It's a grumpy looking day out there this morning

Almost didn't want to get out of bed because it didn't seem as though it was morning! I count on the sun shining in on me to remind me to get up.

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Rather than just throw the covers off and leap out of bed, I watched a couple episodes of "Frasier" from Season 4. Justin gave me the first four seasons of what is considered by some the "smartest program on TV", probably was in its day. Between that program and "Seinfeld", I spend way too much time laughing out loud in my house. I wonder if anyone can hear me in the neighboring units........must sound like there's always a party going on over here!
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Saturday I'd popped in at Great Hang Ups, my favorite hang out, and somehow Julia and I started discussing glass art and the making thereof. Oh, I remember now........Rick had told me about staying at The Venetian in Las Vegas when he was at a conference, and I curled my lip about it. I'd love to go there and see the pretty glass, but mostly to see/hear The Phantom of the Opera show that plays there. Jen mentioned the lovely ornaments that he brought back for her, and that's how Julia and I got talking about glass. (I always take the long way around.........) She pulled up a website for Dale Chihuly, a glass artist from WA and showed me some of his more famous work. All of a sudden I caught a glimpse of these fantastic bowls, and realized that this type of bowl, an art piece, Frasier has sitting next to his fireplace!! I love that bowl, it always catches my eye. I researched it on-line when I got home and sure 'nuff, on a trivia page about the program, it mentions the Chihuly bowl, made by "a local artist"! How fun!**************************************
On Seinfeld I am obsessed about the hook by the door, and on Frasier, the art pieces. In fact, Justin has the same style of Grecian helmet on his shelf that Frasier has on his! See, it IS smart!
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It used to be extremely difficult for me to sit and watch a program on TV, usually feeling the need to take care of something or someone, too restless to roost. I've really gotten quite good at it, and in fact, when it used to be unsettling for me to go to the theater, it's gotten to be quite comfortable for me to sit through a movie. Except for the fact that I like to talk during the movie (just like on Seinfeld!), and am usually freezing half to pieces. It used to feel as though time was a wastin', that there some work I needed to be doing instead of sitting around. Glad that I've gotten over that--lots of changes in my life in the last several years....used to feel that way about taking vacation, too, unless it was for a convention or seminar. No longer.....

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Presently I am in decision-making mode, trying to figure out what to do this summer for traveling. Besides the trip North in April, I am considering going with Julia to Gatlinburg for a class and staying in a house near there that the Hilchey's have access to. That would be in late March.

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Justin's trip with his art history group is in mid-March and since that's an expense I wasn't expecting, it sort of voids the trip we'd planned together for May. It isn't really prudent for me to pay for two, or rather, three trips to the Mediterranean. The school trip, as far as I'm concerned, is a "must do" as he's going to garner so much more from that education-intensive, professor-led tour than he would floating from city to city and merely scanning the sites.

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I do so enjoy traveling with Justin, as we aren't compelled to dash from site to site, but can "meander" at our own pace and soak it all up. When we go to the Greek Islands, I enjoy going bistro to bistro and just......ahhhhhh! Plus go see our friend, Jeannie, at her shop in Santorini, which is right across the path from, guess what?--another bistro!

This is a view of a patio just below Jeannie's bistro in Santorini

I have the option of going with the Humanns again in November, touching many of the same sights Justin and I had planned for May. This is an option, but am a bit concerned that I won't be warm enough...I've got this thing about being warm, you know?

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I am dressed and ready for the day pretty much, still have some fluffing to do before going to lunch at The Club. No jeans today, but instead have my nice velour pants on to help keep me warm. It looks like winter and most likely will feel like it too. Tonight is an Outreach Team meeting at church and we'll be finalizing some details concerning our sponsorship program and the plans for the Friendship Sunday in February.

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Just had a marvelous, long-needed phone conversation with Rosalie, my friend in Houston. She used to be the secretary at Good Shepherd and is dear to my family. She had gotten to spend some time with the boys in November of 2000 as she passed through on her way back to Houston from Melbourne. We had someone babysitting Justin and Timmy as we were on a cruise at the time of her visit, and didn't even know she was coming! Timmy was a bit upset about what he thought was a 'disruption in service' between the appointed babysitter and Rosalie. He didn't transition well, so I can't say that Rosalie and he had much warm fuzzy time during which turned out to be her last time to see him alive.

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She came back for his funeral, and spent good time with Mom and Justin, keeping them company and such during this rough time. She's a great friend to have, and even though we're miles apart now, we are still quite connected. Her family donated a lovely message-bearing picture in his memory, which hangs in Precious Lambs classroom now. The child in the painting looks so much like Timmy that it's scary. Dee offered to add some dimples to the cheeks of the child but I refused, thinking that would be just too much, too close a resemblance. But thanks anyway, Dee......

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Time to head over to The Club to have lunch with the ladies. I am so looking forward to having a nice visit with them, get to know Karen better and have some laughs together. Bon Appétit!

I'm in my happy place right now.......

Sarah is singing to me from my computer as I sit here, listening to the wind blow and watch the waves crash against the breakwater. She is singing "In Trutina" from Carmena Burana, and Sarah's voice is "like butta", as they used to say on SNL about Barbra Streisand.

I heard on the radio that we can expect to get about an inch of rain, which I predicted would happen after having my windows washed yesterday!

This afternoon I got my pretty Moroccan lamps and colored glass chimes hung up in my bedroom window, nice and clean again. Perfecto!

Justin sort of blew me out of the water today when he did some research about a piazza in Florence that's special to Twila, Jean, and me. In 2005, as we sat on the steps waiting for the rest of our companions, Twila tossed a cracker out to a pigeon who wanted a snack, and a thousand birds came diving in for the kill, nearly taking out the visitors to the Basilica Santa Croce, where we were sitting. We continue to laugh about that experience to this day, and every pigeon that came near Justin and me (2006) he'd ask, "Do you know Twila?"

Justin and I didn't go in for the tour for some reason, and he found out today all the famous people whose graves are inside this basilica. Among the names he mentioned were Michaelangelo, Marconi, Galileo, Machiavelli, Gentile and Rossini, thus it is known also as the Pantheon of the Italian Glories. He claims we missed it because we were busy looking for the Murano glass shop to buy my chandlelier. That might be, but I also think that the tour folks should have played it up more so we'd known what was in there. I think we took the walking tour that year, so had less time available for pigeon feeding.....oh, well, guess we'll have to go back. In fact, he is planning to go with his art history class over Spring Break, but that leaves me here to weep! Firenze!!! Anyway, we are kicking ourselves for not going inside this lovely building, simply admired it from the outside, across the piazza where we had our VERY expensive diet Cokes and shared a berries and gelato dessert. The edge of the Basilica can be seen on the left edge of the photo. In front of Justin is one of the $9 Coke Lites we enjoyed.....

This a.m. I met up with Jen and had a nice breakfast in an out-of-way place in Middleburg and then she went with me to the salon for my pedicure. Christine popped in for a moment and we got to chat briefly as she was on her way to an appointment. She looked lovely as always. Before running off, though, she invited me to join her for a musicale event on Friday which I would simply LOVE to attend. It's in the afternoon and she'll have to work around her schedule first. I'm excited and really can go by myself if I want to. Have nothing else planned for that day anyway.

Tonight while at Bible Bites and choir, I got great news that the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra will be performing as scheduled (the conductor left me a message on my machine at home!!!). The "bad" news is that the concert coming up is the same day as Timmy's birthday/funeral anniv. so I've offered my tickets to someone else. I am glad they've reached an agreement and are getting back to work, as I was getting concerned that we might not get to see/hear "La Traviotta" in February. Justin, Robbie and I are going to that together----can't wait!

There are a few more things needing to be taken care of before Janet, Karen, and Judy come tomorrow.....I can either take care of it tonight or get up earlier in the morning. I am sort of worn out emotionally tonight after experiencing something weird and upsetting from my past late this afternoon, so perhaps sleeping would be the best healer at this time.

"Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise; the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace!"

This is the kind of thinking that helps me sleep at night, and I hope you have some thing just as calming, soothing as this for yourselves...'night all!