Eureka! I have found it!

Did you realize my desk is white? Neither did I! Well, I actually did but since it has been ages since the top was visible, well, it is certainly nice to see! One or two items remain for pending use but the files have been filed and the threshing machine (a.k.a. shredder) is smokin'! Bravo for me! This project was on my to-do list for before Linda arrives Wednesday and although she told me it did not matter to her if it was cleaned off, it did to me! It is important to set short-term goals when faced with "challenges" such as this. Next? My closet?!?

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The moon is nearly full and I was looking forward to seeing it reflecting on the river but sadly, a huge grey cloud moved into position to prevent it. The temperatures got up to 84 above zero today, making it one of the hottest football games played between the Gators and the Dawgs. When last peeking at the score, I saw the Gators were ahead 24-10 and had recovered a tipped ball. Earlier I had heard the jets roaring overhead, figuring they were lining up for the fly-over at the beginning of the game. I spoke with Joanne about that time and she, too, was having an "at-home day"! How funny is that? As I dressed in my less-than-presentable shirt this a.m., I thought to myself, " I can wear this because I am having an at-home day today..." and then to have her tell me she was doing the same thing just made me chuckle. The streets are just crazy out there, according to both Joanne and Justin, who called me late this a.m. Last night it took him a long time to venture between Jax Beach to his own home and today he was going back that same way to watch the game at his friend's house.

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I have done alot of laughing in my house today, all by myself....is there a pill for that? First thing this morning, I was chatting with Linda via Facebook when the Fox and Friends anchors came out dressed as the "Seinfeld" characters. It was just a hoot! They really pulled it off. Dave dressed and did his hair like Kramer, Clinton was Jerry, wearing his "dad jeans", and Allison came out looking like Elaine, complete with a headful of long dark hair. The Kramer character was dead-on, even when the camera was not specifically on him. Then, I had to chuckle when I got deeper into my pile of papers, many which had been here since before the great washing of the marsala sauce on my desk. They were crisped together, some of them somewhat important pieces for my own files, and I could not help but chuckle, remembering that horrible mess!

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Just because the desk is cleaned off does not necessarily mean the passenger side of my bed is clear...In fact, extra stuff got placed on the bed in order to accomplish the desk cleaning. As often happens, things moved from pillar to post. I made a pile of stuff to go to church with me tomorrow and stuff to be put into my closet (so much for tackling the closet any time soon!). There also remains a pile or two on the table to be dealt with but that was NOT on my to-do list for before Linda gets here! When I folded some towels this morning, I saw some were looking rather tough and put them aside for the preschool to use. For some reason they have a use for old towels and I am glad to oblige.

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In checking the TV Guide on-line, I saw "The Perfect Storm" listed on one of the networks. When I saw that movie at the theater, we sat too close to the screen (how did we know???) and I was terribly sea-sick after watching it. Whew! If we went to eat afterwards, I cannot remember, but whenever I see the movie name listed, I remember rockin' and rollin' in the ocean, feeling quite urpy. Like watching our home movies!

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Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour tonight!

No repercussions

No post on Thursday and no one said a word! If anyone would have, I would have noticed it myself. Wednesday night's posting seems to have taken the place of a Thursday in my mind, which is definitely NOT a good sign! However, due to not writing the blog I instead worked on the bi-monthly newsletter sent to members away and shut-ins, printed it off and ready to mail. We are having a Greeters Orientation at church in a week or two so I got those guidelines written up and sent to Pastor for his review. The morning was spent first talking on the phone with Justin and then heading to Bible study at Victory. Earlier it had been as thick as pea soup out there but it was cleared by the time I drove across the bridge.

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Justin was cramming for his mid-term test in political science and shared a few interesting items with me. Sort of makes me wish I had studied this when I was young and could absorb. But then, I did not care! Now that I care, I cannot absorb. Because of the cramming, he opted to not attend Bible study. Next week he will be there, as will Linda, for which I already braced them. Three church secretaries in one room---can they stand it?

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After the class we were in the office talking and Pastor Hoyer commented about his sermon theme being about End Times. I made the remark that it was nearly time to sing "Jerusalem, the Golden" and he picked up the unfinished service folder and said, "We are singing it this Sunday." He said it was the new tune which, of course, I expected it to be, and then he asked, "That's your favorite hymn, isn't it?" I had already begun tearing up, and I said it was, asking him if he read that in my blog. He said no, Bonnie, the secretary, had told him. They must have been talking about me!! We sort of touched on a few things in class, when he described how, at our baptisms, our souls are already in heaven. "I'm but a stranger here, heaven is my home..." he recited. What a wonderful hymn and memory it stirs for me, as well as a picture of what awaits us...

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On the ride home I tried once again to call my mom but got the answering machine. Hmmm.....where could she be? Aha, it is newsletter day at First German. I dialed the number and when the secretary answered, I asked, "Is my mama there???" Linda laughed, saying Mom just finished her coffee and muffin after working on the newsletter and was going to head home. How funny! Later on I called Mom and talked with her at some length. Normally I speak with her every other day but had gotten so busy with all this other stuff and did not call for a few days. My sister is moving into the same building where Mom lives, having given her notice at her "old" place. With a great deal of relief, believe me! It makes me happy that Mom will someone under the same roof as she in case she needs something.

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A huge mistake, listening to "In Christ Alone" as I try to write. Almost can't wait for my funeral or one of the other's who have said they want this hymn sung at their service. "...what heights of love, what depths of peace..."

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Originally I had planned to worship at Victory Sunday to sing "Jerusalem, the Golden" (yeah, right, who am I kidding???) but I understand there will be special visitors at G.S. this weekend whom I cannot miss. Some of our former members, the Vances and Heldman's, are passing through on their way to Orlando. Kelly's oldest son, named Alexander Timothy, in memory of my Timmy, is being treated by the Dreams Come True Foundation to some time at Disney, as he was born with spina bifida. It works out well since they have family and ties in this part of the world anyway, and it makes me happy to be able to see them. The last time Paul and Kelly came through, I think it was the last time anyway, they stayed with me at my lake house. I remember Kelly gave me tiny red hat, because when they were with me, I "had" to attend a Red Hat Society event with Martie and I did not like it! I fussed, "Those Red Hatters got NOTHING on me!" so she bought me a tiny red hat, saying that was the only one I was ever going to need! I am so excited to see them all!

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Last night was spent working on Joanne's mailing after she delivered the inserts and the labels for the back of the envelope. Setting up in the family room on the glass topped table, I got busy folding and stuffing, gluing, and then applying the "referral" label to each piece of mail. Not quite 200 envelopes, ready to go in less than three episodes of "House"! She did not bring the stamps so I had to drop the finished envelopes at the office this afternoon. There I got to see my friend, Christine, who was busily putting a listing into the computer. Joanne was out taking care of something with her dad, which I knew, but I got to see many of the agents and staff in their full-out Halloween regalia.

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After RE/MAX I went to Office Max (almost maxed out!) to return my carrying bag for the laptop and exchanged it for a router. Hopefully Justin will take care of that on Monday when he is here. He says it is simple to hook-up but I defer to him on this type of thing. Also on the list was a memory card for my new smaller, purse-sized camera, which strangely enough, did not come with any. What's up with that??In the building business, it baffled me that washers and ranges did not come with a power cord, it had to be purchased separately. Sewing machines, also, did not come with the foot pedal to operate it, had to be bought separately. Yesterday's newsletter took lots of paper so I bought a ream at the register. It was wrapped in pink which made me wonder if the paper was pink too. There is a limit to how much pink paper a person needs---I can't believe I just said that!

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It is nearly time to meet Martie for our after work adult beverage and repast so must go and make myself beautiful after sitting here bawling my eyes all down my shirt. Note to self: no more listening to the Supplement when trying to make sense in the blog!

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Loved talking with Rosalie this afternoon, by the way. Hal has a brand, new shiny hip on his right side, having the replacement the same weekend that Pastor Schuppe was at their church for missions. She felt badly they were going to miss seeing them, but he came over to their house to pay them a visit! I would love to have heard that conversation, or those, as the case might be. The following week Rosalie got to see and hear Paul Prange at her church, whom she knew as a vicar many years ago. He sat with them at their table afterwards for the feast and they got all caught up. She told him how wonderful it was to have both Schuppe and this Prange in so short a period of time. Both were described to me as being " gifted" men, and I will threw in, so is Pete gifted! No argument from Rosalie about that either, as she was with me for about 10 days after Timmy died. There is nothing like good, Christian friends, to go with your family!

Thank you, Lord!

I thank Him for sparing me yet another root canal, or a re-do of an "old" one. The endodontist, who always calls me "hon" (loves me for my money, I am sure) found no cause of my discomfort, and put me on the "watch list". I have to call there in the morning tomorrow and let them know I will not need to come back in for a follow-up. I am brave in saying that as I have not yet slept tonight, things can change overnight, or during the night, it seems. And, there was no charge for yesterday's series of x-rays taken in search of the offender.

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As I was heading in to see him, the ladies from the office next door, my regular dentist, were going to lunch, and suggested I come see them when I was done. These offices are both in my former office building, the endo being my suite. When I left, I went next door and visited with them a bit, making an appointment to get the previous root canal "topped off" as I had never done that. It seems Justin has neglected his teeth so I made an appointment for his teeth cleaning to be done as well. I will tell him eventually that plans were made without his input....Hey, he is a big boy now and should be on top of this himself, but dropped the ball. He is only 10 months late for his cleaning, so I am glad they mentioned it to me.

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(Warning) When I came in, Yvonne asked me how long it had been since Timmy died, and I gave my standard answer of "nearly 9 years or it could have been yesterday." I guess the one "girl" did not know about Timmy so she must have been filling her in. Others must be thinking about Timmy, too, with all the news about Somer Thompson and such, and most of this staff knew him. In fact, once they asked me to bring in his scrapbook and kept it a couple days to make sure all had a chance to look at it. It was easier for them to not have me there when they did look at it, and I respected that.

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Today, Martie and I went into Great Hang Ups and the first thing Julia asked me was how many years it had been since Timmy died....There was a new client sitting at the counter and Julia was telling her about him. This lady, Kathleen, had brought in a sizable piece to be cleaned and re-glassed, a painting done by her son, now deceased. She did not say how or how old, just that he was much older than Timmy. After six years, she still has trouble controlling the tears, and I told her the rule was to just let them flow. Kathleen said it bothers her husband which is too bad, but I think some people, men in particular, are just uncomfortable about the open expression of sorrow or loss. Martie did not hear all our conversation and wondered later if this woman knew the Lord. I told her that I tried to share my faith in the Lord and how it gives me great comfort. I told Kathleen my tears are for me, not for my son, because he is forever with the Lord.

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This a.m. I had to fly around my house to get ready, as Martie called, wondering if I was prepared for our day. Um, what? I had totally forgotten she was going to see my dear friend, Carol the massage therapist, to get her back worked on. Rats! She had not yet left her house so I got ready in record time, dressing as fast as a fireman, and was downstairs before she pulled into the parking lot. We got up there in plenty of time and Martie was given the tour of the place by the manager. Leaving Martie in the caring hands of Carol, I headed to Wal*Mart to pick up my prescription and did a little extra shopping. Really? At the door were tiny bags of pretzels in individual packages for Trick or Treat which I bought for the preschool kids. They are having a Fall Party Friday and this would be a good addition. Not too expensive either. While driving up there I had decided to not buy any more DVDs but sure enough---the $4 bin got me!

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Justin had sent me a message to report a good buy on soda so I went over to Walgreens to take advantage. He is a good sale spotter!!! They were four for $10 which is quite a decent price, like we were used to paying. My car is now loaded and should take me at least through the weekend, and then some. It depends upon how much I am out---I drink more when I am home, go figure! When I got back to get Martie, she was not quite done so I waited in the car to listen to the radio and read through the Bible study for tomorrow. I had not grabbed my Bible though so could not look up the passages. If I had an iPhone I could have but alas, will have to do that later, I guess. Carol came up front so I went in to talk with her. We were comparing notes on the movies I had, as we had this conversation in the past. She and her hubby do the NetFlix and just love it. Dee buys her movies as do I so we can exchange between our collections or lend them out, without time restrictions. Because of Martie's "treatment", she had to walk down to Hang Ups so off we went to see the ladies.

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Julia had to stay in the shop through lunch so I offered to bring her back a bento box from Koko's. Martie and I had a very nice lunch, prepared by Huang, of which I brought most home with me. The waitress asked me if I wanted double rice and also brought my to-go box at the appropriate time. Some of my chicken was shared with the dogs in the shop when we delivered Julia's lunch and then Martie and I came back here to watch a movie.

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Much to my delight, "Freedom Writers" was in the $4 bin and that was what we watched this afternoon while Martie "marinated", according to Carol's directions. Oh, we sobbed like babies and I said over and over again, "I love this movie!". I cannot wait to share it with Linda. Do any of you out there remember seeing this movie with me at the theater???? I just cannot remember who I saw it with but do not think I went by myself to this one. Help me out, here, I am getting old!

Looking forward to seeing my friend...

....the endodontist yet again! Yes, once more I have a tooth giving me hints of trouble, one which had been on the list for repairs before but put off taking care of the tooth when it settled down. Over the weekend I noticed that it was feeling sort of "active" and this morning it was clear I should make the call. Like an expectant mother waiting for the right time to call, the same applies for me and my goofy teeth! This rather makes the decision for me of whether or not to go stand along the street in respect of Somer Thompson. Twila and I were in the thinking stages of doing this, not attending the service itself but watching the procession to the funeral home for the family's private services and burial.

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Today I was attempting to send off the Flock Talk and many many came back to be as undeliverable. Well, for goodness sakes! I am unsure why this happened but the majority of the addresses were hotmail.com with a few being comcast.net. Later on I will try once more to send off to the bounced back folks to see if there was a problem on their end and not from mine. Perhaps Lynne will need to print off extras this coming month for those who cannot open it.

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My feet are wearing the fuzzy slippers right now and my capris are allowing for my calves to be chilly. The temperature outside is in the mid 70's, not too shabby but during the night, or early a.m., I was awakened by a thunder storm complete with heavy rain. Because the sun has not quite freed itself of the clouds I am not toasty in my window. There was a rocket launch scheduled for 9:30 this a.m. but think it might have been postponed due to the overcast skies. Perhaps the sky at the Cape is not as overcast as here, in fact, from the live feed, it shows blue skies with dotted clouds. Regardless, I likely won't be able to see it go up.

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I am hungry but not sure what I want to eat before going to the dentist. Of course, I should have something or will have trouble handling the nitrous oxide. One time, my low blood sugar mixed with the nitrous put me on my bed, feeling quite unable to even roll over to pick up the phone to call the dentist. She advised me to have a tablespoon of sugar (my kind of dentist!!!) to help boost my sugar level and then I felt better. Wow, who knew? Me, now!

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My sister, Jill, told me last night that she is going to look at an apartment in my Mom's building. While I am absolutely delighted she is getting out of her other place which has so many problems, I was surprised to hear Mom's building would take her. Their website indicated it was a 55+ building but she assures me she can live there. Jill said it was going to be tight money-wise to move there but she would no longer be responsible for lawn care and snow shoveling, nor pestered with mice and noisy neighbors overhead. Lots of pluses for her, besides the negative of paying extra rent. She will let me know how it goes on Wednesday, and I will pray it goes well. I would just love it if she can be so near Mom if she needs any help with anything. Or Mom can help Jill, as the case might be!

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I wish Mom could be here to watch this funeral news with me, she would recognize much of what is being broadcast. The church where the funeral service is held, the TV cameras up and down Kingsley and Blanding, she would recognize all of them. The cameras set up across the street from the cemetery, showing one of my "friends" standing in the driveway to check for invitations, as this private service is invitation only.

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They are making small talk on the live reports leading up to the start of the service, talking about how valuable the friends and family have been for the mom of the dead child. As someone told me after Timmy died, every funeral from now on will be Timmy's. As rotten as it sounds, I am feeling those feelings experienced nearly 9 years ago. Make no mistake, you cannot even begin to measure or put a price on the support you provide at such times as these, so do not ever hesitate, if it ever comes up, to step up to show your support.

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They just showed the family and the mom of Somer Thompson arriving at the church, slightly after the service was scheduled to begin. One of the TV stations was set up at the home and I saw Mr. Day's car in the driveway of the home, and also saw him as he went into the church. Strangely enough, just as they closed the doors of the church, the TV station went to its regular programming, which was a judge show! I do not miss a thing by not watching daytime TV....I tried another station to see the coverage and they had introduced Cheryl to "come on down" as this woman who absolutely should not be jumping came bopping down to the podium, arms covered in tattoos. Oh, just, whatever.....not in the mood today.

I did manage to get a picture

Here is a picture of Gretchen posing with the Luther display at church. She was not tickled about it but I asked her soooo nicely.......Yesterday she came up to me in the church before the Reformation service and thanked me for the display, saying it turned out better than she expected. Today Gretchen described it as professional looking. Wow! I must tell Martie! Gretchen is donating the items to the church for our archives so we decided to keep the display up for a couple weeks and then pack it away safely. Thank God for Luther!!!

"Solo Christo"

I listened to the weather report last night before going to sleep, hearing we were in store for a couple cooler days again and possible rain during the week. Not necessarily all day rains, but at some point we may need the wipers if driving. The highs are getting into mid 80's so I think we can say good-bye to the near record setting temps which ended our week last week. It is pretty grey out there right now but I see a strip of pink over the trees which may indicate the potential for sunshine at some point.

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This morning I thought of a few things from yesterday's events which brought smiles to my heart. At one point I was being introduced to a couple people from Victory whom I did not know yet. Rachel told the one women, Julia, whom I actually had already met before but did not say anything, that I have a dual-citizenship between G.S. and Victory, and am a good-will ambassador for the churches. When I thanked her for that she said I help to keep the congregations connected with each other. Awww, shucks....

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Later, Stephanie came through when I was standing in the back at the podium taking attendance. She was wearing a lovely green shell with a bright flowery cardigan over the top. As I greeted her I told Stephanie how much I liked her sweater and she said, "I wanted to compete with your bright colors!" and I made one of my loud guffaws. Then I slapped my hand over my mouth for being so loud, although, thankfully, it was still plenty noisy in there. She said, "Oh, don't worry, they are probably used to you by now...." What does THAT mean? More than once people have said they hear me before they see me, when out somewhere. Huh.

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As we were leaving the church to head over for the dinner, Justin and I were among the last out because of the choir being in the back. When shaking hands with Pastor, he said, "You liked that last hymn, didn't you?", more statement than question since he knows VERY well how much I love "In Christ Alone". I gushed, "Yes, I did. I am still mopping up after that one!" and his dad, our guest preacher said, "I get all teared up, too!" See? Justin was correct, he was not alone in the eye-wiping, other men did it, too. John 3:16 is considered the Gospel in a nutshell, and I find the hymn, "In Christ Alone" to be the entire story of Christ and His saving work for us in a beautifully concise hymn. Perhaps someday at sporting events, people will be holding up signs that instead of having "John 3:16" printed on them, folks will hold signs with "In Christ Alone" written on them. Our Lutheran faith is founded on what Martin Luther discovered in the Holy Scriptures: by grace alone, God's saving grace through His son, Jesus Christ, who give His life for our sins. Sola gratia, sola fida, sola scriptura....and solo Christo, "In Christ Alone..."

Home again, worn out but thrilled

What a crying week it has been! The senseless murder of a small child, the reminders of my own loss and how much I miss him, and then culminating with singing, with the choirs, congregation, and especially, Justin, "In Christ Alone". We sang this closing hymn while standing, which makes for better expression, with Rachel, our guest pianist, playing softer and louder as the hymn called for it. Perfect! During the final stanza, though, the message hits home and my tears just let loose. Justin was sniffling, too, squeezing my arm, and then whispering that he saw some others wiping their eyes, too. Stephanie, my friend from Victory, said after church that she survived the hymn, knowing "my friend, Kim, was singing behind me and probably crying...." We are newer friends but already she knows. "No guilt in life, no fear in death....from life’s first cry to final breath....Jesus commands my destiny....No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand...‘til He returns or calls me home here in the power of Christ I’ll stand."

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Our choirs received compliments for the anthems in praise to the Lord, including the one which was kicking my butt. The extra rehearsal time plus the combined choirs alleviated my fears. Sadly, Rachel, the music director from Victory, was not pleased with the quality of the bells this a.m. so decided no bells at our afternoon worship. It would not be "excellent" so the decision was made to not have them. We had looked forward to having them play during the worship but she knew best.

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After the service we adjourned to the fellowship hall for our lovely dinner. We had more than enough food, plenty of desserts, and beautifully decorated tables. Justin coerced me into tasting a piece of zucchini, telling me I could wash it down my soda or macaroni and cheese from my plate. Really, I did not like it. Gretchen was pleased with the Luther display, saying it was better than she even anticipated. I will probably take it down tomorrow before Bible study and see what she wants done with it. Before I take it down, I want to get a picture of it for posterity purposes. I forgot the camera today so no photos for the newsletters, rats!

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The altar flowers were mine today so after the dinner, Justin and I took them out to take to the cemetery. I wanted to make sure to get there and out before sundown because of it being dark or getting locked in...If there are no funeral home visitations going on, they close the gates earlier. The other day my friend, John, my "boyfriend" at the cemetery told me that I could plant flowers around Timmy's tree if I want to. I said I thought that was not allowed and he said, "You know I let you do whatever you want...." Oh, great, now that I pulled all my stuff off the site! So, Cindy, what do think? What will grow nicely under the tree in the fall/winter? There are sprinklers now and new drainage pipes installed, quite conducive to good growing!

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A few moments ago Paul called to tell me that Sarah was quite upset because she did not get to hug Justin! When he tried to hug on her, she hid behind her daddy and refused to even say 'hi' to him, and Justin told her he would was going to get her later. Well, when we left, she came running out after him, wanting to hug him. It turned out it was not Justin she saw, we were already gone, and she was so upset. Sarah said, "but Justin said he was going to get me, and now I was going to hug him....." I told Paul that's what she gets for playing hard to get, which is exactly what he told her! She was crying, the whole shootin' match over missing her Justin. I told Paul I would get a hug from her tomorrow and promise to deliver it for her when I see him again. She could call him on the phone but Paul said she refused to do that. Sarah will have to listen to "I Hope You Dance" so does not miss her chance to hug her godfather next time!!!

Resting my bones....

.....before I head back to church for choir rehearsal and then the celebration of Reformation. I just settled down on my bed, legs up, after reheating some leftovers from Longhorn. This will tide me over until our feast at 5:00 pm when we enjoy our potluck. We are blessed to have a member/chef who is preparing the fatted calf (is Boston butt from a cow??) and the GS ladies are bringing the side dishes and desserts. I want to stop at Publix to get a cheesecake for dessert to share, plus my yummy baked beans which are presently in the oven. Love the smell of beans baking! I am also looking forward to seeing one of our former members, Dawn, as she joins us for the afternoon worship and dinner. And, our special guest, Justin Day!

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Bible study was great today, especially now that we meet in the Fellowship Hall. It works much better to have tables in front of us for making notes, folks can have their coffee or soda, as the case might be, and seems to be much more interactive and participatory in this format. Only a few don't like it, would prefer sitting in the church on the soft pews but also do not want to go against what the rest have indicated. Our topic is "Christ's Love, Our Calling" and was about the church family. We are all part of the body of Christ, with our different 'callings' in service to the Lord and His people, to build each other up and bear with one another. I am testimony to that as I would hate to have endured the things I have in my life, like losing my child and then my marriage, without the love and support of my families---church, biological, and heart! Thank you everybody! Go, now, and celebrate our Lutheran heritage with your families!!!

What does the weekend bring?

My fun began last night with the bracelet and earring-making craft night at Victory. Rachel brought her amazing collection of beads and tools and fun toys, plus completed pieces to show us. All this accumulation began only two months ago, when she made her first name tag lanyard for use at work. She had bought one from another co-worker, saw it was "easy" to make and launched her newest hobby of beading. Rachel told us that she finances this hobby by making and selling surgical caps for the docs to wear at work, making them unique and perhaps more "fun" than the basic green or blue. She said she does the calculations in her head, like, "How many more caps do I have to make in order to buy these blue beads.......?". It was so funny to see/hear her passion. She is an accomplished sewer, purse maker, baker, and musician. Add to that being a nurse, and now teacher, as she helped us make our breast cancer awareness jewelry, with the proceeds going to support research. Add to that great fellowship between us ladies, nothing better!

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Instead of going to sleep when I got home, I read on-line postings and comments on the news pages about the Somer Thompson case. One of the local news broadcasts showed a picture of a man being interviewed, a sex offender who worked on a damaged home nearly where the child disappeared. It seems that many years ago when this man was 19, he had an underage teen girlfriend which is where the charges came from. I guess he was never "judged" due to the circumstances but his name came up on a list somehow. Many in the area want to string up all the sex offenders and predators, tattoo them with a red letter on their foreheads, all that reactionary stuff. That is as frightening as having convicts living among us, now add vigilantism to the mix. In my mind, part of this reaction is that people are not entirely comfortable with how to express true sorrow or grief, choosing anger or hatred instead of simply laying into the genuine emotion these type of circumstances call for. Hopefully people will turn out to support the family in positive ways this weekend at the fund raiser event, or stand along the streets as the funeral procession goes by on the way to the cemetery next week.

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Yesterday I worked on the photos taken at the Precious Lambs Preschool and Kindergarten Open House Thursday night. Because I was meeting Twila for lunch, I printed off a couple for her which showed her granddaughter, Twila Jr., with her little ones who are students there. Mario is doing well in kindergarten, as Twila Sr. declared the teachers "unsung heroes". I will do my best to change that, and I know she will, too, now that she has seen them in action! Twila Sr. and I ate at Pengrees after her doctor appointment, where I had the country fried steak with mashed potatoes. Yummy! We each had a slice of peanut butter pie for dessert, my first time! It is good but think I would like just plain chocolate cream pie just as well. My friend, Christine, told me once to never start eating peanut butter pie, because "you will not stop"!! Thanks for the warning, but I think I am okay.

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In a few minutes I will be leaving to visit Tina in Palm Coast. We are meeting at Ruby Tuesday to have lunch after Maya's ballerina class. I can't tell you how perfect Maya is as a ballerina as she is quite the little princess. Bet she is just adorable, too. My friend, Janet, had to take her granddaughter to gymnastics Wednesday and was told by the leader that Jordyn is ready to move up to advanced class, meaning twice a week (twice the money), go to competitions and be on a team. This is a three-year-old child! What a racket that is, and Janet said her kids are well aware of that. While Jordyn can move up to a more advanced class, she will not go more than once a week nor will she compete. Janet said that kids just can't be kids anymore, everything has to be organized play or electronic. She has a hard time getting Zach to play outside or do any physical things, but as Grandma, will not take "no" for an answer.

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When Timmy died, a song was popular on the radio called "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack. It talks about never sitting back and letting the world pass you by, always have a sense of wonder, not taking life for granted and to remember "heaven". The refrain encourages us, when given the choice to "sit it out or dance, I hope you dance..." This is a song about living in the world, seeking what you can, and so on, but also has words of encouragement about remembering God and living life to its fullest. Not to miss a chance to do something versus sitting and watching the world go by. On the way to the funeral home for the visitation, the song was on the radio. And, again, on the way home from the visitation. On the day of the funeral, as we drove to church, there it was again! Not a superstitious person, it still hit me that there was something special about this song for me, since I am not a country music person normally. From now on, when I hear this song, I will remember hearing it as we drove to these special events in our lives. I gave a little book to my friend, Cindy, which had the song on a CD included in the back, for her remembrance, too. These recent events flooded my memory, what can I say??

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Justin sent me a couple messages yesterday, one funny and one more sentimental in nature. "Confucius say, "Man who farts in church sits in own pew..." ." A bit later he sent the message that twice in the day his iPod played "Godspeed, Little Man". This is the title of the story I am writing about his little brother, Timmy. The name comes from a song by (gulp!) the Dixie Chicks, where the lyrics describe a little boy playing with his dragons and dinosaurs, sitting on the sofa in his Superman pajamas.....

A good night's sleep

It really makes a difference on how one feels in the morning. Knowing that the little girl is no longer missing and is safely in her Savior's arms allows one to rest more easily. Another thing that helps is attending the Open House at Precious Lambs Preschool and Kindergarten last night. And I was nearly late! Somehow the time got away on me, talking on the phone and then sort of thinking it started at 6:30 pm instead of at 6:00. Yikes! I made it in less than 20 minutes and in time to snap some photos of the rather sizable group of parents and kids. What amazing teachers and students we have been provided---through the grace of God!

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The stories are becoming fewer now that Somer's body has been identified but one story indicates police are focusing on an abandoned home on the route from school. They worked past midnight on this site and then are coming back this a.m. while other investigators search through the dirt and such at the dump in GA where the body was found. A fire three months ago left the home vacant and is now the focus of the investigation. Another vigil by candlelight was held at the child's home last night, and the radio reported that those attending prayed the Lord's Prayer. In case anyone wonders what "good" can possibly come from situations such as these, this is it. people are talking about praying to God and are singing "Amazing Grace", and hopefully they all realize what they are saying when doing this.

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Today will be spent mostly in the condo as I put some finishing touches on the church newsletter, working on the photos taken last night at Open House, and just taking care of some house cleaning in more ways than one! I thought I might carry the Luther display stuff down to my car in advance but then, on second thought, might not want to do that and compromise my glue used to afix the items to the board. Heat might not be the right thing in this case and we are expecting mid-80's today (sorry, Linda J. and M.!) Must make a note to take extra glue dots with me in case anything starts to move! Saturday I plan to go to Palm Coast to take my niece her poppyseed doughnuts and my great-niece her belated 3rd birthday present. Then, I will go to church to set up the display in advance of the big Reformation celebration on Sunday. There won't be time to catch our breath between morning worship and the joint choir rehearsal at 2:30 pm. What will I take for the pot luck? I am thinking of assorted cheesecake slices, always a hit, from Publix and possibly a ham if I can work that out. I want to use the leftovers, if there are any, to make a kettle of soup.

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Linda is going to be here in early November, in less than two weeks and I am so looking forward to her visit! I think we will go and see "Amelia" one afternoon, a good movie for two friends to see. Never again will we see a movie on par with "The Bucket List", where Martie, Linda, and I bawled our hearts out, or laughed so hard at "New In Town" where we made new friends with the ladies at the end of our row who had lived in New Ulm. Oh, the rich treasure of memories Linda and I have had in our friendship! Yesterday at Bible study, Justin sort of got the giggles, 22-year-old man-type giggles, when Pastor Hoyer read the passage about the rich man entering heaven. He could not help thinking of Tommy pulling the cooler through the sand at Jax Beach----"it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is to pull a cooler through the sand....." Lynn, are you chuckling???

The wait is over...

...and the sorrow sinks in. The sheriff announced this a.m. that a positive identification of the child's body in the landfill in GA, where our trash is hauled, has been made. It is over, the child is found. While our prayers were that the little girl would be found alive and safe, it seems she was already dead or dying before most even knew she was missing. In reading the news postings on-line there are many thoughts circulating about the who, what, when, where, and how of this tragic case. The sheriff has declared that there is going to be an all-out effort to find the killer and bring them to justice. It was impressive but terribly unfortunate how the community rallied to find this child, as I wish more of us would be actively involved and concerned with others all the time, not only in times of crisis.

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I know the man who led the search team at the dump, he actually came here with his family to watch the space shuttle launch one night when I was not home. I wrote about this just a week or so ago when I bought this new laptop, as I saw this man's wife, Lorrie, at Office Max. They have a young daughter, too, and I am sure he will hold her closer from now on, the way I hope many other parents are doing, too. In Pastor Prange's sermon at Timmy's funeral, he mentions how the entire congregation was affected by this loss, how people are even more cherishing of their children after this tragedy. Yes, that is the feeling people have, to appreciate what they have, and to appreciate how quickly things can change in our lives.

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Several weeks ago there was a young man, aged 20, who was killed in the student apartments where Justin resides. This totally freaked me out and I was so glad to hear his voice the next day to know he was okay. In fact, he was unaware of any troubles on the property as it is good-sized place with many units. Justin said he was more "concerned" about the place since the management, in order to fill the empty units, started renting to people not in school. Things changed, just as they did in Mom's apartment building from where she moved in September. To fill the empty apartments, the owner was taking in subsidized tenants, some whom required being checked on several times a day. Yes, that is pretty scary stuff. Anyway, three men have been arrested for the killing, which is the result of a drug buy gone bad. It was already bad to start with, but someone was killed during the committing of one crime. To read the on-line comments, everyone involved was good, pleasant, honor roll people...sure they were!

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In recent weeks someone evidently got hold of Lisa's bank card information and proceeded to spend all their checking account money. She is not sure where or when but guesses it might have been when they traveled up north in WI for a funeral. Or the medical office where they used the "old-fashioned" method of taking the credit card information, the machine that makes an imprint of the card face, perhaps leaving a carbon behind. Whatever or wherever it happened, she has been assured by the bank, where she froze her accounts so no more could be taken out, that the bank will replace the missing funds for them until the mystery is solved. Certainly the bank has methods for tracing backward when the unauthorized transactions took place and I hope somehow the criminal will be caught, and brought to justice.

*

My eyes feel like pokers as much of the evening was spent in tears about this little one. It is so not about me, but yet the feelings come rushing back, knowing keenly how this mom is feeling. Justin mentioned how helpful it was for him to be with the Dohner's, our next door neighbors/friends from the previous neighborhood, the night his brother died. The distraction "really helped", he told me. I will be with him today at Bible study and probably lunch so we can talk some more, if we want to. Our subject matter, End Times, is going to be so right on given the news of recent days. Yesterday, I was so not interested in the health insurance debacle whereas Martie and I would have chewed that topic over and over until we could spit. But not yesterday, it was about Luther, and the search for Somer.

A Justin connection

Martie and I had a wonderful breakfast at Cracker Barrel. with me having the cherry-topped pancakes and Martie, French toast, eggs, and bacon. She ate every bit of hers but most of much came home with me. Martie will take it for Ernie to devour as he is a great fan of leftovers. My Tuesday night waiter, Seth, took care of us, though he normally is not there in the mornings. Timing was great! When he brought us our food, he came back moments later with my to-go box. He knows me so well!

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We came back here to tackle the Luther project and I am quite pleased with how it came out. Using the black presentation board we matted and mounted a number of pieces about Luther from Gretchen's collection, including one article about Luther's influence in the hymns. It wasn't until I took it to make the copy that I realized who the author was---Victor Prange!! He looked quite young in the picture, from 1983, well before he retired. I mounted that article on paper with musical notes on it, which looks quite nice. I am pleased, I will say it again, with how it came out! Now, the transporting of the finished product will be another thing!

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Today the workmen came to clean my air conditioning ducts, another step to alleviate the dust, and eliminate "bacteria" from my air system. Owen stopped in to see how they were coming along and to bring me the bill (ahem, ahem...) and we had a nice visit. The one service man complimented me on how clean the A/C unit was, and I thanked him for that. Owen chuckled and said, "I have no doubt about that!" knowing I rarely use it in the summer time. Winter, well, that's another thing. The tech said he did see lots of white dust in the lines, most likely the remodeling and drywall dust probably back to when I had the wallpaper removed and the walls were skim coated, sanded, and painted. It was expensive to do this but I am so glad I did it, as now my ducts will certainly pass the white glove test. But will my furniture and glass????

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While Owen was here, Justin called. It seems that he has a minute connection to the family whose child is missing. In fact, he informed me, they are eating off of my old dishes!!!! The Pfaltzgraf dish set had been part of the rental house we owned in Brookstone until the new renters wanted to use their own furniture, dishes, etc. Justin's job, well over a year ago, was to remove the items from the house to Habitat for Humanity and other places. The dishes went to his father's friend's friends house, the Thompson's. In fact, he told me, he was in their house!! Whether he met or saw the kids I do not know but he just told me who these people were and that he had been at their house, they were eating off his mama's dishes! And I had just told Mom earlier this month that those dishes were sold at the Yard Sale at church---it must have been a different set then.....hmmm....

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It is a lovely day, which is good for the search teams. Justin informed me that his father is also out searching, due to the "connection". I received an e-mail from a friend to report that the governor was coming to the command center at 4:00 pm and that another Realtor was taking collections of Gator Ade at her house just off of Kingsley Avenue for the police and Search and Rescue teams from NAS/JAX. While I love seeing the community come together like this, I am so sad it has to be about something like this. Please please pray for the safe return of this little girl, Somer Thompson.

Orange Park on the national news

I just watched a press conference on Fox and Friends from Orange Park where the mom of the missing child was interviewed, begging for her child to be brought home. Of course, the hearts are breaking for this mom and the missing child's family, as the community rallies to help locate Somer. The child's twin brother is sick with worry, thinking he was responsible for her running ahead, being separated from the rest of the kids, who sometimes number 50, walking home. The child's dad lives in the Carolinas and was not here for the interview.

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On another note, I must take a ride this a.m. to check on Sandy's house in Middleburg and then am meeting Martie for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. She forgot to make the appointment for the massage somehow so that is not on our agenda for today, making it possible for us to dedicate more time to the Luther presentation. I have Friday as a fall-back day if we fail to make much progress today. Saturday I might be heading to Palm Coast and then will take the display to set up that night. Sunday will be so incredibly full that I should not put off putting up!!!

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Bible study first and then worship on Sunday, break for lunch and perhaps a rest, and then back over to church for combined choir rehearsal (they have a 25 minute ride over to Orange Park from their church!) at 2:30 pm, the bell choir will practice, too, and then the joint service at 4:00. If I sound excited about this, I am! This Reformation time of the year makes my heart swell with joy and so look forward to all the recognition it gets within the churches. The Sunday school kids will be concentrating on Reformation the following week, coloring their Luther Rose, watching a short video, and a couple other take-along things to help them learn about their Lutheran heritage.

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Time to jump into the shower so will sign off for now. More is coming, stand by. Please pray for the safe return of Somer Thompson, ask the Lord to watch over her and keep her.

Still no word

Orange Park is all over the national news today, starting already last night, I guess, because we have a missing child. A seven year old girl, a twin, was walking home after school with a group of kids, got into a snit with one of them, and took off ahead of the rest. She has not been seen or heard from since. Nothing good can come from this, there was no shiny balloon ride scare for this little girl, named Somer. She just vanished. Cindy from church reported that last night a visibly shaken policeman searched their property and the woods behind it for the little girl. Please, all, ask the Lord to bring this child home safely to her mom and siblings, please....

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For other news, my fingers are aching again today but not necessarily from the cold. In fact, the temps are over 70 at the moment, with Saturday looking to be in the high 80's again. I rejoice over that! Instead, I was busily addressing envelopes for Joanne last night and again today, finishing all the names on the lists for both her monthly mailings and the holiday cards. If there are names added to the list for the cards I can sort them and address the envelopes as the names are submitted to me. But, for the most part, I am done!

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Martie is coming to help me work on the Luther project for Reformation on Wednesday. Her back is giving her a fit and she is trying to get an appointment with Carol, the magical massage therapist, tomorrow at some point. Regardless of her aching back, she wants to help me out because it is better if she keeps busy---I will take her word for that and keep her busy! Besides the addressing of the envelopes, I have been busy with doing my laundry, including hanging it on the line! No, not really, but what I do have is my comforter draped over the railing in my courtyard in attempts to get the dust of it. My mattress pad is washed and dried, as are the sheets so we shall see if that helps with the dust control in this room or not. Maybe it's too much paper...

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Last night I had an Outreach meeting where only three people besides Pastor attended, with only two of us being what could be considered, producers. The other person I am sure has good intentions but really is not the type to do reaching out. But Kelly is excited to get busy with a few things so this is good, this is real good! There are others who will and do participate but cannot do night driving or meeting attending. I will be having a meeting of the Greeters in the next two weeks to go over some of the "responsibilities" of serving and can hopefully scare up a few more people to help us out. Now I am excited, too!

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Tonight is Bible study and tomorrow am taking care of the Luther presentation. We are meeting early for choir rehearsal to fine tune our anthems for Reformation when we combine with Victory's choir. Those of us who do not read music are challenged by the unfamiliar melodies and need more work to be comfortable with them. Thursday night is the Open House at Precious Lambs and the kindergarten, which reminds me, I need to print a few more brochures for the kindergarten classroom. I only made enough for the preschool the first time around. My printer has since caught its breath and is ready to produce yet a few more. Pastor said last night that he was impressed with them and are just what we need to show the non-member parents what else we offer at Good Shepherd. I love doing whatever I can, while sitting down!

Doctor, my eyes....

....have seen the years and the slow parade of fears..." My particular fear recently is I might have to give in and get reading glasses. The text on the e-mail page of this 'up-close' laptop is smaller than my desk top, which is also further from my face when I use it than is the laptop. Working on the envelopes for Joanne is like trying to read the phone book and I find myself holding the page further from my face, especially when night falls. It might be time to surrender to age on this one. While the LASIK bought me some time, the eye surgeon did tell me he could do nothing about age with the surgery taking place over 9 years ago. There are some cute fashion frames out there, off the rack-style magnifying lenses, which will make getting older fun for me!
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Oh, there is a man on TV who stole my job with the government! He is doing something with exercise, supposedly with the Dallas football cheerleaders, describing himself as being the "Fat Czar"! That was going to be my job, and with a tidy salary for my services, too! Humphf! What is one more czar added to the long list? "Jay" conducts some sort of boot camp for fitness, whipping these cheerleaders into shape. I wonder what time frame it took to get these ladies looking like that.....might look into this...... I often wondered what I would like being about 8"taller.
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Some cheese popcorn was just thrown away, a bag partially consumed. When Justin and I were coming home from WI after moving Mom, I bought a small bag of cheese popcorn at the gift shop and it was just so delicious. Sunday when I stopped to get the potatoes, I saw a bag of this type of popcorn in the deli area and took it along home with me. It fell far short of the delightful bag at the airport. Not only was the flavor lacking but the hulls simply took over my teeth. Guess I am over the hankering for this type of cheese popcorn for awhile.
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Joanne asked me to do another favor for her in my down time, and that was to research the value of some art pieces from her parent's home. They had about 25 or more pencil/ink drawings by an artist from Germany named Eberhardt. She simply wanted to know an approximate value so she could get insurance on them plus the contents of her storage unit. This artist did primarily animal and bird sketchings, making them appear more than life-like. Thanks to the Internet it did not take long to get a few estimates for her. Since the piece she left for me to price is quite small compared to some of the others, it seems if she ever wants to sell them, there will at least be a nice market for the artwork.
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Speaking of getting the right price, the other day when I spoke with my sister-in-law, Barb, they were in the process of listing their Packer tickets on e-Bay. My nephew was there to help get them listed, a pair of tickets, north end zone, for the Packer/Viking game. I was beside myself as to why they were even thinking of selling the tickets versus use them. Barb said that pairs of tickets for this game were going for $500, so say no more! As dwellers in Brown County, where the team is located, they get put into a lottery for tickets, and this was the game they drew. Jackpot! Hopefully they will see ten times the value of the purchase price, paying for their CHRISTmas expenditures. That must mean one of them has my name! I did get my envelope with the names inside and can do my shopping when I am up in WI----oops, did I just give it away???

So starts the week

God morning all! Finally I decided to throw off the covers and climb out to face the world. In my bed I could use the "laptop" while burrowing under the comforter but here at this desk, the sun shines on my face and warms me. My feet are cold, because they are bare, but my face feels nice. The cupcake is still on my desk, staring at me and smelly entirely too delicious but it can just wait for me until I get home later on. The first order of business today is Bible study and then lunch with the ladies afterward.

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My sister-in-law, Barb, told me last night that Justin's and my exchange names for CHRISTmas should be arriving any day now so I have another reason to hit the mailbox other than at the beginning of the month when my check is expected. Once a week or longer sometimes, I stop at the box to torment myself with yet more paper to cover to my desk. Garbage in, garbage out! Much of it, anyway. Soon the lobby trash receptacle will be re-installed near the mailboxes and the sorting of the junk mail can take place well before bringing it all up with me. But I will watch to see whose names we get so my brain can start working on that. If I can take care of it when up in WI for ThanksLiving, I will. Barb's parents, the Petska's, did the name draw for Justin and me, so only they know who we have, the big secret!

Here is Justin and me with Harvey and Clara in their kitchen last CHRISTmas. We look a bit blurry because the photographer was not familiar with my camera, it was sort of heavy for him to support. I am in my Jaguar outfit and Justin in his Florida Gator jacket.(When I looked at this picture, I looked a bit like Barb---had to do a double-take! I have my red driving glasses on which makes me look like her, too, I guess!)

*

Time to leave for Bible study so must dress my feet in the appropriate footwear. By the end of the week the temps will be back up to the 80's but right now, it is snowshoe weather---44 above zero when I woke up! Yikes!

Man, it sure was great to see everyone again!!

Am I hungry? Can't be! Was it the meatballs with barbecue sauce? Perhaps...Cannot be from the chocolate fountain because I kept myself a safe distance from it. (Martie and I put something on our "Bucket Lists" today though----stick our faces in a chocolate fountain before we die....) I only had half a peanut butter ball and half an espresso ball for dessert, plus two Halloween Oreos. Hmmm, my tummy is rolling as though it is hungry, but really, I should not be. In fact, I am having a stare-down with chocolate frosted cupcake decorated with a giraffe pick brought home with me from the baby shower, and at this writing, think I will win this one. Will make a delightful breakfast tomorrow.

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After mentioning what I did not eat, I should report what wonderful treats I did enjoy. Homemade lumpia, hand-rolled by the ladies, and cooked today by the grandfather-to-be, Paul. His wife, Cindy, the "lola" to-be, was hostess for a baby shower for their son and daughter-in-law's coming baby. The ladies of the house made food items familiar to the Philippines, hence the lumpia and the lo mein dish plus rice and beans. Besides two lumpia, I also had an innocuous ham sandwich and three meatballs. I went a bit nutso for the fruit salad, yes, I said fruit salad, which was just delicious. I had two helpings of that which might account for the revolution taking place in my tummy. The dessert table was laden with creations from the hands of Christie, the soon-to-be 'aunt extraordinaire' to baby Noah. She is quite the baker and decorator. Christie made all the cupcakes and chocolate covered cake balls, like you see in magazines, or on her Facebook pages!!

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Martie and I left after the future mom opened our respective gifts because Martie's back was bothering her, especially after sitting so long an ottoman shared with our friend, Lauren. What was so wonderful, besides the food, was seeing some of our old scrapbooking friends from years back, and Cindy's sister, Ginger. Amber, the mom-to-be, was only about half way through the pile of presents and I can tell by the first half that this will be one well-dressed, sports minded little fella!

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On the way home, after dropping Martie off, I stopped at Publix to get potatoes because I neglected getting them yesterday at Winn-Dixie. My sister, Kerry, was talking about having baked potatoes with butter so I used the rest of mine to make baked potatoes for me! Now my supply is replenished for when the spirit again moves me to bake some. Tonight might be good because the temperature in here has gotten down to 76 degrees. Some might find that a bit warm, but I do not. Not by a longshot!

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The Packers won today, and the Jaguars won at home in overtime, yippee! I saw the F-18s circling about prior to the game for the flyover after the national anthem is sung. There were only two because one of the three had a hard-landing at the airport yesterday and broke its landing gear. They had to get by with two and I must say, I was impressed!

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Bible study and worship this a.m. was terrific, too. We sang our anthem in place of the regular psalm but I was quite concerned to be the lone soprano today. Kristi went to the football game and I was left on my own, not entirely comfortable with my part. During the run-through, I totally missed my notes and ended up singing melody with the altos, which Kathy said was alright, do what you must. But, as we gathered to sing our anthem at the appointed time, somehow I found the notes. After church some came up and said how nice we sounded with a couple mentioning being able to hear me. Whew! Not sure if they were the right notes, but they could hear whatever it was I was singing!