My departure day has arrived

"All my bags are packed, they're ready to go; I'm standing here outside the door, I hate to wake you up to say good-bye..." You know the song, I'm leaving on a jet plane, or whatever vessel they substitute to get me back to Florida tonight.

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Thank you to those who have kept up with me through the blog, and I do apologize for not being able to post everyday, I missed it, too! Mom's computer is on a dial-up system which uses her home telephone, her only phone, so it wasn't always convenient to spend time on the computer--for her or for me!

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At first we'd arranged for Judy J. to collect me from the airport but in speaking with Justin this a.m., he's decided to come for me after all, since my bags need to be taken upstairs. It's not convenient for him to come Tuesday, as he has classes. He'll have to carry the stuff up the stairs...oh, brother!

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I'll give Judy a call later to say thanks but no thanks for the lift. She's a doll for offering to come out so late at night like that! Justin is re-stocking the soda supply and is getting some milk for me, too. He pretty well cleaned out the pantry and kitchen cabinets, half-starved with his "meal-ticket" gone for a month! He said he left my cereal so I'll have that much to eat, plus some popcorn. I am certain the Ming Moon man does not need the elevator so that's another meal option.

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I can't tell you how excited I am to see my Justin again, hoping I recognize him without all his hair. He had a busy weekend, I heard, so am anxious to hear how that all went for him. This a.m. I am dropping off a nice, big piece of poppyseed torte for my sister-in-law, Sharon, who stays in a group home. I hope I find her in, but chances are, she's at work. I'll leave it for her dinner and the staff will be sure to tell her who its from. Then its off to the cheese factory to stock up on string cheese and curds for myself and others in Florida. Justin, of course, has his mouth all set for some curds, which I've been enjoying since arriving here. Cheese curds will be my donation to the special meal at church on Sunday, as we celebrate our 30th anniversary as a congregation. I hope everyone knows what it is, and won't just walk away from that dish of fresh curds! Exotic, ethnic foods....

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I have a video tape taken as the former classroom building was going up. It is my plan to have that made into a continual loop so it can play during the meal portion of the celebration. Many of the people working on the original building are now working on the new building, so that's pretty neat! Sadly, some of the more prominent ones are no longer part of the congregation..

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If I can't get that editing accomplished, I'll simply show the video the way it is, but must warn people they might get woozy as the man doing the filming was not adept with the zoom and even carried the camera around as he walked, not turning it off in between. Lots of sidewalk and shoe footage!

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Sunday we'll also be opening the Time Capsule found in the wall of the "old" building, which is why I wish to show the video tape. I am excited to see what's in the box, built by former members, the Koren's. We are putting a new box in the wall and stuff is being gathered to put into that Time Capsule, for posterity. An emotional time for me, happy, but yet, reflective, thinking about all that's happened since 1991. Wow!