My sometimes temperamental Internet connection shows all its buttons lighted so I'll write just as fast as I can! This started very early today so had nothing to do with the violent storms which rolled through here late this afternoon. I was a bit concerned about Justin going home over the bridge right when the storm was at its fiercest, but he let me know he was safe, at Steak 'n Shake by The Avenues Mall.
*
I just arrived home from another very exciting Bible study, where we reviewed some of the lessons from previous classes in order to clarify things for one of the participants. Boy, that is sooo interesting, looking at a teaching of another denomination and then try to find it in the Scriptures. We talked about The Millennium (how this all got started) and then found ourselves talking about the End Times, another topic which moves me. My "Jerusalem, the Golden" emotions again.
*
I never heard anything before about looking for a red heifer as a sign of the Last Days, and my Concordance didn't mention it. After class I asked Pastor where "a red heifer" is mentioned, saying I didn't find it in my concordance. He said, "That's because you don't have an exhaustive concordance" and we all chuckled. Then I told him, "No, mine is well-rested....." Oh, come on, you saw THAT coming, right? What a good laugh we all had.
*
When pulling up at church, talking to Lynn on her new cell phone (welcome to 2008!), I saw the parking lot jam packed with cars. Oh, oh, did I miss church tonight???? What's going on here? Then, I remembered, it was preschool graduation night and all the parents were here to see their little ones. The staff did it up right and the grads made their teacher proud. I even managed to get a cupcake from a cake made by one of the parents. One of our previous graduates, Mika, was there to see her brother graduate and she gave me the biggest hug! She must have been gone about 3-4 years now, which makes her nine or so----and she was nearly as tall as me!
*
This afternoon I had my nails done, without first meeting Jen because she had to help out in her mom's childcare center. Lisa was happy to see me, realizing its been a long time between visits. I explained that I'd been in WI for several weeks and she caught me up on what's going on in Middleburg. I popped in at Brenda W.'s office and managed to find Christine (yeah!!!) and Greg there, too, so it was perfect! Those two were heading to Green Cove for a building permit so had their work cut out for them. Brenda and I spent some time catching up, hearing all about their busy lives on Longhorn Road. The new Smokey's BBQ is opened now, reportedly serving steaks for dinner, new to their menu. I can't wait to visit the new place to see if I like it as much as their "old" place. I took Harv and Barb there when they visited at Easter, and that was my last time before closing and then relocating. Corn nuggets, here I come!!!
*
By the time I left Middleburg, it was getting quite dark in the west, with giant-sized but scattered rain drops falling on my wind shield. I'd not eaten anything since a bowl of "O cereal" for breakfast so grabbed a cheeseburger at McDonald's before heading over to Hang Ups. Julia's hubby is borrowing my 6 seasons of "Frasier" so I dropped them off for him. The store was sort of busy, which is fantastic, so I didn't stay long, plus Martie had an errand for me to run for her. Whew!
*
By the time I got to the Realty office, it had stopped drizzling so no worries about getting drenched. Martie was busily trying to shove bags of fruit into the fridge, and not having much success. Tomorrow is their breakfast meeting, to which I'm invited, hence the fruit. Right from the meeting (I attend as Pam's 'consultant'....) I have an appointment with my CPA to go over some nasty tax letter I received last weekend. If I got my mail more often, I'd have found this sooner.......but, anyway, Gary says it's nothing to be concerned about, but, to me, anything that says "IRS" on it causes concern! Twila said she got the very same letter so I guess I shouldn't be too worried about it.
*
Anyway, after that meeting, which Gary said will be brief, I'm back home to get things ready for the ladies to come for painting and cropping. It's our friends' birthday tomorrow so we are having pizza and strawberry shortcake in celebration. Jen wanted me to do something with her late morning/early afternoon but I can't jam another thing into my day! Of course, she's invited to come up here, too, but don't think she'll want to bring Memrie along---too hard to keep her entertained all that while. Wednesday evening, instead of going to Bible Bites, I am painting with Dee, Kris, and Anita, like we did last week Thursday. Since I am having the themed dinner here Thursday, they changed the date to Wednesday and now I can come! Yippee!
*
Where did the time go? Our class didn't get out until after nine which I guess explains how it got late so fast. I really should get a good night's rest with such a full day tomorrow. A fun-filled day, except for the CPA meeting, but hey, he said it's okay, so...................Gary is a real sweetheart of a guy. He's been doing our taxes, both corporate and personal, since we moved here in 1988, and has been through a lot of stuff with us. A good Christian man, his family and he are going to Russia through their church to do some training in evangelism. I give him tons of credit and wish him God's blessings.
*
In the video tape of Timmy's funeral, it shows Gary sitting alone at first, and then, after the doctor who delivered Timmy expressed his sympathies to us, he went to sit with Gary. Two grown men, sitting together, sharing their grief. He's seen me through a lot of stuff---oh, I said that already. Good night!!!!
