Such news today!

Terrible, terrible weather and flooding in my motherland and surrounding states! Kerry sent me some photos yesterday taken in her area, Oshkosh, featuring some of her favorite shops underwater, showing only tops or windshields of cars visible above the water. Wow! With all the disasters in the world right now--natural and otherwise--Judy R. thought it reminded her of the weather being affected as Jonah resisted the Lord's commands...hmmmm....ya' think???? Twila and I talked about this last night and both agree to make sure to have oil in your lamps and be ready to go! My nephew's soon to be in-laws are struggling to save their belongings in Montello as the waters get closer and closer to their home. Prays are needed for all!

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My friend, Joan, whose husband is probably the man some have thought to be my boyfriend (please hold the giggles!), was traveling to visit family in VA, and then on to their home in Montana. Well, she was having leg pains and then shortness of breath so Paul took her to the hospital in Virginia Beach. It's been determined she has serious pulmonary emboli, with one large clot so close to the heart that they didn't want to move her to another hospital. Her kids and spouses have traveled up to VA now to be with her, with Paul, as the medicine hopefully does its thing and safely breaks up the clots. Prayers for her as well, please! I saw her last week Wednesday at the sales meeting at Island Realty, and said our good-byes from there.

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Prayers of thanks also for the safe travels of Judy R. as hubby and she traveled to the funeral of her brother-in-law this past week. They encountered no bad weather either direction. Linda is making a good recovery, thanks to the helping hands of Tommy, who helps her do the therapy exercises. My new friend, Jami, in TX, underwent surgery on Thursday, hopefully being relieved of some painful female troubles. I just checked her blog and Jami's hubby has posted updated reports of her recovery. Seems she enjoys the button on the pain medication pump! Wore one out already, so they resorted to injections...ahhh, that's better....good night!

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The news, other than the flooding mess up north, is about Tim Russert passing away suddenly Friday. I used to like him more a few years ago, probably prior to the 2004 mid-term elections. We used to tape "Meet the Depressed" (a play on words there) to watch after church, but eventually we quit watching altogether. His recent handling of some of the candidates' at the debates was a bit heavy-handed, which no one should be surprised about, given his work history prior to "Meet the ......." Anyway, I did get a chance to hear him speak last year at a fund raising event downtown, I think Martie went with me. We saw him outside first, on crutches, and walking with his sister and little niece. We said "hi" and he said "hi" right back to us, like a regular guy. The consensus of those being interviewed and offering their remarks all say the same thing: "He was a genuine guy!" I truly enjoyed his book, "Big Russ and Me", where he tells the story of his rough and tumble dad whom he greatly admired. Now Big Russ has to bury his son.......speaking figuratively, of course, as he's quite elderly.

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Having the levee breach in Des Moines is a terrible thing. Some liken it to the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. Now, let's watch to see how this plays out, how the people will react to the disaster. God's going to busy answering all these prayers today!

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On a lighter note: I just heard that Jon Voight is going to be on "24" as Jack Bauer's nemesis. I can't help but chuckle because at one time, before it burned up outside the flower shop, George Costanza drove a car formerly owned by Jon Voight. There are serious doubts it was THE Jon Voight, but he never hesitated telling people that it was!!!! Justin simply adores "24" and is counting the minutes (or hours!!! as the case might be!) until it returns to TV. Much of our cruise in 2006 was spent watching season after season of "24" on his computer, and he'd come up on deck all strung out with, oh, say, anxiety or similar, from the intensity of that program. He'd sit by me and unwind, take a break from the drama.....Justin knows where to go when he needs to calm down!

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Dave, the condo "doorman" has volunteered to help me re-pot Timmy's lemon tree after its trimmed. He's lending me the loppers so I can selectively remove the non-producing branches and will try fresh soil to see it that makes a difference. The lemon that was hanging for dear life was actually not growing anymore, other than growing black on one side, so I took it off and removed the tiny seeds. I planted them in a cup and have it on my window sill by the desk so I can keep an eye out for growth. My sapling from a previous lemon is sprouting new growth from both the top and the bottom, so my spirit isn't completely crushed tree-wise!

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There's nothing so esteem-building than to hit the "Spell Check" button and get the pronouncement: No Spelling Errors Detected!!! An Editor's nightmare, the spell checker button! I am going to watch for the space shuttle to come home, hope the clouds break enough for me to see/hear it come in. It was perfectly cloudless about an hour ago.....Twila and her sister are going down to the beach house next week, I am so jealous! Twila looked at my mother-in-law's heritage album last night and thinks the family will just love it....hope so! Wish I had more photos, though, but can always add pages if more pictures are located.

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Some friends are coming to sit poolside today and tonight am going to dinner with the Rosses at Blu Grotto, at least, that's the plan right now. Rick's been doing much traveling these past weeks so haven't seen much of him since Chris's birthday party. Will be good to share a meal and conversation again!!!

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Wear your boots and take your umbrellas everyone!