A fun day in the sun!

Martie and the boys have left for the day, since Little Mark's daddy is picking up the boys when he gets done working. Bubba came upstairs to look at my house while ManMan searched room by room for Lynx. He was quite disappointed to hear that Boots has moved. Mark wanted to know if those people were my friends, as though he wanted to go visit Boots or was concerned for his well-being. I didn't tell him the whole story of the cats using the beds as litter boxes......no need to dredge THAT whole mess up again!

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The pizza lady found us just fine pool side but had to run back to her car to get the sodas. She could have skipped the pizza but please don't forget the sodas! Not to worry, she came up with them. We had the Cheeselover's thick crust,nice and filling for the boys who are eating Martie out of house and home, but they seemed more interested in swimming than eating. It was hot enough outside to keep the pizza hot, not a problem if they wished to wait. We ladies had a great chat, poolside is perfect for chit chat, even with the occasional call for "MeeMaw" from the pool.

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While enjoying our time, Jen called to ask if I had plans for dinner tonight because she was soooo hungry for O'Charley's yeast rolls. Oh, yes, indeed, I am free and looking forward to having dinner with them. She was going to see if Rick's folks were available, too, since Grandma was feeling poorly on Father's Day, vetoing our plans for lunch. I hope I get to see them, at least Grandma. She is a cool old lady. Tomorrow is a special event at the MOSH Museum and Friendship Park, complete with visits from the Marvel comics characters. Ironman is one name I recognized. Jen was going to call for the tickets and I hope she got them, I'll find out tonight.

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My plans to spend Saturday with Justin got blown out of the water though and I am not only a little disturbed about it. He's been carpooling to work and also been out on jobsites this past week so we had no lunches together at all. If he was available, I was not or vice versa. So, we'd planned on a day together for tomorrow complete with movie, dinner, church....until he got a text message from his roommate saying "they" decided to go to Tallahassee after all. Which means absolutely nothing, since this was totally all news to me. He asked me for "permission" to go, and being the mother supreme that I am, said, in my best Jewish-guilt-inspired voice, "Go, have fun with your friends. Leave me here all alone....." Thanks, Mom!!! You're the best!!! On the bright side, he didn't ask me for any money!!!

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Jesse, Ron, and Justin are heading across the state to visit Jesse and Ron's friend, Daryl, and go diving. Justin said he won't dive but will find something else to do while they are out, since they can only dive once each day anyhow. Of course, I asked him who was driving, is he a safe driver, wear your seatbelt....He assured me that he always wears the belt, feels secure with the seatbelt on, and reminded me that he's "a very safe kid", adding, "You know why". Yes, I do, but he's not alone on this adventure so additional precautions must be taken. He said he's going to stay in touch via telephone which helps to ease my troubled heart.

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Well, Jen called to say they are ready to go so here I dash off again. I haven't talked to Mom yet today but might call her on the way to the restaurant to see how she did. Hopefully she felt good enough to attend the funeral service at church. Lynn said Mom was at 7 3/4 on the 1 to 10 scale so certainly today, with her new antibiotics, she'll be good as new. Mom found out she has some rare UTI infection only now showing up in the "elderly". Ouch! No one wants to hear that! It's called "aerococcis urinale" or close to that, so has to take amoxicillin to knock it down. Lynn's going to ask the doctor about the patches for motion sickness to see if she likes those better than Dramamine. Lynn is truly "The Good Daughter"--TGD, and I thank God for her!

I'm just sitting here waiting for my sugar to show.....

That is the first line of a Joni Mitchell song called "Car on a Hill", where she is waiting not-so-patiently for her beau to arrive. In the song she laments that "he makes friends easy, he's not like me, I watch for judgment constantly". Don't we all know people such as this? Because the song was dancing in my brain, I had to turn off the radio and put on music. I think Lori's favorite album is the one I'm listening to, Court and Spark. If I called her now and just said the words, "he makes friends easy", she'd reply "he's not like me"...simple amusements we enjoy!

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But, I truly am waiting for my sugars to show, as Martie and her two grands are coming over to share pizza and go swimming. Her older grandson, affectionately known as "Bubba" begs to live with her always, and she'd love to accommodate him, but he would be separated from his twin sister and the rest of his family. Poor Martie! Decisions, decisions to make in your "developed years". (You will get tired of that expression long before I will!!!) I introduced you to Little Mark last week when we had lunch at Cracker Barrel. His older cousin is a handsome young man as well, I just have known ManMan since he was a toddler. He owns my heart, what can I say?

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I put on my "pool pants" as Justin used to call them, first thing this a.m. so I am ready to go! Martie had to stop to get a pair of trunks for Bubba on the way over, since he didn't pack any for his visit. Tonight he is going home with Little Mark, to Bryceville, where they have a pool and hot tub to enjoy, so needs the trunks anyway.

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A few boats have made their way up or down the river already, and a helicopter or two have passed by. It's pretty quiet yet for this time of day. Twila's sister from Kansas is coming into town today and they are heading down to the beach house in Daytona for a week's stay. Usually Elaine is here in the winter so this is great for her to enjoy the very beginnings of our summer weather. She can stick her toe into the ocean and then retreat to the pool for the balance of the visit. We hope to get together before her entourage has to go back home, but it may not happen. We'd often discussed having a scrapbooking weekend at Twila's beach house, and I'd still like to do that. Fortunately she gets it rented out fairly often which is terrific for generating revenue for her. It's hard to know what to wish for sometimes!

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Martie just called to report that Little Mark fell asleep on the bed instead of getting his trunks on, so she's having troubles getting him to wake up. Guess he had a late night and it caught up to him. Good thing I held off ordering our lunch! I'm going to go down ahead of time to get started on the fun, because, you know what? You just never know what fun there is right around the corner!!!!

Further thoughts, not farther

Years ago before moving to Florida, we had a friend who was quite wealthy and was just short of being arrogant. I used to defend him by saying, "He's an acquired taste" but he did come off a bit, shall we say, 'confident'? After we built our home in Indian Bluff, his neighborhood, we gave him the 50 cent tour.

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On the half wall next to the potty in our bathroom was a book nestled between the spindles. He declared that to be 'tacky', to have a book next to the potty. Yeah, right, just because I can read!!! Anyway, I went and picked it up as we were talking and he looked at the title and scoffed, "Who reads an encyclopedia???" Obviously he didn't, or was he just being cruel? The book was an encyclopedia of little known facts, perfect for the bathroom library. I just thought of this story as I put down a book I've been reading called "Words You Thought You Knew", about usage and such. It covers proper usage of words such as "further" and "farther", that sort of thing. Who reads an encyclopedia?

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The video story I watched last night about Andy stayed with me and when I woke this a.m., it invaded my thoughts again. What must that be like, to birth a normal, healthy little boy and have him suffer brain damage by what started as a common infection?

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I was forty years old when I had Timmy, and prior to his birth the medical people were concerned about birth defects and other complications due to my being "developed in years"....love that expression! Tests were run, and caution aired about possible results. We couldn't help but feel the primary purpose of the tests so early on was to determine if the baby "needed" to be terminated. The only thing we'd acknowledge was: if something was "wrong" with the baby, we'd love him/her anyway. Pretty brave words, and I have to hope that this was exactly how we'd feel. In fact, we had a problem-free pregnancy, no missed work, and healthy baby boy, in spite of the dire warnings issued.

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Justin had a teacher at St. Johns who confided to us that he'd had a son who drowned and was resuscitated, only to have permanent brain damage. He had a heart beat but never regained consciousness, became a vegetable. His son lived in an institution for another seven years and then finally died.

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When I see parents with children who have challenges, my heart warms, because the parents see their child as just that, 'their' child. God looks at us that way, too, as filthy and wretched and defected as we are. We've been washed with His righteousness and He looks at us with loving eyes and a Father's heart.

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How would I have handled a case like Andy's? I would like to think I'd been up to the challenge but....now, as a single mom, I don't know, I don't know. The Lord was wise in handling our situation the way He did, taking Timmy straight home instead of allowing him to linger. This story really stirred something in me, I think Pastor knew that would happen!

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On a totally 'nother subject, I am looking out a manatee resting against the sandbar about 3/4 of the way out into the basin. The dredger is quiet and I think they have to be as long as the manatees are "in the house"!

The angels for children are ever seeing the face of God

http://streams.wels.net/video/andys-story3

Sighs too deep for words......

Forget what I was going to write about tonight---Pastor sent me an e-mail suggesting I watch this video. Wow! It was powerful in testimony and full of a mother's love for her son. In case you don't watch it, her son had a common infection as a child which grew into something much worse, and he ended up in a coma for a month due to encephalitis. When he came out of the coma, he was mentally handicapped, could hear but not understand the words. The mom speaks of the hope which allowed her to deal with this situation, and eventually find a facility which would take good care of their son when they could no longer. She speaks about the passage where God hears our prayers even when sighs are too deep for words! What comfort this sweet sentence gives!!!

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It's been a couple days since I've written for the blogsite, having no good reason why. Distracted perhaps? The memoir writers are doing such a fine job with our workshop, and it's so very interesting to hear what it was like for these women, growing up in such completely different environs. The contrast of New York and Cologne, Germany and add to that Manitowoc, WI. I'm quite pleased with how its going. One man has spoken to me about the reading group so I am planning to pursue a bit harder for later in summer. Tell your friends!!!

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Tonight was free, odd for a Wednesday. Our Bible classes were suspended this week as Pastor is working on a project of some sort so I made plans to have dinner with my friend, Brenda N. On Monday she called to report dropping a soda can, taken from the freezer, onto the arch of her foot, wounding her. Brenda said she saw stars and let lose with a howl, but then managed to work with clients making selections! What a trooper!!! Today it was still giving her a fit so we planned to try again next week as she's staying at her daughter's house to dog sit the rest of the week. Brenda and her feet, I'll tell you. Such a freak thing to happen and so very painful at that.

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Since I ended up with no dinner plans in place, I called Pam to see what she was doing. It turned out that she was meeting two of my downstairs neighbors for dinner at The Club and asked me to join them. Swell! A short distance to travel and great company, couldn't have worked out any better. We actually sat there yakking for nearly three hours, enjoying the piano player and his occasional vocals. Oh yeah, it was lovely! I watched for the moon to rise, but it was disguised by the clouds. It has since freed itself, looking more like a harvest moon than bright like its been this week. I'll take what I can get, even though I had to turn on a light to write instead using moonlight......

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My mummy is starting to feel a little better today, said she's about a 4 3/4 on the scale of one to ten. She is able to eat something now without feeling urpy (Kerry loves that word!!) and isn't quite so drowsy all the time. I really hate it that she's sick but the girls are taking good care of her, especially Lynn, and will see to it she has everything she needs to feel better. All I can offer her is prayers, phone calls, and encouragement, since she told me I didn't need to come up there....Friday is a funeral at church for a very prominent member and I hope she feels up to going. I think she'd really regret not being there, to hear the message and the singing, and to offer comfort to the family. Maybe by tomorrow she'll be an 8 on the "feel better scale"!

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As I was leaving the three ladies at The Club and heading for home, one gave me a big hug and said, "Thanks for sharing your joy tonight." What a wonderful thing to say! She is a bit disgruntled by the huge assessments and such going on in our building, but I told her I couldn't go there with her, so she had to come with me. Later, she gave me that hug and thank you. I hope it lasts!!!

Some musings before the day begins

My Turkish flag is moving in the breeze, an artificially created one from the A/C running to cool the house before my "writers" arrive. That thing can really pump out the air, makes my feet cold.

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Andrea Bocelli is singing to me as I write since I had to turn off Neal on the radio. It was impossible for me to listen to his rant about the homosexual unions taking place in CA. He is Libertarian in his ideology and when he gets like this, I exercise my privilege of listening to something else! So there! That's the most exercise I'll get today most likely.

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Have I mentioned that the seedling grown from a previous lemon is really starting to take off? I can't remember if I did or not. It pleases me greatly to see the shoots coming off the bottom of the stalk as well as new growth near the top leaves. Yippee! I am not without hope....The other seeds I planted last week are too new to be sprouting yet so am not expecting to see much from that cup until at least two weeks.

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The moon was gorgeous last night (the moon I share with Judy R. in MN!!!!) lighting my room like a lamp. It was about 9:30 pm when I got home from my dinner with Betty, and I drove home by moonlight....oh, wait, those were spotlights for the workers on the bridge. Talk about blinding light!!! It was nearly as bright as daytime for the workers but for us drivers facing into it, wow, brilliant! Mix in the red and blue lights of the police cars and it was hard to know where to look. I DO have those new glasses to wear for night driving but haven't tried them out yet! What a rummy!

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Once again Blu Grotto was graced with my presence, but on the patio last night. Rick didn't want to dine alfresco Saturday so I relented to sitting inside--sigh! Anyway, I ordered the caprese salad, eating only the mozzarella cheese which had way tooooo much garlic on it--whew! I scraped off the clumps onto the tomatoes which were left on the plate.

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After I had my adult beverage I switched to Diet Coke, which went down pretty quickly. I waited patiently for the waitress to come back out to do my refill but then went in search of her. I'm certain she thought we'd left already since we paid our bills and all that. Anyway, inside I saw some builder friends and was warmly greeted. It was great to see them, good Christian folks. He said they were getting along okay since they didn't have lot inventory or specs sitting, waiting for sale. His words: I am not having nightmares. I told them that I often wonder if God gets tired of talking with me about real estate......

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Speaking of which, the very next booth held one of the agents from E. H. and her husband, enjoying a pizza. It was great to see them as well. I used to see Nick at the Y, sometimes with their daughter. Bev asked if Justin was with me and I said no, he had class tonight. She wanted to know if he ever learned to drive and was surprised to hear that he's been at it for nearly two years already! It was Bev, Nick and another person that cleaned up the food and kitchen the night Timmy drowned. We came home and it was as though nothing had happened.

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I got my permanent filling and repair to the tooth yesterday morning, as often happens with my goofy teeth, needed more than expected. Apparently when the first dentist drilled through the porcelain tooth, part of it chipped off so she had to rebuild it besides putting the perm. filling in. Good thing she had me come in earlier in the day, so they could work around me. Peggy reminded to do my big biting on the opposite side from now as this tooth is not as strong anymore with the repairs done. Great! Mozzarella cheese it is!

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Better news about my friend, Joan, in the hospital in VA---she is being moved from ICU to a regular room finally. The doctors are still looking at some tests to see where the clots are forming and why, so she is having some sort of barium test today of her abdomen and legs. Poor Joan! Certainly she'd rather be in her Montana home enjoying the scenery there instead of listening to beeps and blips on her machinery in the hospital! We are just glad this happened before getting out into the middle of nowhere with no other family than Paul around.

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The basin is already busy with the dredging and roofers are scrambling about overhead. My upstairs neighbors have nearly finished their remodeling which will be one less commotion to hear. It was not annoying at all, in fact, I like the sound and smell of wood being worked. Saturday she had a painting crew (i.e. family) at work and I saw Travis sitting down by the pool under the guise of doing a food run....I think he got one of everything on the menu for his team of workers! There was not one spot of paint on his clothing!

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That evening after dinner, I heard voices on the sundeck so grabbed a soda and went down to join the fun. My Turkish neighbor had a young friend spending the day with his family and that added to the delight. We had about 10 of us enjoying the evening together, with lots of car talk going on. Some of the guys are fans of the older Mercedes Benz autos, bragging about how they had some with over 200,000 miles and still counting. Diesel vs. gasoline, those type of conversations. Lively and great enjoyable. I could listen to that Turkish accent all night....

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So, it's time for the writing people to arrive so bye for now. My mama is feeling poorly up in WI so if you talk to God today, ask Him about helping her to feel better, please? Thanks!

I'm freaking out here!

I was in the middle of researching some patio finishing materials for the condo association when this warning flashed across my screen about a virus being detected and that some system was going to battle against it.....I am not sure if its legit or not, afraid of downloading some product or whatever that I will be compelled to buy. I've sent a text message to Justin but think he's still busy with his father. Have I totally compromised my system by not accepting the offer to purge the viruses???? If so, I will miss you all terribly!!!

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I don't know if I am compromised or not, but in speaking with Justin, he said he didn't load any virus protection when switching machines and loading new software. Perhaps I only assumed that the Norton from other computer would move with this one, not too savvy on my part. I was having unprotected surfing! Researching a product to use on our second floor sundeck after the ceramic tile is taken up.....wham!

Believe you me---I am going to find the best, cheapest method for treating the sundeck available, as we are being killed with assessments this year....more on that later.....

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I have since purchased Norton and have it in place, hopefully it will corral anything that slipped in last night and I won't have any further problems. I bought more expensive package which allows me to backup some of my files, primarily photos and e-mails. I hoard those e-mails! You never know when you won't get anymore and have to re-read the old ones just to stay alive!!!!

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Time to go to the dentist to be patched up after last week's root canal. I had the appointment moved from 2:00 pm to 1:30 pm...and this a.m. they called to see if I can come at 10:00 a.m. I am nothing if not flexible!

Such news today!

Terrible, terrible weather and flooding in my motherland and surrounding states! Kerry sent me some photos yesterday taken in her area, Oshkosh, featuring some of her favorite shops underwater, showing only tops or windshields of cars visible above the water. Wow! With all the disasters in the world right now--natural and otherwise--Judy R. thought it reminded her of the weather being affected as Jonah resisted the Lord's commands...hmmmm....ya' think???? Twila and I talked about this last night and both agree to make sure to have oil in your lamps and be ready to go! My nephew's soon to be in-laws are struggling to save their belongings in Montello as the waters get closer and closer to their home. Prays are needed for all!

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My friend, Joan, whose husband is probably the man some have thought to be my boyfriend (please hold the giggles!), was traveling to visit family in VA, and then on to their home in Montana. Well, she was having leg pains and then shortness of breath so Paul took her to the hospital in Virginia Beach. It's been determined she has serious pulmonary emboli, with one large clot so close to the heart that they didn't want to move her to another hospital. Her kids and spouses have traveled up to VA now to be with her, with Paul, as the medicine hopefully does its thing and safely breaks up the clots. Prayers for her as well, please! I saw her last week Wednesday at the sales meeting at Island Realty, and said our good-byes from there.

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Prayers of thanks also for the safe travels of Judy R. as hubby and she traveled to the funeral of her brother-in-law this past week. They encountered no bad weather either direction. Linda is making a good recovery, thanks to the helping hands of Tommy, who helps her do the therapy exercises. My new friend, Jami, in TX, underwent surgery on Thursday, hopefully being relieved of some painful female troubles. I just checked her blog and Jami's hubby has posted updated reports of her recovery. Seems she enjoys the button on the pain medication pump! Wore one out already, so they resorted to injections...ahhh, that's better....good night!

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The news, other than the flooding mess up north, is about Tim Russert passing away suddenly Friday. I used to like him more a few years ago, probably prior to the 2004 mid-term elections. We used to tape "Meet the Depressed" (a play on words there) to watch after church, but eventually we quit watching altogether. His recent handling of some of the candidates' at the debates was a bit heavy-handed, which no one should be surprised about, given his work history prior to "Meet the ......." Anyway, I did get a chance to hear him speak last year at a fund raising event downtown, I think Martie went with me. We saw him outside first, on crutches, and walking with his sister and little niece. We said "hi" and he said "hi" right back to us, like a regular guy. The consensus of those being interviewed and offering their remarks all say the same thing: "He was a genuine guy!" I truly enjoyed his book, "Big Russ and Me", where he tells the story of his rough and tumble dad whom he greatly admired. Now Big Russ has to bury his son.......speaking figuratively, of course, as he's quite elderly.

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Having the levee breach in Des Moines is a terrible thing. Some liken it to the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. Now, let's watch to see how this plays out, how the people will react to the disaster. God's going to busy answering all these prayers today!

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On a lighter note: I just heard that Jon Voight is going to be on "24" as Jack Bauer's nemesis. I can't help but chuckle because at one time, before it burned up outside the flower shop, George Costanza drove a car formerly owned by Jon Voight. There are serious doubts it was THE Jon Voight, but he never hesitated telling people that it was!!!! Justin simply adores "24" and is counting the minutes (or hours!!! as the case might be!) until it returns to TV. Much of our cruise in 2006 was spent watching season after season of "24" on his computer, and he'd come up on deck all strung out with, oh, say, anxiety or similar, from the intensity of that program. He'd sit by me and unwind, take a break from the drama.....Justin knows where to go when he needs to calm down!

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Dave, the condo "doorman" has volunteered to help me re-pot Timmy's lemon tree after its trimmed. He's lending me the loppers so I can selectively remove the non-producing branches and will try fresh soil to see it that makes a difference. The lemon that was hanging for dear life was actually not growing anymore, other than growing black on one side, so I took it off and removed the tiny seeds. I planted them in a cup and have it on my window sill by the desk so I can keep an eye out for growth. My sapling from a previous lemon is sprouting new growth from both the top and the bottom, so my spirit isn't completely crushed tree-wise!

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There's nothing so esteem-building than to hit the "Spell Check" button and get the pronouncement: No Spelling Errors Detected!!! An Editor's nightmare, the spell checker button! I am going to watch for the space shuttle to come home, hope the clouds break enough for me to see/hear it come in. It was perfectly cloudless about an hour ago.....Twila and her sister are going down to the beach house next week, I am so jealous! Twila looked at my mother-in-law's heritage album last night and thinks the family will just love it....hope so! Wish I had more photos, though, but can always add pages if more pictures are located.

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Some friends are coming to sit poolside today and tonight am going to dinner with the Rosses at Blu Grotto, at least, that's the plan right now. Rick's been doing much traveling these past weeks so haven't seen much of him since Chris's birthday party. Will be good to share a meal and conversation again!!!

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Wear your boots and take your umbrellas everyone!