Abounding in love..........

Pray for me, my friends, that the evil beast of sciatica stays far far away from me, particularly this week! Saturday at church I did a little bit with the folding chairs but absolutely did not handle the tables at all. I washed a couple of the folding chairs which were dirty from the garage but then Mike needed help with holding up the now crookedly hung shepherd in the new building. My seemed discomfort did not really appear until yesterday afternoon as I climbed up from the pool. It was not a shocking jolt or anything like toothaches do, but more of a burning sensation, this time down the inside of my left leg.

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My formerly wet chair now supports an ice pack (oooh, my favorite!!!) which I am leaning tightly against, only recently getting off the bed to try a new position. It is easier to eat Spaghettios sitting up than lying down, even on a good day! Don't cry for me, Argentina, at least, not yet...I have let my "stores" decline because of the plan to be gone for several days so I hit my hurricane closet for something to eat for supper. Originally I was going to finish off my expensive Boar's Head natural casing hot dogs from the fridge but when I opened the baggie, whew! Nope, no longer edible, in fact, quite slimy as well as stinky!

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Earlier this afternoon I talked to Lori and she told me about Dusty being delivered to college, getting him situated in his dormitory. She is taking some dance classes through the YMCA designated for empty-nesters so is having a good time with that! She is doing better than I would have, although I thought Justin was going out-of-state for college when I planned my trip to Greece! Good thing I had not tightened up those plans before I knew he was staying local! Dusty is only a couple hours away by car, quite manageable, and has already called his mom once today! No one had better tease him about that either, a guy loves his mom, okay?

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It is good that I have a stash of movies to watch as I am going to try laying low through this, enjoying my iced back. Fortunately, Justin has delivered some Diet Coke for me so I will be set with that for a while, plus my water bottles. I am refilling a 20-ounce bottle with water each time I empty it, which, of course, there are warnings about doing. I am sure there is a conspiracy about water bottles circulating out in the world. I could do a pitcher of water but like the portability of the bottle, no dirty glasses. Talk about lazy!

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This is my week to clean the church and think I must call someone to take my place, no matter what happens with my sciatica. Lori told me I can just sit and watch Mom's moving, as if I would do something else than that anyway.....No, I really want to pitch in and am certain I can, knowing full well that no lifting or toting will be done by me. That is why I am renting two dollies for the move, so the boxes can be loaded on the dollies and hauled up. Should take no time at all this way. My cousin, Jimmie, who also has the heart-ache of sciatica, has offered to drive the truck so I will have to make sure Mom has contacted him about it unless we do get the smaller truck which even I could drive!

Pastor Kuske, Bonnie, Judy C. Gretchen, Ethel, Twila (not in the shot), and Betty

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Bible study this Monday morning was again a true delight as we spent time finding the Gospel promises in the Psalms. We looked first at how King David was consumed by guilt over his obvious sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her spouse, and compared his sins with the ones we do daily. So easily can we point our fingers at others when we are just as dirty and rebellious as those people were. Like I mentioned in class, we have the good fortune of not having someone write it all down for the future generations! Then we found Psalm 103 which tells of our loving God who is slow to anger, abounding in mercy....what a great comfort this is for us!

Wow, where to begin??

Today was so incredible a day that I could barely stand it! Right now I let myself get too cold by not changing immediately from my swim suit when I came upstairs from the pool, and I am also sitting on a damp chair because of the same wet suit! After the pool season is over, I might have to get the chair shampooed because of getting it wet like this more than once! It will smell like a wet dog before long!

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I needed a good soaking in the pool under the sun because I was bone weary, and still am, from the busy weekend. Yesterday after a long-range planning meeting at church, I helped a bit with getting things set up for today's pot luck, plus put together a bulletin board for Missions. Pastor needed me to take a picture of the finished building so he could use it for the Dedication service folder so I had to go home to download the photo and e-mail it over to him since my memory card did not fit in his computer. Judy C. and Twila were coming over for dinner, which I was preparing, and for movie watching, which turned out to be a very very enjoyable evening. And the food was good! I used only food I had on hand including a package of ribs, baked potatoes, and some of Joanne's frozen veggies! We watched an HBO Movie I bought called "Grey Gardens" a true story about the eccentric aunt and cousin of Jackie O. It was very good! Judy C. is well on the road to being my new best friend!

This morning began with Sunday school, which had a mission focus for the students, who will be adopting the Apache Mission for the first half of the year. One of our missionaries we are supporting is at Apacheland so it is appropriate to have the students support this as well. This photo is the one I took for Pastor to use on the Dedication service folder. Our service focus was also one of missions and we sang lovely hymns reflecting this message. The first hymn we sang was "Lift High the Cross" which set the wonderful tone for the service! Christ Lutheran's members, or at least some of them, came up for worship with us, about 10 or so members, which made for a nice full church today!

After the worship service, we reconvened outdoors near the new building for the Dedication service. It was brief but concise, thanking the Lord for His hand in this project and for all the people who helped make this day possible.

At the conclusion of the Dedication service, the Contractor/Member, Cliff, and Committee Chairman, Mike K., swung open the doors and invited all into the classroom building for a tour. I help Mike C. hang the shepherd right inside the hallway, and as you might notice, it is a bit crooked! I told him the story of putting up the Christmas tree, when my spouse would lie underneath it and adjust the base, asking me, "How does it look?". I always said, "It's fine, it's beautiful!", but when he got up and looked at it, the tree would be leaning way over one direction. Inevitably!!! I think "we" might have to adjust that wall hanging up a bit or this person will be annoyed every time I see it! He also hung the art work donated in Timmy's name in the foyer of the classroom building which pleased me no end!

I hope it won't take THAT many pastors to bury me!

The "news" this a.m. is focused on the laying to rest of Teddy Kennedy, something like seven priests officiating....yeah, that is all I will say about that.... The good news might be the TV Guide Preview Channel might run stuff about Teddy's life, legacy, and antics instead of the insipid Michael Jackson stuff or the horrid "Punk'd". Replacing one show full of "bleeps" with another, I guess!

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Dreams, again, this early morning. Bad dreams this time, waking up crying, seeing things I do not want to see any longer in my dreams, crying "that" cry, ugh, rough start to the morning. I guess it should be expected since I met some new ladies at scrapbooking last night and I shared with them just how I got involved in this passion of mine....thanking Anne Hoyer for this! I recall her telling me that every other check in her register was written to "Creative Memories", which Phil confirmed!

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It all started in October of 2001 at the Reformation Service dinner at Good Shepherd. Anne asked me how I was doing and I told her I wondered what to do with all Timmy's pictures and such. Boy, did I open a door with that! Anne and her friend, Nancy, were just on the way back from the Scrapbook convention in Orlando that weekend so were still fired up from all they saw and did, and the rest is history! The next week, Judy C. brought her scrapbook she made about her trip to Thailand, and I loved it, thinking, "I can do this!!"

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Jennifer R. got on board with me and we caught a few others in the web with us, setting up a work station in the game room upstairs at The Preserve, later moving it down to Mom's room so Jen would not have to climb the stairs. We would pack all our materials and supplies plus four or five ladies into the relatively small work space, but I do not think anyone minded. At the lake house we used the enclosed porch for our hobbies and then at The Palace we originally used the river room. Now we are not set up permanently but haul out what we need each time, whether it be our painting supplies or scrapbooking stuff. The "Timmy" album was not the first one I did because I had real problems with getting started---cutting the pictures and quite simply, facing it. Once begun, however, it flowed right along. I recall Judy C. coming up to me at church when we were cropping there, saw what I was working on, and squeezing my shoulder, knowing what a big deal this was for me.

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I also remember going to buy the supplies and buying wwaayy too many things, not even knowing what they are used for. Like a man in a hardware store buying tools for which they have no use, this was me! I bought the fluted edged scissors in every pattern, the markers and color pencils, cutting devices...My pages have totally evolved to being much more simple, mainly because my albums are more about places than people. The photos often speak for themselves, not so much journaling required. Eventually my "extra" supplies were shared with others and my paper stacks are gradually declining, although I have a long way to go before I will run out. There is plenty to share with Maggie when she is ready to begin her trip into the world of scrapbooking. She wants to do albums about the plays and theatrical productions she was involved in, and hopefully, they will not cause her to wake up crying.......

This place is a bee hive!

My printers are both cranking, my desk piled with colored papers, photos ready to be cropped, talking on the phone, pressing out letters to be applied to a bulletin board---whew! All this while listening to the radio! Yes, I am a producer today! The photographs are being printed for scrapbooking tonight over at Victory Lutheran. Some of the other items are intended for putting together a bulletin board, abandoned in the Fellowship Hall after the preschool moved to the new classroom building. We are having Mission Festival this week at church, focusing on our LWMS "Befriend a Mission" program and the missionaries "assigned" for us to adopt. How did we ever get these things done before computers and the Internet????

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I really would like a nap before heading over to Victory because of staying up too late to watch the football game and then a wonderful movie, "Freedom Writers" starring Hillary Swank. Such an incredible movie (note to Kim----get that one next!). It came on a second time at some point during the night because I woke up and heard the movie in about the same place it was when I turned it on the first time around! Either I had seen this in the theater the first time or rented it, somehow, "Freedom Writers" became an instant hit for me. An English teacher tackling the inner city school kids, at first rebellious and wretched, wins them over while introducing them to literature and journal writing. Good, good movie! But now, I am sleepy!

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The football game was enjoyable, and came down to the crunch, with the Jags losing to the Eagles by one point in the last ten seconds. As I was talking with Suzanne on the phone, giving her the play-by-play. I related the final seconds of the game, counting a total of eight hands touching the ball, making it look more like basketball than football!! Whoo hoo!

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Even though we talked on the phone and Facebook chatted for nearly two hours last night, we had words leftover. We met to have breakfast this a.m. in Middleburg, after she dropped Daniel off at school. Suzanne had never ever been to the Black Creek Cafe so I introduced her to it over waffles with strawberries! She thinks John might like this place because it has good, home-cookin', including advertised menu items such a "Framer's Special" or "Redneck Special"! Waffles are good enough for me, or at least, the half I ate!

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Each of us had banking business to take care so we parted company, with me heading back to Orange Park and her to the Middleburg branch of the same bank! The skies looked quite threatening and it was not long before I was driving along in the rain---again! No thunder and lightning, just a heavy, steady rain. By the time I pulled in at home, it had pretty much let up so I had time to get my soda case from the car without getting drenched. Rain---the great equalizer!

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Connie, The Palace maintenance lady, sought me out to see if I wanted to join her sister and her for a show at the Thrasher-Horne starring Vicki Lawrence. What I did decide to do was throw it out to the neighbors to see if a group would like to go en mass. Jessica, the official title-bearer of Social Team leader, thought it sounded like a good idea so I will put it in the newsletter this weekend. Hopefully Connie will be patient and wait to buy her tickets until we know who and how many from here will be going.

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I printed a mess of photos from the Alaskan Cruise, and, yes, I am a bit behind in my scrapbooking! Oh, they are so pretty and such nice people went on that trip with us. It will make for some lovely pages, to be sure. Also, I was putting stuff together about our mission in Apacheland, AZ, which is where one of our missionaries serves. Considered to be a World Mission, I put together a nice array of photos snitched from the website and a brief write up about the mission for use on the bulletin board. Using my long neglected Sizzix tool for stamping out letters, I was busy doing that, as well, to enhance the presentation for the bulletin board.

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Justin and I talked on the phone at some length while I was working, him catching me up on all the fun in his life, including feeling good about being back in class again. Sadly he missed out on the one class he really wanted but he is sort of chummy with the professor, her pet, from the sounds of it, so he might get in yet! He said he would take a folding chair to sit in, just to be in the class. Love the enthusiasm!

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Tomorrow I have a meeting at church for Long-Term planning and then we will getting some things ready for the pot luck function for Mission Festival on Sunday. I am quite excited about the event, hopefully we will have some guests from Christ Lutheran come up and join our worship and meal. Janet is our spit-fire organizer and will see to it that all things are ready for the feast and festival!

One or two lonely boats

As the rain comes rolling across the river from Mandarin, the third or fourth shower today, two smalls boats are bobbing in the water, its fishers most likely bracing for yet another soaking. One vessel is straight out from my window while the other just down from the basin, neither incredibly far from land. The rains have been soft in nature, not the pounding drops that hurt when they hit. Unless, of course, if one were on a jet ski, and trying to outrun the rain. That stings like crazy when it hits the body, like insect bites all over the face, arms and exposed body. It has been a long time since I experienced that but the painful memory is fresh enough!

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Due to the inclement weather I decided to not go downstairs for water aerobics, which I wonder are taking place at all. Nope, there are no people in the pool and now, of course, the sun is peeking out. If there is a rainbow, I cannot see it. The shuttle launch was scuttled once more, and I say that is what they get for scheduling it in the middle of the night anyway! This time was a leaking valve so it is good to stop the count down until all mechanicals are in good working order. Tomorrow at 12:22 a.m. is the next attempt so I might be up to watch it. Especially if I take another 5-6 hour nap like I did two weeks ago!

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Maggie O. is staying at Ellen's off and on to help take care of the pets while she is away, and this late afternoon friend Michelle will be returning from the hospital to also stay at Ellen's. She broke her leg and needs to be in a living situation without steps to deal with. I called our neighbor, Patti, to see if she has an extra wheel chair that Michelle can borrow to get herself from the car to the condo so Maggie is going to get that chair from Patti when the time comes. We are blessed here with such great neighbors!

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Maggie was leaving here when I came home from choir rehearsal last evening and I hollered for her to come to my place on the way out so I could give her the frozen yogurt I had bought by mistake. Justin figured it was Joanne's because I would not buy this normally. We each had a bowl of it, and he liked it, I did not. He did not want the yogurt, though, so I offered the carton to Maggie, who loves frozen yogurt. My favorite flavor, too---Mint Chocolate Chip. I also returned a borrowed movie to Maggie, the one about Cole Porter.

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Speaking of movies, Dee and I, we discovered separately, have been growing our library of DVDs recently. She and I compared notes at lunch the other day and are going to share with each other. Martie and I are going to have movie night or movie day, shooting for at least once a week which will also be great fun. Many of my friends are out of work, or have reduced funds due to cutbacks so it is no problem to come up here, for free, to watch movies instead of going to dinner and a movie.....I can cook! The one I am so looking forward to watching is called "Grey Gardens", an HBO movie about the eccentric relatives of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. It was recommended to me by the waitress at Aron's Pizza who just raved about it. It stars Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange and looks pretty cute. I must get some popcorn!

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Dee likes the period movies such as "The Duchess", "The Queen" and "The Other Boleyn Sister", plus she likes romantic comedies. Some of those are part of my collection, the comedies, plus a couple not so comedic, like "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Ordinary People". That might be a good one to watch alone since it such a tear jerker. I am wishing I had saved some of those address labels to mark my DVD boxes with so I do not forget to whom I loaned them. Dee, I believe, has "27 Dresses" which is good one to watch with a group, ooohhh, I am getting so excited about this!!!! She said she watches her movies after 11:00 pm so we cannot count her in on the movie nights, and she does not do other things while viewing, while I must. I explained to her that I had a hard time at the movies because I like to do more than one thing at once, such as look at a catalog, sort mail, or use the computer. Baby steps, baby steps.....

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When I was talking with Suzanne this a.m., who just got offered and accepted a new job, I saw Brillion, WI on Fox News. The reporter was talking to a man and the caption read: Snow throwers are bread and butter of Ariens Company. I do not know what the big story was because my attention was elsewhere but I did see Brillion and snow throwers! Not snow blowers, throwers. Speaking of which, it is now thundering and lightning, no more sun peeking through. Rumor has it this will be the fate today, storms coming and going, which might mean no to our outing tonight with The Palace peoples.

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When Wally came to get the yet sick laptop from me yesterday, I told him how I had to again manually turn off the computer after waiting more than an hour for it to go through its shutdown process. He said that turning computers off and on is the hardest on a machine than anything else we do and so if I can leave it powered up all the time, with sufficient circulation, it should be fine. It seems to be a waste of electricity to leave it on but if that is what it takes to keep it alive, its life support, as it were, I will do it! Not the desk top, however, because it sounds like a jet engine when it runs due its large fan, and I would not tolerate that racket if I am not using it. I have a thing about noises sometimes.

I forgot to mention something

Something sort of fun happened to me last night at La Nap....As I arrived, I heard a voice call to me, "Hi, friend!" but for the life of me, I could not see where Martie's voice was coming from. I headed across the parking lot, thinking that once I got up on the porch I could spot her. And I did! She was just down the lot from my car, facing the opposite direction.

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As Martie made her way to the porch, two women came walking along the sidewalk toward me, having already been "served", if you know what I mean. One had a to-go cup in her hand, claiming it was coffee, and giggling. She came up to me, threw her arms around me, and complimented my outfit up and down. She just gushed about how cute I looked with my earings matching my shirt and then my little orange shoes to tie the outfit together. And then she threw her arms around me once more before they made their way to a car. Martie and I greeted one another, as I explained to her that I had never seen that woman before in my life. Martie said she thought we must have known each other but I said I had no clue. "I'll have what she's having......."

I hope no one killed themselves overnight!

In the movie "Julie and Julia", the blogger, Julie, is having a particularly rough time of it making a recipe from Julia Child's book. As she throws herself across the bed in frustration, her husband asks her what is the worst thing that can happen if she does not write a posting to her blog? Will people take poison and kill themselves because she did not write about her failed attempt at aspic? At that point, Justin gave me the knowing nudge with his elbow because even though I do not get daily comments, people do go in search of my posting and I hear about it if I miss a day! And I missed yesterday! While I did write on the Comments page, I failed to post, making it a lost "Day....in the Life of Kim!"

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Facebook buys me some time, I will give you that, but for those who do not read and participate on Facebook, it is like I did die overnight. I am fine, however, was quite occupied yesterday (yippee!) and worked on other things besides my favorite thing of writing for the blogsite. Please excuse me!

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My day was rich with friends and other contacts, ending late with a chat with my friend, Suzanne, online, of course. Sadly, earlier this late spring/early summer, she had been laid off from her job, and after some struggles and searching, found a job in insurance. Suzanne studied like nuts, took the State exam and passed, is now an officially licensed insurance agent. But the job connected with the license stunk to high heaven and was taking a toll on her spirit. Humbly, she quit the job and continued searching. Job opportunities, some great, some not so much, dribble drabbled in and she was able to sign-on for some "contract" work at a couple places, since Suzanne is skilled in computer programs and accounting, especially in regard to TV and radio stations. Today she begins a 90-day contract job with a major investment/insurance firm doing some intense accounting work, but in the meantime, has been contacted to work full-time at a local TV station, in her field!!! We have a good and gracious God, we surely do! Now, if only Miss Betty could find something like this....

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The school kids around here are all back in session now, except for the private school students, and I am guessing that even Olivia has gone back to Knoxville without us getting a chance for a decent farewell. Thankfully we have Facebook, text messaging, e-mail, and all those marvelous communication devices to keep in touch. When we had lunch a couple weeks ago, Sandi said she was going to send me a plane ticket so I could fly up there to spend some time in the mountains. She does not need to send me a ticket, I will come on my own, perhaps before it starts to get too cold! There are so many neat shopping areas, antiques, quaint places to see and experience, plus my friend, Judy H. lives in Knoxville and I have long threatened her with a visit! We shall see, we shall see!

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My Tuesday morning was divided between Wal*Mart, Great Hang Ups and Koko's. I had called in my refill for a scrip so despite only needing to pick up one thing, I still had a cart in front of me! Oh, no!!! I did get my baby aspirin which is recommended for people my age, actually low-dose aspirin, for thinning the blood. Not a good idea for someone who is already a chilly willy! Since I was working on a mailing and ran out of envelopes, I stocked up on them as well. ( By the way, the Humane Society had provided me with address labels and I really liked having them, so I hope some other charity sends me more before the next mailing goes out!) It is really quite rare to mail stuff these days, which might account for the drop in business the Post Office is experiencing. No shortage of catalogs and magazines coming in, however, as I had quite the stack when I got the mail last night. My neighbor was there as I opened my stuffed box and she was amazed at the amount of mail I had----until I explained that I do not come every day!

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After my one-bag trip to Wal*Mart, I headed over to see the ladies at Hang Ups. Since Ellen has gone out to San Fran., I decided I would make sure her bill was paid, as I had picked the items up a couple weeks ago already. Dee had done some "repairs" to photographs Ellen had, did some miraculous things with them, in my opinion. Ellen was a little, more than a little, brittle in recent weeks, so I held off in giving her the retouched photos, for fear of causing a set-back. Now, she is away for an indefinite period of time, I did not want to leave her bill outstanding. I know she is good for it, will just wait for her to get back and we can settle it up.

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Dee also did some tinkering on a photo of Timmy for me, which had begun fading. It was a digital picture printed on a home-printer and light causes those type to fade over time. She did a remarkable job but was not satisfied with the results. The photo is the one I refer to as his "immigrant" look, the day he dressed himself for Lisa's wedding. Kerry had given the photo to me in a sunflower frame and the photo will have be re-sized to fit in the frame. Dee can do amazing things with people's pictures, even help us lose weight or remove braces from graduation photos!

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Martie and I had dinner at La Napolera on Kingsley Avenue after she was done working last night and we talked for hours! I even got to see Twila and her friend who were dining before going to their Embroidery Guild meeting. The strawberry margarita was so delicious and my taco salad was good. I only made a small dent in it but sent the remainder home for Ernie. He does not care that it looks like a dog's dinner! Alpo, anyone? It was nearly 9:00 when I got home again, and met my other neighbors at the mailbox. They were just coming back from The Club, they went without me, boo hoo hoo!

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Diane, a financial counselor whom I love, came by this a.m., and she loves my home. She referred to it as a sanctuary and a haven, and I am forced to agree! In our years of working together, we always met at her office so this was a first for her. The view from the "back" is lovely, too, and that just blew her away, looking at the river on the front and the pools with Italian cypress framing them, from the back. In a few minutes I am meeting Martie at Dairy Queen to do a hand-off of some artwork to hang in Island Realty as Martie is Art Guild chairperson for this change-out. After that, the nice computer man is coming back to take the laptop back in because the repair did not hold. I hope this will not cost me anymore money!

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This red framed piece, a watercolor, is going to hang at Island Realty. Perhaps someone will have mercy on it and buy it!

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After Wally comes for the laptop I must concentrate then on the newsletter for church, with an expectation of a submission from the preschool yet. I am ahead of schedule somewhat and rather like the feeling of breathing a bit easier. The other newsletter went out in the mail and e-mail yesterday so now the focus will be on the Flock Talk and Palace Press. Cannot get enough words, you know?

God's abundant provision of grace!

.....sing with grace in your hearts to the Lord! We are not finishing our study of "Come, Worship Christ" as I had advertised in the newsletter all summer long (someone should have told me differently, right?) but instead are studying Psalms. The same type of study actually since we sing the Psalms, too. The Bible study, titled, "The Gospel in Psalms", was written by one of the seminary professors, a Hebrew expert, we were told this morning. We met in the Fellowship Hall once again after all these years, since the classrooms have been moved into the official structure!

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We had a nice turnout of ladies, no men joining us today. This particular study does not go Psalm by Psalm but rather goes forth and back between the Old and New Testaments, showing how the Gospel was pointed out and fulfilled. I was touched by several of the verses we read including Ps. 36:3 which says: "The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do good." For some reason that just struck me, because that is how we are, our sinful nature, our inclination. On the other hand, Romans 5:17 shows us: "...how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." Wow, good stuff, good stuff!

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We did all end up eating at Longhorn, even Twila, who had to leave in the middle of the study for a doctor appointment, yet made it back for the all important lunch. She called me when she finished up so I put in her order, which was delivered to the table only moments before she walked in the door. THAT is good customer service, Patty! When I say "all", I should mention that Ethel did not come with us, but the rest of the class was there. Someday we must entice Pastor to join us again, he came once when they first moved here, and that was the last time. Mondays are generally busier days for him, so I guess he is excused!

I did take a moment to pop into the preschool classroom as the kids were finishing their lunches. Kindergarten does not actually begin until tomorrow, as I guess there is some sort of staggered start date for kindergarten. I am not sure I will get back over there to do the photography so they might have to go without, unless Twila Sr. takes her camera along. I am as excited as Mario is for the first day of school!

Monday with a lot of firsts!

The folks up north are not doing this yet, as far as I am aware, but down here, all the kids and teachers are back to school today! Students of all ages, including this 53-year-old returning to Monday Morning Bible Study after being off all summer long. Our new classroom building will soon be bustling with our first ever kindergarten class being conducted with the precious preschool right next door. Sarah, the goddaughter of Justin and mine, starts pre-k today and her cousin, Chloe, is in the 3-4 classroom. Mario, Twila's great-grand, is in the kindergarten while his little brother, Arsen, and a foster sibling, are in the preschool classroom. Whew!! Twila Squared has her hands full with three little ones all in this age group!

This is a photo of the ready kindergarten classroom, primarily furnished with fixtures and supplies from a private school that went out of business in Orange Park

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I like the advertisement for high-end cars showing on TV here, "Lower your payments, not your standards....". I read something over the weekend about a man driving through the parking lot of the local high school (pick one!) and seeing all the high-end or relatively nice cars parked there, either they belong to their parents' or are the students' cars. He then drove through the Staff Parking lot and saw the lesser end type of cars parked there, some in tough condition, not a whole lot of pick-ups trucks sitting there either, as compared to the student lot. Hmmm...There is a housing community just before our church property with a sign out front that declares: "You deserve to live here!". I pray God that I do NOT get what I deserve!

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My soda tastes especially delicious this a.m., perhaps because I am now incorporating water into my daily routine, taken internally, not only in the pool! My upstairs neighbor, Jessica, told me Sunday that I should drink at least seven (7!!!!) bottles of water, which I believe to be overkill, to hydrate my discs. What does she know, she only has her master's degree in physical therapy! And she is pregnant to boot! There is going to be a prince or princess in The Palace!

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My nails really need attention but they are not going to get it from me! At least not before leaving for Bible study. It will be nice be have our first Bible study since we recessed last May. Nail polishing will be a nice afternoon project, in case it rains. I have not checked the forecast to see what is happening but I did hear that "Bill" has lost some of his strength, but not without taking the life of a child in Maine on his way out. Martie and I went once to watch a hurricane go passed but that was before we were hit here over and over again in 2004. Now, the novelty alludes me!

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After the nails are done, I have envelopes to address for the "Keeping the Faith" newsletter sent to our members away from church. I might have to send Sarah's via e-mail through her mom, as Sarah is studying as an exchange student in Belgium. I could send it myself via Facebook, perhaps in the NOTES section...I shall see about how that is done. My friend, Jami, posts her blog on Facebook as well as the blogsite, and I can check that out, to see how she does it. At any rate, I must get those letters sent off while I am also working on the other newsletter for those here at home. I love this job!

A mostly fun day!

In my dream this early a.m., I was late for work, or late for something, the way dreams work. When I woke, I had this feeling like, "Oh, no! I'm late!!!" but it was just before 7:00 a.m. Whew! What a relief to not find myself already behind the 8-ball today. There was a number of things I wanted to take care of before heading to church as immediately after the meeting the gang was coming here for lunch and a social. My friend, Susie, in Manty, wanted to know where I was this morning, as she had to manage her day without my a.m. greeting. Oops! I told her I had to not log on to Facebook and run the risk of getting caught up and being late to church!

*

Before leaving this a.m. I made up a list of things Justin should take care of when he was here and I believe he did them all. He was gone before I got home from the church meeting. Janet and Jim brought a birthday cake for Kathy, whose birthday was yesterday plus a card we all signed for her. I served my sloppy joes which, in my opinion, fell short of desired deliciousness, possibly because of the amount. Ketchup was added to the sloppy joe I just ate for supper which fixed it right up. In my prep, I did not use much salt because one of our members cannot have it, so this might have affected the overall taste. The pasta salad went well, a huge batch of that with some leftover. I packed up a container which Suzanne took along when she headed home. She also took the balance of the birthday cake which she really DID have to balance with her cooler plus the cake!

*

After Jim and Janet left, the entire remaining group went down to the pool to recreate. Some did not bring swim attire along but enjoyed the fellowship around the pool. We had a really good chuckle when Bruce went back upstairs to get Kristi's purse and we spotted him up on the 5th floor! We could just see him opening a door and going in to get a purse at someone else's house! Oops, come down a couple floors there, Bruce. Oh, such good laughs we had, it was a great afternoon....A Special Meeting had been held after worship where a heavy topic was discussed and a matter settled, so it was good to all relax afterward and simply enjoy our time!

*

As often happens on days when I have a function here, my back is a bit weary, guessing from moving chairs around, plus vacuuming like a fiend yesterday. It feels good to just sit and unwind, although the little workout in the pool was easing as well. My neighbor, Gus, came and swam with us, chatting and making the acquaintance of the church family. Normally he takes a walk in the morning, but Sundays he has to go in the afternoon when he gets home from church. And then, a welcome dip in the pool! I had gooseflesh in the pool because it was a bit "cooler" than I like air temperature-wise, high 80's.....I better just shut-up now or I will get scolded for griping about this!

*

Tomorrow begins a normal routine of Monday Bible study at 10:00, most certainly followed by lunch with the usual gang. I heard through the grapevine that one of the group is growing weary of Longhorn (what??!!??) so I wonder what will happen now...Maybe she just will not come anymore. One of the charms of eating there is the ladies order from the kid's menu, less cost and smaller portions, plus we get a managers' discount off each ticket. The icing is having Patty be our server each week, knowing our likes and dislikes and such. Hmmm, we shall see, we shall see....This same lady who grows weary of Longhorn is also the same one who insisted we all go this seafood restaurant near the base because she had a coupon, but then when it was suggested to try Red Lobster after that, she refused because she "doesn't like seafood...". Funny, so funny!

*

Joanne came over to get some more of her things, as well as dress for a formal event she is attending this evening. She at least got to see a few of the guests still here when she arrived. The event will introduce her to a contingent of folks from Canada, and since she is French speaking, hopes to make contact with a few potential buyers of property. Ever widening the circle, my friend Joanne! I also had the heart wrenching experience of saying "farewell" at Ashley Rose and Ellen, as they are going to San Francisco, where Ashley resides. Ellen is going out just for awhile but was suffering terribly in heart for leaving. She simply clung to me for comfort and I cried with her, without really knowing why. It does not really matter why, when someone is sobbing, you wrap them in the arms and hold on tightly, adding your own tears to theirs....

Renewed friendships

I heard from Mom and Jill today, but the rest of the day has been rather quiet family-wise, except for the call from Justin, telling me that he was not coming. Today is Kathy B.'s birthday but she had to work at the school where she is going to teach, a brand-new school not quite ready for her. She told me her tables for the classroom were just delivered and were being assembled but will not be in place for classes Monday. She will have to improvise, coming up with something else to do in order to instruct her classes since she is the computer instructor. Oh, brother! The joys of teaching in a brand-new school with brand-new equipment and furnishings.

*

At our church, the classrooms are being set up for the first day of preschool as well as the first day of kindergarten. Laurie Langley is teaching the pilot kindergarten, instructing three of her own kids plus three others, including our own Mario, Twila's great-grandson. He is such a delightful child and will certainly flourish in the kindergarten with the other kids!

Mario is shown here in the white shirt, clapping his hands during Vacation Bible School

The Jaguar game is not going to be aired tonight due to a blackout so I am incredibly sad about that. I really like to watch football, pro football, that is, on TV. My neighbors were just leaving for the game when I came home from my soda run, so that means at least four people in the seats from this building. I am not sure if anyone else from The Palace was going, although several Owners have season tickets.

Last week I was truly delighted to make contact with an "old" school friend, Missy, who had gone through grade school and high school with me. When she wrote back to me, she said she had JUST been thinking about me. What? How can this be? We have not seen or heard from each other since many years ago when we ran into her at Marian's church in Pomano Beach, I think Justin was yet a baby! She told me she thought about how I always made her smile. Missy remembered me accidently having a piece of gum or candy fall down my top! That might have been only last week! Oh my, was I doing that more than 35 years ago, too??? Missy lives in Atlanta now and is the real estate business. I look forward to long renewed friendship with her, now that we have found one another again.

Guess I will put the vacuum cleaner away for now, as I doubt I will do more. I want to get a few things ready for tomorrow like tableware and cloths, so I won't have to do it all in the morning. Hopefully the weather is nice tomorrow in case anyone wants to use the pool, although my guess is that most will stay up here where the party is! And the food!

I think I am ordering some pizza!

Not because I am in "need" of pizza, but because I am out of soda! Or nearly so....My boy, who was expected to be here this a.m. to do my vacuuming and deliver soda "had time get away from him" and he stood me up! "Frosted" barely covers the feelings I have about this, especially since his time got away from him while he was helping his father wax the boat instead of fulfilling his obligation to me! And then he HAD to get to the movies in less than 40 minutes....not deliver a baby, not help an old lady cross the street, not come and clean for his mother---nope, HAD to go to the movies with his little friends. I am having a church gathering here after church tomorrow, rather, after church and a congregational meeting, so his plan was to come right here after church to do the cleaning. Right... Do you get the feeling that I am royally ticked off right now??? Oh, yeah!

*

Of course, it is pouring rain once more this afternoon. I heard the rumblings beginning about an hour ago but only now did the rains begin. True to my word, I am drinking water, which will help stretch my remaining cans of soda until the pizza man comes. The Computer Guy is coming too in a few moments, as he called from 15 minutes away. It seems the repair was easy enough, something to do with running the Vista program repair or whatever to fix the corrupted file.

*

Wow, I guess I did not expect it run THAT much $$$ but with the house call, pick up and delivery, plus a repaired computer, I should not complain. I must be in a complaining mood today or something. My food is prepared, ready for tomorrow, including sloppy joes and pasta salad with peas and ham in it. Really, I cannot wait to dip into that salad later on when it is fully chilled! My kitchen is none the worse for the wear, in fact, the floor has been vacuumed and washed (not on hands 'n knees though!), ready for tomorrow. My wastebasket even smells so good because I put the onion container in there after making the joes. Guess the cabana is going to close early again today due to the rain plus my not being down there for my hot dog! Shoot! I could buy cans of soda down there....Nah, I can get in the car and go buy some, skip the pizza, and just do it!

What? Is it raining again?

Tell me this is rainy season or tell me that no hurricanes are going to come this way so I will not complain about the continual storms! Barely did I get home before the lightning began to flash around me and the heavens opened. Seems that every time I go to Publix, I return to a storm, or find myself in the midst of one.

*

Today I had the thrill of meeting a brand new American, a couple with an infant baby adopted from China. They just got back Sunday from their ordeal, bringing their child home from China. Mara is adorable, has the cutest little pug nose, and gorgeous dark eyes. For eleven months old she is incredibly tiny but since they took her in their arms, about three weeks ago, she has already gained a pound and a half. While she does have some catching up to do developmentally, she is way ahead in the charm department. Right now she cannot sit up on her own, but already mastered the art of keeping herself covered with her blankie!

*

Today as I was leaving the property, my phone rang with Joanne on the other end. Once more she wanted to have lunch, this time meeting Twila at Red Lobster. Cool! My only other plans were to go to Hang Ups (where I met Mara!) and go to Publix, so yes, lunch it is! As I walked from my car to Red Lobster, I saw this family of three walking along Blanding, including a young child. Today was obviously my day for young kids! The man had this enormous back pack on and was walking what I consider too far ahead of the mom and little girl. Mom was pushing this huge stroller laden with what might have been their entire household. I called to her and asked what was going on. She said they had been evicted from their house and were walking to her friends' house to stay. The area they were heading was just beyond the cemetery so they were nearly there, but my heart broke for the little girl having to walk so far. This stretch of Blanding had no sidewalks but they would be on sidewalks once they crossed Wells. Call me a bleeding heart, especially when it comes to little kids....Oh, the mom did say they were waiting to hear about getting into an apartment complex, which is good news. My, it was sad to see this, but it happens for a number of reasons.

*

Brenda N. came over this late afternoon since she was working nearby. She told me the most incredible thing---ever since she was in a car wreck, late June, she has been going to physical therapy and such to help heal her "sprung" body. The frame on her car was sprung and rendered nearly undriveable and I compared her to the car frame. Her recent MRI, as reported by the doctor, indicated that her discs are dehydrated because she does not drink enough water. Get out!!! I just cannot believe this. She is now forcing herself to drink more water daily and I promised her that I will, too, because I certainly have dehydrated discs. Maybe all this rain will help with that, too!

I thought Brenda looked like a million bucks this afternoon when she came, letting her hair grow out naturally, only scrunching it in the morning to make it look so darn cute. I think it is fun that I have both Joanne AND Brenda in the same photo, although it was taken several months ago....

"I'm just sittin' here waitin' for my sugar to show...."

....well, I do not know if he is my sugar or not, but I am awaiting the arrival of the computer man to take a look at the ailing laptop computer. For some reason it shows I have a corrupt file. I take offense at that, because I am not a corrupter!

*

Wally has come and gone in a moment's time. He thinks the problem may have developed during the shut down process which is often difficult, as I must sometimes manually turn it off instead of waiting for it to do it itself. Aha! He is going to try some "repairs" that can be run at their office and if that fails, they will do a system restore. I hope it is not too expense a fix, because if so, it might not pay to repair it. Wally, my sugar, will call me later today to give me the word. Think I will go to lunch in the meanwhile.

*

Guess I am not the only one with "electronic" problems today. I tried to listen to the radio on-line but the streaming was not working. I did connect once with WSB in Atlanta but the second time I tried it, no streaming from there either. Might be a system problem with Streaming, and not specific to the stations. Instead I am listening to melancholy music from iTunes on my computer. (I just tried again and now the Streaming is working, from WSB!)

*

Yesterday was my last official aerobics class. From this time on, I can pay per class if I wish to attend, and I might do that with Maggie, until her punch card is full. She expressed a desire to scrapbook and you know I am all over that!!! Goodness knows I have a ton of paper to share with her, if it suits her projects, plus I am making a list of supplies which are "must haves" for scrapping.

*

After class, my piano-playing friend, Randy, wanted to have lunch so we ordered from the dining room and sat poolside. Joanne had been trying to reach me to have lunch so when she finally did, Randy and I had already ordered our meals. Perfect! I will just order another burger for her and we are good to go! The three of us enjoyed our lunch el fresco and poolside, and I rejoiced that her previous lunch date cancelled.

*

When I came upstairs later, I changed into my nightie before getting dressed in regular clothes. Our evening plans were to have an "Insteada Dinner" social on the sundeck and in checking the weather report, it did not appear as our plans would be rained on. Well, that didn't work out as planned....We no sooner got situated and it started to rain. The food table was carried under roof and chairs moved along the walls as the gentle rain fell. It was not terribly long before it ended and we moved once more, out into open air. We certainly would have welcomed a breeze, even me, because it was quite muggy after the rain. The turnout was modest but still quite nice, with my favorite being the Rice Krispie Treats with mini-M&M's in them! It took Ashley Rose upwards of 7 kitchen implements to put together, much harder than it should have been. She found out the hard way NOT to microwave marshmallows.....

*

One of the ladies, a friend of Ellen's and now mine, brought these baby grapes which she sells from her store on Kingsley Avenue. I was coaxed into trying some and they were quite good, like tiny beads of sugar!

*

While sitting outdoors, I shared some of the laughs from the previous nights' TV viewing, and then did a few of my "lines" from Roseanne's stand-up humor. They all said I sounded just like her, and wanted me to go on, but I did not. Always keep 'em wanting more...I did use the one where, in her nasally voice, she declares: "While my husband was watching TV, wanted me to get him something to eat.....like he couldn't pick up the sofa cushion himself..."

*

The river is dotted with small boats today, I can see about six from here, all seemingly in a straight line from this vantage point. Only one has an umbrella sticking up, so that means the rest of the fishers out there will be fried to a delicate crunch before the day is over. The water is calm and the temps are expected to reach 90 for the high, and I wonder why I am still in the house at this machine....Bye!

I think I dodged a big one yesterday....

....although I did notice the finish on my cell phone is looking a bit tired. I went off with Joanne and Twila looking at real estate in the afternoon and a couple of the homes did not have their A/C on. Joanne did turn it on, but in the meantime, we got hot, especially when climbing up and down stairs in the units. One place, about 2600 square feet, had more nooks and crannies, amazing closets and tuck-aways, than you could believe. Even a potting closet off the atrium for taking care of the greenery. Such great fun that house would be to decorate!!!! Twila and I got into a wrestling match over it, that is how charming it was! The community where we were looking is near the hospital in Orange Park and has a man-made lake around which all the town homes were built. The icing on the cake was the black swans swimming about in the water, plus a million ducks. It was like paradise! While the three of us agreed that no, it was not the ocean, the river or Doctors Lake, it was a great substitute!

*

Well, after I left the ladies and headed to McDonald's to stock up on cheap hamburgers, always 59 cents on Wednesdays!, I could hear a little chirping sound. It was not a "normal" sound like when the cell phone battery is dying, it was more pathetic a cheep and quite irregular. I did determine it was coming from the phone, which was, ahem, soaking wet. As I drove, I held it to the A/C vent in the car to give it some air, dry out, but it continued making the pathetic chirping.

*

When I got home and upstairs again, I examined the phone more closely, realizing that the TALK button and the left side row of keys were inoperable as well. I sent Justin a message, more cryptic than a normal text message due to inoperative keys. He happened to be in the office and sent me back an IM, asking me what was the matter with my phone. He was more than ready to go shopping with me today to buy a new one, but fortunately for me, my phone came back to life! I plugged it in and it dried out, I guess, and seems to be doing fine. My choir friends took great delight in hearing my sad story and offered alternative suggestions for the toting thereof in the future. Brian suggested a ZipLock baggie and I told him I had that same idea! So did Lisa! Twila's granddaughter, also Twila, wears her phone around her neck on a lanyard and that might be the way to go for me, too. Lori can probably make a lovely lanyard for me, one to match every outfit, a whole new 'line' for her!

*

Speaking of Lori, I was thinking about her when I went to bed last night. Late night TV is often too dry for me these days since I am not getting my 24/7 doses of "Law and Order" like I was accustomed to having. New shows replacing my old stand-by. I found "Rosanne" on one of the "old" TV stations and it happened to be an episode special to Lori, my sis, and me. The Conners, whose quips had me sitting up and laughing instead of falling to sleep, had a vacuum cleaner salesman die at their kitchen table. "People don't usually die until after they have left my kitchen...." Priceless!!! When Rosanne was cajoling Dan into the checking the dead man's pockets for his ID, he said, as he began the search, "I hate you and everything you stand for!" , at which point I sat right up in bed and roared with laughter. You had to be there! After the coroner finally showed up and declared the man as being dead ("I called that one three hours ago, mister!"), Rosanne put her hand on the gurney and pulled the sheet back to say, "I'm not sure where you're going, but say "hi" to Janis Joplin from me, okay?". That made my phone ring all those many years ago when my sisters called to find out if I heard that or not. I was tempted but resisted calling Lori, due to the hour, but man, I was wishing she was here to watch it with me! Laughing myself to sleep.....what a way to go!

Here are Lori and David at an outdoor market where she hawks her handmade jewelry while David, the troubadour, entertains the passersby. Most of my jewels come from Lori, who stays up half the night designing and creating in her hovel.

Everyone out of the pool!

The nicest experience just happened for me as I came up from the pool a minute ago----the nice painter with whom I have chatted greeted me as I came off the elevator. I told him how I thought I had better come in since the sky was dark and thunder rolling, and he agreed with me about that. As I walked toward my door, after me he said, "You have the best attitude, you have a good spirit. I only talk to certain people who have the same spirit, and you have it. Keep it up..." Wow, talk about blow me away. What an incredibly nice thing to say, and greatly appreciated, at that! I wished him the same and came in out of the rain...

*

While I was out in the pool I was also chatting with my mom, who was bundled up with a sweatshirt on and her legs wrapped in a cotton throw. Outside temps were hovering around 70 but inside her house was much chillier, and she says it has been like that all summer. In checking the WI weather, it shows a high of 72 predicted for Manitowoc but being so close to the lake, the air temp actually is alot chillier. Not quite sleeveless weather! She was considering calling my auntie to see if she wanted to go have coffee and a piece of pie, and I gave her two thumbs up for that idea!

*

The sky seems to have cleared, after that quick thunder and lightning storm but it is too late for me to go back out. My friend is calling me shortly to go look at real estate with her and another friend, and so no one freaks out, I am only going along because I am nosy! Yesterday I mentioned the Coast Guard helicopter flying up and down the river, and today the news brought the story of a boater who had fallen off his boat Sunday near the Outback Crabshack bridge. Sadly, though help came quickly, the searchers were unable to locate his body until it washed up yesterday on Fleming Island, not far from Hwy 220 where it meets Pine Avenue. Tragic ending to the search, and so sad for his family.

*

We had one more thunder storm today before all was said and done so it was obvious I would not be going back out to the pool. Might as well get dressed....