Oh, by the way-----I just found out this is my 500th posting!!!

I forgot to mention earlier that I am meeting one of our younger moms at church tomorrow to work on Timmy's flower bed! She volunteered to pull weeds and help make our church property look presentable so together we are addressing the front flower bed by the sign. In the past week one of the male members trimmed back the lantana which is planted in that bed so all that remains now are the trunks. Lantana is good for attracting butterflies and looks quite pretty when it blooms but also tends to grow a bit wild and looks unkempt if not kept trimmed. I must confess that I have basically been ignoring the flower bed since none of the flowers I would plant in there could live without irrigation, which has been out of service for a long time. There are a couple statues in the memory garden, including one donated by my friend, Cindy, plus one the Douglas family gave us on the first anniversary of Timmy's death. It had been at the cemetery all the while until I had to remove the decorative pieces last July. Now it sits in the flower bed at church in a somewhat obvious spot.

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I had some flower bulbs in the freezer since leaving The Preserve house so I hope they are okay, Joanne seemed to think they would be okay to plant. Tara and I are meeting at church after lunch to stick some bulbs in the soil and wait to see what happens. For some reason, I cannot recall what type of bulbs they are, some sort of lily, I think. In a few weeks there will be an official work day to address the property and get things in order for Easter and at that point mulch can be added to help dress up the flower bed. Tara is taking this bull by the horns and I am privileged to witness to it! She made me chuckle by saying she would use duct tape to secure her young daughter to the lamp post so we can work! Hopefully she is willing to do the bulk of the bending and kneeling work as I am so out of condition for doing this type of yard work anymore!

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It is my opportunity to serve as church cleaner with week so will take care of that before Tara gets there. Judy J. wanted to come with me to see what is required to clean the Lord's house but she might still be keeping her neighbor company on Saturday. We are in such need for volunteers to clean, and even though it kills my back to do it, I will keep my name on the list. Our little vacuum cleaner is so nice, lightweight with a beater brush attachment, but according to Judy, vacuum cleaning is the worst things on backs. Mom will attest to that one! Hers has bothered her for years, and it's all she can do to vacuum her floors.

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One of the ladies who is again serving on the Building Comm. was there last night and asked if there was anything her granddaughter could do to earn volunteer hours needed for school. I guess the criteria is only that it be unpaid service so it was suggested she help with the painting on the classroom building, helping with the Spring Cleaning day, volunteer in the nursery on Sundays, maybe watch kids while their parents are planting bulbs in flower beds....There are many serving opportunities for young men and women, so many that I had a hard time coming up with them on the spur of the moment! Justin earned his hours helping out in the preschool during the summer, but I think that won't work now since the State has more stringent rules in place for the preschool.

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The weather has been most pleasant here the past couple days, with high today being in the mid 70's. Tara and I might be sweating bullets Saturday as it's predicted to reach 80, but then plummet as thunder showers roll through. My friend, Julia, is in Atlanta a potter's workshop and might have to experience driving in snow on Sunday, as foul weather will be passing through there on its way here. I hope the snow stays north where it belongs, and that she gets home safely! Joanne is going up there on Monday as she has a "meeting" planned with King Tut! She asked me to go along but we had already spent time with the King in Chicago a couple CHRISTmas's ago. The first week of the month is too busy for me to go bumming anyway so I will stay here and hold down the fort while she ventures north into snow country!

Koko's for lunch, what could be better?

This morning I was thinking about Carrabba's, having not been there in months, it seems. A fellow I know in Morton Grove who used to work at Carrabba's here reported cooking this type of cuisine for a group at church, which simply made my mouth water! Mmmm, I have had some of Duane's marsala sauce and I would be hard pressed to tell the difference between his and the restaurant's sauce. But since I was not going to Carrabba's for lunch.....

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...I now smell like Koko's. Joanne called me last night while I was at the Building Committee Meeting so I was not able to answer her, but she was up when I got home last night. She said her sister, Toni, and Dad wanted to go have lunch at Kan Ki Japanese restaurant and asked me to join them. Sure! I arrived first at Kan Ki and found the parking lot to be empty, with the opening time posted on the door being 3:30 pm. Nuts! I called Joanne right away and told her the news, so we met at Koko's instead. Yippee! Her dad was not in the mood to eat but the rest of us enjoyed our personally prepared feast cooked by Hung. He always makes an onion special for me as I do not care for the veggies. Such excellent customer service! I have brought half home for either myself or Justin. And Toni paid for my meal, which was icing on the cake!

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After lunch we stopped in at Hang Ups to say "hi" and for Toni to see the lovely art and gift items. They went down to Maggie Moo's to get their dad a strawberry malt so I sat with him at the store until they came back for him. Clyde had gotten into a conversation with another customer regarding their shared service in the Air Force which brought Clyde sort of back to life for a little while. I stayed and chatted after the rest left. Clyde was finally hungry now, since he was getting his favorite treat!

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Justin could not join us as he was quite busy finishing up a house, ready for the final walk-through, and then had to go back to the office to clear some space for a renter moving in today. Whew! He has been kept quite busy on the jobsite these past weeks and it seems he has sort of taken ownership of his job.

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He told me yesterday that he is not been keeping up with the applications he put out closer to his home and school. I realize jobs are not easy to come by for anyone these days but I still encourage him to find a job where he does not have to drive quite so much to this side of the world. Yesterday we talked about how I miss my house on the lake but am glad to have sold it when I did, and he said we had to get away from the spiders! I thought he was over the spider-fear problem but he assured me that, no, oh no, he still has no use for spiders!

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Kelly T. and I had talked about going to Victory for scrapbooking tonight but now that she has her dad and mom staying with her while he recuperates after knee surgery, she is hesitant to be gone so long and leaving them home alone. Since I am weary, it might be for the best to stick around here tonight. Judy J. is staying with a friend/neighbor at the hospital where her hubby is in need of a heart procedure but will be coming by on her way through tonight to pick up the balance of her tuna salad and croissants leftover from Ash Wednesday. She had expected to leave the hospital that day in time to be at church but the neighbor was not doing well so she stayed with them. Our shared friend, Linda O., called me today as I was coming home from Hang Ups to see if I could have lunch with her mom and her at the China Buffet on Tuesday before Frieda heads back home to MN in a couple weeks. Wow, first a couple meals of Japanese food, then a hankering for Italian, and next week, Chinese! Judy will join us if the neighbor is doing okay by then....If I am ever sick, I want Judy on my team!!!

I thought morning would never come

My poor eyes are so tired this a.m. because I barely slept a wink last night. Add another exercise to my work-out routine----tossing and turning 3/4 of the night! Although I had made up my mind to not let things bother me, I never should have allowed the thought of not letting it bother me into my head at all. Make sense? The harder I tried to sleep, the worse it was to let go, and let God.....

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My mistake, depending upon how one looks at it, was venturing to the mail center in the lobby to see what was stuffed in my box. Much to my chagrin was a big, fat envelope from my attorney, which means, which means, which means---what? Once upstairs I opened it and found a more paperwork which spells out about the upcoming Court date in March. My "advisor" friend from church reminded me, certainly the judge will sort everything out fairly, and he further advised me to "not lose any sleep over this" so I did!

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Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

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I do not wish to be thrown into the fire and truly I was not all that disturbed or upset by this packet of papers, but my brain took over and perhaps even the evil one wanting to stir me up when I was not even willing to go! Joanne told me this a.m. that she also had trouble sleeping and knows nothing of my paperwork---she just might have her own things stirring 'round in her pretty little head! My head kept going to "In Christ Alone" and those fine words offering their calming arms. One of my first memories of this anthem was sitting in the pew at First German, watching the slide show about the young people of the congregation on their trip to Washington, DC to canvass and such. As the slide show played, this small choir of young voices sang this hymn in the background, with periodic shots of them standing in front of the mission congregation they were assisting with outreach. Justin looked over at me, cautiously, and saw, of course, the tears rolling down my cheeks. He squeezed my hand because, as he told me later, he knew that was going to get me. "For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ." "No scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand....." So, tonight, I sleep, confident in the promises of the Savior.