go back to school
tomorrow. I'm feeling much better.
When Valerie got home, we learned what
she had not —
not RSV, not COVID, and not the flu. She started in on
some antibiotics and seemed a bit better later in the day.
Other than Annie getting in a shopping
trip to COSTCO and some grading, not much got done today.
I got the wood stove fired up for the first time during the
current cold snap. I carried more wood to where I split it
south of the garage. Irene had a long nap on my chest and
I fell asleep right along with her and her drippy nose.
After dinner, I did the dishes, did a load of laundry, boiled a
dozen eggs, took out the compost, and did what's becoming more
common
— studying for 20 minutes on the stationary bicycle.
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 November 29:
A Slow Day
Weather.com shows rain in the forecast
for the next 14 days, so I stacked firewood, shredded leaves,
and did some other yard work.
Charis still has her cough but is doing better than Valerie,
Irene, or Nancy. She stayed home from school again today.
I was short on Charis photos this
month so she posed for a few. We also used up the last of
our cornbread mix. Charis likes my cornbread muffins.
She can't have dairy or peanuts.
Nancy had me drive our last payment
for the new roof to the Post Office. After the new year,
we'll pay Susan back for the loan that helped us through this
unplanned big expense. Nancy's early Christmas present, The Lenovo
Flex 5i 2 in 1 laptop, arrived from COSTCO via UPS just as I was heading out
to mail the letter.
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November 30: Irene Walks!
How odd for Seattle to be playing on
Thursday Night Football two weeks in a row. The underdog
Seahawks led 21-20 at halftime but could not stop the Cowboys in
the 4th quarter. They fell to Dallas 35-41 in an
entertaining shootout in Texas. They are now at 6 wins and
6 losses on the season.
Before the game, Irene favored us with her
first few steps. I spotted her taking a step and a half toward me
and alerted Annie. Then Annie and I saw her take two steps.
This is five weeks before she turns one. Can running be far behind, considering she has sisters to emulate and
chase?! Annie walked about three weeks before her first birthday.
Charis also started walking
three weeks before
her 1st birthday. But Valerie wins the early walker award,
having taken her first steps
two months before she
turned one.
As forecast, the rains arrived on schedule
around 3:00 PM. Before that, I cleaned the east side garage
gutter, carried and chopped more wood, and put up the rest of the
Christmas lights across the front of the house.
Today, Charis and Nancy were the two who still had temperatures.
Because Nancy was not feeling well, I drove down to the SeaTac airport
to pick up Susan at 10:00 PM from her flight home from Hawaii.
Exiting the plane was delayed because there were no available gates.
(Thus I am wrapping up this months Journal after 2:00 AM.)
Looking ahead to December, the calendar is full, including many birthday
parties, holiday gatherings, church events, a third colonoscopy for me
(oh joy), and a Monogram Club meeting on the 7th. I'll be
returning to my normal randomness in this Journal next month.
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My Quote from November
. . . He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His
own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the
blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the
incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for those who
are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than
His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked
and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O
sweet exchange!
O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all
expectation! That the wickedness of many should be hid in a single
righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many
transgressors! Having therefore convinced us in the former time that our
nature was unable to attain to life, and having now revealed the Saviour
who is able to save even those things which it was [formerly] impossible
to save, by both these facts He desired to lead us to trust in His
kindness, to esteem Him our Nourisher, Father, Teacher, Counsellor,
Healer, our Wisdom, Light, Honour, Glory, Power, and Life, . . .
From the Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus, 130 AD |
I
caught the sunrise but then took advantage of my situation and headed
back to bed. Late to bed, late to rise would be my lifestyle if I
were single. 
