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No longer on the river and, again, an empty nester. Back to living on Fleming Island and making some more friends!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Crying over spilled marsala sauce!

If I didn't have ants before, I surely will now! While I was preparing my potatoes for boiling, making them into German potato salad later, I reheated my leftovers from dinner at Carrabba's last Friday night. It appalls my friends that I use the actual container to re-heat and I guess I can understand their dismay---it melts! When I got to my desk with the foam container, I realized there was a small hole in the bottom. Wisely, I flipped the box end for end, so the food would be in the cover portion of the container. WHAT A MESS! The juice from the meat as well as the marsala sauce splashed all over my desk, on my papers and in between them. Ugh! Such a good smelling desk, though......I transferred, more carefully this time, the whole works to a glass plate which allowed me to cut the steak with a knife and not make more mess! Got floss???
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It is just pouring out there, I cannot view Mandarin from this post. This a.m. should have been water aerobics but when I looked out the door, I did not spot anyone bobbing in the pool. Whether or not it was officially cancelled or if no one showed up, I do not know, but the weather was sooo iffy, I vote "no"! If the sun is not out there first, I am not out there, and with the rain showers coming and going most of the day, I opted to get showered and dressed instead. Joanne called me to report she walked a mile on the beach, as she stayed at her new digs last night. She asked if I was jealous and I said I was not jealous about walking but would not mind sitting on the beach watching her walk! She will be here tonight for the dinner and I am going to put her beans into the oven so they are ready when people come.
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Justin and I had lunch yesterday, as I noted earlier, and he is such a character! He can do an imitation of the famous interview of Michael Jackson a few years ago, where the singer tells of sitting on the bed with little boys, eating milk and cookies in front of the fire, "it's so sweet...". Justin did his imitation before the chef came to the table and I was just laughing my head off! The others at the table wanted a sip of whatever I was drinking....only soda, I promise!
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Then, out of the blue, Justin brought up the subject of the book I am writing. He asked me if I was willing to change the book. I asked, cautiously, just how I could change it, as he has not read it. (Only one other person on this earth has done so....) His suggestion is that I write a book about myself, and when I looked questioning, he added, "because you have done so much." He went on to say I could incorporate Timmy's story into mine, which, of course, would happen anyway. Justin thought I could write about what happened before and after in our family. Really? Well, I did not totally discount what he suggested but I think I will continue with the book the way it is for now. He thinks I should be a writer like Francis Mayes, that is what he told me yesterday, anyway. Maybe HE should be a writer and tell my story from his perspective---wait, NOOOO!!!!!!!
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Tuesday after Kathy's mother's funeral service, I came home and was pondering a few things, naturally. A couple ladies I want to hear/see the video tape of Timmy's funeral service have refused, saying they could not bear it, but I so want them to hear the wonderful message delivered that day in the sermon. The music and singing were one part, the sermon the other. So, I sat down and sent a request to my friend, Pete Prange, to see if he still had the text in his computer files, and if so, would he mind sharing it with me. Within the hour, it was in my computer! As soon as I opened it, the tears began and I was an emotional mess, but a good mess. Not like the one on my desk at the moment.
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p.s. Friday now, and what smelled so good yesterday when splattered on my papers and desk does NOT smell as good the second day-----guess I will need to take care of some paperwork soon!

Now that is more like it!

Nearly my entire day was spent in the company of friends/family on Wednesday, from sunrise to almost 11:00 pm!!! Love it!
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The morning began with bacon being fried and a recipe for baked beans pressed into service, using beans which I do not recognize. I am sure it will be delicious and I probably would have been better off not seeing what Joanne was putting in her kettle! It does taste good so I can get past the funky beans she used. Now that I think about it, I wonder what kind of beans are used in the canned stuff I buy??
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All of a sudden, Joanne had to fly out of here for a conference call at her office so I assured her that I would take care of the cleaning up of the kitchen which she had already begun. After all, she was cooking bacon for my recipe as well. It did not take me long to get things polished up and I was back to my computer. Justin contacted me via IM to let me know he was stuck inside due to the pouring rain so we agreed to meet for lunch at Koko's. He got there first and I found him in by the ladies' at Great Hang Ups. Dee had been on vacation and ours did an overlap thing, if you recall, so it was wonderful to see her again.
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Justin and I enjoyed our lunch, and of course, I have a nice box with at least two more meals leftover which I brought home with me. He was going back to work, to clean out one of the offices in the lower level of the building, since he could not cut grass or pull weeds. I spent some time after lunch with the ladies and then stopped for groceries at Publix. The soda deal was still going on so I stocked up on the 12-packs as well as other things I needed, forgetting to buy butter. Nuts! At least I have soda! Publix was carrying Diet Coke, 5 12-packs for $12---a real steal! Makes for a very difficult pushing of the cart, though!
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Justin is house sitting/dog sitting at his father's house for about a week. He is going to squeeze in some time to spend with me on Friday so I will have to come up with a plan for us. I cannot compete with the Taj Mahal's bells and whistles that he is enjoying this week so will have to come up with something exciting for us to do---I know! "Seinfeld" episodes!!! Nah, we really do not need all that much to stimulate conversation between, as George Costanza would say, "We communicate with long, soulful silences....". I just saw that episode on TV the other night and that really makes me laugh!!! Trust me, there is little silence when Justin and I are in the room!
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Pastor called me as I was unloading my groceries, telling me the weather would prevent our going canvassing Wednesday night, but wondered if I would be available to come before choir rehearsal for a Companions meeting. I explained that I had already made plans with Kathy B. for dinner. I was excused, then. Kathy and I met at our Longhorn near church where the Monday Bible study ladies dine when class is in session. We enjoyed our meal and gave us a chance to just chat now that her mom's funeral is completed, the body being shipped to her hometown in MS.
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We arrived for choir a few minutes early as Pastor and Debbie were finishing up their Companions visit. We had a nice group of ladies (Brian is in NJ for the summer) present to do a run-through of one of our new liturgies and practice a hymn which we are going to sing a capella at some point down the road. We are getting sooo brave!!!
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Once choir was over, Suzanne, Kathy and I went to get an ice cream treat from the Dairy Queen on Blanding. I pursuaded the ladies into sitting at the tables outside---they were concerned it would be too hot out there. This proved to not be the case and even Suzanne admitted to being a little chilly. It was "only" 75 degrees when I finally went home, which, Linda, is NOT tank-top weather! We talked and laughed and talked some more, watching the race-track traffic on Blanding until well after 10:00 pm.
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When we walked to our cars, Suzanne wanted us to hear a song she had on a CD from a member at Keystone Heights church. The artist is Tressa Jordon and has a radio show and local TV show in Nashville. She plays bluegrass-style music and her daddy, who is a member at this same church, is encouraging Suzanne to take up the violin/fiddle so they can have a hoe-down together. Kathy came up with the big idea of having a bonfire gathering at some point and have the musicians from both congregations provide the musical entertainment. Sounds like an amazing idea to me--let's make it so!