A couple observations...

Yesterday while waiting for my prescriptions, I sat on the bench near the pharmacy for a couple minutes as I had found the items I needed to buy and wanted not another thing. A mom came through with two young girls, perhaps 11 or 12, old enough to walk around without their mom. There was a Dr. Scholl's display near where I sat, with handrails on it. Apparently one stands on this thing and it determines something about your arches or feet, recommending a certain product Dr. Scholl's offers. The one little girl said to her mom, "I wanna stand on this thing..." to which the shopping mom said, "No, stay here with me" where upon the little girl slipped her shoes off and climbed onto the gizmo. Why did she even ask her mom if she was going to do it anyway? Why did the mom tell her no when she had no intent of stopping her or even a good reason she should not? Mom was standing right there searching the vitamin shelves so it was not that the child wandered away, but the mom had said, "No", and that should have been that. There was no follow through, and likely none expected since the girl had no hesitation at all about doing it anyway. Huh...

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Last night Martie and I met for drinks and dinner when she got done working. Usually we meet at the Mexican restaurant just up the road from where she works and have a margarita, and eat. She wanted something different so she suggested the Olive Garden. We found ourselves going in tandem to the restaurant, as she came around the corner off of Kingsley as I came from home. My drink of choice was the berry sangria and Martie had a standard margarita, not the Italian one. Martie had a late lunch so we shared a house salad, more than enough for two people, and I ordered the appetizer of flat bread with tomatoes and mozzarella. It was okay, but do not think I would order it again. Should have stuck with my usual of chicken scampi! My tummy was mad about the salad (thank you VERY much, Joanne!!!!) as it evidently did not sit well. I fell asleep early but soon woke up feeling awful, realizing the storm had ended and the moon was out in full force. That was quick!

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When at Wal*Mart yesterday I found a display with discounted picture frames. I needed a new frame for the bulletin insert from Timmy's funeral service and found a lovely one for $3.00. The existing one hung on the wall in the preschool and the hook let loose, causing the frame to break. It has taken me this long to remember to get a new frame! When I got home, I tried it on for size and found that the insert had faded substantially so I will replace it with a fresh one from one of the service folders. So, I have two things to get hung up in the classroom building one of these days. I remember taking my tack hammer and little cup of nails/hooks with me to the fellowship hall when I hung up a picture donated by Jean N. but could not locate the little shelf that went with it. I left the tools on the sink but now cannot recall the last time I saw them...Perhaps under the sink or in a cabinet or in the hall closet. If I cannot find the hammer, I will have to take a different one from home. Maybe Mike C. will help me hang the larger framed piece I picked up yesterday from Great Hang Ups.

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My boy has been somewhat a stranger, because I have not seen him since Thursday at Bible study. It seems he is done with his spring classes and has been keeping busy working and playing. He plays beach volleyball on Saturday mornings and am not sure what they do the rest of the day (his friends and he) and likely do not need to know. I sent him a wake-up text message on Sunday because the week before, when he was staying at his friend's house in Mandarin, he did not leave enough time for the travel to church so he missed it. He said they got busy downloading stuff on their phones or something and I did not want that to happen again. On this past Sunday, Justin told me he had just gotten out of the shower so was on track to make it to church on time. His friend's parents are in Hawaii celebrating their 25th anniversary so the two guys are staying at his house, watching the dog and the grandma. That is the sweet grandma who wrote me the lovely Thank You card after sharing our feast at Easter, etc. Justin sent me a long message yesterday reporting that he is busy at Ron's getting ready for his birthday party this weekend, a Redneck Party. Last week he told me they were trying to 'guilt' Ron's folks into coming back for their son's birthday. Wouldn't these kids be surprised to have the parents show up??? At least Grammy will be there!

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Justin said they bought clothesline to hang 'granny panties' and other wretched items from, and I told him that his auntie Lynn would be so proud of him! They also picked up two kiddie pools (a.k.a. above ground pools!) for keeping the beverages in, and other fun ideas. Unfortunately they could not find any discarded toilets to decorate the yard and Justin, in his typical fashion, even asked Ron if they did not need to replace a toilet in the house.......NO!!!!! They already have a trash barrel they are using for roasting hot dogs and such, since Jesse's sister operates a hot dog cart, has a great connection for jumbo dogs. I can taste them already...mmmmmmm! I do hope the kids clean everything up perfectly and don't kill the grass with the kiddie pools or the slip 'n slide they are fabricating out of sheets of plastic. I can already hear his moans and groans about hurting himself...

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Justin will be coming here on Thursday after Bible study to do the cleaning and whatever else I want him to help me with, giving me until 5:00 pm. I can pack all sorts of jobs into that time frame, believe me! This means I will have to get busy with the dusting again. It seems the worst of the pollen problem may be behind us with a couple rain showers and brisk winds perhaps moving it along. We had rain on Sunday, I think, and again last night, briefly but the breezes have been delightful, making the wind chimes sing in the river room. Another of the ice cycles from my glass sun catcher fell the other day, leaving only two or three hanging in there. I told Justin a new sun catcher would make a lovely Mother's Day present....like I am hard to buy for!