My photo
No longer on the river and, again, an empty nester. Back to living on Fleming Island and making some more friends!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Another hazy start to the day

Manatees frolicking in the basin yesterday morning. What a good life on the river!
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The air is hazy and I am hazy plus a bit lazy this a.m. It is still early in the a.m. and since I have no one to boss me or answer to, who is to say, besides me, that I am lazy? I can be most productive without even putting my feet on the floor! Thanks to this wonderful technology, I can communicate with my family members and friends in all parts of the world, from my bed, even as far away as Africa! One of my 'friends' is serving in the Central African Medical Mission field, due to come back to north Florida in June. She is now busily tying up lose ends and such before turning over the reins to another team.
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This morning I am a bit hungry probably because Judy J. and I ate dinner quite early last night, throwing off my schedule!, before going to Bible study. I was hungry for the meatloaf from Cracker Barrel which I enjoyed with baby red potatoes instead of my usual mashed, plus green beans. Yum! Judy had some sort of spinach salad with chicken cut up over it, and ate every bit of it! Oh, those salad eaters! To counter the salad, though, Judy talked me into sharing a strawberry shortcake dessert but I was already so full from my dinner that I only had a few nibbles of it. Maybe if I ate more of the dessert, I would not be hungry this a.m.....nah!
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Bible study was well attended with 10 of us total, including two prospects who will use this class as their Bible Information Class. It is a DVD series called Communicating Christ, portions which we used in a previous Sunday morning class. It will go on for 15 weeks and already Judy and I know we will miss some of them due to our travels. June will find me back in WI for Alayna's graduation and Judy is going to MI in July for a few weeks. I think we can catch up or at least be up to speed in no time when we return from our trips. Hopefully those who were there last night will continue to come every week, it was quite satisfying to see as many come that did, even in the pouring rain! By the way, there was no problem with the A/C since Sunday's event, as it was plenty cool in the fellowship hall for our Bible studies!
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Yesterday was my time in the kindergarten and all six kids were there for a change. Laurie asked me if I could bring her some lunch so I stopped at McDonald's and got her a McDouble and some fries from the dollar menu and myself, a chicken sandwich which I sometimes find too peppery. None of the kids reported ever finding it too peppery but it is so funny what they pick up on and run with. Even the bologna in the little girl's Lunchable was too peppery! Really? One of Laurie's sons has a loose tooth and needs to have his apple sliced up in order to eat it. Well, we had no knife to cut the apple so I told him to put the apple aside and eat something else from his lunch instead. All through the meal he sat with the apple in his hand or in front of him, still asking for a knife. He just could not grasp the fact that he was not going to eat the apple unless he bit it off, see? Her sons cannot go outside to recess until they have finished their tiny bottle of water and often we will sit there, waiting for them to finish it, while the others are chomping at the bit to go outside. It gets comical sometimes, and inevitably one of them ends up spilling theirs, and yesterday, it went down one's back! Don't ask me how that happened!?!
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More and more work is being done trying to figure out our new banners for the preschool and to promote the big anniversary we are celebrating in July. We are on our third draft, trying to perfect and get the most bang for the buck. Finally Kelly from the banner place sent me a message saying, "We have to talk!! Call me!!" I called her in the afternoon and we hashed things over, as she explained that the most recent request was 'extreme overkill' and would cost a small fortune. They know church money is tight and wants to make sure we are well served by the banners and the cost. I sent another in a series of e-mails to those who are 'in the loop' on this explaining what Kelly told me, and perhaps we will soon have a decision regarding these banners. We will have two posted at once, a permanent one promoting the preschool and a smaller, changeable one at the top of the supports for the special events, in this case, the anniversary. Whew! We just need a decision please!
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I had left my tools at church for hanging a shelf which I could not locate when I was ready. My tack hammer and nails were left by the sink in the fellowship hall and then vanished. Sunday I searched in the cabinets and cupboards, the obvious places where they could have been tucked away. Not finding the tools, I did find the missing shelf. Yesterday I climbed into the utility closet off the hallway and pulled down a sort of tool basket, and there they were! My little hammer and my nails were safe in the closet in the tool basket. Now I can put up the shelf as well as the framed piece I picked up from Great Hang Ups last week. Hopefully I can get into the classroom building this evening before choir and get it hung in place. Can't be nailing things during the day when classes are going on, right?
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On Facebook yesterday I posted that I had finished my third book for the year over the weekend, staying up late on Saturday night to do so. This would be my third book completed since New Year with my goal being a book a month. I am missing that goal but way ahead of last year!
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That night was also the night of the big fight at the wedding reception taking place at The Club. My stomach still feels funny when I think about it. It was so lovely a night on Saturday that after sitting outside with the neighbors, I kept my doors open for ventilation as I sat in the family room. About 9:30 or so, I heard this ruckus coming across the property and thought they must be doing the bouquet or garter toss, as various times a roar would come up. But, it sounded more rough than that, with the roaring and foul language making its way into my house. I could hear this over the music being played for the wedding so I went to take a look. Sure enough, there were fisticuffs going on and nasty words flying as well. I saw the bride outside walking forth and back on the patio, and some of the staff around them. I hoped that no one from the wedding had struck one of the staff or something as it seemed all of the men outside had white shirts and dark pants, like the staff wears. Since it was dark, it was hard to see but with my binoculars, I was able to see someone being attended on a bench and another group off to the side with the police officers. Oh, oh!
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The next night, the owner of The Club was on our sundeck with us and I just had to ask what in the world was going on over there the night before. Karrie said there was fight (really???) between one of the guests and the groom. Oh no!! How horrible is that?? Maureen asked who called the police and Karrie said the staff has instructions to do so whenever it looks like trouble is brewing. The wedding was closed down about two hours earlier than planned, with the blessing of the bride's mother, and I will bet much much regret will follow this wedding. Hopefully not so for the marriage. No one in our group knew who was involved in the fight with the groom but let's hope it was not one of his new in-laws! This was quite unacceptable and I told Karrie that, too, even though there is little she can do about that.
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Yesterday I had the distinct treat of seeing manatees frolicking in the basin, right up close to the building. At first I had gone downstairs to take my photos but went back upstairs where the vantage point was better. We are so glad here in our building that they came back because many manatees, turtles, and fish died during our very cold winter, even though the manatee go to the warmer waters in the fall. It was just plain too cold for too long for them to survive. Not man's fault at all this time, it just happened.
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Ooooh, I am getting so warm here in my bed as the sun is pouring in on me. Even though it is hazy, the sun is hot! This comforter, new in the spring, is quite warm and a blessing to me. The temps dropped here last evening by nearly 20 degrees when the rains began, showing 69 degrees as Judy drove me home from Bible study. It had been 87 when I left the kindergarten early afternoon. At least we did not have the tornado warnings like my family and friends in WI experienced last night. Praise be to God for Kerry's cortisone shot working so far in relieving most if not all of her pain in the back and legs!!!! The shot about killed her but the relief today, so far, is remarkable. She is giving it a day or so before trying going back to work after being off on disability for a couple weeks. She has been suffering with this since Easter and that is just way too long. I am so thankful she has relief from this and pray it will not come back again ever!!!!