Another dream

When I woke up this morning, I thought it was 9:00 am. Wow! Did I really sleep that long? It was 11:00 pm when I switched over to watch O’Reilly with my eyes closed, often my habit. In fact, more than once, I have awakened between 5 and 6 in the morning to find myself in exactly the same place in his program where I fell asleep the night before! Love when that happens! The actual time was 7:00 am so I did not miss much of the news. 

I don’t remember waking up in the night or in the very early morning hours. Usually I get up, take a short walk, and go back to sleep, which is when I have most memorable dreams. As far as I know, I was not 'up in the night' , yet I had such a dream this morning and I think I know why.

In the dream, people were there that I have not seen in a long time, such as Mark V. who had been my Elder at church years ago. I was getting custody of a young lady who was moving in with me, my ‘home’ being the one I grew up in.  The people who were helping, mostly faceless, were moving things around in the basement, sweeping floors, shuffling stuff around , and finding things from my past. The basement looked a whole lot nicer than it really was, which I was glad for the sake of the guest!

At one point, Justin and I were sitting in some stadium-style seats and he was showing me a book he found, a pictorial done of one of my favorite movies, The Way We Were. I never had such a book but I used to have some movie stills (not sure if I still do or not…). Justin asked me if I knew what it was and I pointed out immediately the stars of the film without even looking for them. Hmmm….

A sofa needed to be moved, a rather new sofa, red in color, like the one I had at the lake house. Mark was helping me with that, and I was horrified when I lifted the cushions off to find all sorts of food schnibbles and a whole mess of Legos. Oh, oh! Timmy would have already been gone several years before I got that sofa so why were there Legos under the cushions? As I cried, I joked with Mark, asking if he wanted a snack. That sort of sounds like something I would do! I think the Legos were eventually associated with my little nephews. (At church this past Sunday, I told a young couple with little ones that I would get out some old toys I have on hand for their kids to play with at the Super Bowl party) This might be why I was thinking about Legos and such.

                                      

Also, today, Justin and I are going to clean out the game/linen closet in my room and I know some decisions will need to be made in regard to the games and such. Do we keep them even though no one plays with them, or if their pieces are missing? The ‘reason’ for keeping them would be because Timmy had played with them and it’s extremely difficult for me to part with those type of things. But in late 2010 when my hand was forced by The Great Flood, I did whole lot better letting go of things. Perhaps today won’t be so hard, either. Perhaps….

We've got company!

Tomorrow is the big day here in Florida, with those who have not already done so will hopefully be at the polls for the primary. I heard a reporter speaking from the campaign trails say he could not turn on a TV anywhere without being bombarded by ads for the two front runners. It is a battle of wallets over ideas right now, and because I do not watch much regular programming, I have been able to avoid much of that. The candidates have been making appearances in the area with Justin being able to press the flesh with Mitt Romney this morning. He was impressed that his hands were rough and that he did not wear “mom jeans”.

While I was talking to Mom on the phone Sunday evening, Justin came scooting into my room to report that Mitt was coming to Jax and would speak somewhere off of Phillips Hwy. I asked what he was going to do, and he said, “I think I have to text my dad and tell him I will be late!” The speech was scheduled for 8:15 am so he would not lose the entire morning if he went.

I had Bible study which I would not miss but he was willing to go by himself. It turned out that his father would go with him, leaving from the office and then visit a jobsite at the Beach. That works! When I heard him leaving, I hoped he was dressed warmly because it was pretty chilly outside. Usually, if he knows I’m up, he will come into my room to say ‘good-bye’ but when he leaves so early, he does not. Later, he reported his feet were absolutely frozen from standing on the cold concrete with thin-soled shoes!

At Bible study, the group was about half in number, still a group, though! One lady, Betty, is traveling in IL to see her son who is terminally ill with cancer. A couple ladies did not let anyone know that they would be absent and our hopes are that they are okay. Probably just doctor appointments or something. Twila had a house she was getting ready to rent so had to work when her helpers were available. Only four of us went to lunch which was kind of nice, allowing for us all to talk together at a round table.

Fred, the manager, stopped by our table before our server had gotten to us, asking me if I was going to have potato soup today. I had to chuckle that even he knows my likes and dislikes. Instead, though, I messed them all up by ordering a burger. I said, “I hope you didn’t dish up the soup already!” and he said they had not. Funny! Also, the waiter, Jason, our regular guy, asked me if I was having a blackberry tea with Fire Fly in it. I just had Diet Coke so he had to catch the Hostess to stop her from ordering my other usual. I probably threw off their entire day by changing it up! One good thing was the restaurant being quite busy, love to see a thriving business!

Undercover work

Yes, I am under the covers writing this wrap-up (ha, ha!) of the day’s events. We are having some cooler temperatures overnight, waking on Saturday to temps in the low 40’s. Layers are the plan for the next couple of days. But, after dinner tonight, under the covers I went!

This morning, I arrived late for Bible study and not by accident, just by dawdling. I had some stuff to do when I got there, with things being switched up due to the remodeling of the Fellowship Hall. The subject is “Prayer”, the hows and whys of doing it, and the what. It was Favorite Hymn Sunday and a couple I requested were used. Robbie also played “Behold a Host Arrayed…” for me during the offertory. When he called me Wednesday about choir, he asked me if I had a hymn that I would like to hear during the offertory and that is the one I chose.

After worship we had Fellowship Sunday, held in the classroom building where a few minutes later another event, Family Connects,  was taking place. I enjoyed a tuna sandwich, actually a quarter of a sandwich, and an oatmeal butter scotch cookie. Judy C. makes the best tuna salad sandwiches! She and I were going to the movies but not until 2:15 so we had lunch at TGIF, next to the theater. I had my usual there, Jack Sesame Chicken appetizer, which is just right for me. Judy had regular chicken tenders and it was a huge portion, besides having a large house salad.

We got into the theater while it was still in cleaning mode so had our choice of seats. It was fine to sit and visit before the previews came on, and people began to arrive. The movie of the day was “Red Tails”, the story adapted from the historic Tuskegee Airmen, all black flight teams. It showed how they rose in value from taking out supply lines to escorting bombers on missions, protecting the ‘heavies’ from German attackers. Quite some flying and bravery exhibited, and even a love story woven in for good measure. It was good, but I sure wish I had not seen/heard the review the other day which somewhat tainted my appreciation of the movie.

When I got to the Mall, I had to drive up and down the aisles to find a ‘close’ place to park, and finding none, had to walk a distance toward the theater. No Rock Star parking for me this time as I had last week! About four rows from the theater, I saw a car I recognized---Justin’s!!! He had left early this morning to attend Victory for the 9:00 a.m. service and then was meeting his friends on that side of town to go to the movies at Tinseltown. There he was, parked like a Rock Star! I sent him a message to let him know I was there, too, in case he was having lunch or something. Jesse and he ended up coming alone to this side of town for an 11:15 movie. They saw “Red Tails” also and enjoyed it, being Star Wars fans and all that.

When I got home after the movie, still in the light of day, his car was parked in the lot. He had gotten home early, did the vacuuming he did not do on Saturday, and seemed to be busy in his room. There is a video game attracting his attention which is causing some of the delays in progress. In between games, though, he made another batch of his stew, using the rest of the cabbage (“I can’t believe how much I like cooked cabbage!”) and, as I write, the house is filled the aroma of stew---again!

Making up for yesterday

It is a very pretty day today, entirely opposite of the weather yesterday. It was drizzling most of Friday, or at least felt wet in the air, overcast until midday. Eventually the clouds broke and some blue shone through but it certainly remained conducive to napping!

Click to enlarge the photo

As I write, shore birds are feasting along the edge of the river. This morning there was a giant flock of birds outside, more and more coming but none leaving. It was quite interesting to watch them enjoy their breakfast. I never did notice when they left, perhaps Tracy, who lives downstairs from me, did. Randy, upstairs, thinks they were dining on mosquitos as he had a wall full of bugs after his exterior door was open last night. My friends at breakfast Friday reported the red buds blooming along River Road, which usually marks the coming of spring. As Randy said, “It’s been a great winter!”

For the past couple of weeks, I have been experiencing some aches and pains and pulsing muscles periodically in my right arm. My thought is that I have strained something when carrying in several heavy bags of groceries. Not wishing to make two trips to the car, I carried all the cold items up at once. Where is Connie when I need her? She usually offers to help if she sees someone come home with bags in the car. I had milk, juice, plus other refrigerated items, leaving the other stuff in the car to tote when I picked up Justin from work. They were heavy, that is for sure. And since that day, it seems to me, my arm has been goofy. Not all the time, and not incapacitating. I have to chuckle a bit since my mom had troubles with her arm when I was in WI, and wondered if I caught something from her!

It occurred to me that I have many more aches and pains particularly since I stopped taking my arthritis medication. Ya think??? I knew I had more left on my prescription at Wal*Mart, which they confirmed and filled for me. Of course, my arm feels like its old self again before I even took the first one.  As I told Justin, I make myself use it rather than favor it. I wish I had a tennis ball or one a bit smaller to sit and squeeze in order to strengthen my hand and arm. I sure do hope I don’t have carpel tunnel syndrome. It’s been years since I’ve pressure washed anything so all I can do is ‘blame’ the groceries and my laziness!

My idea, besides taking my medication, is to just get back in the pool again, and I even went so far as to consider joining the fitness center on Wells Road for the pool/Jacuzzi privileges. Carol W. thinks they have a plan just for that now, instead of paying full dues, which I would dearly love to avoid. This might be something worth checking out, as it will take a long time to get the pool temperature here up to the way I tolerate it. Like the lady said to me last summer when Lynn and Linda J. were here: “Oh, waa waa waa!” I am a big baby when it comes to the water being warm enough!

A couple quiet days

Other than dashing from my bed for “Breakfast Club”, the rest of my weekend is somewhat quiet. Thursday was active with Bible study and lunch with Justin, picking up his new glasses, a trip to the bank, Winn Dixie, and then home. We had planned to get his new cable for repairing the hatch latch (love that!) on his car, but he had left it behind so we opted to get that part another time.

Thursday we had a Tea Party event at La Nopalera, going with my friend, Peggy. I thought parking would be an issue, as I have had ‘problems’ there in the past so we left home quite early. Peggy asked me to save two seats, as we expected a full house. It actually did turn out to be a good-sized group but at first, Justin and I were alone in the room. We had great service that way!

The conversation was lively, no speaker scheduled due to the debates taking place later. The ‘powers that be’ are yet deciding upon the changing of the boundary lines for the districts so the leader urged us to keep up with this. There is one man from Clay County government thinking of throwing his hat into the ring if and when the boundaries are re-laid. The woman in whose district Justin and I  reside, being on the ‘wrong’ side of Hwy.17, is fighting the redistricting tooth and nail. Hers is a gerrymandered district from Jacksonville to Orlando. This will hopefully change and we will have a new or different representative.

Justin and I listened to the beginning of the debate in the car as we drove home from La Nop, hearing the UNF Chorus singing the National Anthem. Imagine that---sung without any screeching! One of my friends who is in the music business wrote on Facebook about how well her students and fellow teacher did with the Anthem on national TV. I let her know how I told Justin, when the anthem was sung, “Now that was just beautiful!”. And it was! We sat together in the family room to watch the debates, both of us thinking all did well. I am rooting for my guy who is still in the race but Justin is leaning a different direction. UNF showed nicely on the TV but I only saw one person in the audience that I recognized.

Friday morning was my breakfast with friends as The Club for which I took my car rather than walking in the rain. Not that I was concerned about my hair, but rather, about sitting in wet clothes in a cold restaurant. We had four people around the table but no game playing, so my name for the gathering is catching on! I am cool with that, too, love the visiting!

Oh, I have to back-track a bit---I had gotten an invitation to partake of birthday cake for the owner of The Club, as a surprise, but it was Wednesday night. Since I have choir rehearsal at that time, I had to send regrets. About 6:00 pm, just before Justin and I were having dinner (I made scalloped potatoes and ham for us), Robbie called to cancel choir. Oh, an unexpected free evening! We ate our dinner early anyway, since everything was ready to go, and then later we watched Jeopardy! When it was over, it suddenly occurred to me that I could have gone to the birthday event. Since it was now 8:00 pm, I assumed the whole thing would be over as Happy Hour usually wraps up at 7:00 pm. Rats! But, at Breakfast Club, one of the ladies told me that they did not even serve the cake until just after 8:00 so I could have made it! Double rats!

Back to Friday: Justin went to work on Fleming Island, using his own car, with my driving to work days over for now. It turned out he spent about four hours in the car, making two trips to St. Johns County for getting a permit. He said,”Driving is exhausting!” and he is so right about that. At least for the eyes and the brain, and maybe even the butt.

Thursday we bought the ingredients needed for Justin to make a recipe he found on-line involving pork, apples, and cabbage. He wanted to make it for Friday’s Dinner and a Movie, but this is not going to happen until Saturday evening. Since he was not cooking on Friday, he made plans to go to Mandarin for Game Night with his pals. But, I did not go hungry as he brought home some leftover food that his step-mother had given him. He had four half-sandwiches and a partial Caesar salad. The chicken salad sandwich I ate was fantastic, and I would have eaten another but half was enough! I think there were grapes cut up in the chicken, and perhaps even chopped nuts. Man, that was good!

Saturday as I mentioned I have three ladies coming over to watch “Midnight in Paris” and have dinner. That’s all I have planned for the day unless something else happens…you never know! Sunday is church and Bible study, and in the afternoon, another movie, “Red Tails”, which I understand is poorly directed. The movie is a good enough story to hold its own, but the directing is shoddy. One critic asked, “Did Lucas have a stroke or something? What’s happened to him??” I will try to not notice the flaws and take in the great story!  

The biggest news is that today is Mom's birthday---she is 87! Her plans for the day include going to dinner with a bunch of people from church for their Dinner Club. I hope she has a perch dinner to celebrate. When Justin came home from work, we sang Happy Birthday into her answering machine which will have hopefully sung her to sleep! Happy birthday, Mom!

My friend, Patty!

This is one of my Facebook friends who is a relative of Carrie U., at FG. A small world! To make it smaller yet, she is from Morton Grove, IL where I have other 'family' connections. We had never met in person, only over the Internet, but we knew each other anyway. Last summer I had the privilege of hugging and officially meeting Patty, and her husband, Terry, when I crashed the graduation party of the Ungemach's. Linda had a boot on her foot so I was her driver to the party, and there I met Patty! How exciting it was!

More organizing going on here

Not closets today, or the drawers, or even the fridge, but my head. A few thoughts have rattled around, things I meant to report but forgot when the time came.

First, thanks to everyone who extended good wishes and warm thoughts during what I call “funeral week”. Several of my friends, whether they remembered it or not, came through for me with invitations and such, and got a lovely card from my sister, Lynn. Via Facebook many folks wrote their comforting messages, from all over the place. Some did not even know Timmy, but will, some day!

My friend, Julia, at Great Hang Ups, is celebrating 25 years in business and has asked clients to send in photos of work done in their shop, with a little story about the piece. She was looking for special memory pieces as well as photos which have been restored, and the like. I agreed to send in some of the special ones done for me and did so.

Click to make photo larger

This paper hug made by Timmy in pre-k was framed by Dee and Julia and hangs over my bedroom door to the river room. Besides framing the original one, they also had a copy made, and laminated, so that I actually can 'wrap it around you when you feel blue'....Yes, I would say this counts as being "special"

On a lighter note, I posted on Facebook yesterday that I might be ready to go the H-O-M-E soon. When getting my bottle of water from the fridge (yes, you read that correctly!), I reached into the shelf for the lemon to squirt into the bottle, and nearly used yellow mustard instead. Yikes! In my defense, both bottles had yellow caps, but to indict me, the bottles are shaped entirely different, and certainly smell different! Another time, I told Justin to get ready to pack me away when I nearly put in two different earrings. Either would have looked good with my outfit, though.

Many of my friends, then, reported going out with one black shoe and one brown shoe, even different styles of shoes without noticing. Another lady wrote to say the tell-tale sign is when you find the mail in the refrigerator. This made me laugh because Connie told me the mailman is afraid of me ever since my delivery was lost, so he delivers the packages to my door now. I am not mad at him nor did I give him any grief other than encouraging him to check his little truck from one end to the other. If he puts the mail in my fridge, sets me up to be sent away, well, that’s on him. (Is paranoia a tell-tale sign?)

Justin is so funny, and seems to be moreso since he’s come back home. His doing the laundry has brought up some interesting discussions, starting right off the bat with his washing HUGE loads at once. This discussion was short—NO! Not in my washer or dryer! His theory was as long as they are wet, they are clean. Well, this is simply not the case, as I explained the technical aspects of the machine. The agitator in the middle moves the clothes through the sudsy water, and then moves them again through the rinse cycle. The dirty water goes away, and the laundry is now considered clean.

My machines, though newer, are not the heavy-duty style he must be used to, more basic (i.e. cheap) than impressive. The same is true for the standard dryer I have. No sense loading it jammed full if the clothes cannot bounce around (hence the name of the dryer sheets!) and get dried (hence the name of the machine!) See? I get that. This has not happened again although sometimes I do look askance at how much he puts in, since his jeans weigh far more than do my pull-on denims.

Another time I used the washer after he was done and discovered dirt all around the top of the machine, and under the lid around the edges. When he helps his father, he does not usually come home filthy, but when he works his landscape job, he is a mess! Often Justin will step immediately into his room to change so he does not drag the grass clippings and other soil through the house. The schnibbles, then, end up in the washer for me to clean away, more easily done when they have dried. I asked Justin once why, oh why, is there enough lint in the trap to make a bail. His immediate come-back was, “…because my undies are cotton, not silk like yours…” Ha! That is likely the right answer, and a funny one, but I do not wear silk underwear! Nice that he thinks so, though!

What is this world coming to?

Does that make me sound old? Just because the world is upside down, that should not necessarily age me, but it has. I was reading an article about a student who wrote a pro-marriage column in a school paper near Green Bay. You would think that would be a favorable thing. But, oh no, it’s not! Because it was in favor of traditional families rather than the opposing article of same-sex couples adopting children (pretty deep stuff for high school kids!), the author, a boy, was considered guilty of ‘bullying’. Oh, for heaven’s sake!

How would our playing “King of the Hill” in grade school be looked at in this era? Maybe I would view it differently if I were not often King! When the plows cleared the parking lot/playground at FG, huge mounds of snow bordered the perimeter. The ‘big kids’ would play King of the Hill by getting to the top and throwing down anyone who could not stand their ground in getting up there with us. In those days, I could hold my own with the boys, battling my way to the top despite the best efforts of the older, bigger boys. Occasionally I would have a broken bow or nose piece on my glasses but I was King of the Hill. And evidently, a bully! We got no participation trophies for this activity, either, only the broken glasses to show for our efforts.

When talking with my mom earlier, she was convinced that it was primary day here in FL but I assured her it is next week Tuesday. We do have ‘early bird’ voting here, typical of Florida but I prefer to vote on the actual day. The precinct is right here on my property which is incredibly convenient. Thursday night there is a debate at UNF and one of my friends has applied to get a ticket for it. Rita said she had to fill out a short form and jot down a question she would like to ask if a seat is given to her. Having lived outside the USA on a couple occasions, including in China, her question was in regard to how the US is regarded by other nations, our role in the world. A good question to open to discussion in the debate. “You take this one, Dr. Paul”! As I mentioned, Justin and I will be having a margarita at a Tea Party gathering at La Nap instead of battling for position at UNF. The topic discussed is considering the remaining candidates, which should be interesting. The guy I like is still in the running but Justin’s first choice candidate dropped off several weeks ago.

When Justin came home from work Monday he thanked me for getting his car repaired because he actually used it to drive to St. Augustine that day. Wow! First, he was afraid to drive to Winn Dixie and now he goes cross country (well, almost!) with it. He was still apprehensive but did it anyway, having to get a permit in St. Johns County. Next on the list is to get his windshield replaced, as it has a long crack in it. This happened when toting some boards from one site to another and they didn’t quite clear the windshield when he closed the hatch on his car. The boards shoved forward, cracking the windshield from the inside. We have insurance for this type of thing but he was hesitant to report it due to the cause. Using his car like a truck was not a good thing for having things last more than 5 years, it seems. He’s had to haul lawn equipment, the pressure washer, building materials, and moving office stuff back and forth, which has really taken its toll.

Well, anyway, back to today---we play Trivia tonight with a guest player joining us. My friend, Stephanie, has her mom visiting from Janesville, WI for a month and will join us on team Nothing Tips Like a Cow. Last week we took 2^nd place but our most faithful contenders were absent. We can only hope to do better this week, or at least stay the same. It seems the more people we have playing on the team, the worse we do, but the food and company make up for the loss. 


Justin’s new glasses are ready for him to pick up so we will plan that for Thursday. He will have a fresh outlook on life from that point on! To improve his outlook in his room, he is picking up a different light kit for his ceiling fan in hopes of casting more light into the corners of his room. Because of the windows being high on the wall and under the walkway roof, the rooms on this side of the condo are extra dark, dramatically so compared to where I spend my time. That was why I moved the office into my room in the first place---it was too dark to be productive in the extra bedroom, but it is perfect for sleeping!

Later this evening is the State of the Union show, which I should not have a problem finding a channel for, opposite situation of the most recent debates. I should probably just wait to hear the radio programs revisit it tomorrow and read the text instead, but we shall see. Justin might want to watch and we can digest it together. Alka Seltzer at hand...

Debating again tonight

Justin and I are in mourning that football season is nearly over, with neither of the teams we support going into 'overtime', as it were. I am still having a Super Bowl party which might be even more fun without a dog in the fight. Michael C. reminded me that the last time I had a Super Bowl party, or perhaps the last time he came, it was the same teams playing---2007. He remembers it best because Gordy was here, too. 


Sunday at lunch, we were talking about my decision to have the gathering and I said that Michael had talked me into it. Justin piped up, "Oh, you just wanted to have a party, that's all!" Terri laughed, but Judy defended me, saying Michael had asked about it. But, I fear, Justin is also correct! At lunch today, Michael asked what he should bring, but I leave that entirely up to him. I am sure it will be delicious, whatever he brings.


Bible study had a nice group, every chair filled. Jackie was not there but Sue K. came instead and joined us for lunch. In fact, she treated Michael for his birthday. Our study is "What Must I Do to Be Saved?", with him being our leader the first two weeks. Next week Pastor will be back, conducting the class in a different fashion than does Michael. Being a teacher, his classes have much more interaction and discussion than do Pastor's . 


I forgot to mention that Pastor K.'s father was our guest preacher Sunday. Before class began, we were discussing how much we enjoy his sermons, when he comes up from Leesburg to preach. Such a smooth delivery with a soothing voice, but not so much that it puts one to sleep.


My lunch was the half sandwich and a bowl of soup at Longhorn, but the potato soup is so filling, I could not finish it! The same thing happens every time I order it, but I still do! The sandwich, braised bbq beef, on a good roll is so filling, I could never handle the entire sandwich. In the past I have brought home the remaining soup but left it this time, since I have bean soup leftovers to eat up. 


Judy and I told the others how much we enjoyed "War Horse" and invited anyone else who wishes to to join us next Sunday for "Red Tails". Justin told me at dinner that George Lucas, who produced this movie, thinks it will be on the shelf next to the Star Wars series in his own home. His 5 year old son, when viewing the movie, asked his dad which of the Star Wars movies this one was from, because the planes reminded him of some from SW!!! That's kind of fun, through a kid's eyes...


Justin is going to the movies next Sunday, too, with his buddies, on the Southside. They will likely see Red Tails or he mentioned another one that I never heard of. He wants to see the "Extremely Close...." movie, featuring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, with me instead of his friends. Obviously they would not be in a hurry to see this one because of its highly emotional content, but he is comfortable seeing it with me. We have been known to cry together now and again...


We ate dinner in with my resident chef preparing something I had never eaten before---Pad Thai chicken. I was apprehensive but should not have been, because it was absolutely delicious. Justin started with a mix for the noodles and flavor packet but added a mess of veggies and some other things I did not recognize. They turned out to be oddly-colored baby carrots, plus bean sprouts. Yikes---I ate bean sprouts! He forgot to buy peanuts and I mentioned there were some in the snack mix in the cupboard (I had bought a plastic container of trail-type mix when Lynn and Linda were here last summer) but he told me that was eaten up. There goes the peanuts!


He had plans to clean up his room this evening but that did not happen. We watched Jeopardy! together after dinner and then I retired to my room to finish watching my Internet show on Roku, which is hooked up in here only. He is catching up on old TV shows he had downloaded, including "The 4400" from years ago. 


We were both in search of finding the network carrying the debates but did not find it listed for the channels I have. Instead, I am watching it via the Internet as I type at my desk. When they go to commercial, the site goes quiet so I have to refresh every little bit to make sure I don't miss anything when they come back. Thursday's debate is at UNF but we are not going. First of all, it is very difficult to get tickets and secondly, we are joining my friend, Peggy, for a Tea Party event at La Napolera that same night. I think we'll be just as happy there and then go home to watch the debate! 

Just call me poker-eyes!

My eyes are sore and make-up entirely gone, and I am happy. Not about the way I look or the way my eyes feel, but from watching a wonderful movie with Judy C. Her daughter had gotten a gift card for the AMC Theaters but where she lives, there are none. So she gave it to her mom to use...nice! We are going again next week to see "Red Tails", a WWII movie about Black pilots as heroes. 


But, now, back to WWI, the Great War...This story takes place first in Great Britain, showing a young boy witnessing the birth of a pony. It progresses to the boy forming an affectionate bond with the horse, named Joey, who is put to work on the family farm, with hopes of saving it from being a total loss. When the Great War started, the British army representative came to town to buy horses from people and away went Joey, sold to save the farm. 


The movie follows Joey and his heart-sick young owner through the war, and all the lives touched by this valiant beast. At one point, Joey got tangled in barbed wire right between bunkers occupied by the opposing sides. One guy from the Brits' and one from the Germans' bunker came out to work together to cut the horse loose, and decided who would get custody using a coin toss. Fortunately the Brit won and the horse went back to the bunker with him. Truly a good good movie about the struggles of making a living and for ending life, and preserving, all at the same time! I highly recommend it!


Justin and I went to Bible study and church this a.m. The class was held in the church office which was a bit tight of a fit, but can't be helped, I guess. We could swap rooms with the Sunday school but I am not in charge of arranging the rooms. The preschool room is off-limits to other uses so one of the classes meets in front of the church, setting up tables at which to work.


The Fellowship Hall has been vacated with an extremely well-attended workday Saturday clearing everything out. One of our newer members, Sterling, who rides his bike as transportation, took charge of organizing the garage portion of the classroom building, with more than one person telling me about it. I was told he worked there all day but he said it was only three hours...A Navy man who plays in the Navy Band, physically fit from all the bike riding. And an organizer, to boot!  When I thanked him for his work, he sort of shrugged it off as nothing. I told him my lifting and toting days were behind me and he said, "That's reversible..." and he is probably right about this!


Justin asked me what time the movie was and when I told him 3:45 pm, he said, "Oh, good! We have time to go to lunch!" Yes, we did, going to Olive Garden with Judy C. and Terri T. Judy had a gift card for there also. Life on gift cards, it's a beautiful thing! Justin and I had the soup and salad, both us full to the brim for less than $20, and in good company. He was taking some of his bakery to his friend's house for football watching but the games did not begin until 3:00 or after. 


On Friday I got the e-mail that goes out to Victory members which tells about the Sunday service and other events for the weekend. It mentioned a baptism being held at the 2nd service, which Pastor had mentioned at Bible study on Thursday as well, when Rachel was recording the music for the service. When I saw the name of the parents, I was overjoyed, and toyed with attending to witness the baptism. 


Years ago at the lake house, my 'pool boy', Jeff, would come at the break of dawn to take care of the pool. My bedroom was immediately off the pool/patio and I had no curtains or blinds covering my windows. I don't know if anyone could see in or not, but when I would hear the squeak of the screen door, I flew for my robe!


Jeff, a nice young man, was the boyfriend of my friend's daughter, Natalie, who shared ThanksLiving dinner with us recently. He did pool work as his side job, working in the graphic arts for his day job. Eventually he got a job at the brewery, working the worst hours at first, which caused him to quit the pool business. Natalie and he also broke up at some point, so I did not see him at all. 


Anne H. works at the same brewery, so I kept up with his news and goings on via her, as well as Brenda N., whose daughter is Natalie. It's that social network again! Jeff got married a few years ago and now has a baby, who was baptized today. Anne sent me an e-mail and a text message from Pastor's phone, besides the church e-mail, inviting me to come to Victory. But, I had to sing a psalm for the service, I thought, and could not go. It turns out the psalm we practiced is for a different upcoming service, so I blew that! I can still send Jeff, the pool boy, a card, and rejoice that perhaps his wife and he will have found a church!

I shall sleep better tonight!

Last night, I had a terrible time falling asleep, due in part to having to get up early in the morning to get Justin's car to the repair guy. We had decided to leave here about 7:30 a.m. for our less than 30 minute trip across the bridge. We wanted to leave a large margin of error in case the car acted up. As it turned out, we left closer to 8 a.m. with his car starting right off without any problems. Whew!


Once we found the shop, actually a bus lot where "Pat", we found out, is the head mechanic for the school buses there. Pat, whom we had never met, is the gentleman friend of our teammate at Trivia, Justin's, mother. I know, right? Justin is Erica's boyfriend, and Erica is my friend, Stephanie's, daughter. Victory friends! When Justin S. sent me a message at CHRISTmas in WI, telling me that Pat could do the repair for cheap, my Justin made me laugh. He told the family members that his mom was her own social network, finding someone to fix his car for less. 


Altogether this repair cost far far less than what RPM told us they would charge. Pat also changed the burned out light bulb in Justin's taillight, and managed to get the hatchback open, despite the broken latch, to access the light bulb! He showed Justin which cable needs to be replaced in order to make the latch operative, and offered to install it for him (takes 10 minutes according to Pat) once he has the replacement! Nice!


While the car was being worked on, Justin and I went to Publix to pick up a few things. He stocked up on some noodle meals (perfect college student food!) on sale for 45 cents each. Both the cashier and the bagger remarked about how good these are, and how they eat them a lot as college students! Justin bought another confetti cake mix and a can of frosting to make treats for his friends, plus the little cups for lining the cupcake pan. We found some break and bake cookies on sale, a strange brand, plus some cleaning products, real miscellaneous shopping, just to pass the time.


We were unfamiliar territory on that side of town, but thanks to Justin's cell phone, he got familiar! Besides Publix, he found us a McDonald's where we got breakfast and sat down inside to eat. They had TV's on there so we could watch/listen to the news as we wiled away the time. Justin had his iPad with him on which he played a game. My book was left in the car because I didn't really feel like reading, and talked with Justin instead. We got a text message that the engine mounts were installed so we headed back to the shop. Pat was still doing the lightbulb thing so we stood around and watched/chatted with him while he finished up. 


With renewed confidence, we headed back to Orange Park, Justin so glad to have his car up and running again. We got our groceries upstairs and put them away, then we retired to our own rooms. He was glad to have that broken-down car burden behind him, and I was just dog tired! After our little rests, he came into my room and relocated the router and modem to hopefully allow him better reception in his room. He got busy baking and, after my rest, I did a load of wash. Instead of making the confetti cupcakes, he made red velvet ones which smell and look great! His friends were not doing much so he was not going over to Mandarin. 


Feeling somewhat celebratory and a bit relieved about his car, I suggested we go to Manny's Bistro for dinner. The 'family' has all been asking about him, so off we went. The parking lot was nearly full when we got there and I joked that perhaps we'd have to park at La Nap and walk over. (In 2010, my friend Judy C. and I had our cars towed from this same parking lot when going to La Nap!!!) Because they were so busy, it was hard for the family to hang around to visit at all, but he got a couple of nice hugs. 


Rosaria reminded Justin about how he grew radishes in his backyard garden more than 10 years ago. Wow, even I had forgotten about that!!! She was struggling for the right word in English to describe what she was telling about, calling them 'pomadoro', for the color, before he recalled the radishes. Such fun that was! "Oh, you so handsome, honey, so handsome..." Yeah, that won't get old any time soon!


The rest of the evening will be spent watching the returns out of South Carolina and reruns of "Big Bang Theory", bouncing back and forth, waiting for the results. Who will be the next to leave the race? Any bets?

The Lost Friday

Friday went by so quickly, it seems. It began with friends and ended with them, but different sets. I like that! Early in the morning, I walked over to the “Breakfast Club”, as I have taken to calling it, since we have not played games for several weeks.  This time only Carol W. was there which is perfectly fine with me. She is the wife of Randy, our token man at water aerobics. He was expected to join us but he goes to the gym first and sometimes forgets to come for breakfast. She did not leave him a note as a reminder. Carol invited me to join them at an Italian restaurant in Mandarin to hear Randy play the piano at dinner time but I was already booked for Dinner and A Movie. My other friend, Mary, was going along as well.

After breakfast, on the way out, one of my pool friends, who works in the office, called to me. Patty wanted to know how many tickets I wanted for the upcoming fashion show. I was going to order two at some point but since she caught me, the first two sold were mine! The show is a fund raiser for the Quigley House, a home for battered women and their kids, for which my friend, Penny, works. Hmmm…I had better confirm the date so I don’t accidentally double-book. When Justin cleaned out the pantry, we got a few items together to donate to Quigley House. All I have to do is get it to Penny.

When I got home, I busied myself getting the soup made for our dinner. I had soaked the beans overnight in baking soda in an attempt to defuse them somewhat. I had mentioned to Justin that I can use a can of chicken broth to help flavor it since the packet in the bean bag said “chicken flavoring” on it. I am a bit slow on the uptake because I did NOT notice the bean soup was meant to have chicken added to it rather than ham. I never even knew to verify that but so what? In went the broth, the season packet, and cut up ham, and a handful of shredded carrots.

What I did not bargain for was the inability to properly ‘boil’ the soup since the pot was so full. If it came to a rolling boil as the directions said it should, soup would splash out onto the stove. If it did not boil enough, the beans would be tough when dinner came around. Fortunately, when Justin straightened the pantry closet, the large stew pot came to the front, allowing me to reach it down. Using both hands and one foot, I managed to pour the larger kettle of bean soup into the larger still pot, with plenty of room for boiling and stirring. Problem solved!

Justin was going to try using his own car for going to work and but if that didn’t work out, he was taking mine. When I went out for breakfast, my car was gone which lead me to believe his would not start. We needed his to be able to run in order to get to the repair shop in the morning, so I was sad. Later, when he came home, he said the car did start but he was concerned it would not again when it was time to leave work. The landscape equipment is kept deep into a neighborhood, actually beyond it, and would be hard to give a wrecker-driver directions to help him if he needed it. Seems reasonable.   

  

When he came home from work, he asked if I needed anything from the store. Sure! He went to Winn Dixie and got fresh dinner rolls and some bread for making sandwiches. Betty drinks regular Coke so he got her a small bottle for the evening. When he came back, I asked him what he had gone to get, thinking he wanted something for himself. He said he did not need anything, but knew he had left me without a car all day…What a nice guy he is!

The soup turned out wonderfully, despite the chicken flavoring, and all were happy. The ladies, Betty and Robin C., were glad to see Justin and spend some time with him. Once we finished our meal, Justin cleared things away as we ladies got set to watch our movie, “Midnight in Paris”. Robin had brought brownies and Betty, a coffee cake which tasted like a cheese cake. Yummy for dessert! Justin was going to hang out with his other friends but when he went to start his car, it would not. Instead of using mine and joining his friends, he jump started his, drove around awhile to get the battery filled back up, and then stayed home! He watched the end of the movie with us (said it looked good, what he saw of it!) and spent the evening with us old ladies! He said he did not wish to fool around with his car in the morning, wise choice!

My neighbor, Randy, offered to plug his charger into Justin’s battery overnight but Justin kindly refused this suggestion, being sure that now the battery was fully charged and ready to go. Other of my neighbors offered their help if we encountered problems with the car on the way to the shop, or to just get out of the parking lot, and I am so so thankful for the support. Now, just to get it fixed…awesome!

Timmy's birthday

Well, here it is---the day which would be Timmy's 16th birthday. Yikes! What an incredible concept for me wrap my head around. In fact, I will not even try, because, as I told Beth B. this morning, he is always going to be 5 to me! Beth lost her daughter, Hannah, the age of 12 to brain cancer at  in 2010, and she considers her daughter as always being 12. We have become fast friends for some of the obvious reasons, and I was glad she was able to attend Bible study yesterday morning.

Justin pointed out to me that I attend two Bible studies on Thursdays now, since the Bible Information Class began last week. "Ask, and ye shall receive!" He had to work today and was going to have lunch at Sweet Tomatoes with his father, a custom since 2002, to celebrate Timmy's birthday at his favorite restaurant. He called it "Taste Tomatoes", with the strawberry on the sign. No, it was not a strawberry, but as far as Timmy was concerned, it was! 

So, without Justin, I went to Bible study at Victory, and then took my car in for an oil change. Instead of sitting in the waiting area in the shop, I had a small stromboli at Aron's Pizza, next door. I love it that the young waitress knew what I was going to order, and even brought the to-go box with extra sauce in anticipation of my taking half of it home with me! The guy at Sun Tire, who also rotated my tires for me, assured me all was well under the hood, news I love to hear, and I was on my way home again.

For awhile this afternoon I worked on the church newsletter, writing an article about the coming of the season of Lent. Imagine that! We no sooner finish Epiphany season and now Lent. I like doing the research or the reading about the seasons, hymns, liturgical colors, and so on. I need some info yet from the preschool staff and then the newsletter is good to go.

I also sent out a blanket e-mail to all our members inviting them to a Work Day at church this Saturday, to prep the fellowship hall for renovation. The building has to be emptied out (and put it where?) as the roof is being modified and the ceilings replaced. We understand the kitchen remains 'as is' but will still be affected by the overhead renovations. I hope lots of people with good, strong backs show up to do the heavy lifting. 

A couple people have asked me if I was having a Super Bowl party and I said I would have to wait to see if the Packers won. As we know, the Packers did NOT win but I have opted to have a party anyway. Why not? Without a team in the running, it might be even more fun, and I have not had a gathering here, of any size, since the Ladies' Group party in early December. I don't care how many people come, it's a party with two or three, or even only one!

In the late afternoon, I got a text message from Justin telling me he was ready to get picked up. Usually I have to get him when my favorite TV show is on but today I got to see the majority of "The Five". Soon we should have his car repaired and he can drive himself. Saturday is the day for the repairs, yay!

Since I had to be at BIC by 7:30 pm, Justin and I timed our visit to Sweet Tomatoes accordingly. While we were there, I mentioned to him that I saw several folks eating by themselves, so I could have done the same. He jumped on that quickly with "I would never let you come alone on Timmy's birthday!", even though he 'had' to eat there twice in one day. Good answer, Justin! He said he knows that now he gets two of everything, including CHRISTmas dinners, birthday parties, and other events, and is good with that, as long as he doesn't overeat. That guy!

We had enough time after dinner for me to bring him home again, instead of his plan to walk from Wells and Hwy. 17. He wanted to watch "American Idol", but when I walked in the house after class, I discovered more had taken place...He was cleaning another closet! After American Idol was over, he tackled the pantry closet near the foyer, having two card tables set up and using the glass table in the family room. Wow, I have alot of stuff! This closet had not been cleaned since we moved in and was loaded by Martie and Brenda T. in 2006. 

Again, many items will be donated to Quigley House or to anyone who wants them. Foods which had expired in 2007 were disposed of, just in the nick of time!, and other items relocated to the freed shelves in the front hall closet, cleaned out on Tuesday. Sometimes a person just has to organize and shift things around to make more room, and that happened tonight! The tables are still in place with the items to be donated waiting to be boxed up. Robin and Betty are coming tomorrow night for Dinner and a Movie so they can have first pick before we box them up. Nice!

Time to rest!

What a busy and fun day I had today! First order of business was to take Justin to work on Fleming Island, in the rain. Yech! At first I had the notion to go to McDonald's for a breakfast sandwich (had coupons!) but then considered the fact that I was meeting my two lady friends for an early lunch. Nah, no need to get a sandwich when I will be eating a more substantial meal in a few hours, needing to leave room in my tummy for beef brisket. 


Robin C. invited Betty and me to lunch to celebrate my birthday which I don't mind doing. Since I was the birthday girl, we got to eat where I wanted to go. Koko's is closed so I chose MoJo's BBQ instead. Betty had no idea where it was, her first visit. I do hope she liked it enough to go back another time. When we last ate together, we promised to not let so much time go between visits, and we were true to our words! Plans are made to meet again, here, on Friday night for Dinner and a Movie. I am making a kettle of bean soup since Justin won't have time to cook for us. He has offered more than once to cook for us when I have my ladies over but because he has to work late on Friday, I will make my soup and be done with it.


From the restaurant, I headed to the groomers to get my hair cut, but had to wait a little while as she was running behind schedule. No worries about that, because I enjoy reading the Neighbor to Neighbor newspaper when I go there. Barb was telling about her battle with the insurance company and the hospital in regard to an outstanding bill that was supposedly handled. Too many hands involved and none of them getting it done. I told her the guy who runs the hospital lives in my building and she said she might come over some day and knock on his door. Not really, but I understand her frustration. He, of course, has nothing to do with the billing mix-ups, but someone in his office had supposedly taken care of it. No one told billing, I guess. It's bad enough to battle cancer but then to battle bureaucracy, well, that's over the top!


After the beauty shop and shearing thereof, I went to the car parts place to get Justin's engine mounts. I had spoken with a lady named Dawn when checking if they had come in, but when I walked in, a lady named Beth met me at the counter. OH MY GOODNESS! It was none other than Betty's daughter! Years ago, when the preschool was still fairly new, Beth worked there, and her son, Marcus, red-haired cutie pie, attended. How funny to hug her and tell how I just got done eating with her mama! She was glad Betty went out, said she needs a change of scenery from school and homework. I told Beth not worry, I had it covered!!!


From Advanced Auto I went to the Edward Jones office to sign a piece of paper which took only a few minutes, since my friend, Debbie, was gone for the day. We can talk for an hour otherwise. I should ask her to come over some time....I made my way home in rush hour traffic and was glad to at last make it back here. My little heater was turned on, the baby blanket across my legs, and laptop fired up, so to speak, until it was time to leave for choir. Robbie has a sinus situation going on right now and I assured him I would not be one bit upset if he cancelled rehearsal but he felt good enough to put us through our paces.


...and now, to the roar of jet engines outside the windows, I am enjoying being under the blankets, snug and warm, as it continues to mist. 

This picture was taken this morning at sunrise when both the sky and the water were shaded in pink. After I snapped the photo, I realized it was raining. What a capture!

The gifts that keep on giving...

....or the mama who does that! Justin needed new glasses for some time, his lenses being all blotchy with the film or protective layer looking all spotted. I would not be able to tolerate that in front of my eyes all day long. When Living Social offered a deal last November, I snapped it up to give him 'new glasses' for Christmas. Before they were going to New York for the Packer/Giant game, he was lying on my bed lamenting not having new glasses for the trip. I gave him the certificate ahead of time but he did not get to the eye clinic to make it happen. Well, now we have and somehow it ended up costing more money, above what I paid for the 'deal'. Oh yes, it was a deal, make no mistake, but I didn't realize that the lenses are charged separately than the frames and the eye exam.I guess I should have but...We could have stopped with the eye exam, kept the prescription information and ordered the glasses from Zennia on-line at an extreme discount, and I would have been money ahead. But now he will have new glasses to wear for times other than when he's working. 


For Christmas, he also got a stock certificate showing he is an owner of the Packers. Instead of keeping the certificate in the folder it came in, I thought it needed framing. We took it to Great Hang Ups to have it properly matted, in green and gold, mind you, and framed. Not only did I have to buy (not really 'have to', I wanted to!) the stock, but also insisted it be framed. Good thing I am friends with the framers! 


Dee, by the way, is now retired but we did get a chance to see her. She had high high praise for the home inspector I sent her, my former co-worker, Jim. He is the guy who called Timmy "Hurricane Hank" in the office. Dee said he did a thorough job, could come in the time frame she needed, was personable, and helpful. All good things! Yay! The sad news is that our favorite restaurant, Koko's, next door to Great Hang Ups,is now closed, the owners having also retired. Something must be going around!


For a couple years, perhaps since the Great Flood, I have been wanting to go through the little closets and sort through the items stored there. Justin and I took care of the front hall closet, relocating leftover tile and grout to the cubby near the elevator, and disposing of old paint, etc. Connie would take care of the paint cans for us, all he had to do was take them downstairs. He vacuumed the shelves and the floor, and we put back what was being kept. A bunch of items were sorted out to take to the preschool at church or given to others. It gets easier and easier to let things go, it seems. He did find three cans of beer in the closet, from 2006 according to their dates, his graduation! He wanted to keep two of them, as collector's items, while I poured one into the plant at the front door. Nourishment for the greenery!


We played trivia tonight, with seven in our group, but only five teams in the competition. It was great fun, going into the final in 1st place. That did not last, though, as we blew the final question. We were supposed to put in order a series of four movies according the year they came out. Inevitably we mess up on these type of questions (not really a question...). The list was Poltergeist, Police Academy, Airplane!, and Jaws 2. We got every one wrong, but did not put any of our points at risk. We got 2nd place, again, and are not ungrateful. Besides the fun of the game, the company and the food are great!


Tomorrow, Stephanie's mom comes down from WI for a month, her first time visiting alone, since her husband died about two months ago. And on Saturday, Erica leaves to return to school in WI, at WLC, after her long 'winter break'. I asked her boyfriend, Justin, to come to trivia anyway, even if Erica is not there. Justin is the one who arranged for us to get Justin's car worked on this coming Saturday---we hope! The parts should be in, I will call tomorrow to check the status of them so we can get his car back on the road!

Oh, goodie! The debates are on!

Yes, I am a watcher of the debates---whether I see them live or replayed in the night or in snippets on the news the next day. We are minus one who dropped out today, narrowing the field yet again, now down to five participants.

Looking around my room, I see several areas needing attention, perhaps tomorrow for that. One thing is the plastic bag holding the Ladies’ Group documents and folders. A trip to Office Max is in order as I would prefer to have one or two larger ring binders for organizational purposes instead of the paper-covered folders like were used in school. I am all about being concise and orderly with my stuff like that, so I can grab it and run!

When I did my sheets the other day, I had to empty the bed of the reading materials which are stacked elsewhere. One of my “Breakfast Club” friends, Carol, mentioned that she has a bookcase next to her bed and I thought, “hmmm….” but would not wish to eliminate the night stand already in place (and piled with books!) Perhaps, though, a small bookcase on the other side of the bed would work, although I have a lovely glass-topped table with my special Engleton lamp displayed upon it. There is room on the existing shelves if I moved some stuff around which might be the more economical way to go.

Once the end-of-year and beginning of the New takes place, I might be able to secret my rolling file cart into the closet and do the filing in there. Justin is going to relocate the modem and router from the built–in bookcase shelf to the other shelf closer to the river room. This will, hopefully, allow him enough speed to make use of his Netflix subscription from the family room, and then I should be able to access it as well in my room. So he claims. Right now I cannot imagine having a use for the Netflix but guess it would not take me long to get caught up in the fervor of it. However, I won’t mind one little bit having less wires showing, although he does not seem to consider my accumulation of wires to be all that much. At least, not compared to his mass of wiring---wow!

What a great debate this is! The moderator has his hands full keeping the candidates and questioners on track. Newt is talking about young entrepreneurs in the doughnut business which reminded me about Judy C. making doughnuts at home. She got a machine, similar to a waffle-maker, she described it, for making ball-shaped doughnuts in the comfort of her home. She had her two grandkids today because of the school holiday and this would be their afternoon activity. Sounds good to me! Not only can she make those, she can also make her own soda at home, and likes it!

On the way to work this a.m., Justin asked me how to make a bad dream stop. Other than waking up, I am not sure. It seems we both had that type of dream (I had two this a.m.), my first one involving him as a young child. In my dream, it seemed my extended family and ours was shopping at a mall with a major toy store in it. Justin, about age 6 or so, was begging for something inappropriate for him. When I refused to buy it,he took off on me. Originally his father had been shopping with us but then was no longer in the picture. Everyone was looking for him, scared that he would get out in the street or something. I called his father to report Justin missing and he told me to keep looking but then had some business stuff to talk to me about. Why does it always come back to the business?? I am hoping we found him and I am also hoping I did NOT buy him what he was begging for! I don’t remember what Justin said his dream was about (shame on me!) but it might come back to me later and I will add a post script to this.

Right now, though, I want to focus on the debate. At this moment, Ron Paul is speaking, whom Justin refers to as “Walter” from the Jeff Dunham comedy routine. I get that!!! How funny!!!

Not too worn down this a.m.

I woke up this morning, composing the following in my head:

“This morning I awoke with one less child

But heaven more beautifully adorned.”

This was more true 11 years ago, as one might imagine the horror of waking up to realize it was not a dream, but that it actually happened.

My friend and co-worker, Betty, was slated to take me to the surgeon’s office to have my sutures checked out while my spouse was going to our place of business to get things arranged over there. As far as the surgeon could tell, there was no outward damage, which was what the nurse told me at the ER the night before. The pain killers I had been on made me droopy and fuzzy, and I needed to be at the top of my game in the coming days. The surgeon prescribed something less powerful.

The wife of one of our employees came to our house to basically hold down the fort (Amber) as we had to take care of funeral arrangements. Besides supervising the kitchen and the influx of food, Amber played games with Justin to keep him occupied. The guidance counselor from St. Johns had brought Justin home that morning, as he spent the night with our former neighbors (we had moved only about 6 weeks ago). Caroljo spent some time with us, and at some point Twila and Jackie came over, which was helpful for my mom.

Okay, that’s enough of that for today!

Yesterday morning, Justin came in my room and was talking to me about his plans for the day and so on. A commercial or news segment came on featuring hash browns and we both went “mmmmm!” I asked if he knew how to make hash browns and he said he did not know how to operate my machinery for making them. I have an attachment for the mixer which would shred potatoes plus I have a Pampered Chef gizmo somewhere for grating. At this I made a sad face and he asked, “Wanna go to Grumpy’s for breakfast?” My blankets flew off and my feet hit the ground as I scampered to get ready. He was laughing about this as he threw himself together as well. In minutes we were out the door on the way to Grumpy’s. It was just before 10:00 am I think and I feared we would be barricaded into our complex due to a Florida Strider’s race that morning. It seems the race was already underway so we were able to escape.

After a short wait for a table, we enjoyed a nice breakfast and even more talking. He asked if we could stop at Winn Dixie for the ingredients to make a pineapple upside down cake to serve for dessert that night. Of course we could do that and ended up buying a couple cake mixes and matching cans of frosting, as a sale was going on. A nice lady in the aisle who heard us talking suggested a sure fire way to make an upside down cake. We got the needed items and some not entirely necessary, then went home.

Justin had some vacuuming to finish but he told me he was taking a few minutes ‘for himself’ to play some video games and then would get busy. I had to chuckle about that, it hit me funny. Every little while he came in my room to show me something he found of interest in a “Geek” catalog I get since ordering on-line for CHRISTmas. He is all about the geeky stuff. Soon I heard him in the kitchen, making his desserts for the dinner and game night events.

At one point I went into the kitchen to hear him say, “Oh, oh…” as he stuck a tooth pick into the center of his cake. It was very runny yet, but the edges were done…this might be because he used a 9 x 9 cake pan instead of a 9 x 13, making the cake VERY thick. He overlooked the note on the box saying to use 2 of the smaller pans or one of the larger ones. His idea was to remove the top layer of baked cake and reinsert the remainder in the oven, alongside his already baking lasagna. Okay…..When it came out, it was blackened around the edges due to the oven being set on 400 degrees for the lasagna. Not his day for baking! Oh, wait, he successfully made confetti cupcakes which were a good substitute for the pineapple upside down cake. What he did salvage from that cake looks good, but he is hesitant to try it himself.

When I sat down at my desk upon getting home from breakfast and WD, my phone rang. It was my friend, Judy C., asking if I wanted to meet for lunch. Rats! I explained that I had just walked in from a rather good breakfast but was available for dinner. That was fine with her so those plans were made. Justin had to laugh, as such is my life! Other years people have stepped up, knowing or unknowing, to keep me somewhat busy this ‘funeral week’, and it was happening!

Judy and I met at Manny’s Bistro, the replacement restaurant for Sarnelli’s, now closed. The family is still together at this place, and I got hugs from all of them. They asked about Justin so I must must must get him in there one of these days so they can see him. Tina, the owner’s daughter and our waitress, said she had not seen him in a couple years, which may be true. It was good to see so many people coming in, even though it was ‘early’ for dinner standards. This restaurant is located on the same site from where Judy and I had our cars towed in 2010, so we parked very carefully last night!

When I got home after dinner, Justin’s friends were all here, but had not eaten yet. Perhaps they were waiting for halftime in the football game. There were two girls and four guys, planning to eat and play games while watching football. They did two of the three, with football trumping the board game. Not a good idea to plan game night on a game night! The ladies sort of tidied up the kitchen afterward since they were not drawn into the game. I stayed pretty much out of the way to give everyone their space but later ventured to the kitchen to empty the dishwasher and refill it.

As the later game came on, after the first quarter, Justin came to my door and announced, “Well, it’s all over…” They went home!! I guess the girls were good for one football game but not two so the guys (Josh had already left a bit earlier) took the girls home. One is in sports medicine but not a football fan, and the other a medical student.The ladies are roommates and live in Mandarin. The med student, Sarah, is expecting to be engaged to Ron, with whom Justin plans to live when he buys a house. The other young man is Jesse, Justin’s former roommate, and is helping Ron find a house to buy. The fellows are all St. Johns kids, which I think is kinda fun. I felt badly that the evening didn’t work out the way Justin expected it to and neither did the Bronco game, which I watched for a while with him. We both decided to go to bed when it looked like a hopeless case for Denver.

Today, it’s Packers!!!!!!