The rest of the weekend........

Justin came to worship with me at Good Shepherd yesterday which was very nice and I got to stay sitting with him the entire service since the choir was not singing. Two weeks ago I had to keep getting up and down all the time to sing. He helped me cover the altar after worship since I was on for Altar Guild and then we went to Olive Garden for lunch, with Robbie as our guest. At first he wanted to go to Clark's Fish Camp for his birthday lunch. Then, he called back to say he wanted to go see "The Proposal" after church, grabbing a drive-thru lunch....But, since I had to be somewhere at 4:00 pm which required an hour's drive time, making the movies not doable Sunday. Plan C, then, was to go have lunch at Olive Garden which suited us fine. We took the birthday bouquet from church to the cemetery together before parting company.

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It was a long car ride to Keystone Heights, as I am sure it would seem for the first time. While I drove, I kept thinking that I remember being there at Christ Lutheran for something else in recent years but my memory won't allow me to think what it was. A certain convenience store on the corner looked quite familiar, like I stopped there with my passenger to get soda and gas after the event....just can't think what it was though....A seminar of some sort rings a bell, but what??? What????

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The congregation swelled the church as Good Shepherd's group matched in number those from this membership. The Hoyers from Victory Lutheran were also part of the Installation, with Pastor Hoyer giving the sermon, we have A Can-Do God! He spoke of the long ride between GS and Christ Lutheran and how Pastor K. can use that time in prayer for both his congregations, etc. A very encouraging sermon and service. "My Suzanne" played her viola pre- and post-service which enhanced our worship. Anne Hoyer leaned over to tell me that she loves to hear Suzanne play at Victory, too, because the acoustics make the viola sound all the more majestic.

Pastors Lemke, Kuske, and Hoyer after the Installation service

What a weekend it was!

First of all, I want to wish my sister, Lori, a very happy birthday today! David, please tell her I said so, since she does not daily read my blog. She taught me how to read before I even entered kindergarten, Lori gets the credit for that, but somehow I missed the book worm gene the rest of my sister's inherited from Mom!

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Around 7:00 a.m. I heard a scraping sound outside my patio doors and sure enough, there were my two friends, sanding and scraping my porch railing for painting prep. We had been asked if we wanted them painted at our own expense and certainly I wanted my railing to match the rest of them, right? Wrong! The talk around the table at happy hour told me that not many of those there were interested in getting theirs done, would have their grandkids do it, or some other option. Yikes! Here I was being a team player and found out I am playing alone....well, probably not, but was certainly in the minority. I have long disliked the appearance of the railing and while all else would be nice and fresh, I think the railing should, too. Certainly I cannot get out there to do it and how would I even attempted to do the portions outside the non-movable doors? Let the experts do it.

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And now for the weekend recap: fun! Justin's birthday party was very nice although some usual characters were missing from the fun. The Woodruff's were unable to make it as Jimmie and Jason were trimming a house for someone and would be working all day and coming home bone tired. Brenda is nursing a wounded knee and has trouble getting around so opted to miss his party. Brenda N. had her grandkids in town from TX so she was excused. Those who did make it enjoyed the time, at least, that is what was reported to me! The photos were posted last night in case you did not see them. Thank you, Lord, for wonderful friends and nice son!

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Earlier in the day I spent time at the pool, much of it in the water with Lonnie, a lady from my water aerobics class. We had a lovely visit as we exercised together in the sun. The sloping wall in the shallow end serves me well for back stretching, I feel cat-like as I can make my body into a "C" shape by walking up that wall. Ahhhh! The guilt I had for not going to church to help with the moving of the church office and storage units was assuaged yesterday when Pastor reported that it was completed in less than two hours, with about 20 people showing up to take care of it. Mike K. told me people were scurrying about like ants! Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of able workers and our finished building!!!

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When I got home from Publix with the birthday food, I pulled up near the elevators to unload my stuff. Those trays are quite heavy so I knew it was going to be several trips to get it upstairs. Since our lobby is being redone, the mail sorting counter and furniture is gone, so I used the water fountain wall to prop my trays and the cake. Judee, one of my neighbors, was coming through to get her mail, and saw me unloading. She was gracious enough to offer to help me carry them up and I was gracious enough to accept! When she walked into my kitchen, she said, "Oh, what a happy kitchen!" Nice compliment!

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After the party was ended and the clean-up complete, Justin and I sat down to chat a bit before I allowed him to leave. He was a bit weary having had a party at his father's house Friday night, with fewer attendees than he planned, and then going to the beach with his friends Saturday. His back/butt still hurts after his fall on the ceramic tile floor at his father's house last week when Nancy was here visiting so he did not play volleyball. We talked awhile before he left and I went to bed, not quite ready for sleep regardless of the hour. I was still excited about the party and all the fun, I guess!