It is raining spam!

It is raining real rain, too, but I have noticed recently that my gmail account is being bombarded with spam messages. Fortunately my filter catches them but I always check to see what is in the spam file in case something which is not truly spam does not end up dumped. Crazy stuff in the filter, prescriptions available for body parts I do not even have! Ricky told me he gets those advertisements on his blackberry phone, too, and is horrified that they are even sent to him. What and who thinks people will actually open those misspelled and "taunting" e-mails in the first place? They even try using people's names to lure one into clicking it open. Do not do it! Delete, delete, delete!

This is my table, all dressed for the monthly dinner, Cinco de Mayo-themed, in May. Beautiful, if I do say so myself!

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Joanne is finally back home in this nest and wondering why in the world is the house torn apart like this? Justin was going to come over yesterday to put it all back, hang up my tapestry again, move the furniture, etc. but with the continued threats of winds and rain, nope. We might even leave it like this the entire time I am gone, since Joanne will be going away part of the time as well. My neighbors will have authority to come in and check on things for me while I am away, and Justin will have access, too, if need be.

This is a shot taken this morning, May 19th, as Joanne and I watched the winds whip the trees and throw water around the breakwater. See how gloomy it is out there?

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Joanne was ensconced in my bedroom desk chair and eating her supper while watching the finale of "Dancing with the Stars" when I came home last night. The TV in the family room was still unplugged and she was desperate to see this show. Wow, she has got it bad! Immediately I plugged the TV back in and turned the family room over to her to watch this show, while talking with her sister in Atlanta who is also a fan.

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Many years ago when I was newlywed, some of my sisters and I were involved in watching a spinoff of "Dallas" with Joan Van Ark as the star, I simply cannot remember the name of it right now. One of the main lead actors died in a season finale and Jill called to tell me that Sid had died. I was all upset and talking about someone dying, and my spouse thought it was a real person. He got upset because here it was a TV show, and we had a brother-in-law named Sid....Guess he had a point, but still, that is how "real" it was for us, at the time. As a married couple, we were "hooked" on "Dallas", pre-VCR days, and scheduled our Friday nights around the TV show. After that series was over, we never really got attached to TV shows like that anymore, it was so empty and we were too busy working to have our lives revolve around TV. How did I get into this? Oh, yes, "Dancing with the Stars"!

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Despite Monday's wretched weather, a nice group of us met at church for Bible study before we take a recess until July. We did not finish or even come close to it, our study of "Come, Worship Christ", because we got off on a tangent about the role of women in the church. The passages we started looking up were about keeping worship orderly, no speaking in foreign tongues unless there was someone to interpret, only one or two or at most three speakers in worship, and so on. One of the ladies proceeded to read further into the chapter, hence, taking us widely away from learning about organ music in the church! We did not even get to view the video segment planned for the class but Pastor said the conversation and questions confirmed the plans for an upcoming Bible study on this matter. We went to Longhorn (really?) for lunch, having seven of us in our group this time, and at the end of the meal, "our" waitress, Patty, treated us with a dessert which we all shared. Yummy! We will not be going as a group to eat there again until July but certainly individually or in twos or threes, we might!

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Sunday I sent my heating pad home with Paul for use on his sore neck and now I am thinking it sure would be nice to have it to help warm me! It feels quite chilly in the house, no sun since Sunday afternoon---brisk winds and rainy skies make for good nap weather! This morning I got a call from my little boy, asking me if I could buy his birthday present early....okay, now what? It seems his tires are quite bald and he got freaked out yesterday when his car swayed into another lane when he went from stop and around the corner. At first I was skeptical about it, but when he informed me that he has 45000 miles on them, I ran to the store to buy him tires! Ever since he did a 360 spin out on I-95 last year, he is extremely cautious when driving, especially on wet pavement.

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We met at the tire place near Wal*Mart, thinking I had to pay right away. He said not until it is complete and agreed to ride over to the store with me instead of sitting in the waiting room. He picked up a new pair of wipers for his car, too, saying he has originals on there yet. I replace mine fairly regularly because I have a low tolerance for poor wipers. Justin told me he had to be at a house in St. Johns county at 1:00 and hoped the tires would be on by then, but then he got a call that he needed to be at the house sooner. Oh, oh, now what? He was getting upset and I suggested he take me home and use my car to run his errands. Mom, the Problem Solver!!!! I checked out and away we went so he can do his work. He will just come back for me later and we will go together and pay for the tires. I told him that I really had not planned on tires for his birthday, and that I certainly would not have spent THAT much on him!!!! We are going to work out his paying me back for them as I have plenty around here that needs doing for him to work off much of the cost.

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I finished the washing and drying of the rain-catching items yesterday afternoon, and laid them back in place "just in case". The maintenance lady, Connie, said the storms were not over and I would rather be safe and messy, than sorry! Part of the afternoon was spent helping my friend, Suzanne, write some paragraphs to use for her application process at a job she is interviewing for today. She lost her job last week and is hustling to find a new one. Of course, I was incredibly flattered that she asked me, saying, "I need a writer!" As we spoke on the phone, I was also typing on the paragraph she e-mailed me, plus Instant Messaging with Justin about him not needing to come help me with the furniture repositioning....true multi-tasking! I should have applied for the job! One thing about that----I am not qualified!!!! And Suzanne is perfect for the job, I know she is going to get it.

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In the midst of our conversation, my doorbell rang, as I had cautioned Suzanne it would. I had an appointment with the ceramic tile cleaners who came to give an estimate for cleaning the tile for The Palace. Excusing myself from the conversation and typing with Suzanne, I put my jacket on and joined the cleaners as we visited each floor so Aaron could see what needed to be done. Each floor in the building has a different colored tile in the elevator alcove, some needed more care than others. He is even giving us a price on cleaning the lobby on the first floor in case the Board wants to go that far. As Hugh told me, the floor in the elevator is going to be replaced at some point, but in the meantime, it needs to be clean. With so many Units for sale right now, everything really should be looking its best. My opinion is it should look its best all the time for those of us already here, but I also understand the other thoughts.

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After walking the floors and getting the measurements, the three of us came back here because Aaron wanted to make sure my floors and walls were not holding moisture from the mini-flood. He has a metal rod with prongs which is a moisture-meter, as well as a handheld device which does the same thing. He was pleased with the readings from the drywall, wood floors, and baseboards, no danger right now of mold or other rot from the leaks. I was not worried until he said something about it!

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Being chilled to the bone after running around outside in the rain, I decided to climb under my covers to warm up. While there I thought about Sheila and her little grand daughter walking in the rain to get home that afternoon, and since I would be heading that direction later to have dinner with Kathy and attend some church meetings, I called Sheila to make arrangements for picking up Akeila. It was on my way, and if the day care would allow her to leave with me, that would be great! I got Sheila's answering machine and left her a message. Before long she called back to say she was in a job interview when I called but was glad I did.

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At first Sheila said she would walk from the interview to the daycare to meet me there, but I told her to stay where she was, since I had to drive right past her to get Akeila. I had to fly around to get myself ready and off I went to get her. She looked very nice for her interview, and Sheila said she has to call back in a couple days for a 2nd interview. We picked up her granddaughter and I took them home. I really must get a booster seat for use in my car, especially if I make a habit of picking her up from daycare. I think I have the child-resistant handles in the back seat but don't know if I want to enable that for when grown ups sit back there......Anyway, I dropped them off, complete with a bag of food from my fridge, including the fore-mentioned fruit. Since I will be gone, there is no need for my food to go bad when Sheila can certainly make use of it. As my grandma used to say: "Every little bit helps", said the old lady as she peed in the sea..."

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On my drive to meet Kathy B. for dinner, I called Kathy L. in Manitowoc to see how she was. Mom told me about the "performance" Gabe gave in church on Sunday. She laughingly said, "He can't just walk up to the front, he has to leap and dance all the way up the aisle!" This reminds me of Timmy, how he could not stand still either. She did not tell me about his song or any more info other than that his aisle dancing.

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Kathy and I enjoyed a lovely meal together and did some necessary chatting, the kind best done face to face. Joanne had given me a gift card for the Olive Garden which I used toward my meal. Thanks, Jo! Mom was envious that I was eating there, as she misses the Olive Garden. Unfortunately, since I had back- to-back church meetings, I did not have an Italian margarita. Certainly I had to have my wits about me when we are making decisions regarding summer Sunday school and VBS! We did end up choosing the same program that Victory is using and I already made some contacts with members over there to see what we can "share', as their VBS is before ours. I know one man is making a backdrop of some sort, looking like "Tool Time" from the Tim Allen TV show of old.

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During our phone conversation, Mom did tell about nearly missing a fabulous chorale concert by the Lutheran High choirs at First German. My sister, Jill, called Mom to make sure she was going and it is good she did! At first Lynn was not sure if she wanted to go out again that night but also was happy to see/hear the concert. The director, whose father-in-law had died that morning, was presenting this special concert as part of earning his advanced degree. The show must go on! Even his wife and mom-in-law were present and joined the choir for their final anthem, the benediction. No dry eyes in that house, the Lord's house. "Oh, for a faith that will not shrink though pressed by many a foe; that will not tremble on the brink of poverty or woe...", (used in Timmy's funeral service.) Mom said the memorial service for Dan Hennig is being held on the day prior to the trip to Lori's for Dusty's graduation party and I am sad to miss it. I will already be at Lori's, perhaps hanging out with Judy the day of the service. Again, the show must go on!