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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!

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Good news!

Do you remember my writing about the infant who was born about a month ago and was in the hospital since? Well, last night he slept in his own home and bassinet for the first time. Thanks be to God! The mom is a God-fearing woman, an active member of the church just west of Good Shepherd. It was her faith and trust in the Lord which helped her get through this trial with her baby.

It was from her husband, Will, that I bought the pair of jet skis in 2005. Will is a fun guy, a fireman for JFRD. One of Justin's favorite stories to tell is when we went to Wal*Mart once, and before we were into the store, I had stopped to talk to several folks as they were leaving. Will was next to come in and he said to me, in his Southern drawl, "What? Are you runnin' for Mayor?" It sure looked that way! Shaking hands and kissing babies...Anyway, I am so glad that Mom and baby were able to sleep at home in their own beds. I hope they were able to get some sleep, anyway!
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On Fox and Friends this a.m. the hosts are discussing the 'problem' of texting language, concerned for what it will do to people's writing skills. I am adamant about not using abbreviations when sending text messages, other than a couple, such as 'plz', on occasion. I am a full sentence girl, which makes me a dinosaur in the texting world. 

Justin informed me the other night that it is 'against the law' to use the font "Comic Sans" for anything other than comics. I wonder who is going to come for me if I break that law...There are groups for whom this stuff is serious business, and he seems to be part of them! I think it's an agist thing---looking to find things to be mean about or to diminish others. Well, it's not going to stop me from using the font of my choice, and I will hang for it!

The other day and evening I was chatting with my sisters about our time spent babysitting 'out in the country' for our cousin's family. The creaking of the house, the unknown sources of noise, etc., the ruralness of the house. My sister, Lori, mentioned the scary basement, but I don't remember ever seeing it. The house was a huge one, a two-story duplex, in downtown Newton. We would usually spend the night because of the distance from home and the late hour they would get home.

The conversation began as part of my noting the playing of the National Anthem prior to the new days' broadcast on Fox News Channel. We remarked about hearing that played at the end of the day, when the TV actually went off the air, usually between midnight and 2:00 a.m. When babysitting and waiting for the parents to get home, this made for a long night!
                                      
It was at David and Rochelle's house where I would listen to country western music on their console TV and stereo, and discovered Buffy St. Marie. I told them how much I enjoyed listening to it, and they didn't like her album, so gave it to me! I would listen to Waylon, Merle, and Johnny, too. Old school country musicians, men and women singers, with big hair.

To tie this together with the text messaging, here is the clincher---when I babysat there, I thought my cousins were old. After all, they were in their mid-20's!!! Which is what Justin is now---kids might look at him and think how old he is. Agism against him, as he is considered by younger folks. 

I think about this as I associate with so many folks who are older than am I. Even though we are 15 to 20 years apart in age, it seems we are the same age. At some point, the numbers lose their importance. 
           
Stephanie, me, and Rita at Good Shepherd. Ed looks like he has one antler, but it's a gondola on the wall

And, when I hang out with Rita and Stephanie, I am the old lady! Rita is about 10 years younger than I, with Stephanie about 6 years younger. Oddly enough, if Timmy had not died, I would have a child younger than theirs...as Rita's older son is looking at graduate school already. Her younger one is 13, so he'd be right behind Timmy. Stephanie's daughter, Erica, is in college now. Age means less and less, it seems, the older we get.