A dull night for a change

And there is nothing really engaging for me to watch on TV at this moment, so when all else fails--football! It has been a busy busy day so it feels wonderful to be at home and settled in this evening. My morning began as usual on Thurdays with a drive to Victory for Bible story. I tried calling Mom as is my custom but her line was busy. I think she miscalculated the time or something and was on-line when I tried calling her, which ties up her phone line. Oops! Instead I made my Prayer Chain calls to the ladies, letting them know about the passing of Jane Brown. We had no arrangements to report to folks as of this morning but since then Mike has let me know the plans. More calls were made to my folks on the Chain with that information. Pastor is out of town, returning on Monday. Carol, the 'organizer' of the funerals, is returning to town after this weekend and will have to jump right back into it!

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We were missing a few people this a.m. but still had five plus Pastor Hoyer for the class. Victory is still looking for a few more children for their VPK as they are short of the enrollment they had last year, for some unknown reason. The congregation has hopes of adding grades in the future and I hope this does not indicate a set-back for them. Justin and I left in my car for lunch and when I suggested going for Chinese, he mentioned Mama Fu's. We did a u-turn and headed back to church to get his car, as the restaurant he chose is not far from where he is staying. (Do you remember Ron, who joined my family and friends for Easter dinner this year? His mom and grandma came, too. Well, Justin is staying with them for the time being, until November, I understand.) Anyway, we enjoyed our lunch el fresco at Mama Fu's, a place my neighbor, Jessica, raved about last night. That's why I was on board for going to eat there and it was good! I ordered brown rice and sweet/sour chicken, plus picked up some food to take home for Jessica, as she sent me a text with her desires. When I delivered it upstairs, she presented me with a plate of cookies, about a half dozen as my reward!

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Leaving Justin, I headed toward home and called Mom, this time getting through to her. She told me about getting her auto insurance all figured out, reducing her expenses because she is not driving any longer, yet must cover her car as long as she owns it. Alayna went with her grandma to help get things figured out as it can be quite complicated. Anyway, Mom was doing well, had gone out for her walk already that morning even though it was sort of chilly. Their hot weather has moved on, it seems.

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At 2:00 I had a dental appointment so I hung up with Mom and got myself turned around to head to the Island for my check-up. This time I had a substitute hygienist because Roblee was sick. It was my first opportunity to have the stand-up panoramic imaging done of my mouth. Besides that one, Lisa took several more using the digital x-rays with some of them giving her a hard time. My mouth is still tender from biting down on the rigid plastic thing. Ouch! There were no cavities but one area of concern above a tooth which already has a root canal in it. Peggy gave me a scrip for penicillin to have on hand in case, in case, something goes on with it. It's free from Publix so I can go anytime to have it filled and 'spend $200 while you wait", as Peggy said. Right!

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My original plan was to go to Wal*Mart afterward but I decided to just go on home. After having my teeth pressure washed, x-rayed, poked, prodded, flossed, polished, and everything else, I was done! It was nearly 3:30 pm and had enough for one day. Later I took the food upstairs to Jessica and visited for a bit. We discussed the events of last evening and she, too, was a bit surprised at how we did not get a real dinner out of it. I told her how my friend, Penny, called to ask me how I enjoyed it and I filled her in. She said they (those at Happy Hour not part of the Scotch tasting) wondered aloud when we were going to get our dinner, as they could see us through the doors. Kerrie, the owner, told them there was no dinner, only appetizers and Penny said all were taken aback at that. We just won't do that again!

An evening of note

My very first, and I would guess, last, Scotch Tasting event! Yes, that is what I did last night at The Club. Now that I know how this all works, I will know that I am not interested in taking part in it, not matter how delicious the filet mignon crustinis are! Oh, my goodness, were they wonderful!!! The other food items, served buffet-style and on the trays of the roving waitstaff, were mainly fish-based so I feasted on the filet served with caramelized onions on a crispy tiny piece of bread. Silly me! I assumed we would sit around tables and enjoy our meal, rather than having it be served more like appetizers. After we were done with the appetizers, we were escorted into the 'fireplace room' of the mansion where we sat at tables with glasses in front of us. Each glass had a dribble of Scotch whiskey in it, on a placemat marked with its origin. Those in attendance got a history lesson and chemistry lesson on how scotch is made, how long it sits in barrels, how the barrels are made, etc.

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Now, I used the 'we' word several times without clarifying who was with me. Sunday at the pool, Ellen, Maggie and I were talking about Wednesday's pending Happy Hour and the later scotch tasting. Neither Ellen or I drink scotch but Maggie was interested so Ellen made reservations for us. The menu sounded so delicious, except for the fish things for me, but give me filet mignon, and I am in! Only next time I will be wise to the appetizer vs. table service serving style. Ellen had other guests with her including a long time friend of theirs, Steve, and a relatively famous young man named Jasin, whom Maggie used to date. He has a long history and connections to the family and the band (Skynyrd) but he was as down-to-earth acting as Billy and Ellen ever were, are. He took great delight in mocking my accent (doncha know?) and watching my head spin around when I tasted those potent liquors. Jessica joined us at the last minute, and we had great fun as Ellen, Jasin, and I won door prizes, we ladies each getting stainless business card holders that say "Johnny Walker" on the outside, and Jasin getting cuff links!

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While I was not a fan of LS before I moved in here, I studied up a bit so as not to be a big dumbie when talking with my new neighbors. A couple years ago Justin sent me a link to a youtube video to listen to a song originally written for Skynyrd but covered by this group called Shine Down. Justin sent it because he knew I would like the message (I know I have written about this before...) and like the acoustic version of this song. I did like it, and have already included this version of the song to be played at my funeral after-party in his honor because he basically chose it for me. And now I have sipped Scotch with the man who sings on that version of "Simple Man", doncha know?!

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Speaking of funerals, on my way out of The Club last night, I saw a message had come from Mike C. reporting that our member, Jane, had passed away that day. Jane is Kristi's mom and has had some health problems for some time now. Her hubby, Bill, will certainly miss his Janie, as he called her, even had her name tattooed on his arm before they were even married, over 50 years ago. Heaven just got even sweeter with Jane there!

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Later on when I was at home on Facebook, Justin instant messaged me to complain about sharing a birthday with George Bernard Shaw. Shaw is a well-known playwright who was also in favor of "thinning of the herd", being a proponent of Hitler's selective elimination of those less than perfect in society, etc. The only solution was to change his birthday. I told him about my Scotch tasting thing and he was surprised. He asked if I liked it and I told him I did not but managed to drink the last 'brand' by pouring it into my Diet Coke! I wrote that just as he wrote to me that it is okay in Diet Coke....Great minds think alike! I did that once with some cognac shared by a friend of ours from Waterford Landing and he was horrified that I corrupted his French liqueur by dumping it in my soda!