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

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Some special times

When I was in WI, visiting my family in Manitowoc, I also spent time with some friends. One night Rick and Laura took me to Time Out for dinner, where I had those marvelous beer-battered perch. When together, I returned a nightshirt Laura left behind when they had visited me in April. We went over to their house after dinner and I got the 25 cent tour of their home and property. My family remembers having been there years ago for a cosmetic party but I do not. It was a nice evening!
Taken on a previous visit, so you can get the idea (Marilyn is the second lady on the left with Mom in the foreground on the right)
Linda and I spent time together throughout the visit, but our best day was Thursday, before I left. First, Mom, Lynn, and I went to church to help assemble the newsletter. A group gathers and makes quick work of the project. One lady is a very dear friend of Judy J., who lives now in FL but was formerly church friends with Marilyn in MI. Marilyn lives now in Manty in the neighborhood where we built homes years ago. One time, several years ago, Marilyn called Judy to ask if she knew us, since we had signed the guest book and she noticed the Orange Park and Good Shepherd listed as our church. Well, of course, Judy knew us! How fun is that??? Judy told Marilyn how we went to church together, how she was my sponsor for working at Sprint, and how she helped us find a home to rent in Peters Creek, where she resides. Gotta love the WELS!

After we were done with the newsletter, I said 'good-bye' to the two pastors, and wished Pastor Rosenow well in his pending retirement. We ladies---Lynn, Linda, Mom and I---ate at the new restaurant opened only the day before, called "8th and York". 

After lunch, Linda and I went to her house for our action-packed afternoon of retreat. Yes, she and I watched a recorded woman's retreat lecture given by Prof. Daniel Deutschlander on "The Theology of the Cross". The session was two hours long and his first time presenting to women, most of which were lay people. Linda had already seen the first hour but was ready to see/hear it again. 

Talk about riveting! Wow! Linda often watches movies and TV shows, and women's retreat lectures with her eyes closed. She gets up at 4:30 a.m. so I would guess by afternoon, her eyes get heavy. Since he had no illustrations or visuals to show, it doesn't matter if your eyes are closed---just keep the ears open. 

What was so funny was the camera recording this lecture was in proximity to a table where some ladies were seated, and we would have sworn it was Linda and me. At the same times we 'reacted' to something the Prof. said, those ladies did too. Those little throat sounds of agreement, or the verbalized ones, softly agreeing or acknowledging his point. At first I thought it WAS Linda but then realized it was coming from the computer we were watching on! Love to know THEY were getting it, too!!!
                           
Linda made dinner for us, with Tommy cooking the brats on the grille set up on the front porch while the back porch is being redone. How delicious is a freshly grilled brat! We had cole slaw and baked beans, and yes, onions on our brats. I took seconds on the slaw, that's how good it was! Linda and I both had onions so we had to breathe on each other at Bible study that evening.

We were in downtown Shoto on Thursday night, attending a women's Bible study at the home of Kathy Wendland, who also conducts the Tuesday class at FG. Different topics at each study, and different ladies, too.  I got to see several I had not seen the rest of the visit which was awesome. The class was also awesome! We told Kathy about watching the lecture, and reported seeing/hearing her stand up during the Q & A session to thank him for giving the women 'the meat' they are so hungry for. Well said, Kathy, well said!

And that is how we roll!!!

Now...where was I???

Just before leaving my mom's house, I was cleaning out the file cabinet known as my purse, to make it lighter for the trip back home. In sorting through the numerous receipts and church papers, I decided to keep many of these items for reference in order to recreate my time spent away from home. Oh, the places we go! On Facebook one day my status update was in regard to what I do when in Manty: eat perch and go to church!

One of my young nephews had a birthday not celebrated yet with the family so we did that on Friday before I came back to FL. From Wal*Mart I bought him an Avenger mask, Captain America, I believe, plus an Avenger gun which dispenses foam darts. Boys love stuff like that. I also found a very nice pack of notecards for me, simple ones with a gold cross on the front. They have to be pliable enough to feed through my printer, I have a paper weakness....

That shopping trip to Wal*Mart also yielded a new swimsuit which I did not wear at all when there, although I could have gone to the Wellness Center with Lynn if I wanted to. Lori did go and enjoyed the workout. She was annoyed by a pre-existing itchiness on her neck and shoulders which she guesses came from sample shampoos she used, possibly aggravated by the chlorine. Lynn took her to Walgreens to get some Benedryl spray and some lotion to apply which knocked it down nicely.

One afternoon, Mom treated us, except Jill because she had to work, to pedicures for Lynn, Lori and herself, and a manicure for me. That was so nice of her! I had the cat bird seat, sitting at their feet, so to speak, getting my hands tended to while they were pampered on their toes. Since Linda was treating me to a pedicure, I opted for the manicure instead. Thanks, Mom!!!! 

Mom also had some returns to make at various stores so we went one day to Shopko, a smaller version of a Wal*Mart. I found several tops which I liked, and had them in Mom's cart. In wandering the aisles, I encountered one of my Facebook friends, Judy, and chatted with her for a while. (We had met in person last Christmas at the Lutheran High concert at the Capital Civic Center...she recognized me from my photographs. That's what I love about Facebook!) Mom and Lynn got into the checkout line, so I hustled their direction. Just as I got there, Mom was in the process of buying two of the tops I'd picked out. That rascal! Thanks, Mom!!!

Another night I had the privilege of dining with my family and the church family at The Charcoal Grille. The best steak sandwich and wonderful onion straws there, and Kerry even came along! The young woman who organized the outing was alone, as her hubby was called to Green Bay to be with his father who was recently diagnosed with cancer. The next morning, there was a prayer in church for this man's family, as the dad passed away before midnight. Wow, that was fast! Good for the dad, not so easy on the family, however.

One Wednesday, Bulletin Day, I went to church to help with the bulletins and the place was an absolute beehive of activity. The other office helper, Darlene, was there. Thankfully the church has a folding machine which was clanking away at folding the bulletins, service folders, and other church related materials. The building and grounds chairman, Larry, is a wonderful guy and is almost always at church. That day he was there working on setting up the softball schedule for the youth team for summer. I have known him seemingly all my life, as his sister was friends with, and a roommate to, my sister, Lori, as well as fellow church members. Larry is an uncle to my friend, Rick, who visited me here in April. 

We had extra bulletins for Ascension services on Thursday, plus did the ones for the church picnic coming up in June, which will also be their senior pastor's going-away party. His request was to use the picnic as his venue to say 'farewell'. He is retiring and moving across the state to live in his parent's basement. I wonder if he will become a blogger.....Haha! His parents need some attention, so his wife and he will move into their exposed basement to be on-site for care giving. 

Linda, Letty, and I went back to The Grille again for lunch after Bulletin Day, and once more, I enjoyed the steak sandwich. Linda had a massage appointment that afternoon so I went back to Mom's after our lunch. It was nice to dine with these church ladies. Letty is a pastor's wife, he now a retirement pastor, and she works at the high school in the library. Things were coming to a close at school as graduation loomed, and the end of the year. Let's eat out!!!

Twice an assortment of our group ate at Pizza Hut, just blocks from my mom's apartment building. We just love those personal pizzas! Twice I ate at Fork and Knife, a locally owned restaurant, and three times at Perkin's where I get the delicious potato pancakes. Mom treated one day---Thanks, Mom! Friday, the last time I was there, was with John and Mona, and after the first hour, John left, after paying for our breakfasts. We had words leftover!!! It's always fun to spend time with Mona and get caught up. She is a voracious reader but not the same type of reading I do. 
No trip is complete without perch being had at The Green Street, as well as at The Tower Tavern, The Four Seasons, Time Out Bar and Grille, and the Lighthouse Inn. Somehow we missed going to Late's but did get to have wonderful ice cream treats at Cedar Crest where my sister, Jill, is the bar tender. Do ice cream parlors have an equivalent to a barista? On one visit, Lynn had a marvelous banana split made with three different types of ice cream plus the banana, pineapple, and cherries, with whipped cream and nuts. It became her evening meal as well. Thanks, Mom!

Justin thinks this trip was a bit too long---it must be different for him when he lives in the same place I do. Otherwise, I don't think it would have affected him as much. I love it that he missed me!