In case this posting was lost in the shuffle......

Between the blog site and facebook I have had some interesting discussions regarding life, death, and the parts in between. One thing came up recently when my friend, Cindy, had a close-call with the safety of her little grandson, CJ. He had found a way out of her house and walked around toward the backyard in the direction of the pond. His escape and the danger was thwarted by a vigilant grandma and mama but it scared the daylights out of Cindy for days! This made Cindy remember Timmy's accident and the times that followed, and she stressed that his influence remains in the front of her brain and on her heart to this day.
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This brought to mind another scary story we experienced after Timmy's death in our pool. My former spouse installed a pool alarm that would make a huge noise if some one or some thing landed in the pool and caused a wake. The security people installed window and door alarms on the pool-facing openings which would make a loud signal if they were opened when they should not be. This type of accident was not going to happen again.
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Meanwhile, there was a young father at our preschool named Jeff who had a darling son named Thanos. Jeff had asked me to babysit for a weekend when he had to go out of town for a meeting and I agreed. Justin was not happy about that situation because he had already told me once, "No substitutions!". He was afraid I was bringing Thanos in to replace his brother, as though that could ever happen. I assured him I was only being helpful and instead of putting Thanos in Justin's room in the bunk bed/futon, I put him in the first floor guest room. Proper distance from Justin's room, and from Timmy's, which was still untouched.
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My former spouse was working out in the yard or something into the late evening and was still outside when the rest of us had gone to bed. He came into the house to change into his trunks, saying he was going to rinse off and cool off before coming into the house. Forgetting all about the pool alarm, he dived into the pool and the alarm fired up. I sat up like a shot and heard Justin's feet hit the floor and come flying down the stairs. He was hysterical, thinking that Thanos had gotten up and was in the pool. Thanos never stirred, thankfully. My former spouse was incredibly sorry for freaking us out, and bringing all that back to us like that. Poor Justin!

I can finally sit down----whew!

But then, only for a minute! My friend, Martie, is coming for dinner tonight and in response to the recent enormous spending package the House of Reps passed last night, we are wearing layers of sweaters and eating Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper instead of going out!

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This paragraph above was written and immediately interrupted as Martie arrived to have dinner. Time simply had gotten away from me on Thursday and was so glad when I could climb into bed and go to sleep!

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With all the events taking place in recent days at church and in my building, things have had a sort of frantic air to them. My ear is red from being on the phone and trying to answer questions and to get mine answered as well. Kelly T. was going to ride with me to Bible study at Victory yesterday morning but called just before it was time to leave to tell me she was not feeling well and really didn't do rain. It was just pouring buckets all night and into the morning so I certainly did not blame her for not wishing to go out.

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At the same time that I spoke with her, I was also instant messaging with Justin as he wished me a good day at Victory, and I told him what Kelly said. We decided to meet after Bible study and his morning class to have lunch. I arranged to pick him up at "parent pick up" at UNF (he hates that description because the first 7 weeks he was in college, I still drove him forth and back each day he had classes!).

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The ride over to Victory was rough and long with the heavy rain and traffic, with me arriving before some of the others but still just in time. Our lesson from Heroes and Heroines of the Bible was about Daniel being thrown in the lions' den because he refused to stop worshipping the true God. This lesson brought to mind current events, the most recent being the passage of the huge government spending bill the night before. We talked about how Christian liberties and privileges we enjoy now can be eroded or forbidden soon, putting our missions at risk, etc. by some of the sinful programs included in that package. It is just sickening to see what is included under the guise of "stimulus"!

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Darius was forced to uphold the sinful, prideful law of worshipping him only for 30 days and throw a man with "exceptional qualities" into the den of lions, with some hope that Daniel's Lord would protect him. It was interesting and I made the observation about how the king could not eat or drink, nor did he partake in any "entertainment" all night long, because he was so concerned about Daniel. I remarked how we fight our version of lions all day long and then go home behind our doors, close the curtains, and partake in entertainment. It might be TV or computers or some sort of games that we use to distract us..............Anyway, it was such an interesting comparison between those events and the ones we face today. We, for the sake of financial security or surety, may end up being forced to worship something other than the true God if we are not careful.

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It was great having lunch with Justin at the pancake place at St. Johns Town Center Mall. We had often talked about eating there instead of at Panera before Bible study but never did it. Once the manager turned up the heat it was more comfortable in the dining room but prior, we just shivered, as did those around us. My meal was potato pancakes which fell quite short of those from Perkins Restaurant, and Justin had an Irish omelet which had corned beef hash in it. It was only "okay" in his opinion, so I guess we will not be rushing back to that place soon. He told me that a weight loss place was moving into the Rosewood office building, and it was cute the way he described it. He said they had several smaller offices which I am sure is where the staff will do their consultations and such. He said, "I think it's like the place where you went that time where you had to eat the cheese sticks." Oh yes, that would be LA Weight Loss, which worked like a charm for Judy C. but not so much for me. There was just wwaayy too much food expected for me to eat, plus pill supplements every time I turned around and even when I didn't, ugh! I found myself staying up later at night just so I could get the required amount of food consumed. The heavier a person is, the more they had to eat, but holy cow! And then it was good food at that. My system was in shock, and yes, I was eating cheese sticks, even had them in my purse so I always had something handy. Too much of everything for me!

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So, after lunch, I dropped him off at school again and headed back toward O. P. On the way back I decided to stop and do a couple Outreach contacts in a trailer park. An extended family has been coming to church with some regularity since CHRISTmas so I was reaching out to the elder of the family. She is responsible to watch great-grands in the afternoon when school is out while her granddaughter is at work so cannot join in evening functions but I did encourage her to attend Monday a.m. Bible study and our upcoming Ladies' Brunch (or breakfast, as Judy J. insists) on the 7th. Betty is a really nice lady and had a nice place, I must say.

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It was only drizzling by this time as I made my way down Blanding toward Kingsley to visit Twila. The nice nurse aide led me to the Staff Lounge so I could buy Twila and me a bottle of Diet Coke, as I was sure she was thirsty for one. When I got to the room, she was fast asleep so I pulled up a chair and made myself homely for a bit. All of a sudden she called my name, realizing I was sitting there. She was delighted to have a Diet Coke and proceeded to spill half of it onto the bed and floor! I dashed to get a towel and came up with only paper towels to mop up the mess. Always excitement, and I cried over the spilled soda! Not really....

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After our nice visit, where I recounted the Bible study and current events conversation from that morning, I said my farewells to her and went to see Gordy. He was awake and resting his sore knee. For some reason his knee was giving him a fit and I attributed it to the rain and nasty weather. He said his daughter was talking with doctors and such about the proper medications and such, and is going to see the cardiologist today. Terri was bringing him a good supper, though, last night, food from Popeye's Chicken, spicy coating and the sides he wanted to go with it. Oh that guy! Almost made my mouth water!

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Unfortunately I could not stay long as I had Martie coming for dinner and had not even gotten anything out of the freezer to make. With little more than an hour to do so, I managed to whip up a pan of Hamburger Helper with a can of peas mixed in, and tossed it in the oven. In the meanwhile, two ladies from the condo board approached me to serve on the board as the secretary, which I respectfully but forcefully declined. That is the second time this month, maybe the 3rd, that I have been approached for this and so far, I have declined. My role now is the one I wish to keep and flourish in, and not have the weight of BOD on my shoulders, too.

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Maggie, a friend of Ellen's, and with whom I took water aerobics in the summer and fall, called to personally invite me to the memorial service for Billy. It is tippy top secret to avoid the press and fans from knowing about it. Again, in the meantime, my neighbor called to ask me to be the one to ask this select list of neighbors to the service, saying he thought I would be the perfect one to do it, stressing again the high amount of discretion needed for this, as well as some finesse. And they want ME to do this???!!!!

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This brings me up to the opening paragraph today, which was written last evening when the doorbell rang........................