The sun is out, although not beaming brightly just yet, which makes it seem warmer than yesterdays's dark and rainy skies. If there is any doubt that it is cold here, the thermometer proves it, showing 45 above zero at this moment. Of course, that will 'warm' by 20 degrees as the day progresses, which is yet chilly by most standards. Only a week or so ago we still had high 80's which makes this quite dramatic a change.
Wednesday night I went over to The Club for Happy Hour and met up with my sweetheart ladies, older ladies for whom I am quite fond, including Mary Lew from water aerobics. Janet, who lives in the condos just north of The Club on the property plus Betty, who lives in The Palace. Betty's daughters and son often accompany her on Wednesdays, not all at once, and it is fun to get to know them as well. Cindy, a daughter I had not yet met, knew about me somehow, and asked me, sort of on the sly, if I could encourage her mom to get her paints out again. Her other sister, Kathy, must have said something about me liking to paint. Betty also used to write poetry and such so they are encouraging her in that direction as well. Betty is a recent widow, and it is taking some time for her to get back into the swing of things. It is less than a year, and coming to Happy Hour plus other socializing is a great re-start for her.
Hugh and Maureen came over to HH a bit later so she joined our table while Hugh chummed with some males standing at the bar. Karrie, the owner of The Club, visited all over the room and eventually lit at our table. Poor Mary Lew was trying to move from one chair to another, when she put her hand on the chair to scoot in, it slid out from her and bang!!!, down she and the chair went. Maureen screamed and made it sound worse than the metal-framed chair hitting the ceramic-tiled floor. The men rushed over, since they were standing up already, some of the ladies, to help get her back up again. Mary Lew (in her late 70-s, early 80's) was unhurt, except for her pride, but I gave her a call yesterday to see how she was doing. As Karrie said, "She's only drinking ice water..." so it was not a booze related accident at all. Janet was wearing a medical device which monitors her blood pressure and heart rate, and I told her she had better sit quietly for a few moments after this event or the folks looking at it will really be alarmed when they review it! Maureen, Hugh, Miss Chardonnay and I all left for home at once, and already one could feel how cool it was getting. It was sprinkling when I walked over but not when going home.
At HH, the appetizers were okay, buffalo chicken tenders which were too spicy for my taste, and the brie with crackers and fruit. Good thing that was not my dinner that night! Last week the chicken was not buffalo and could make that my dinner, with the brie and crackers. Next week, I believe, is the mini-buffet but I am not sure if I will be there or not. Rachel had approached me after the Reformation Service to encourage me to sing with the joint choir for Advent. She offered to get me the sheet music and CDs so I can review it for content, etc. I told her I would love to look at it and would participate, which might, just might, affect my departure date for WI. Must check both church's calendars to see what is when! But choir rehearsal is on Wednesday nights which would interfere with my HH schedule....
So, Thursday was Bible study with the Victory family and Justin, although he came here to shower before we drove together to Victory. He is staying for a few weeks at his father's new house, until he can move back to the beach. I comfort myself with the fact that my house is torn apart yet with the repairs being made or in pending. But anyway, we left from my house for Bible study which continues it look at why trials and tribulations come into our lives and how we deal with them. This is Justin's first time in this study since he was absent last week when we started it, and when he looked at the cover of the booklet, he said, "Oh, boy....", knowing what delicate subjects we will be discussing.
The sanctuary, where we meet, was lined with tables stacked high with donated items for their yard sale. At one point in the discussion, we talked about the Israelites getting their manna flakes from heaven every day and how they were to only get a day's worth at a time, as a test. The example was the way people 'worry' about things like clothing, shoes, a roof, food, stuff, and I pointed out the tables laden with the extra stuff from people's homes. Even some of the 'stuff' from my own home was out there, Timmy's toys that I had donated. I had told Liz in the pre-k that if they could not use it in the classroom, they could sell it in the yard sale. I should not just say Timmy's toys, since some of them were Justin's as well. We truly live in a land of plenty!
After the class Justin and I went to have lunch at Panda Express which was probably not the best idea since we had two hours between finishing lunch and the movie beginning. Silly us! To pass the time, we went to Barnes and Noble where I bought two more movies, actually more than two, since one is a series in a box. We wanted to watch "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" with Jimmie Stewart as the lead actor, and I bought "Founding Brothers" about our nation's founders, a multi-disc set. As a member of this 'club', I got discounts on my purchases so it wasn't as much money spent on 'stuff' as it could have been. Justin needed a coffee and I got a soda with a ginger cookie which we shared in the little cafe. Then headed to the movie theater at Tinseltown. Man, it was cold in there! I had not been that cold since the weekend before at the Worship Conference!!! And I am still laughing about hearing the water dripping from the ceiling over the sound of the movie.
When we got home again, in the drizzling rain, Justin helped carry up the balance of my purchases from Publix bought the day before, and put them away. Then he grabbed his dirty clothes from earlier in the morning, and told me he was going to his father's house to take a nap. Immediately I climbed onto the bed and snuggled under my fleece throw to get warm, sporting slippers. You would think it was 30 below, the way we were acting! No sooner had I settled in with my laptop and was getting caught up on things, than did Judy J. call to see if I wanted to go to dinner. At first I refused, not wanting to leave the warmth of my blankie, but she insisted the car would be nicely warmed for me and the fireplace roaring at Cracker Barrel. Well, she was right about the car being warmed up but no fire at Cracker Barrel. In fact, Seth, our usual server, was sweating as he dashed about the dining room. It seems, we heard later, that there were problems in the kitchen last night, and we overheard one man report to his wife that their meal was no charge because it was so bad. Mine was grand, although Judy complained her piece of meat loaf was smaller than mine!! She even measured it with her knife....yup, mine was bigger!
