Baby, It's Hot Outside!

This from a girl who usually doesn't mind the heat. And I still don't, having not been outside yet but knowing it's going to 94 today, on our picnic day, this might be a problem! Some of the ladies prefer to be cooler, shall we say?, and may find temperatures in the 90's not quite cool! Later, I'll send out a feeler e-mail to see if we should set up on the sundeck or indoors instead....

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I have the A/C on this morning, in fact, even overnight, and it was down to 79 in here! Just got back from the kitchen where I got a glass of water, passed the thermostat and saw it was 81 degrees in the house. Okay, I'll turn it down to 79. My ceiling fan keeps the air moving so it's not stuffy in here at all.

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Debris from the roof is dropping all the way down to the first floor, as they are doing major removal from the raised areas of the roof. Some of the top units have lofts which make it actually 6 floors in some areas. We were warned that this was going to be a big day in the demolition process and must bear with it. And I will. It's so funny to hear the work going on, two or three levels above me, when it sounds more like right outside my bedroom door.

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Oooo, I just had a big black bird fly past my window, carrying a fish in its talons. Lunch! The harbor area is quiet these days, no dredging going on and no fisherman at present---other than the bird, that is! Last night I noticed the boom of the crane beyond the breakwater was illuminated, almost like CHRISTmas lights, for the first time that I've noticed. This might be because there was a great deal of helicopter traffic up and down the river way, and it wouldn't be good to run into the crane in the darkness. It looked pretty out there, rather festively dressed for early June.

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Saturday I am looking forward to going to Twila's to watch the Poker Run. The speed boats, cigarette-style racers, leave the Landing downtown and race all the way to Palatka and back, gathering playing cards at scheduled stops along the way. Twila lives on the path to a stop-off place, Whitey's Fish Camp, and we annually gather on her dock to watch the fun. Once, her grandson, Mark, the guitar player, took us out on the boat during the Run and we had to make haste back to safety before the "big" boats came through. Tommy and Linda, who was in tears anyway, had quite the adventure that day! And a ring side seat to boot!

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I spent some time this a.m. looking at the news on-line and saw a blurb saying Kelsey Grammar was released from a hospital in Hawaii after a mild heartache. Or as his father on "Frasier" would say, "A cardiac event". Evidently he's going to be okay, or he wouldn't be allowed to go home, I guess.

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Also, I've seen that Jerry Seinfeld is going on tour. When I first saw the info about it, my first thought was, "I have to ask Pete about this!" I'd love to go to one of his shows but was afraid, yes, afraid, that I'd be horribly disappointed by a live show....Pete said that he didn't have a clue as to content but wouldn't be surprised if it was an "R"-rated program, since that's what the public has come to expect. It would "kill me, Jerry, kill me" to hear Jerry, of whom I've become a fan, talking filthy. I read a couple reviews of his live show taking place around the US and several mentioned that it was "clean", "whole family", "no vulgarity"---marvelous! What a relief! Listening now on youtube to his tour, sneaking a peek, I've only heard good and very funny things. It seems the closest his tour comes to me is Miami and on Justin's birthday! Nope, can't make it this time 'round....nuts!

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Pastor and I have a meeting at 3:30 pm today so I'd better get my paperwork together and my head on straight. In a little while I'm going to go brown hamburger for my reknowned baked beans--Barb's Baked Beans, as they are known in "the family". Yummy! My friend, Carole, is having her husband making some hot dogs on the grille just for me, private stock. What a sweetheart! I was telling her how I missed being able to grille and she offered to have Phil cook some for me. Making room in the freezer now!

There goes the cat again!

I just burst out laughing and scared poor Lynx right out of the room again! I am watching, for the umpteenth time, the video of Ethan, who is a 6-year old boy, piano genius, self-taught 200 songs plus composer! His face is enough to just blow me away, and he's so bright! Ethan, with his animated face, told Jay Leno that when at DisneyLand he had to ride "It's a Small World" again and again and again, 100 times. (Me too!!!)

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"Look, let me tell you something...." he says to Jay. So funny! When telling about playing his biggest concert, he told Jay he didn't want to do it but had to anyway. I'd never have been able to keep a straight face talking to him, and I don't know if I could have resisted grabbing him in my arms!

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Another funny part is attending a rock concert in Las Vegas, where he had to walk on the red carpet. "When I heard that music, I just ran out of the building and back to our hotel." It was Aerosmith playing. Jay asked Ethan, when he sat at the piano, if he could reach the pedals and he looked at Jay, saying, "I don't need 'em..", just a flat statement that brought down the house. Do yourself a real favor and watch it 100 times!

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http://tubearoo.com/articles/89962/Ethan_Bortnick_on_Jay_Leno.html

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Let's see, what was I going to tell you? I forgot to mention reading on-line about some causes for the pulsing, fluttering sensation of eyelids. There are many "reasons" or causes suggested including the caffeine thing, looking at computer screens for hours at a time, bright lights, and lack of sleep. I don't think I lack sleep but am guilty of the other possible causes. Hmmm....okay, so I am drinking some water now everyday, another suggestion given, sort of as a cure-all for every ailment.

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One item I missed getting at the store Monday was Realemon to use in my water, makes it tolerable. Next time I go, I'll have to remember to grab some. In the past few weeks I've talked to more and more people who are in the throes of giving up Diet Coke, one telling me they were off it for 7 days already. Unfortunately I can't remember who that was so I could check on their progress. Last summer before my St. Paul's Journey cruise, I was down to one can a day.......but, on the cruise, I got right back into the habit. Whether I have to totally eliminate soda from my diet or not, it's my decision, but adding the water will certainly be a blessing.

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At the breakfast meeting today, Martie was given some birthday gifts and a very humorous card. It says something about not looking her age or whatever on the front, but inside it talks about drinking lots of water to improve her health and all the exercise she'll get running to the bathroom every 15 minutes from drinking the water! Funny!

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It was a beehive around here this late morning and afternoon. Martie came over after cleaning up the breakfast mess at the office. She'd gotten a strawberry shortcake dessert for Chris's birthday today and we ordered pizza, another favorite of Chris's. We had to wait an hour for the delivery because, as the guy explained, school got out today and all the teachers are ordering pizza! It worked out great for us since it arrived just after Chris did. We also had the company of the housekeepers who made quick work of cleaning the place while we made our mess in the dining room. It's amazing how fast they can get through the house. I only have them come once a month since nothing really gets dirty unless, of course, I'm having houseguests.

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Today I put the finishing touches on my mother-in-law's heritage pages and inserted them into the actual album. It was satisfying to get it done but yet, it feels incomplete, many "holes" in time missing from her story. The only photos I had to use were the ones used at her funeral on the poster boards. A few pictures came from an album they'd found. If I didn't know the people in the photo, I left it blank to be written in another time. For the most part, however, it's complete.

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Chris painted with her watercolors, working a picture taken from an old deck of playing cards. It's a golfer, from the 1800's era, leaning against a rock with his club across his knees. I scanned and then enlarged it on the computer for her. She made great progress on it today, needs to add his face and then tweak it before calling him "done"! Chris really makes time when painting, regardless of our interruptions today. Her hubby gave her a Cricut die-cutter as a birthday present, something she's been wanting. Chris not only paints but also makes and exchanges "ATC"s, or "artists' trading cards", sharing them with people all over the world. This is one lady who'll make use of all her equipment, not just accumulate it!

*When the housekeepers were here, I heard them talking in the family room, asking each other about some thing being broken. This I had to inspect. Here one of my glass candle holders in the window apparently fell and broke on the floor. I wasn't upset at all, in fact, was surprised it lived this long. Every since getting home from WI, I noticed one stick had developed a lean, more like an arc than like Pisa. Being glass and metal, it seems odd to have that happen. I changed it's position, thinking it would bend back the other way eventually, but that wasn't happening. I imagine the heat was enough to cause it to bow too far, drop its candle, and fall to the floor in pieces. Not even Ernie could glue this thing together, because even if he did, it would still arc. So odd to have that happen. Never underestimate that bright light! Bends candlesticks and makes eyelids pulse!

.....and we're back!

My sometimes temperamental Internet connection shows all its buttons lighted so I'll write just as fast as I can! This started very early today so had nothing to do with the violent storms which rolled through here late this afternoon. I was a bit concerned about Justin going home over the bridge right when the storm was at its fiercest, but he let me know he was safe, at Steak 'n Shake by The Avenues Mall.

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I just arrived home from another very exciting Bible study, where we reviewed some of the lessons from previous classes in order to clarify things for one of the participants. Boy, that is sooo interesting, looking at a teaching of another denomination and then try to find it in the Scriptures. We talked about The Millennium (how this all got started) and then found ourselves talking about the End Times, another topic which moves me. My "Jerusalem, the Golden" emotions again.

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I never heard anything before about looking for a red heifer as a sign of the Last Days, and my Concordance didn't mention it. After class I asked Pastor where "a red heifer" is mentioned, saying I didn't find it in my concordance. He said, "That's because you don't have an exhaustive concordance" and we all chuckled. Then I told him, "No, mine is well-rested....." Oh, come on, you saw THAT coming, right? What a good laugh we all had.

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When pulling up at church, talking to Lynn on her new cell phone (welcome to 2008!), I saw the parking lot jam packed with cars. Oh, oh, did I miss church tonight???? What's going on here? Then, I remembered, it was preschool graduation night and all the parents were here to see their little ones. The staff did it up right and the grads made their teacher proud. I even managed to get a cupcake from a cake made by one of the parents. One of our previous graduates, Mika, was there to see her brother graduate and she gave me the biggest hug! She must have been gone about 3-4 years now, which makes her nine or so----and she was nearly as tall as me!

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This afternoon I had my nails done, without first meeting Jen because she had to help out in her mom's childcare center. Lisa was happy to see me, realizing its been a long time between visits. I explained that I'd been in WI for several weeks and she caught me up on what's going on in Middleburg. I popped in at Brenda W.'s office and managed to find Christine (yeah!!!) and Greg there, too, so it was perfect! Those two were heading to Green Cove for a building permit so had their work cut out for them. Brenda and I spent some time catching up, hearing all about their busy lives on Longhorn Road. The new Smokey's BBQ is opened now, reportedly serving steaks for dinner, new to their menu. I can't wait to visit the new place to see if I like it as much as their "old" place. I took Harv and Barb there when they visited at Easter, and that was my last time before closing and then relocating. Corn nuggets, here I come!!!

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By the time I left Middleburg, it was getting quite dark in the west, with giant-sized but scattered rain drops falling on my wind shield. I'd not eaten anything since a bowl of "O cereal" for breakfast so grabbed a cheeseburger at McDonald's before heading over to Hang Ups. Julia's hubby is borrowing my 6 seasons of "Frasier" so I dropped them off for him. The store was sort of busy, which is fantastic, so I didn't stay long, plus Martie had an errand for me to run for her. Whew!

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By the time I got to the Realty office, it had stopped drizzling so no worries about getting drenched. Martie was busily trying to shove bags of fruit into the fridge, and not having much success. Tomorrow is their breakfast meeting, to which I'm invited, hence the fruit. Right from the meeting (I attend as Pam's 'consultant'....) I have an appointment with my CPA to go over some nasty tax letter I received last weekend. If I got my mail more often, I'd have found this sooner.......but, anyway, Gary says it's nothing to be concerned about, but, to me, anything that says "IRS" on it causes concern! Twila said she got the very same letter so I guess I shouldn't be too worried about it.

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Anyway, after that meeting, which Gary said will be brief, I'm back home to get things ready for the ladies to come for painting and cropping. It's our friends' birthday tomorrow so we are having pizza and strawberry shortcake in celebration. Jen wanted me to do something with her late morning/early afternoon but I can't jam another thing into my day! Of course, she's invited to come up here, too, but don't think she'll want to bring Memrie along---too hard to keep her entertained all that while. Wednesday evening, instead of going to Bible Bites, I am painting with Dee, Kris, and Anita, like we did last week Thursday. Since I am having the themed dinner here Thursday, they changed the date to Wednesday and now I can come! Yippee!

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Where did the time go? Our class didn't get out until after nine which I guess explains how it got late so fast. I really should get a good night's rest with such a full day tomorrow. A fun-filled day, except for the CPA meeting, but hey, he said it's okay, so...................Gary is a real sweetheart of a guy. He's been doing our taxes, both corporate and personal, since we moved here in 1988, and has been through a lot of stuff with us. A good Christian man, his family and he are going to Russia through their church to do some training in evangelism. I give him tons of credit and wish him God's blessings.

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In the video tape of Timmy's funeral, it shows Gary sitting alone at first, and then, after the doctor who delivered Timmy expressed his sympathies to us, he went to sit with Gary. Two grown men, sitting together, sharing their grief. He's seen me through a lot of stuff---oh, I said that already. Good night!!!!

Another storm before the calm

I am feeling badly for my friend, Linda J. in WI. Her daughter and family moved to the State Capital, where Jen will begin her nursing career. All are happy for Jen and Mason, but poor Linda had to say "good-bye" to her twin grands. Tommy and she drove them down to Madtown yesterday after church and then had to drive back home alone. Linda helped to take care of the girls when their parents were working and/or in school, a major part of their lives. Yes, it's 'only' three hours away but still, Linda will miss her nearly daily contact and interaction with Cassidy and Madison. It could be worse, though---they could have moved to Florida!!!! Ask my mom about how that goes....

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In a few moments I'll be leaving for Clark's Fish Camp to have dinner with the Ladies' Group from church. Martie was going to be my guest but she forgot all about it and then was concerned about the thunder storms going on in the area.

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We really got clobbered yesterday with severe weather including hail, lightning, winds up to 70 mph, rain, of course, and thunder. One of the units on the 5th floor experienced much damage again, the 2nd weekend in a row, due to having the roof exposed and all that. My heart breaks for Donna, but the neighbors came to the rescue with wet vacs, mops, and Kleenexes. My other neighbors watched some of the roofing materials being stored on top of our garages go sailing onto the property of The Club. It's about a 6 x 6 x 6 cube of material on a pallet--whee! Billy keeps a bicycle inside the garage, parked in front of his car, and he found it on top of the car after the storm. I hope we're done with the nasty weather for today, driving across the Buckmann Bridge for 3 miles in a thunderstorm is not very much fun.

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Justin and I had lunch together at The Loop today and then went to Publix to pick up some groceries. I'll probably find out tomorrow what I missed getting, as I generally do forget something. We got some deals on the "buy one, get one" display, even getting some veggies for myself. Okay, get up, it's not THAT shocking!

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Sunday I drove home from the movie and dinner amid fallen branches and flashing traffic lights. We ladies thought all the racket was coming from the movie! It seems the last time I was at the movies with Twila we came out to rain--The Bucket List. How funny is that? Judy J. reported that the rain gauge at Eagle Harbor, where her grandson works, showed over 2" of rain. Each area is affected differently so I don't know how official that is, but at least on Fleming Island, it was 2"+.

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Before I forget---something really icky happened to me this morning.....I went into the kitchen to get some breakfast when I looked at my butter dish sitting on the counter, wondering why there were crumbs or something in my dish. Upon further inspection, lifting the cover off, I discovered my butter was moldy! Ew!!! Here's the worst part----I used some of the butter on my leftover baked potato for lunch yesterday. Gross!!!! I was better off not knowing about the mold, or I was better off not eating my leftovers!!

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Justin suggested that I put out only a half stick at a time so that wouldn't happen plus I could keep it in the fridge to avoid molding or melting...I DO keep the house a bit warmer than most so sometimes the butter gets a bit too soft.

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Tuesday will be a fun day as I am going to Middleburg to have a pedicure. Haven't had my toes done since I first got to WI back in March so they are screaming for attention. At least Lisa will let me select my own color; at Wal-Mart, the technician picked it for me! It was a nice shade of red but wasn't "Friar, Friar, Pants on Fire" which is my "normal" color. It was funny when at Wal-Mart in WI, the staff in the salon nearly wrestled Mom into a chair to get her nails done, too. It was all she could do to tell them she was only waiting for me. Business must have been slow that day or something. Anyway, Jen might meet me beforehand to have a late breakfast/early lunch. Nana's Diner is right around the corner from the nail salon so it's quite convenient.

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If you haven't already done so, please visit Lisa's blogsite to see the wonderful photos of the boys, plus her sunburned shoulders. Too much sun in WI? Cain't be!!

Nuts! We missed the launch!

Martie and I were outside by the pool when the shuttle went up yesterday and we didn't even notice! I knew it was launching at 5:00 p.m. but it sort of slipped my mind until I heard on the news this morning that some debris dropped off of it. My friend, Joan, who I met at Great Hang Ups Saturday morning, said she was trying to persuade Paul to go down south a ways to watch the launch but he wasn't up for it. If I wouldn't have had plans, I'd have gone with her. Paul has never seen a launch and his lived here much of his life.

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I love watching them go, probably since the Challenger blew up when we still lived in WI. A drapery installer was at my house that day and together we watched the re-play of it, dumb struck. When we first moved to Florida, our car bore the Challenger license plates. Once when Tommy and Linda came down to visit, near Easter, our van was full as we rode down to Titusville to watch the launch of Atlantis, up close and personal. Mom was there, Jenny J., their daughter, and Justin, a little boy. I remember Tommy videotaping the shuttle going up as tears ran down .......Mom still calls Atlantis "our shuttle".

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Jennifer R. wasn't able to join us for the Stampin' Up event last night so only Martie and I went. It was an Open House with many area "consultants" having displays, projects to make 'n takes, showcasing the best and newest tools of the stamping and cropping trade. Martie found something to buy but I refrained. I had taken my stuff along to work on my mother-in-laws' memory album but didn't have a chance to do it, they kept us busy jumping from table to table to make stuff.

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After a certain point, both Martie and I were yawning, seems that the fresh air and sunshine tired us out. Glad we didn't try going to the beach and then back for the event! We'd have been pooped! She really enjoyed sitting poolside and even got down into the water, without feeling panicky or hyperventilating. At first, she didn't even notice that she was okay......all of a sudden Martie said, "Hey, I'm in the water and I'm not scared!" Bravo! One step closer to crossing something off her Bucket List!

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Speaking of which, The Bucket List comes out on DVD next week Tuesday so I'll be standing at the doors waiting for the store to open to get my copy. I don't purchase many movies unless they are incredibly special to me so this one qualifies. I also own most of those listed in my Profile as being favorites.

From the movie, as the two guys are seated facing the Great Pyramids at Giza: "The ancient Egyptians had a legend....when you die, the gods will ask you two questions: "Did you have joy in your life?" and "Did you bring joy to someone else's life?" How you answer those questions determines if you get into heaven..." Cue the tears, Linda!

That reminds me---I need to buy stamps...

My computer is printing out the newsletter I send to members away from the congregation but I used my last stamps to mail a packet to Marian, my sister-in-law, in south Florida. Should have bought some before the price went up.........................

It's a glorious morning on the river, the sun sparkling like jewels, just the way I like it! As I wrote to Jill this a.m., the water is littered with boats, many stationary, probably fishing. Some pull up along the breakwater and the fishers sit on the rocks.

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Justin had a really cool experience over the past weekend. He was bobbing in the water on the jet ski (oh, how I miss the jet skis!!!) and a baby manatee poked its nose out of the water to be petted. I asked if the mama wasn't there, too, and Justin said she might have been, only didn't surface to be petted. I was telling the electrician yesterday about going on the field trip with Justin's Junior class to swim with the manatees at Crystal River. This conversation came after he told me about staying at his buddies' house just across from where the dive boat anchored. I think that is so cool, he knew just where I was talking about.

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In a little while I am off to church to vacuum and then home to sit poolside with Martie, and perhaps, my neighbor, Ellen. I invited her, if she's not otherwise occupied, to join the fun by the pool. Often they are gone on weekends but with her spouses' recovery from his hip replacement, they most likely have to stay around home a bit longer. Good! We'd talked about going to Grumpy's for breakfast someday, so maybe we'll get a chance to do that soon.

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As I write this a.m., a movie is playing called "I Am Sam", about a mentally retarded man with a small child, fighting for her custody. It's a real tear-jerker, let me tell you. Even though it's Sean Penn playing the lead, it's very, very good. The child is played by a beautiful blond girl, perfect for the role. Michelle Pfiefer plays the attorney fighting the uphill battle for this man to keep his daughter, even though Lucy is already more "intelligent" than her daddy---grade wise, that is. It really makes one think about the relationship between parent and child, what is the measuring stick used to measure the ability to parent. I do know the little girl has been baptized, because her Godmother appeared on the stand to testify as to Sam's competency.

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Sam's love is so totally unconditional and their love genuine, until she gets exposed to other children in school who very nicely point out the "problems" her father has. They took away her rose-colored glasses! No, she had NO GLASSES and the kids and society gave her some which she didn't even need.

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As happens often in these type cases, Sam and his friends have their set routines, one of which is to watch videos on Thursdays. They basically have them memorized, and one guy can spout the name of the director and the year the film was made. I know some people like that!!! Anyway, it made me chuckle thinking about how I used to get irritated with Justin being lost in fiction and not focusing on reality, everything related to Star Wars, or National Treasure or James Bond. But, hey guess what! I now compare the entire world to "Seinfeld" or "Frasier"!!! Justin might be saying, "Welcome to my world"....not!!!!!

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So, enough time spent in fiction, lets move on to real life and go clean the Lord's house. After all, tomorrow is Confirmation Day for a young lady whose family came to us through Precious Lambs Preschool. I love it when this happens! The Word of the Lord reaching out into the community:

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

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Cleaning, pool time, and then cropping with my lady friends...it's a good life, let me tell you!

You light up my life!

That's what I told the nice electrician who installed my light kit and repaired my foyer light for me.....He is a real sweetheart, worked on my projects at the lake house. I didn't catch his name but can easily find out. Felt badly that I didn't recall his name since he knows me from way back when....remembers me being on the job sites with my kids, cleaning up the houses. In all honesty, I don't know that he'd remember Timmy since at that point we had some people who came through and cleaned the sites. Unless it was at our Preserve house....Regardless, it was nice to talk with him and reminisce at bit.

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Justin and I met Jen plus a mess of other people at Longhorn for lunch to say "farewell" to our friend, Mai-ly. She is packing up her household and three kids, heading back home to Seattle. It saddens me to lose her children from my life but she has to do what she has to do. After Leone's closed, she found a job working in a private Christian school off Blanding, and her co-workers were there to say their good-byes also. Jen was the one who invited Mai-ly and me to lunch, and then it blossomed into 12 people. Justin and I were the only ones to garner a hug from her, she sort of flew out of the restaurant in order to avoid tearful good-byes. At this writing, they are two hours into GA, with a really long ride in front of them. Godspeed, Mai-ly! I hope you find what you're looking for!!

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I just came back inside from attending a wedding! Every weekend there are weddings taking place on the grounds of The Club and if timed just right, can watch as the bridesmaids, flower girls, and bride make their way to the "front" of the patio, facing the river. This evening, however, I heard the bridal march play through three times before the bride made her way out of the hall....seems the mini-brides needed to be coaxed along, a nice lady taking one by the hand, more or less, pulled her to the front. Kids! I wondered, without basis, if one or both of the girls belonged to the bride, this after seeing her march in a beige or yellowish gown instead of sparkling white. Merely an observation on my part.

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Tomorrow it's my opportunity to clean at church, which I'll get out of the way early---unless I get a call to have breakfast! All I have to do is be back home by 2:00 pm as Martie is coming over right from the office and we're going to sit poolside. We can get hamburgers or whatever in the cabana, perhaps an adult beverage. But not too much, as we are heading out at 6:00 pm for major scrap booking adventure out in Hibernia!!! Talk about excited! We'd wanted to go to the beach but knew we couldn't get down there and back in time to crop so opting for the pool instead. A whole lot less gas expense just walking out to the pool. It is starting to matter about wasted miles--for everyone.

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Oh, it's a glorious evening for a wedding, though. It was nice and warm all day, with the sun still shining at this moment. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get to see some manatees in the basin. Justin came by after work and took care of a few things for his "too short on one end" Mama. Justin tottered on the top step on my stool and still had to stretch in order to add the chain to my hanging lanterns. The ceiling in my river room is about twelve feet high, a stretch for anyone without pulling out the ladder. Justin also helped me figure out how to cut/paste some pictures from a map page on the computer to a picture file. I won't even try to explain all that but now I know how to do it in the future. One of my neighbors liked the shot I used in The Palace Press and asked me how I got that. It was fun to be able to share my new found information!

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I had some pretzels and dip ready to go out on the shelf tonight but no one came out to play. It's easy enough to check for activity, simply peer over the side for heads. If I'd have checked my e-mail, I'd have seen that we weren't meeting tonight but instead I watched a movie. My stuff will keep but tonight would have been a good one for me, no running off to play. Last night we spent some time together before I had to dash off to paint with Dee. I love my picture from last night, playing with watercolor pencils. Next time I go, Kris is going to allow me to use her "spray" paints, watercolor paint in a spray bottle. Far out, man!

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The movie I mentioned was "The Lake House" which I'd seen before, I think in the theater. Wow, it is soooo good, a romantic story with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. She has a lot of drama in her face, it speaks volumes. I also had a lake house but nothing overly romantic took place there! Of course, it wasn't made of glass like this one was....no throwing stones! As part of the movie, the couple, who live two years apart, reference a Jane Austin book, Persuasion. I'm not familiar but am interested. Not much progress is being made in "Pride and Prejudice", I have to keep starting over to keep track of who's who. Much like Lord of the Rings, only without the sword fights and battles!

Judy R. recommended watching the PBS movie first, which she found quite helpful in getting through the printed version. I can do that!

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It's nearly to the point where I have to make use of my brand-new light on the ceiling fan! Somehow or another, my desk is piled full of papers etc., and when I go somewhere and return, the mess is still there!! What gives?