One more thing......

Justin and I were discussing things the other day, after Suzanne and I failed to come up with the answer. Attribute it to age or having had too much happen since then, but neither she nor I could come up with what started the crash in 2008. I knew Justin had the answer since he is a student of this and has a fresher memory. The long and short was consumer confidence wavering (ah, yes, I remember now.....) prior to the elections, and the dominoes started to fall. He told me about people we know in common who wisely cashed in their investments the day of, or the day prior to, the lowest closing of the markets in a decade. Yikes!

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As we talked, I reminded Justin how glad I was for not cashing out back in 2006 after he graduated from high school. My thought was to cash out, move to Greece, and live happily ever after, rather than face being an empty-nester. Well, none of that came to be, since he was accepted to UNF, a local college and was not going off to some far corner of the USA for school. And he lived at home with his mama at first, too, where I became his college roommate! Fast forward to the present, where Justin is now living in student suites and I am here, not in Greece, which is bankrupt!

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Justin at first said, "That would not really affect you...." but trailed off, realizing just how miserable life would be without government services. No ports, no electricity (if it's publicly run), devalued currency, no services, no police or fire protection, no airports....I need the airport so that my downstairs neighbor, Jeff, who flies for FedEx, could bring me my summer sausage every couple weeks! What else would I eat???? When Twila and I were talking about it yesterday at lunch, she said, "You would have had to learn to fish and eat it raw!". Yech! Thank you, Lord, for guiding me properly in this decision-making!!!

I guess it worked! (Warning....)

Last week I chanted "No Snow!" and it worked, at least here it did! Now it is sun shiny and bright, warming me nicely in my chair. The palm trees are moving ever so slightly, not quite as wild as they were last night. It can be calm everywhere else but along the river, regular gusts are funneled from one end to the other. It sounds cool to hear the trees being rustled, much like falling asleep to thunder. The helicopter traffic has increased again lately which might mean training is in session or a squadron came in.

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So far no boats in sight but to look, I turn my entire chair instead of only my neck. My shoulders are achy on the left side which I am attributing to my new throw pillows! The comforter set came with three throw pillows, one of which I propped behind my shoulders when using the laptop in my bed. I think I will return to Plan A for doing that as it seems to cause some discomfort later. Last night when I decided to turn over for sleeping, I piled the pillows on the passenger side of the bed, atop the two bed pillows and the sham pillow already in place. The stack of pillows stood almost two feet above my head and I feared them tumbling down and smothering me as I slept! It made me chuckle yet once more before dropping off to sleep....would my death be ruled a suicide, self-smothered by the pile of pillows???? Or, murder, caused by the people who sent me the pillows in my order...pre-meditated, reckless endangerment! Or, that girl watches too much TV!

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Last night the late episode of "Seinfeld" was the infamous "The Chinese Restaurant" which was performed entirely in a restaurant, waiting for a table. This was something never tried before in a sitcom format and the creators had a tough time getting the producers to go along with the premise. It worked, it really did. There is much drama waiting for a table and twice as much comedy, too. After the group has waited wwaayy too long for a table that they were told would be available, "Oh, 5, 10 minutes" more than once, they finally decide to leave. As they leave the restaurant, we hear the words from the maitre D: "Seinfeld, four!" It is so funny! Guess you had to be there.....or here!

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My breakfast this morning consisted of the second last of my hot cross buns, no longer hot. I have been nursing them along so they are not gone too soon. Ordinarily not a breakfast eater, for some reason I awoke simply ravenous, making it necessary to eat something earlier than usual. I did have a glass of V8 Fusion at bedtime which is not normally when I drink it so I wonder if that stimulated some hunger for the morning. For lunch today I will make a sandwich to eat with the kids in the classroom as this is my school day! My favorite day of the week, besides Sunday, is the one spent with the kids.

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It occurred to me last week when one of Laurie's boys was reading his classwork to her---I never heard my little guy read to me. Since he was in pre-k, he was getting better at figuring out sounds and such but had not progressed to being able to read. Nor had any wiggly teeth. For Timmy's baptism celebration, Laurie's grandparents, Shirley and Joe, gave us a silver mini-compact engraved with the words "First Tooth". Instead of a lost tooth in that compact, a lock of Timmy's hair is enclosed and sealed tightly.

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Lying to my children came quite easily, only I did not consider it lying, more like retaining control, at the time. I would rejoice when I found a stray shopping cart handy to the car to off-load Timmy from the carseat into the cart, strapped into place for our trip for groceries. The notices on the walls in the lobby I would read to him as "All small boys must ride in carts" no matter what it said. Hopefully Justin, if he was with me, would not blow the whistle on me! Not long before he died, our yet-intact family was dining at our favorite Chinese buffet. Timmy pointed to a sign near the restrooms and asked what it said. I read it to him "All boys must sit quietly". As we sat there, enjoying our meal, he suddenly piped up, "There is no 'qua, qua' in that word!" Busted!!!!! Darn that pre-k!!! Thinking quickly, I explained to him that it was written in Chinese............whew! Good save, Mom!

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Same restaurant, possibly the same visit.....His father had to take him to the bathroom (which is what was actually pointed out on the sign...) where there was a rather large wall mural, a mermaid in the water with fish, I think. When Timmy finished going potty and washed his hands, he asked his daddy to pick him up so he could touch her top! What??? His father thought that was so funny, and it really is, but where did that come from?

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How does one have their day made? Getting a G-chat from your 22 year-old son, out of the blue, saying, "Wuv woo".....awwwwww.