"....like smoke through a keyhole....."

In the movie, "The Bucket List", the two men facing their pending demises (is that a word???), were discussing the rapid passing of time, going by nearly unnoticed when it seemed there was still plenty of years before them. Now that it seemed more like only months left in their lives, they speculated how quickly that time will pass, and Edward sort of whispers, "...like smoke through a keyhole....". One of my favorite lines from the movie and I like to throw it out when I can in a conversation. Certainly I have used it in this blog but Mom said she does not recall hearing or reading that expression before. So I am using it tonight as I think about how next month we have Ash Wednesday coming up. Already??? We just celebrated Epiphany and now, working on the newsletter, I discover that Ash Wednesday is nearly around the corner. How did that time go by so quickly, ".....like smoke through a keyhole...."?

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My friend, Jami, whom I 'met' through The Bucket List, is home recovering from a rather dramatic surgery and is going stir crazy while at the same time feeling miserable. Movie watching is her past time because the medications do not allow her to read and focus. She asked today for suggestions for movies to watch and I sent her a list of my faves, not including the two we already share, besides "Bucket", we also love "Freedom Writers". In her blog she wrote that she roared her head off watching "The Hangover" and then added in parenthesis, "No, Kim, this movie is not for you!". She is not the first one to tell me that and I could tell from the previews this movie was not for me either. Joanne went and saw it alone one day, and told me it was horribly raunchy and vulgar, but she never laughed so hard in her life. What does that tell you???

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Thursday is usually the day Justin and I start together at Bible study but he sent me a sad text message this a.m. reporting he had to go to work on a house to prepare it for a walk-through. Evidently he had not finished it yesterday so had to go back in today. Rats! We needed him too as we had a skeleton group for class. Last week they set up extra tables and chairs so we could all squeeze in and today only three of us showed up. On the way to class I called Mom, as usual, and while we were chatting a phone call came from Martie. After class I called her back to see what was up. Normally she works on Thursdays but was off today and wanted to meet for lunch. What do you know? It worked out well that Justin was not available because Martie stepped in perfectly to take his place! Cracker Barrel it is!

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Because I was already up, dressed, and out on the road, I got there first and saved us a seat by the window where I could watch the rain come down and the lightning flash. Yup, a storm was brewing for sure! My lunch consisted of the veggie plate complete with fries, which I ordered for Martie to snack on as she waited for her apple dumpling to come. I had food, she had dessert-----that's what friends do! It was great seeing her again since she has been laid up with a terrible sinus infection and then family coming in from London and a new grand baby being born.....She is coming over Wednesday to help with my project for church and to work on some painting or cards or something. Chris, too, if she is not playing bridge next week. We need an appointment to get together with Chris, she is such a busy bee!

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Since the storm had intensified while we were in the dining room, Martie, who needed a birthday present for her granddaughter, and I shopped in the general store. It was just pouring down out there, and I thought I heard a customer telling about tornadoes somewhere but did not catch where exactly. We had been under a watch since morning until 4:00 pm but it seems a touch down occurred south of Green Cove and a possible siting at Doctors Inlet. I wonder if Twila had some excitement this afternoon??? Instead of Rush on the radio, the station went to weather reporting, have folks calling in to tell what they were seeing or experiencing on the area roads. Even on the interstate west of Jacksonville there was flooding and a huge mess from sand which moved onto the freeway where construction was going on. Glad I only had a few miles to go to get home, although going the back way was probably not the best idea as there was standing water on the street all along the river. One of the reports that came in made me laugh, because the man reported the wind was so powerful in Penney Farms, that a squirrel blew out of a tree and landed on his windshield. "We got cows!"---from the movie "Twister", only in this case, we have squirrels. Sadly, two construction workers were blown off an overpass by a gust of wind, landing on the road below. Hopefully their injuries will be minor and the squirrel recovers as well!

Here is a picture taken of hail stones which fell this afternoon. Wow, that's going to leave a mark!