Who has better friends than do I?

Let me get a drink first….ah…there, I am good to go now.

It is a gorgeous day out there, with the blue sky dotted with puffy clouds. A snowy egret is perched on the breakwater and earlier, about half-dozen manatees were also enjoying the day. Not quite 90 degrees yet but I guess this is as good as it gets.

My timing is a bit off, though, as I slept later than usual this morning. I missed most of the morning news program I enjoy, but during the night, I remember seeing the news break that the Muslim terrorist was killed in Yemen. I wonder which card he was in the Most Wanted deck…

As I was lying in my bed last evening, watching TV and listening to my radio program, I heard something else. Yes, the familiar sound of water, the moving kind and not from outside. I went in search of the sound, and heard it best in the guest bathroom as well as in the kitchen. From above…I sent both Travis and Jessica a text message asking them if they had water running or could hear it. Travis got back to me to say he could hear it, thought it was coming from above. Again, the empty unit! Ah! He was going to check the baby’s room after Fletcher woke up, where, I, of course, would have torn wildly into the room to find the source.

Sometime later, as I paced mentally and sometimes physically, Jessica sent me text message asking what I wanted earlier. I filled her in on my concern and she investigated, finding that the chain inside the toilet was tangled, and hence, the water sound. I am like a dog with this hearing water thing! Travis had trouble determining the problem but she pitched in to get it resolved. Now, I can sleep, at nearly 2:00 a.m.. So sleeping later this morning was not unexpected.

After Bible study yesterday, where we celebrated my friend, Ed’s, birthday with cherry turnovers (yes, Mom, your favorite!), I headed to Palm Coast for Marian’s memorial service. I wanted to make sure I arrived in plenty of time, allowing for a nice visit with Bonnie F., my friend formerly at Victory. She is the secretary at Christ the King now, totally running the show, as I knew she would. The last time I saw her was at the Worship Conference and we did not get to say good-bye when we left. We made up for it on Thursday.

I did get to spend time with the pastor, too, such a nice guy. He went in and played the piano while waiting for folks to arrive, thinking it would be any minute. Well, that didn’t happen, as I got a message from Justin telling me they were running late. He was a passenger so it was out of his control. He also asked me if Bonnie would be there so he could hug on her. She loved that!

When they did eventually arrive, he immediately hugged Bonnie, and then me! Some of the folks got lost coming from Orange Park, since they were not familiar. I went to sit in the church, sanctuary, waiting to begin, while everyone else mingled in the narthex. Justin came in where I was and I showed him around. He couldn’t figure out why the baptismal font is basically in the rear of the sanctuary, wondering if they dragged it forward when there was a baptism. I had watched one of the video-casts when a baptism took place and the congregation stood and turned toward the ‘baptistery’. Sharon was placed in the church to sit down as her knees were hurting so I sat with her and read her the Bible passages from the service folder while we waited.

Tina was late in arriving, bearing the urn/box of her mother’s ashes and a photograph for display. Pastor got out some nice wood columns for them to be placed next to the Paschal candle. He asked her if we were waiting for anyone else and she said, “No” at first, forgetting her husband and mother-in-law were still coming. About 20 minutes or so late, we began the service, which included no music or singing. This made me sad, but as Pastor assured me, he was able to make the service quite meaningful for all in attendance. And he did. We had 18 people, one of whom was a friend of Christina’s. I was able to listen once more to the service as it was posted on the church’s website last night already. This link was forwarded to some folks ‘back home’ whom I knew would like to hear it.

The rest of the family went over to Tina’s house for a luncheon and gathering, I believe the first time that Harv, Barb, John, and Mona would have been there. Not sure about Nancy or Sharon, though, but it might have been their first visit as well. I went home, after chatting some more with pastor, Bonnie, and meeting the new father, Vicar Hoff. He has a newborn at home, and his baptism is this Sunday. I will get to watch, from my home! As Bonnie and I enthusiastically discussed our time at the Worship Conference, Pastor teased to the vicar, saying, “Listen to these worship gurus…!” I told him about the danger of having a little bit of knowledge, and I am quite dangerous!!!!

My dear friend, Judy R., and I have been planning to call each other, but didn’t get to it, as we need time set aside for calls such as these. Since I had an hour car ride home, I called her, but had to leave a message on the machine. Rats! Later, when I was at home, my phone rang, showing me Judy was calling. It turned out that she had some time and decided to call me, and when she went to get the phone, saw that I had called her. Cool beans!

She was excited about attending a seminar for church librarians and got to hear Prof. Daniel Deutschlander speak. She asked if I heard him yet and I told her how I was going to pick him up from the airport for the pastor’s conference a year ago, but my car was acting up. Didn’t want to strand the keynote speaker on the side of the road, right? I told her I have the book, The Theology of the Cross, and she said that was what he used for his lecture. She bought the book and is braced to get into it. He admits the first couple chapters are slow going, and that’s as far as I have gotten. Guess I have to pull it out and get going again. I will be a Deutschlander guru, too!

Before we hung up, she told me how glad she was to see that the publishing house brought back her ‘absolutely most favorite of all’ book of prayers, for those dealing with stress. She used to have several copies and has given them to folks who had a need of them. Now she can restock her supply. Like the dear, dear friend she is, as I drove to meet Martie for dinner, Judy read me several of her favorite prayers, including one which brought me to her mind, dealing with grief. I have just the best friends, that’s all there is to it!

It was that type of day...

"Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes;

shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.

Heavens' morning breaks and earths vain shadows flee;

in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me."

This is nuts!

In catching up with the radio programs today, it is ridiculous to hear the reports and clips of the people being lead in chanting, protesting something about which they have no clue. One group of repeaters even chanted back ‘thank you all for coming out today…” not even realizing the ‘indoctrination portion of the meeting had ended. The protestors at Wall Street, when asked, according to some, knew they were there to protest something but were not clear exactly what. One pathetic graduate student played for the cameras, simulated sobbing over Chase Bank taking back his parent’s house, stopping mid-sob to properly spell his name for the reporters, and then crying again. Upon further investigation, it turned out his parents, both with extended degrees and employed, actually are selling their home in a short-sale. Street theater at its finest, or at its worst, as the case might be.

*****

Well, sadly, Justin was unable to join us for Trivia last night as he was kept longer helping his father get some things ready for visiting houseguests from WI. The origin plan was that he would have been done in time, come over here to take a shower and change clothes before going to Trivia. He expressed some concern about getting everything done today, besides working with the lawn guy, and I hope he did without getting an ulcer. Justin called me Tuesday while driving back from a jobsite to tell me about a lovely neighborhood with condos and townhouses. He is always thinking of me in that regard, but he agreed the neighborhood is too far off the beaten path for me. Cannot cramp my style by isolating myself, but it’s cool, anyway.

At first, when he gave me a quick call to tell me he couldn’t make it, I thought I might stay home, too, but changed my mind. Last week I was not able to visit with Stephanie or the others because of having two teams so I decided I would go to chat with my friends. What fun we had! Somehow or another we squeaked out a nice 2^nd place victory. On the one hand, there were fewer teams playing, and on the other hand, we had less competition. Nice!

Every one of us brought something to the game last night, and the host told us, to comfort us, that no one got the final question correct. Not even the sports DJs we were up against got the sports question right----whew! I do know this---if Justin had been there, he would have known the answer to the Greek mythology question. Oh well….He won’t be there next week either because he has to babysit for his soon-to-be stepsister. My frequent diner’s card from Johnny Angels is full so my meal next week is on them!

Today I got a delayed phone message from my friend, Cindy, who called me as I drove home from Trivia. Since I was talking with Mom, her call must have gone to the machine, and got lost in outer space until today. Anyway, she was right behind on I-295, and said I was her guiding light on her way home. That was so nice! She also thanked me again for directing a family from church to buy her daughter’s car. So glad it worked out for them all.

Another call, or rather, message came later than it was left, and this was after I had reset my phone because it was acting strangely. Apparently it was choking on phone messages!

We are expecting a cooling trend this weekend, but Friday is still looking to be in the low 90’s. I wish the weather would stay nice while the in-laws are in town, although they will likely think that 79 IS nice weather. For me, an extra blanket might be needed---well, not quite but it will certainly feel quite different. The biggest difference we Floridians will notice is the decreased humidity which has been extraordinarily high in these recent weeks. Perhaps then I will be able to close the door to my laundry room---the door is so swollen that it is now too large to fit the opening!

Today I had lunch with my friend, Brenda N., at Steak ‘n Shake, next door to her work. She teased me for ordering the single slider burger instead of the larger one that comes with the special. She usually orders a turkey club sandwich which is quite a good-sized serving, made on Texas toast. I do like the fries there and ate every bit of my meal. She recently lost a dear friend to a traffic accident in the Bahamas and she filled me in on the details, etc. Annie’s car was hit two blocks from home, broadsided by a police car which was going ‘at a high rate of speed’. That’s how quickly things can change. Her friend was active in her church at Freeport, an Episcopal one, and will be truly missed there, and by Brenda, here.

After lunch, I took my car in for an oil change and asked the man if there was a way they can check the power in my battery. Some times when I start my car, it acts as though it has to think about it first, and then decides to start it. This concerned me, as I remember how Justin's car just quit running that night on the way home from Trivia and had to be towed off JTB. Scary! And I don't want that happening to me. Therefore, besides fresh oil and other fluids, I have a new battery to power me down the road, with some confidence. The technician promised me the car would pop right off with every start, and it did just that when I started it tonight. Yay!

Flowers!

My friend, Diane, who also invests for me, came over last night and brought me a wonderful bouquet of flowers. She is just a dream of a friend and we always have so much to talk about when together, not the least of which is my finances. Two hours flew by far too quickly and I hated to say good-bye when the time came. Enjoy my flowers with me!

A Tuesday recap

Tuesday was an amazing day, starting early with a quick shower before I had to disembowel the lower cabinets where plumbing is located as the pest control man was coming. We had a ball-park estimate of his arrival on the property of 9 am to 1:00 pm, and I wanted to be ready. Since the cabinets were empty, I swept away the cruddlies which had made these dark recesses their home, and happily found no bug carcasses. Evidently whatever was sprayed last year has done the trick. Besides not being any bugs, this gives a person a chance to clean things out at least once a year!

Monday evening at the Board of Directors meeting, it was mentioned some of the units had leaks which became apparent during the recent rains. At some point the discussion determined that Jeff, my downstairs neighbor, who would be accompanying the pest control man to the units, would check the leak. When they came to my door, I directed Jeff’s attention to the window with the leak. He pointed out there was corrosion along the top of the window which has certainly developed over time. I stressed once more that the leak was originating above Jessica’s unit, with NO open porch or exposed areas. We realize that our river rooms were once exposed and not originally intended to be indoor space, but I AM concerned for the vacant unit above us which might be the source for the leaking. Yikes! He was going up there to check it out after he left my place, and I am interested to hear what he discovered.

So, back to the bug man---he went about his business, as busy as a bee!, spraying around the windows, doors, under the sinks, and so on. Once Jeff left, I redirected the bug man to my bedroom windows for an extra shot to address the jumping spiders that frequent there (Lynn would hate that!) and then pointed out that I had ants visiting my night stand and areas in my kitchen. He saw my bait things and agreed with me that terro is the BEST weapon against these ‘sweet ants’ (which must be different than sugar ants). He did not explain why---he is only the technician, after all. I will make a trip over to Winn Dixie to get terro, which is where I got it last time I had troubles, since the Hot Shots I am using now seem ineffective.

The fellow came up to me when he was done and asked if I still used my die-cuts and such, which he observed in the guest room. I said that I don’t use those tools as much as I did at first, and asked him why he wanted to know. It seems his wife does card making now more than scrapbooking, and he was going to offer me her die-cut tools. Now, isn’t that nice? Instead, I offered him my long-neglected rubber stamps which he was glad to take along. As I bagged them up, it occurred to me that I would have this empty stamp case, designed for holding stamps, lying around, so gave him the whole shooting match to take to his wife. He was so thankful. Earlier he told me that he would buy every new die-cut or supply, and even put himself on wait-lists for new products, to please his wife. Wow! I nearly gave him a smooch…but settled for sending the stamps along with him. Lots of money went out that door with him, but they were doing me no good drying up in the closet and will give her some joy, and he as well!

I did not immediately restock the cabinets, leaving them open to breathe a bit before I would put it all away again. The rest of the morning was spent putting the finishing touches on the newsletter for church and printed one off to mail to Gretchen. I like for her to have one done in color, but now that her sister and cousin have both passed away, she won’t have anyone to mail it to. That is what she did with her copy, mailed it off to share it.

For lunch I was attending a real live tea party at a shop down the street called “Basketique”. It is a gift shop and tea room rolled into one, and wow, what a marvelous shop it is! My eyes came out of my head as I browsed the shelves before the rest of the ladies arrived. This gathering was our water aerobics class, celebrating a wonderful season of water fun.

Since I do not drink tea, I asked Marlena if I could bring my own soda and she said I could, so had one in my purse. Fortunately, our hostess provided me with two tiny cans of Diet Coke which tided me over, but I did have to agree to at least try the tea. And I did!

What a feast we had!!! I can only begin to report what we had because it was not my usual fare of Spam on toast---more like heart-shaped bread, miniatures, with a special ham salad and goat cheese, and a heart-shaped pickled beet on top. I ate it and I loved it! There were other delicacies such as unusually flavored crackers (to me, anyway) with salmon spread and such, similar to what to was served at the “royal wedding”. There was pumpernickel bread cut into flower shapes and some sort of green stuff, and a cucumber slice. This was only the beginning! We had strawberry soup, more like pudding, with cocoa-flavored granola to sprinkle on top; cheese twists that tasted sort of like pie crust that was served with two different types of salsa, one of which was peach. I did not try the salsas, but was not crazy about the cheese sticks. Numerous types of teenie sandwiches came out, plus an olive/carrot/other veggie chopped up-type of mixture in olive oil, served with sour dough crackers, cheese cubes and salami. Oh my goodness!!!!

Pat, the hostess of the shop and tea room, told us everything we were served is also sold in the shop. I even ate some sort of potato chip that had a chili flavor to it, and liked it! Totally out of my spectrum of ‘likes’. I am already planning to bring the church ladies here perhaps in spring on a Saturday but we must make our plans quickly as her slots are filling in quickly for the coming months. The best kept secret in Orange Park, right under our noses! I want a jar of that olive stuff, which Pat said can be eaten directly from the jar if we want to, but she was out of stock on it. Believe me, I will check back in periodically to see if it has come in…yes, it was THAT delicious! For dessert she served cut up scones with two different dipping items but I could not eat anything more. Our final treat was a tea cup shaped cookie with a marshmallow topping, chocolate drizzle, and a raspberry on top. We also had fresh fruit on the table, served with cottage cheese which I ate, giant-sized berries at that. Such a delightful feast!

Facing a blackout next week

The Jacksonville Jaguars, of whom I am a fan, had a very rough day on the field in Charlotte, NC yesterday. Just before half time, the heavens opened and an enormous downpour took place. It was difficult to see sometimes as the camera lenses were covered with rain drops. Water accumulated quickly on the field, and the guys would slide and splash as they tried to catch the ball. It was almost as though it was icy, as the quarterbacks and kickers had troubles hanging onto the ball. The cameramen were showing the waterfalls coming out of the stands and the pools forming in the end zones and sidelines. All the electrical cords and such draping around the players’ benches…yikes! The Jags ended up losing by one touchdown, and could have pulled it out if not for the errors on the field. One of the national announcers remarked that this is the team’s 3^rd quarterback this season, although technically David Garrard was off the roster before the first game was played. I fear that next week’s game a home will be blacked out due to low ticket sales and therefore, I will have to listen on the radio. Rats!

On the bright side, the Packers won!!! Unfortunately, I could not watch the game as Atlanta/Tampa Bay were aired here, but guess I could have gone to a sports bar or restaurant to watch it. My downstairs neighbors had suggested we all meet at the cabana for happy hour at 6:00, weather permitting, but weather did not permit. At about 5:00 it was thundering, and then the lightning and rain came for a couple hours. I really like the window-rattling crashing of thunder, even my lanterns were rattling!

Our Bible study yesterday was a continuation of the stewardship series, this week covering leadership. Again with the breakout sessions, our ‘table’ had to pick a person from the Scriptures who showed strong leadership and then explain why. There were only four at my table, with Judy C., Mike S., and an elderly man, Bill. He suggested John as a strong leader and I asked him, “Which John?”. It was John the Baptist and we had our work in front of us, given 4 minutes to make a case for him being a strong leader. By jingles, we did it, too.

When I went into the church after class, there was a member in the pew I had not seen in a while. She lives most of the year in West Virginia and helps her son raise greyhounds for racing. She will be in town for a couple months so we will see each other more often. Garnett thanked me for the newsletters I send her, and I was so glad to get some feedback from a recipient. I was also greeted by my friend, Gretchen, who reported that her dear cousin, Pat, for whom we have been praying, had died the day before. Poor Gretchen! Recently she lost her sister and now one of her favorite cousins. It is so cool to me how close that family is with their extended relatives and how they keep in touch after all these years. She said they all grew up together and such in Tampa, traveled together and such, so it is natural for them to stay in touch. It breaks my heart for her to lose yet another person close in hers…

Robbie was our pianist yesterday and during the offertory, he sang two stanzas of "Abide with Me", acapella. Later, Terri T. told him how much she enjoyed hearing that, and he said it was for those who recently suffered losses in their lives. She and I agreed that it is good to hear this even after the years have passed. Since it was Fellowship Sunday, we had refreshments after worship. At the table, I was singing “We give thee but thine own….” which we had sung in worship. Mike K. said, “Now that’s the Lutheran church I know!” This hymn was sung every week at their church in IL following the offering. That stuff sticks with you, you know?

The congregational/voters’ meeting went smoothly and quickly, so I did not miss much of the football game. The pregame show was on the radio as I drove home, but when I was coming toward the condo, I passed a car with my friend at the wheel. She backed up and I pulled back up the hill so we could talk. Lee apologized for missing the opening of Dee’s show and we made plans to get together to see it. She thought it was a one-time thing but I explained it’s there until December so we have plenty of time. She can’t attend the tea party with us on Tuesday as her son is coming to town so we will try to another time.

Okay, so make a liar out of me…Or at least, premature in my prediction about the black out. According to the radio just now, ‘only’ three thousand tickets remain to be sold by 1:00 pm on Thursday. There yet might be hope!!!

Photos of the quilt show, etc.

Remember that you can click the photo to enlarge it...

This was painted by the Lord on Saturday morning

This is a quilt Rita and I saw at the show on Thursday, a 25th anniversary commemorative quilt. She asked me to take a picture of it for her...this one caught her eye!

Our friend, Dawn, created this quilt with an Asian theme. There is a dragon making its way diagonally down the pattern

Dawn had about a half dozen entries at this event and I was looking for them as we walked the aisles. I came around the end and did a double-take on this one, for the obvious reasons, and discovered it was Dawn's!!!

This is the prize winner, created by Dawn, for this contest using the theme "Sky is the Limit". The entrants were given the fabric and the theme, and away they went. Dawn created this masterpiece which commemorates each site where planes flown by Muslim terrorists into our buildings or into the ground, as happened in PA. She then stitched 3500 glistening beads to this piece in remembrance of the souls lost in those days. Definitely worthy of the blue ribbon. Well done, Dawn, well done!

That is what I get for vacuuming!

Before getting ready for the day, I decided to vacuum clean my bedroom, because I was getting SO upset about the dirty floor. Justin was too busy and/or not able to get here to do it for me, and since it bugs me this greatly, I did it myself! Oh, my aching back! It has since recovered, being more weary than painful, but was I ever sweating. The A/C was on and the fan running as fast as it could, but I was wringing wet when finished. The humidity is extremely high these days while the air temps are in the 80’s. Right now, it is 89 above zero, according to the Weather Channel. No wonder I broke a sweat…

As part of the cleaning, I used the floor brush and got as close to the edges and under things as I could. I did a really good job while I was at it. Later, when I sat down here to work on the computer, it appeared as though my monitor was dimly lit which made me fearful that the sun might have affected it. After about an hour, a notice popped up to inform me the battery life was at 7% and that I had better plug my computer in before it shut down. I tried all the plugs, there must be six different things plugged into and around my laptop on the desk, but nothing helped. It was then I realized it was the power strip, and it was shut off. Mystery solved, with a simple flip of a switch. Just like my broken TV that was not really broken. Anyone need an old TV?

Some good stuff, some less than good

It was one year ago today, September 23, that the Great Flood took place. I am still a nervous wreck when I hear some sound I cannot identify but I do have clean and organized rooms to accompany my frayed nerves!

In reading the news on-line this a.m., it was reported that indeed someone had been killed in that wreck yesterday on the freeway. From the article, it seems a small pick-up truck was cut off in traffic by another car, swerved to get out of the way, entered the median and then came back on the road, wildly out of control. A sedan then swerved to avoid the truck and hit the light post, killing the passenger and seriously injuring the driver. The article does not say what happened to the truck, if they collided or not, or if other injuries were sustained, but did say the police are in search of the first vehicle that caused the upset in the first place. When Justin was learning to drive, more or less against his wishes, I would remind him that people tend to think they are the most important ones on the road, and to keep that in mind when driving. Their protective shield of steel and plastic tends to make people feel invincible or powerful, and greatly self-important, and sometimes, that ends badly. As it did yesterday.

On another note, the manatees are out in the river, enjoying the last of the warm days this season. It surprised me to spot them, frolicking and splashing outside the basin area, rather than where they normally carry on. Actually they are eating the grasses along the perimeter but they make it appear like so much fun.

The other morning I got a message from my neighbor, wondering why I was not posting the Bible passages on Facebook any longer. That was odd, because I never stopped doing it. Hmmm….Later, another friend from WI contacted me via Facebook wondering if I was having so much fun that I didn’t have to mess with Facebook…okay, what? It seems my privacy settings were strangely set in such a way that nothing I posted on the Wall was showing up, but folks could see my replies to other people’s postings. More than one person wrote later to express their relief that I was back, telling me they missed my morning postings from the Scriptures. Take THAT, you Facebook shunners!

Last week, I received a very nice letter from one of my high school teachers, in response to a note I sent him earlier in the year. He apologized for typing his letter but said it was easier to type than to write these days, due to arthritis in the hands and fingers. Howard mentioned that getting a ‘thank you’ at this juncture in his life makes up for the heart-ache and struggles of those days (not because of me, of course!!!), which is the icing on the cake. My friend, Judy J., lost her brother this late winter and she remarked at how many of her brother’s former students and kids he coached had come to the hospital to express their thanks for his guiding hand and continued influence in their lives. After she told me this, I decided to write to my teachers whom I thought were especially influential to me and let them know how they helped me, or blessed me, as the case might be. Howard is the only one who replied, although I did not expect to be acknowledged. Every time my fingers hit the keyboard, I am thankful to Miss Liese for teaching me how to touch-type!

Yesterday I bought a small cylinder of candy-coated cashews from a vendor at the Quilt Show. Some I ate in the car on the way home from Rita’s, waiting to open them when her son was not with us, as he has a peanut allergy and I didn’t want to cause a problem. The rest I ate here at my desk for lunch today, and now have quite sticky fingers and keys! Must get the alcohol to clean the keys and the pressurized air to remove the nasty crumbs. Oh, they were tasty!

I am hearing the faint roll of thunder in the distance, which my niece an hour south of me reported was tormenting them right now. In regard to funeral/memorial service for Marian, her mom, who passed away on Sunday---it seems there will be such next weekend as the family is coming from WI for a wedding taking place. It makes good sense to have both events when the brothers and sisters are in town, though I might have to sit this one out, unless my niece or Justin really wants me to come. Sure don’t want to cause any trouble or make anyone uncomfortable with my showing up---you know?

Monday I have set an appointment to meet with lady friend, Diane, who also invests money for me so we can discuss what in the world is going on with these markets. She has some suggestions for shuffling things around for added protections and I would prefer to meet in person instead of over the phone for stuff like this. Either way, I often have no clue even if she looks me straight in the face. But I like spending time with her, so no matter what, it’s a win!

Martie might be coming for dinner tonight, but had to see how her sister came out of surgery. June is having a cardiac catheterization done today and Martie wanted to hear what was going to happen in case she had to rush to June’s side. June has, it seems, some congestive problems which I was not aware of, and perhaps this procedure today will relieve some of her congestion. A few days ago Martie said the doctors thought she had pneumonia but it must have been disguising the real problem. Either way, I decided to make some dinner for myself and enjoy an evening at home.

For Bible study on Thursday, I picked up a dozen doughnuts to share with the group, bringing home more than half of that number. It ended up being two boxes shared since Harold and Lucy brought some, too. It didn’t matter to me---I brought the rest home to enjoy another time. When I went to get one for my breakfast this a.m., I had to fight the ants for it!!! Yikes!!! Immediately I got a trash bag, dumped the box in, and put it outside the door for later. Connie was on the 4^th floor and heard me come out, so she offered to take it down for me. I explained I would take it later but wanted to get the ants out of the house. She reminded me that the pest people come next week and I am so ready for their visit!

It was late when I went to sleep as I watched the debate and the programs following it last night. I slept until nearly 8:00 a.m. today, waking only once in the wee hours. My morning dream involved my moving in some place, and then having to be away. When I came home, I was greeted by several friends and discovered all my decorating had been done, with Dee and Julia doing a ‘hanging’ in my absence! One wall had pictures of my sisters displayed, and other areas had decorator items placed about, making for a homey appearance. I also remember looking in my pantry or a closet and noticing how neatly I had placed all my stuff, whereas my neighbors in similar quarters had a big mess. It’s funny because I don’t even have pictures of my sisters to hang on a wall. How does Dee do it????

What a wonderful day!

Even though it was the one year anniversary (it was a Thursday) of The Great Flood, it was a good day.

As I write this posting, I am listening to the debate and have to laugh at myself because the little tone sounded when the speakers are to be done is the same sound as when I get a Google message. I keep thinking someone is instant messaging me (now a verb!) even though I know it’s on the debate. This week’s event is sponsored in part by Google, hence the tone.

This a.m. was Bible study, our topic today being one of my favorites, “….He shall wipe away all our tears…” We read several passages from the Old Testament, many from Isaiah, which talks about the end of our tears and sorrow once we are with the Lord. Pastor Hoyer gave me the assignment to research the painting which goes with today’s lesson, The Last Judgement, to see if we can find out who is pictured in the fresco, which is located on the church walls in Munich, Germany. I told him I would do it, and then he made the remark that we sure miss having Justin in the class to speak to the art questions and such. Plus, he was quick with the iPad for looking things up for us. He will be so delighted to know he is missed!

After class, Rita and I went back to her house where I parked my car and got into hers. Together we went to have lunch and then head downtown for the quilt show. Our lunch was at the newly opened Bubba Burger on Baymeadows Road, owned by the people who are renting on the 5^th floor here. It was good, the fries extraordinary! Next time, I will order the smaller burger as the regular one was too large to finish. At the quilt show, we found several quilts made and entered by our fellow Bible study friend, Dawn, including the one commemorating the Islamic terrorist attacks which won her a first prize. She has offered it to Pastor Hoyer when the show is over, and I know he will be honored to have it. Absolutely gorgeous work at the quilt show, and it reminded me of the scrapbooking conventions that I used to visit!

When we were done at the show, we drove to Rita’s sons’ school to pick him up from chess club. We encountered a detour on San Marco Blvd. and Rita felt a bit lost but by following the signs, we got there! He attends a magnet school quite a distance from his home but he is flourishing there as a ‘gifted’ student who started his education while living in China. There he attended a British-run school whose curriculum did not match up with the grades here. Jon is doing great and is absolutely loving middle school. Rita told me how excited he is at the end of the day, and today, without prompting, he expressed how much he loved school, and in particular, one math teacher. Who loves a math teacher? A gifted young man, that’s who!

One the way home from Rita’s house, I had to stop for gas, just as it began to thunder and lightning. In getting on the freeway, the radio reported a 30 to 45 minute traffic delay on I-295 due to a number of accidents which have occurred. That made my stomach come into my throat, as I recall the horrible wreck we saw when Linda and Lynn were here. The first one I came upon was a motorcyclist, fortunately standing, being strapped to the backboard. It seems he would carried or lifted over the guard rails as the rescue squad and fire truck were on the northbound side of the road. That one wasn’t too bad….for me, anyway. The next one, the radio described as ‘serious’ was just that, as the car was being loaded onto the wrecker. It was a sedan that looked like a convertible, but did not start out that way. I pray no one lost their life in that accident or suffered terrible injury. The other two accidents were fender-benders by compare, and did not hold up traffic. In fact, I was hardly delayed at all, and certainly not by a half hour. Sure glad the accidents slowed the traffic down though, as rain makes people nuts!

Water aerobics wrap up

Caught Mary with her mouth open during the strenuous portion of the work out, with Sistie coming up behind her

Marlena had the group form a circle for their "Rockette" routine, using the noodles

Another Rockette routine, this time in a row. Far left is Maggie O., then , Marlena, Mary Lew, Randy, Mary, Olivann, Sloane, Ina, and Sistie

Off to the races! Mary won, and Marlena took 2nd place. Maggie O. and Marlena sat it out, and Olivann goes crossways in the pool during the races.

Marlena's mom, left, named Marjorie and our neighbor, Jo, came out to watch the big show for wrapping up water aerobics officially for the season. Later, we all went into the cabana to eat our lunch, which came from The Club, since it began to rain right after we ordered our meals!

We stink on ice!

Well, not entirely the whole game of Trivia tonight but at least the 2^nd half. We lost our footing on a couple answers. Since we had so many players tonight, we divided into two teams and were nearly tied for last place when the final question came up, with our ‘former’ team. Our usual team, "Nothing Tips Like a Cow" was dead last and our smaller team, a spin-off, "In One Ear and Out the Other", was second last. Rats!

Justin’s two friends, Sarah and Megan, who are roommates, joined us for Trivia, which made our numbers swell. You would think having these two future medical folks on our team would help us win but that didn’t work out. I blew on answer, the actor who did the one-armed push-up at the Academy Awards---I just could not come up with the name. It was Jack Palance, in case you were scratching your head, and he was 73 when he did that. And usually my food is quite delicious but I didn’t care at all for the mashed potatoes this evening. Oh well, the ice cream was good and the game fun!

Once again, I had water dripping into my house at the window in the river room. This time I called the condo president who said he’d come up to see the leak. In the meanwhile, Justin came and he helped me take the picture down that covers the top part of the window so we could determine the source of the leak. Tommy’s suggestion was to have someone rather dangle out the window and try to caulk it from outside. Well………

When he left, I told Justin that this was not the answer but at least someone on the Board knew of my problem. I called Jessica, my neighbor directly above me, and instead of saying ‘hello’ she immediately announced, “Yes, I have water pouring in my porch and it’s coming from above me!” That means the empty unit on 5 has a leak somehow or another causing the problem. I KNEW Tommy’s answer was not the right one! I called him back to tell him that Jessica had a leak, but got his voice mail. Also, I called Pat who is a Realtor and on the Board to let her know there was a problem upstairs. Hopefully someone has a key and can go in to check that unit for trouble. At least this is not a plumbing problem but just from the rain.Yikes!

It is nearly a year since The Great Flood, this week being the one when Lynn and Linda were here. Despite the horror of the event, it is good having the boxes dealt with and reduced greatly in number. My spare rooms are far more orderly and so far I don’t miss the items we donated to the yard sale at Christ, Keystone Heights, or to Quigley House, or simply trashed. I refer to that as clearing out at gun point! Decisions made willy-nilly but yet, decisions made!

This morning was a lengthy but extremely beneficial meeting with Pastor and Judy C. We met at Panera Bread where I enjoyed a pumpkin shaped frosted cookie and my Diet Coke. We went over the Worship Conference notes at some length, even though I managed to get the actual ‘notes’ down to two sides of a page---whew! The spoken word goes a long way, too, as we discussed what we saw and heard. He was most grateful for our efforts and we discussed other matters rather pressing, not totally unrelated to worship. Time sure flies when you’re having fun! And it was rewarding to complete, submit, and discuss, and hopefully, it will be taken to heart!

Today, after I got home, my door bell was ringing madly, which usually means it’s Connie. Sure enough, there she was with a package in her hand. When I opened the door, she said, “You sure have that mail man freaked out. He wanted me to make sure you got this…” It was the 2^nd order of books from Amazon, and the first order remains a mystery. As I exclaimed to her, I was not hard on the mailman at all, and she agreed, but he was still apprehensive about my getting the delivery this time. Connie said she is asking our Board to add a light over the mailboxes so the mailman can see better what he’s doing. Not sure if that is the problem or not but I rejoice for getting my books at last. And now, to read them!

I am stuck in reverse!

Over and over again this late afternoon I have had to reverse my podcast because for some reason or another I would lose my place or be distracted by something on the TV (muted) and not listen with even half an ear. During the first hour, I fell asleep so had to replay that portion again later. Sometimes I can hear better in my sleep than I can awake!

I heard some sad news yesterday morning in regard to the extended family. My niece in Palm Coast called me after 7:00 am to report that her mother had finally succumbed to her illnesses and died that morning. The staff at the nursing home tried to help Marian, and then the EMTs worked to get her heart started again, but to no avail. When she opened her eyes, she saw Jesus’ face. I wonder if she has seen Timmy yet….

Marian’s first heart attack and bypass surgery was when she was 44 years old, in 1992, right around the time that Hurricane Andrew tore through south Florida, as I remember we took a ride south of Ft. Lauderdale to survey the damage. Never really bouncing back from that problem, she struggled with her diabetes and ailments related to that, had knee replacement and over a year’s worth of bed sores from that, strokes resulting from the multiple heart ‘episodes’ that she’s had over the years, and so on.

I asked Tina if there was something I could do to help her and she asked me to call the Manitowoc family, so I did that. I also let my mom and Lynn know this news, plus Marian’s good friend, Marcia. Lynn is the same age within a month of Marian, and had been her classmate at MLHS for four years. All these years of expecting this phone call, and then when it comes, it is yet a shock…The good news is that the pastor serving in Palm Coast had been to see her within the last month and only this past Thursday or Friday, the vicar had been there and given Marian the Lord's Supper. I am so glad to know that!

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Lately my dreams have been the vivid type which leave me on edge after I wake up, often involving Timmy and my misplacing him. One time I was checking a jobsite and had ‘forgotten’ he was along with me. To my relief, he was in the car in this fancy seat belt/car seat rigging (I should market that!). But the franticness of wondering where he is, what did I do with my child, all the while still having to take care of business----oh, my heart goes pitty-pat. This mornings’ dream had me trying to drive a box truck without benefit of windows! Finally I stopped the truck and said, “I am not driving this truck without seeing where I am going!” What does that mean???? Some people claim they don’t have dreams, but of course they do, just not remembering them. Most of the time I like mine because I get to see Timmy’s face, and Justin’s as well, and love it so much better when I wake up smiling rather than shaking.

The Bible study was okay yesterday, as we are going through the Synod’s stewardship program. I am not a real fan of break-out groups and such to come up with collective answers, but it’s only a couple weeks’ worth of the sessions. I used to be all about the ‘spiritual gifts’ stuff....

The worship was quite nice, using the Divine Service with the entire service being included in the giant-sized service folders. Using ledger-sized paper, even the hymns, which were from the Supplement, were included in the folder. I am not sure what that’s all about, unless some folks were having troubles following along in the CWS or something. I can ask him tomorrow as Judy C. and I are meeting with Pastor to review our report.

After church Judy, Terri T., and I went to lunch at Chili’s. Judy and I in particular like the appetizer trio which is a meal in itself. Plus, half to go home! Chili’s has TVs in the dining room so I could keep one eye on the game as we chatted. After lunch I headed home to be tortured, watching the most wretched of football games EVER!!! Do I hear ‘blackouts’ come our way for the rest of the home games? I am so glad this did not happen last week on our own turf…

Tonight I was cleaning out the fridge a bit, removing unused leftovers and such. I don’t know if I ever mentioned that I made a cherry crunch torte over a week ago, using the last of my Door County cherries. The first piece was surprising sweet, and it was my opinion that normally the tartness of the fruit overrode the sweetness of the crust or sauce for the cherries. Well, it was extremely difficult to extricate future slices of bars from the pan, even though I sprayed it (seems I wrote this already…). Therefore, I have about ¾ of the torte left and it’s going into the trash, IF I can get it out of the pan!

Kim and Justin

Someone asked me how tall Justin is these days, and here is my proof that he is taller than me! The fellow, John, also asked me if Justin was done with college yet, and I had at admit that perhaps that might be the case---at least for now. He is enjoying helping his buddies with their classes but is not taking anything for himself right now.

John told me he is personally three credits away from his degree but just can't face that math class in front of him. That would shut me down immediately!

Bits 'n Pieces II

It seems I have used this title before as it defaulted when I began typing it in. It works today too!

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After the memorial service at church yesterday, I was worn out emotionally and went to bed much earlier than usual. Morning did not come soon enough for me as I was tormented with horrible dreams influenced in part by TV programs I had watched before sleeping or listened to during my sleep! One was on the news channel about the Anthony case in central Florida and featured largely in my dreams, rather, nightmares. Yikes! So glad to be awake but am left unsettled in heart….

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Good news was received from Amazon in regard to my missing order. Make that GREAT news---they are reshipping my order at no expense to me. If my original order turns up, I can simply refuse the shipment and it will be returned to them. Also, a book on backorder has been bumped up to Next Day Air shipping when it becomes available at no additional charge to me, to make up for my inconvenience. I love great customer service!

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Areas around me had received many inches of rain but I cannot say if we had that here in OP or not. Justin’s area at the beaches had the most rain at 10” with street flooding and even flash floods in places. Eagle Harbor also had heavy rain overnight. It was so dark out Saturday that it was just after 8:00 a.m. before I woke up, no sun in my face at all that day!

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My dinner was the food from the memorial service at church Saturday, eaten around 4:30 or so. More a late lunch than early dinner but I was not hungry until bedtime. Just love those single-serving sized Orville Reddenbacher popcorn bags, perfect for bedtime consumption.

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I worked on the newsletter sent every other month to our members away. It is also mailed to those I describe as ‘seldom seen’, and sadly, needed to print off a few more letters. Pretty soon mailings will be thing of the past unless the Pony Express takes over! One thing which I really strongly dislike is hearing the beep beep beep from the printer, warning that the ink is low----cha ching!

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Robbie (a.k.a. The Maestro) interviewed me for a class last week and has told me a couple times of different things I said to him which he has already pressed into service. He is going to print off the finished paper for me so I can see how my recorded words translated to text. Hopefully I don’t sound too foolish, but I will guess not if he is using some of things I talked about in his work.

*

Today in church, we heard a WELS Connection discussing the recent Synod convention. One of the ladies behind me asked if that was the one I was at with Judy. I told her this was the Synod convention, and I was at the Worship Conference. She was not aware a new translation of the NIV was coming out either. When I go next to the doctor, I am asking him or her for some patience pills please because I am being easily rattled these days!

Dee stole the show!

Dee's show at the Thrasher-Horne, titled "Beyond Words" is exactly that---I described it to Julia as being like a choir, with all of Dee's 'voices' coming together in harmony. She liked that description and it was so fitting. When I first met my dear friends, officially, at their shop on Kingsley Avenue, they were going to shrink wrap some of Timmy's school art work. Dee was not there when I had asked Julia if she knew of anyone who did portraits. Almost shyly she told me her mom was an artist and might be interested in doing the portrait. Dee later did agree to do it for me, but needed some photographs to work from. It was only a few months after Timmy's death so was still quite fresh for me, and the ladies would cry with and for Justin and me as we visited their shop. She did his wonderful portrait in pastels and then did a companion piece in oil, as a gift to me, 'because I have to paint it..." That is Dee!

And for ten years afterward, we can still cry together, only last night, for joy! Congratulations on a wonderful show, Dee! And good work on the framing, Julia! (At the 'old' store on Kingsley, Dee would mark Justin's height on the door frame, which was sadly left behind when they moved to Fleming Island. At first she did mark his height at the new shop but then he got too big to continue the practice. They still love it when he comes in to see them!)

I am so glad I did not move to Greece

This could have been my home!

While watching a program this a.m. about the mess in the European Union and the pressure building financially, once again I heave a great sigh of relief for my not moving to Greece or Italy. If I lived in Greece, the union rioters would surely disrupt my ability to move freely or have Internet service, as they set their own nation ablaze in order to have demands met. Never mind the nation has no money, the demands keep coming! And no Lutheran churches in Greece. Italy would have been more 'user-friendly' for me, the food more along the lines I am accustomed to, but also socialist in their governance. They are facing crisis with refugees leaving northern Africa to escape the lovely Arab Spring everyone is cheering about. Tell that to the refugees!

Therefore, I am good right here, simply waiting for the next pipe to break! This week I got a letter from my insurance guy, a copy of the letter he sent to the other insurance company, reiterating that it was not my fault that the pipe broke. Butch, the little guy who did the work for me that day and before, was working at someone’s home in the building the other day, and I greeted him as my ‘partner in crime’ since we are both listed on the law suit. But other than my life of crime, I am good.

Within the last week I have been part of a few EXTREMELY interesting conversations---some face to face, some over the phone, and some over the miles. Yesterday I got a call from someone with whom I recently spoke and was thanked for the insight and ideas and explanations (not excuses!) regarding what is going on around us. Some are things over which we have a bit of control (I prefer the word ‘manage’ to control, which can sometimes have a negative connotation), and can be corrected, or reversed, or at least neutralized.Other things are beyond our control or ability to manage. But we must keep in the forefront that the Lord is actually in charge of what is going on, and has done so from eternity. What a difficult concept that is to consider!!! And to keep in our minds and in our hearts....

In keeping my ears tuned to the current events around the world and closer to home, not all of it about finances, it seems so obvious to me what needs to be done. Because it is so simple, it is extremely complicated! And nearly impossible to achieve. Cost cutting, spending less, as one would do in their household, seems like a ‘foreign’ (ha, ha) concept to the governments, and to the governed, in some cases, as was evidenced in Madison earlier this year.

Folks often don’t realize the cause/effect of actions until it begins to affect them, and then the only answer is to react. Of course, one must spring to their feet, and some will, to help, and others to fight against the help. Now another stimulus bill is on the table while the legislative branch of our national government is struggling to cut spending (to reduce the amount of increases in spending---what????) and more ‘bills’ continue to be added to the stack.

Years ago, in our business, we had a slow period between houses, and some of the staff got a bit comfortable in their less-stressful mindset. Then, when new starts were coming in, the guy responsible for the purchasing of materials fell quickly behind and was being scolded regularly. He exasperatingly asked the boss, “Can’t we just stop everything and get caught up????” and the boss yelled back, “We were stopped!” What the purchasing agent should have been doing was preparing for the rush that was to come, get your affairs in order, the ducks in a row, and so on. But he failed to plan, which lead to failure. This young man was nice to work with for the most part, but my type of leadership, my encouragement, didn’t work with Jim nor did the other type of leadership he received. Stopping seemed to be the comfort zone in which he did his best work!

Where was I going with this? Oh, yes, stopping everything before disaster comes. It’s too late to stop moving forward but it is possible to stop the drain of funds, or the drain of spirit, as the case might be, from folks. Make the appropriate changes or cease the practices which are causing the problems. But, sometimes the problems are not shared by all, and then there is resistance from those not experiencing the discomfort to stop what is not seen as a problem. In Jim’s case, he left his position with our company and went to work elsewhere. Perhaps his work ethic would fly for another employer…For others, options are few or non-existent so staying the course or staying in the fight is the way to go, or complete surrender and resignation. Somehow, those last two options are not entirely appealing!