I know Mandarin is over there somewhere!

The fog is so dense that I can't even see across the harbor area, much less over to Mandarin. There is a heron down below the window straining to spot fish in the water---now, that is some thick fog!

*

I heard that rain showers were expected today, and in one second I can get the weather report--please hold for a moment (a little Sprint lingo there)....it's presently 64 above zero with storms expected this evening. One day this week it's supposed to only reach 55 for the high, which means I'll be housebound. Can't go out when it's below 60...just teasing. It seems that the temps in Manitowoc and area might reach 32 above, which means some of that nasty ice might melt away. Then Jill and Lynn won't have to spend their down time chipping away at glaciers in their driveways!

*

There was a wretched wreck yesterday out near the base. Apparently two young men were drag racing on Roosevelt, with one losing control and shooting across the median into oncoming traffic, striking three cars, one head-on. One of the "innocent" drivers was killed, and his wife was driving another car behind him and not killed. She probably was "killed" in a way, seeing her husband die right before her eyes. Several other people in the other cars were injured, including a young girl, all from Orange Park. This wasn't at night either, mid-morning drag racing on a public, heavily-traveled roadway. The other car in the race took off but believe you me, the police are looking for that blue Mustang and will find him! One minute you can be driving down the road following all the rules, and then someone runs into you who isn't...

Oh, it feels so good to sit down

Busy, busy, busy, like many Sundays are. After church I came home for a bit and managed to find some recorded "Frasier" episodes to watch. What a nice treat, since I'm sad about running out of my DVD's that Justin gave me for CHRISTmas.
*

For some reason, my family room TV won't play anything on the Lifetime channel, which is where "Frasier" plays. Maybe Justin put the "fix" in on it, as he used to forbid me to watch Lifetime because of the movies shown on there. Isn't that a bit reversed? The child forbidding the parent...anyway, he felt it wasn't good for my spirit and well-being to watch that type of program. He has my best interest at heart! Therefore, my DVR can't record from that channel any longer. There are some Frasier episodes recorded around New Year which still show, which is why I got to see it today. Whew! The long way around again, right?
*

This afternoon was spent at Great Hang Ups for Kris's art show. It was fun and I got to visit with a couple of Justin's art teachers from St. Johns. There were some sales made although I don't know the overall success of the show, as some folks were still there when I left.

Pizza/Game Night was sort of a bust, although we did have 5 adults and one child. An entire pizza was leftover which the preschool teachers can enjoy tomorrow. Fausto was bit distressed that more people don't come, in fact, he claimed that anyone who had kids should be there! Here's the worst part as far as I'm concerned, no Scrabble for Kim.....we played Mexican dominoes which was quite fun and terrific for a group. Oh well.....

*

And why does it feels so good to sit down? I was on my feet much of the day, except for during worship. Before church and after, I was scooting around talking to people, getting the table set up in the breezeway, taking attendance, etc. At Hang Ups I was workin' the room, on my feet some more. It simply felt wonderful to sit down and relax!
*
There is a heart-breaking movie on TV right now---The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which is cool because I get to see views of Santorini periodically. But, there is one young lady, Carmen, who is suffering terribly because her dad is remarrying, a surprise to his daughter, and the woman is blond with two blond kids. The natural daughter is Puerto Rican as is her mom, obviously, and she's having a really tough time accepting all this.
*

One scene shows Carmen standing outside the house, looking in at her dad's "new" family, all sitting around the table. It bugged her so much that she threw a rock at the window and ran back home. Just now she called her father and let her grief out, feeling that her dad traded his wife and daughter in for something better. Gut wrenching sorrow, with the dad shown weeping, too, unable to mend this damaged relationship. She told him how her uncle calls every month but only sees dad twice a year. Heart breaking. As I often say, "Oh, the things we do to our children!"

*

Speaking of children, Justin is doing well as far as coping with his news Wednesday. He has a physical therapy appointment in the morning, goes to work, and then home early to cram for a test. He is doing a project for one of the classes tonight, something Roman. I offered to send him some photos but he said he's got everything needed. Justin got to spend some time with Pam and family tonight for Jesse's birthday, now 22 years old, at Carrabba's. Nuts! I missed out...

*

There is much more to say but will leave that for another time. I think of so many things when I'm at church, some of the readings either in Bible study or worship prick my heart, but then when I get home, I've lost my train of thought. Enough thinking for tonight, though, so good night all and consider this from Ephesians: I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints...

The river is like glass.......

...it looks very smooth with jewels floating on top. Quite different from yesterday with the nasty weather we had earlier in the day.

*

Lynx and I were awake a couple times already this morning but I finally had to give in and get up to stay. The sun beckoned me, as did the bathroom! TMI...

*

The newsletter was finished more or less last night, however there still is editing to do in the daylight hours. No matter how many times it's read through, some boo boos sneak onto the pages. What goes on when I'm asleep?

*

Saturday went by quickly, starting with a lovely breakfast with the church ladies at Honey B's. I'd reserved for 12 people for 9:30 a.m. and when I arrived, found a small group already in place---at a table for 6. Well, that wasn't going to work and truthfully speaking, the place was a beehive! Hence, the name....No one could really tell us what was happening or stop long enough to help us out. Finally a table emptied nearby and we corralled a young lady to help us move furniture to accommodate our group. Only one person didn't show, which is a far cry better than the last outing to Mediterrania where more than half that signed-up didn't show....ouch!!!

*

As I said, Honey B's was a veritable beehive and we aren't exactly sure who our waitress was, but we were kept full of drinks for the long wait on our meals. The conversation flowed, never a doubt about that, and if we're going to be stuck in a restaurant, these are the folks to be stuck with. Not to make it sound worse than it was, by 11:00 am we were out the door, which is nice length of time for ladies to socialize. In my opinion, it was the franticness of the staff which cause some to feel frantic---frenzy is catchy, you know. We should have had the de-caf!

*

Oops, I see it is nearly time to leave for church. I'll have to post another later on. This afternoon is an art show for a friend up at Great Hang Ups and later is pizza/game night at church. I am missing Jesse's birthday party because of pizza/game night but at least I'll get to play Scrabble with Paul and Emily again!

*

Blessings on your worship today!

Is that all she does? Cry?

Of course not, it only seems that way! My eyes are about swollen shut again after seeing "The Bucket List" the second time. This viewing was with Twila and her visiting sister, Elaine. It was just as wonderful as the first time, although knowing ahead of time what's going to happen takes away some of the edge, as one would expect. It probably would be a good idea for me to take a rest, at least my eyes, before heading out to a fund raiser for Travis later on. Another event, another change of clothes.....

Thus far I haven't heard from Justin, as I was out much of the day and he has school all day Thursdays. I'd like to know what he's thinking about today, if he's upset about yesterday's news or simply concentrating on the things which he can affect--grades!

This late morning I met Jen and Martie at Pengree's, enjoying a wonderful meal and visit. Martie had to leave for work but Jen and I were a bit later leaving as, strange as this is to believe, I met up with someone I knew. Hugging and conversation and more hugging ensued in the parking lot, so I was nearly late to the movie theater. I called Twila to let her know I was running behind so they got their tickets and saved a seat for me. As it turned out, I managed to locate a convenient parking spot, rare at the movies, and found my friends in plenty of time. We watched and wept, ate our popcorn, and then left the theater in the midst of a rain storm! Of course, cold and wet, my favorites! And Twila had just mentioned going to the beach one of these coming days..........supposed to be 80 tomorrow and hopefully sunny!

Thanks to all who have replied to my first blog yesterday about Justin's hearing loss. Sorry that the Comment thingy is on the fritz but e-mails are just as welcome. Your prayers are appreciated, including those of thanksgiving for it not being even worse than it is!

What does it mean when the moon turns orange?

Good evening, all!

*

Well, I am back home after church and choir practice tonight, feeling a bit worn out after the news and such earlier. We rehearsed "Jerusalem, the Golden", again singing with tears running down my cheeks. Makes it a bit difficult to hit those high notes. It's truly a lovely anthem, sung to a melody called "Jupiter", from an orchestral piece called "The Planets", described as being "stately". It is all that, particularly with Suzanne playing the viola and Robbie accompanying on the organ. I wish we could get someone else to play to the organ so that Robbie could play his trumpet, but.......I guess we'll get by with viola, organ, and me sobbing my eyes out!

*

The good news is that as we were leaving church after choir practice we were able to see the moon eclipsing. It was not quite done so I drove home as quickly as I could to watch the finale. At first the clouds were blurring it but then when I took another peak, ta da! Red orange in color, making the clouds around it look the same hue...gorgeous and phenomenal. I hope that is the appropriate word choice there. Yep, it is the perfect explanation for what we've seen tonight: extraordinary and remarkable--thanks Miriam Webster! Judy just sent a quick e-mail reporting that she took pictures of our shared moon (saying she was out mooning on her deck!) and commented it was an absolutely perfect night in MN....probably it, too, was phenomenal!!

*

Thanks for the kind, caring words and thoughts about Justin's hearing loss. I'll pass those along to him tomorrow. Cindy, you're my biggest fan, and I yours!!! The Lord's continued blessings to you all!

I have to put my sad face on today

Let me see..is this a sad color? Kind of.

*

This morning Justin and I had to waken very early, especially since I had to drive wwaayy over to his side of town. He had an appointment with the audiologist and ear people, the experts, and underwent some in-house tests.

*

I should have sensed something was up when the first technician went into the office with another lady who seemed to be a boss, and shut the door. She then came back, directing us to yet another room for more tests. This particular machine was quite sensitive to sound, so we had be as quiet as could be, with even the sound of the machine operating picked up on the program. I was afraid my telephone would go off and ruin the whole thing, but fortunately it was quiet.

*

Following that test we were ushered into another waiting area until the next person, a registered nurse, came for us. We went into an exam room where she asked a million questions about the onset of this malady, even asked if there was any diabetes on either side of the family. She didn't say why this was important but it must help them to sort out cause/effect or something. She typed the whole works into her computer and then left. It wasn't long until another lady came in, a Physician's Assistant (PA), Judy, whose been doing this for 25 years already. She knew her stuff.

*

Judy showed us print outs of his hearing tests and the others they did this morning, asked many questions again, going over the who, what, when, where, and whys of the onset, trying to narrow it down. According to their tests and examinations, Justin is totally deaf in his left ear, most likely permanently.

*

Given the way everything played out, apparently Justin had a virus in his ear, not causing pain but producing pressure on the balance nerve as well as the hearing nerve, and the pressure apparently crushed his hearing nerve. Fortunately the balance nerve recovered, with the nerve that controls some facial muscles being unaffected. (Bell's Palsy). If there is a bright side to this, and of course, there is, Justin ONLY lost his hearing and not his entire equilibrium and facial muscles.

*

Now, the questions come: How did this happen? Why did the family doctor determine it was allergy-caused rather than this virus at work? What could have been done to reverse this earlier on? The way Judy described it, this was just bad luck.

*

Not believing in luck, good or bad, I was glad to hear her explain that even if we'd come immediately to their office and diagnosed the problem, they'd have given him massive doses of prednisone for a couple weeks, with a 50/50 chance that it would correct the problem. In other words, it happens.

*

No one's fault, no one upon whom to afix blame. Not himself for contracting this virus, not his mama who was cruising in the North Pacific, not his doctor, who read the symptoms just as they presented.....even Dr. Potts, his roommate's mom, thought it was only an inner ear thing affecting the eustacian tubes and would take a few months to work itself out, which is what our family doctor said, too. His tubes are just fine, it's the nerves way inside that were affected, and again, we are thankful that ONLY the hearing one remains damaged.

*

On the bright side, he has fantastic, perfect hearing in his right ear, which he was admonished to preserve with every effort possible. No lawn mowers, leaf blowers, jet engines, rifles, or rock concerts, unless he's wearing approved ear protection.

*

Justin has to go back in a couple weeks for more in-house tests and have an MRI performed before getting to see the Big Guy--Dr. Green. He comes highly recommended and his staff claims he is the best when it comes to things like this. Oh, by the way, the PA said they don't usually see this in men as young as Justin, but in older men who like to play with loud toys (boats, machinery, and the cars that go thump, thump, thump from the speakers.) Since Justin's malady was caused by a virus, I don't understand the correlation between the loud noise and the nerve, unless just the results are the same, and not neccessarily the cause..........anyway...

*

As far as treatment goes, there is none, as the damage is done. However, as Judy said, they always have some tricks to do with equipment that would transfer the "sound" from the left ear to the right ear, which hears for both then. It would not be perfect, but at least allow him to have what she referred to as "surround around" sound. Or, he can do absolutely nothing and live with it, or without it, as the case might be. We'll make that decision once the doctor has seen him, and proceed from there. The MRI is to absolutely rule out anything else going on in his head that could have affected the hearing.

*

Naturally, I felt terrible about it, feeling totally responsible for not addressing this matter as soon as I got home from my travels, but Judy assured us both that there was little we could have done, and at best, the 50/50 chance of reversal if treated immediately. She said it's no one's fault, and I have to believe her on that. Some people are quick to assign blame in order to "handle" a situation, but that just won't work in this case. It happens. But, I feel sad for Justin, as his worst fear was realized, not being able to hear from his left ear again---possibly. If we decide to go ahead with some helpers for his hearing, that's another story. A hearing aid will not do a thing for him since it's not the ear drum that's affected, it's a nerve that got compressed by a virus.

*

That's it..........

The sun isn't even up yet...

It felt wonderful to lay down last night and I have no idea what time I fell asleep, guessing it was before 11:00. Earlier I had a houseful of friends here for a Southern Living at Home show. Jan said the very nicest things about me and my home, describing it as that--a home!

*

She told a little story about how one of their designers claimed she can tell much about a person by the front door of their home and by the napkins they use. I was a winner with my sunflower wreath and garish ceramics at the door, as well as using the fabulous napkins that Lori gave me for my birthday featuring two hefty "sisters" sharing a dessert. Jan took one of the napkins home with her to put in her scrapbook.

*

She also took photos of my house before setting up because she wanted to take advantage of the remaining light to enjoy the view. Jan told the ladies how in her long career she's gotten into many homes including some in the more posh areas of town....she nearly moved me to tears with her praise! Upon getting started it turned out only a couple ladies had attended a Southern Living party, making it all the more enjoyable. Now they know another reason for my joy---ceramics and pretty glass things!!!

*

There was no Bible study yesterday morning due to it being a holiday and Pastor was able to be with his family who were all off from school. Justin had class yet at UNF, but told me he's off on MLK Day.....that's another subject.

*

Since I had my art class in the afternoon, I utilized my 'free' morning to make my preparations for the party. Sunday night I made my ham salad, using leftovers from our CHRISTmas feast. I'd stored it in the freezer in a cookie tin, not remembering it was in there at first. What a wonderful surprise and a brilliant idea to make ham salad with it! Got rave reviews, too!

*

Guess it was the moving of chairs and such that tired my back, which is why it felt so wonderful to lay down. Martie had stayed to help clean up afterward while I worked with Jan. Now I have some selections to make from the catalog based upon the dollar value of the show---fun, fun, fun! Glad I'm finally off 'dish restriction'! Oh, that reminds me--my neighbor's fiance came past the door as Brenda N. was arriving so I snagged her into the fray. She loves dishes and says that Travis told her she couldn't bring home anymore little bowls and such. I asked Jessica if she is on dish restriction......I love to feed other people's passions!!! She took a catalog!

*

Travis is running for a seat on the County Board and has invited me to a fund raising event on Thursday night. He delivered the invitation to me after my party was wrapping up but didn't want to come in as he was already in his jammies. Oh my, the sky is simply magnificent this morning with greys and greens and salmon on the horizon. The Lord is using His entire pallet today!

*

We had quite a rain storm yesterday but the radio folks kept reminding us that we "dodged a bullet" as some regions west of here really got clobbered. I timed my trip down to the car for groceries just exactly right---the heavens opened as I reach the car! Dave, our 'doorman' helped me carry the bags upstairs so I didn't have to make a second trip down there. I needed the items to make my food for the party, otherwise I'd have waited until the rain ended.

*

Today brings only a doctor appointment after lunch, perhaps an outing with Twila and Elaine to see The Bucket List again, and then a building committee meeting tonight. Other than that stuff, a quiet day. It's time to publish the newsletter again so must end this "verbose" update (my biggest fan, Justin, told me I was 'verbose' in my postings...) and get busy on my church business.

*

I pray all are getting shoveled out, Jill keeps me posted on the removal thereof. Dolly said she's sick and tired of it, too, and I remind all that the door here is open to anyone wishing to vacate their premises for a break! Even when I'm gone to NYC, make yourselves homely!