Monday morning musings

"Monday Monday, can't trust that day...' is the appropriate song for this sunless, overcast morning. In fact, the space shuttle was attempting to land this morning and NASA had to wave them off for another try around 10:00 something due to the layer of clouds. I am not sure why the shuttle has to have clear skies to land because airplanes do it all the time but they obviously know better than I do. It might be because of the tiles on the exterior of the shuttle or something. It's just that I will be in Bible study learning about the millennium when it lands, likely not hearing the sonic boom.

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There is much to talk about since I missed posting on Sunday, as if anyone noticed. Saturday morning Brenda N. and I went to have breakfast at IHOP on the Island, the first time she had been there since it opened. It would be rare for her to eat out unless she is with me, go figure! We enjoyed our breakfast, mine being a fried egg served with rye toast, and hers being a funky omelet with spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms. She grabbed the bill before I could so treated me, something which I do not approve of. Oh well, I will get even, as it were, later. While we were waiting for our meals and chatting, an obnoxious Pee Wee Herman-type balloon man came to our table to woo us with shaped balloons. He made what resembled a bouquet, all the while being giggly and annoying, certainly little children would be amused by his antics. We were not. People around us were snickering as Brenda and I would exchange looks, keeping our comments to ourselves, waiting for him to move on. He called us VIPs and sort of fussed over us, etc., while we were trying to talk. At last he was done, handing Brenda the flower. When we left the restaurant, I gave the waitress a dollar to tip the poor guy, as he was only trying to earn some extra money, right?

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From IHOP we headed to St. Margaret's for the Art Festival and were absolutely delighted at what we saw. The beautiful handmade jewelry, even handmade beads!, original designs, etc. But neither of us bought any jewelry, instead, buying books, of all things! The hosts of the event are members of St. Margaret's and dress in period clothing, even a rebel soldier or two walking around the grounds. It was a lovely day temperature-wise and I will bet those in costume were glad it was not warmer. I bought a book about the quaint churches in our area, and had the author sign it for me, as well as book written by a lady I'd heard speak at a Writer's Conference years ago. She is a local, from Green Cove Springs, and she signed the book for me as well. Later, Brenda and I both bought the book by Eugenia Price called "Margaret's Story" which is about this part of the world, historical in nature, featuring St. Margaret's church now on the cover. In a million years, I would never have expected to be buying books instead of jewelry at an art fair. Only a few artists from the Guild were there, sadly, not even Kris who must have decided against a booth this year.

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After a leisurely ride around Pine Avenue, we decided it was time for an adult beverage at Whitey's so we headed down there to sit on the deck. Besides our pina coladas, we shared a tray of fried dill pickles and the lovely weather on this porch, watching the boats coming and going. It was a great great first part of the day, and I got to grab this bill, so we were even!

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I spent the rest of the day nursing my wounded pointer finger, after I had stopped at Publix for a few items. My friends were coming over for Dinner and a Movie for which I got boneless ribs, golden mushroom soup, and green beans. I made some egg noodles and we dived into our quick supper. Our movie for the night was "Sherlock Holmes" which we really enjoyed, me even more than the others because I had neither read the books (really?) nor seen the previous movies or TV shows. Robert Downey Jr. pulled off a very interesting and amusing Holmes, with Jude Law his more level-headed reluctant partner in crime solving. Judy J. was sitting next to me and I kept jumping and reacting, which would startle her. I just get all involved and made Judy laugh, and somewhat fearful for her own safety!

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All the while we watched the movie, I was soaking my finger in epsom salts and warm water, which did not stay warm long. The microwave would reheat the water which would be too hot at first and make my finger hurt more. As the ladies were leaving, I told them I might try poking it with a needle and relieve some of the pressure and ooze but it did not seem to do much except hurt more! I soaked it in hydrogen peroxide for a bit before applying Neosporin and a lightly applied bandage. I did the same thing yesterday afternoon, except the needle thing, and today, thus far, it seems bulbous. Makes typing a challenge with the bandage in place so will beg your forgiveness if there are mess ups. I did have a mess to clean up though as the salt water leaves quit a lot of residue, including on the keyboard, mouse, and even cell phone. Clorox wipes to the rescue!

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Yesterday morning was Bible study and worship, our study wrapping up about Christians and Government. Our final session went too quickly as there was much we could have talked about, especially with the recent political events, but the clock was our enemy. Next week we begin again, "Come, Worship Christ" which I pray will be well attended given the 'controversy' going on in the congregation regarding worship styles and such. My guess is that it won't be well attended, that the regulars will be there, but it won't hurt for us to talk it up a bit. Part of the charm of this study with video is that our former pastor, Pete Prange, is shown as a student, singing in the choir.

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Our worship was wonderful as The Maestro was on the MIDI but primarily used the keyboard for our hymns. The first one we sang was "In Christ Alone" and I sang out without once shedding a tear. Yay!!! The readings were all New Testament including one from Revelation, from which our sermon text came, the first in a series from that book. We also sang a couple hymns from the Holy Communion section of the Supplement which are so lovely. It seemed like a fuller house yesterday, thankfully, as we had only 59 last week.

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Emily and Sarah have agreed to serve as models with me and the other ladies for the Mother/Daughter Spring Fling so next week after church we must go to Bealls in Oakleaf to try on our garments. I offered to model a shower curtain or a bedspread......I assured Emily they have clothes for people like us, and in fact, I used to shop there lots when Mom still wintered with us, as this was one of her favorites. We are responsible for our own footwear so I might have to get a new pair of summer shoes for this big event!

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Twila called me after she had left church and we agreed to meet at Chili's on the Island for lunch. We froze in there and cannot blame adult beverages for this problem since it was before 2:00 pm. As we were waiting for our meals, some customers of mine from the 'old days', a couple who have more than once told me that I built their house, not the company. Aw, shucks! Well, they came over and gave me hugs, and then said, "We were just talking about you!" I introduced them to Twila, of course, before they told me how they were talking with their neighbors, one of which is a church member with them, about who built their homes, etc. My name came up and they evidently shared my story with them although not saying that to me, I got the impression from things they said about the neighbor's home--"built after your time" by my former company. The husband said, "(Our house) is what it is because of who was there (my company)...." They just made me feel so good, and when Fonzie hugged me, he said, "We just love you, we just love you", as I got tears in my eyes. Wow, that was powerful! That warmed me up just fine!

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After lunch I came back home and began the finger soaking process. I sat in the family room so I could put the bowl on a hard table to minimize the mess from the saline. At one point I called my mom to see how her day was, as their church was holding a "Listening Sunday" after the worship. They had taken part in the now defunct Parish Assistance program to help rebuild their congregation and church from the inside out. Mom read to me some of the items they were to discuss in their focus groups, and she told me Tommy was in her group. How fun!

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My evening was spent with the neighbors again, first on Friday night and again, last night. The Club was holding a luau, as they do every year, and it would have been Caleb's favorite event of the year. He passed away the week after Easter, when I was in WI so I missed the funeral. I told the folks last night, who thought this was too soon for Caleb's sister for such a major event, that this could be Caleb's wake. He would have loved it, except the temperatures did not cooperate. When the party was being set up at 3:00, it was warm and still; this did not last! Our group from The Palace moved inside to the 'new room' out of the wind, while some faithful stayed outside. Later, after we had moved to our sun deck, one of the ladies reported how her plate of food blew into the face of her friend, fortunately the bottom of the plate hit her or it would been like a pie in the face! I had heard that a cold front was moving through but this was ridiculous! As we sat around the table in the dining room, Maureen's punch must have been talking because she leaned over and said to me, "You are the nicest person in the building..." and when I looked at her with wonder, she said, "Hugh says that all that time!" Wow, what an ego boosting day, and what a challenge to live up to those declarations I heard over my meals of the day! I sat on the deck with the group until about 8:30 before I just had to get warm and came inside. It was a fun night, good food with the pig roast and rum punch, and my neighbors!