Whew! Morning has come and gone!

Here it is just after noon and I've had a full morning already! Only a few moments ago my friend, Kelly, left after spending 3 1/2 hours working on our CHRISTmas cards. She is making hers, including a family photo on hers complete with a matte, and mine being store-bought but stuffed with my newsletter. Barnes and Noble sold out their cards last year after CHRISTmas with a buy one, get one deal, on discounted boxes. Can't go wrong with that price!

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Rush is finally back at the Golden EIB Microphone after being out all week with a cold. Zicam must have let him down this time! I can hear he's still sniffling a bit and sounds husky but at least he's back. Normally the guest hosts are just fine, but there's nothing like the real thing!

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Soon my kitchen is going to smell wonderful as I begin roasting a chunk of beef extracted from my freezer. It's about time I make it, and this is the first time this week that I'll be home at dinner time and Joanne, who is moving in today, might be here to eat with me. Her dad has a mess of medical tests tomorrow and she will be gathering him very early in the a.m. The good news is that they can do about four different tests all in one visit so she doesn't have to try to get him out and about more than once. He's suffering with Alzheimer's disease and lives in a facility less than a mile up the road on Fleming Island. Being a good real estate person, Joanne knows about location, location, location!

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Last night was our first mid-week Advent service, beginning with a brief choir rehearsal and ending with another choir rehearsal. We must be really bad!!! We actually sang at the very beginning of the service so the first time was to go through that hymn, from the Supplement. After worship was the "real" practice, going through our "Awake Oh Sleeper" which is sung for the four Sundays in Advent. I love it, the melody is quite catchy. The church looks so beautiful with the "M & M Blue" paraments for the season. The poor little girl serving as acolyte had troubles keeping the wick lit on the candle lighter and had to return to the rear of the church to be lighted a second time. She seemed nervous but denied it, and I hope she's not too freaked out to do it again the next time. At First German the candles are electric so no problem with getting them to light. Only a few more weeks until I worship at my home church again!

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Earlier this a.m. the sky was nothing but buttermilk and looked so lovely with the streaks of jets woven in between the puffs. Now it is more clear, still some clouds but more blue sky than before. Again the river is quiet, only one small boat sitting beyond the basin, apparently fishing, and the occasional leaping mullet. Joanne is thrilled to see the water level gone down since more shore and wading birds will be haning around than when the water was deeper. Maybe we will even get to see the raccoons walking forth and back from the breakwater. They are so amusing, except when they get into your cooler and steal Capri Sun packages like happened on Chappell's camping trip!

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Besides my great news from the insurance company yesterday, I also got some sad news. Let me retrace my steps a bit: Monday I went downstairs with my trash bags and opened the doors to the area where we load them into a cart for Dave, the doorman, to drive over to the big dumpster every morning. Well, the big cart was gone so I carried my bags over to the big dumpster near my car. The wheeled cart was sitting there alongside, the doors opened into the area where the big dumpster is, but no one was around. Hmmm, where's Dave? Was there a rapture??? The dumpster was filled to overflowing and I tossed my own bag up, only to have it roll back down again. It held my broken wine glasses which made a wild racket when it smacked onto the concrete. Somehow I managed to get the one bag to stay but simply placed the 2nd bag alongside for when the dumpster was emptied and room was made.

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As I fiddled around there, my neighbor, Jeff, came with his bag of trash and I expressed to him that the dumpster was too full to add another bag. He thought the guy would come that day to dump it and I said I just left mine alongside for now, since I couldn't locate Dave. It was time to leave for Bible study so I couldn't hang around to see how it would play out. Well, yesterday I met another neighbor carrying some boxes down and she had to tote them all the way over to the big dumpster, as the regular place was padlocked. I asked if she knew where Dave was, as I hoped he wasn't sick. It was then it came to light that he was not working for us any longer, abruptly leaving his post as our maintenence man! Guess that is why the cart was parked over there and doors left open and all that stuff from Monday! Must have just had enough of our "garbage" and went home!

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We just got an e-mail from the Board secretary saying Dave is not coming back and that the position is open, in case we know anyone interested in this type of work. I have a few people in mind, but don't know how they'd feel about compromising their unemployment compensation by taking this part-time work. It is truly perfect for a retired man, and I say "man" because some of the work most likely is more than a woman would wish to do. As I expressed to Justin, I still wish to give Dave his little 'tip' that I give him at the end of the year, as there is no bonus or anything built into our budget for the condo building. Certainly I will miss him and all that he did for us here, and wish he'd come back, kiss and make up!