My ears are working out this morning

All things should be done in moderation, and that includes working out. After my quasi-physical exam on Saturday, I have decided to start a work-out program and have started from the top down. In the shower Sunday morning I scrubbed my scalp and hair until it bled (not really!), working the shampoo into quite the lather. Not only exercising my scalp and hair follicles, but my arms to boot!

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Monday I exercised my jaw by attending Bible study and going to lunch with the ladies. At Longhorn I exercised restraint by not ordering an adult beverage before noon! Especially since I had to work on the newsletter when I got home and had no time for nap taking. My jaw was used for talking with Twila for whom I served as chauffeur and again at Bible study for discussion. My chicken fingers were excellent and we had two new faces at lunch: my friend, Jennifer R. and Kim Tyler, Gordy's daughter, whom Judy C. picked up after class. She enjoyed her time away from her dad's side, and I am sure he didn't mind having his place to himself for a little while either. She will be staying through the weekend at least to help him get acclimated to being home after his rehab stay. Both Gordy and Twila were released at the same time, as though a coup took place! Twila, being younger and having the full replacement, bounced back more quickly than did Gordy, who had other medical complications pop up in the midst of his rehab.

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I was not moderate in my exercise yesterday, however, as I threw in exercising my tear glands and nose blowing after having several spoken and written conversations with dear ones regarding the conclusion drawn by the LES Team, to not start a kindergarten or add grades to our preschool at this time. Some folks were mightily disappointed, not realizing there was an undercurrent of dissent or dissatisfaction or or or or besides the wretched economic state our community and congregation is in. Mightily disappointed......One young lady, when she read my posting about my ear was hot from talking on the phone suggested that it meant people were talking about me, which would not surprise me one little bit! I believe the superstition actually is if one's ears are itching, people are talking about you, so perhaps I am in the clear!

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Because of the shedding of tears and outpouring of emotion, my brain (or what remains of it) was pounding, which is the true mark of over exertion---the no pain, no gain theory. It was nothing a rest on the bed wouldn't take care of so I placed myself on the mattress to make even more phone calls, this time to the snowy north. My sister-in-law and bro-in-law actually took my call!, and this is funny because, for some reason or another, when the phone rings in their home, the name of the person calling shows up on their TV screen! Whew! I am relieved that the vote was to take my call. Someone else told me about the movie "Gran Torino" where family members push the phone around the table to get someone else to answer it. I can see that happening when my name shows up on people's TVs! When Harv told me I showed up on his TV, I quickly went to put on some lipstick so I at least looked presentable. He thought that was amusing, and assured me only my name and number show up---whew! But, the way of the future.......

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Today's workout will hopefully be less so, but is okay if I repeat any of the previous exercises from this week. Especially the hair washing and teeth brushing! My ears started early with hearing jets in the air, my TV speaking to me, as well as my radio playing over the computer. So much talking and sound for my ears to gather.

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Joanne was on the phone earlier, trying to arrange for her hubby to go sit with her father at the hospital as she has an early morning meeting. I wouldn't work for that since her dad has Alzheimer's Disease and needs some familiarity around him as he heals.

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Rosalie called me again yesterday, too, which absolutely delights me because I simply love talking with her. She is still trying to keep herself busy even though she is healing from a bone fracture in her foot. One blessing about being home-bound is catching up on stuff that gets missed when out and running every day, but she is also looking forward to making her shut-in visits again and taking ladies to lunch and working at church.......typical Rosalie stuff! She was so surprised to hear that Mom is 84 years old---she was sure they were both about the same age, not 10 years apart. Mom--that is a huge compliment to you, in case you did not know it!

A new morning, perhaps a renewed attitude

Already I am in the window with the sun shining on my face and arm, with the river quiet. The palms are stirring only the tiniest bit in the breeze---no huge gusts to stir things up. It might be lovely day after all!

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So far Linda is the only one to comment on my posting after the meeting yesterday, but several people have discussed this with me via Facebook. Jen wrote that she liked the blog posting because it told her more than her hubby did after being at the meeting. He might have been prepared for the what the Team showed us, after spending the time with them on Saturday, having a better feel. As I mentioned, it is not so much the answer to our question, as we knew it would be pretty much a yes or no thing, but more the facing of the facts the Team presented to us. Our property is not presentable, it takes us too long to do things, we have a lack of unity and male leadership, a 'no one is in charge' sentiment, struggles with worship and leadership (again). Not a pretty picture looking back at us in the "mirror" Greg held up. Let's get up, dust ourselves off, and get moving in the right direction starting NOW!!!

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Originally Joanne and I had planned to watch the Oscars together last night but her dad ended up in the hospital so she was with him until after 9:00 pm. He has a respiratory problem and had to be admitted overnight. She just called from there, having left quite early this a.m., to report he has torn out his IV's, removed the telemetry leads from his body which allow the staff to monitor his heart and oxygen, removed the oxygen tubes from his nose, and dressed himself to go home! He is giving her a very hard time, in his state of confusion and Alzheimer condition, so she is wondering if they will need to sedate and then restrain him in order to get his mess under control. She might transfer him to another hospital but this one is so convenient to our shared home that it makes sense to keep him here and not confuse him even more.

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Justin was going to watch the Oscar's, too, but then sort of backed off, expecting it to be "too political" a show, especially with "Milk" and "Frost/Nixon" in the running. Mostly he wanted to see if Heath Ledger would earn an award for "The Dark Knight", which Ledger did win, but felt like creatures such as Penn would taint the event. On F & F this a.m., the comment was made about having Hugh Jackman serve as host curtailed the political chatter, much to my delight. Certainly the fashion show portion will continue ad nauseum for a week or so on cable channels as well as on the Internet so I can catch up on that later.

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Twila is able to get in and out of cars these days so I am picking her up for Bible study this a.m. Jean, her sister-in-law, drove her yesterday but has to work today so I have the privilege of driving Miss Daisy, as Gretchen likes to call it. I had better allow plenty of time for the drive over there and then back again so will dress myself for the day and leave further writing until later!

I decided this cannot wait.......

.........so have to write while the sentiments and memory is still fresh. Starting with worship, it is Transfiguration Sunday which serves as preparation for the Lenten season.

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As I was getting something from my mail box before taking attendance, Fausto, the Master Gardener who tried to cure my lemon tree, approached me. Usually he calls me "sweetheart" and will plant a kiss on my cheek (The Kiss Hello episode of "Seinfeld" comes to mind), and he did just that today. But then he handed me a baggie with a wooden figure in it. He said, "Timmy would have been in the (Pioneer) class we had Wednesday night, so I made you one of what he would have made." It is a duck-looking thing with a clothes pin incorporated, to hold a recipe or papers on a desk. His gift, his gesture, totally caught me off guard and blew me away, and the tears flowed without restraint. Later, when I spoke with his wife about it, she said she knew he did this, and he had asked her if I was going to cry. Julaine told him, "Of course she's going to cry!" I couldn't very well prove her wrong, could I?

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Sadly, church was far too empty for such an important day, and this type of response to hearing and attending this meeting after church would be reflected in the LES Teams' evaluation later. Afterward, I was greeting at the door and trying to encourage folks to stay for the pot luck/luncheon and the meeting. Brad, ushering today, came out afterward and told me he recently saw Mark, my policeman friend who used to be Brad's partner, for only a few minutes on a crime scene. I told Brad that I would love to have Mark and family plus Brad/Laurie/family at my house one of these days, but Brad is so busy finishing their new home to go out visiting.

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I mentioned to him that I wished I could help them out but there really isn't much I can do. Brad then said the sweetest thing to me---he said that I do plenty for him (tears time again!) I cheer him up when he comes to church in a bad mood. He said he can count on me for that. Then he told me Laurie had gotten a bunch of their stuff out of storage, including old photos, and he found one of him holding Timmy as a baby. He describes himself as looking like a kid in the photo and I said, "I bet Timmy did, too!" and we laughed. He apologized for making me cry but I assured him they were good tears, the best kind. Wow, what an emotional day!

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Flash forward through the marvelous meal and fellowship to the meeting presentation by the Team. Gulp! This is a big deal, folks, and it saddens me greatly how little interest there seemed in this report. Understandably some folks with families had sick children at home, or were sick themselves but those with no good excuse......I am part Pharisee today, okay? The two guys took turns presenting their portion of the report, Phil addressing the community issues and Greg the congregational issues. The long and short of their determination was "not at this time", this was not the right time for a number of reasons, to add grades to the preschool. I understand some of the young moms left the session in tears, horribly disappointed by the results of this survey. The facts were there, no one can argue with them, but certainly they were saddened that no grade school would be available right now or in the near future, for their children.

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Greg got the more distasteful job of having to "hold up the mirror" of the congregation, so those in attendance could see what the accumulated research showed. I hate mirrors! I hated what showed up in the "mirror" Greg was holding, and as we know, mirrors do not lie. We must keep in mind none of the results are the personal or subjective opinions of the Team. In my own case, I was not surprised at all by the outcome but am heaving great sighs of sadness over the state of our congregation...........

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After the meeting, folks were getting busy packing up the tables and chairs and such, putting the classrooms back to rights for tomorrow. I stuck around in the church to chat with folks, see what the feeling was and such. The Team, at the end of their report, pointed out the many positive things we have going for us already in place plus spelled out a number of things our congregation CAN do in order to flourish and share the Good News with our neighbors. Love that ending on a positive note! I thanked Phil for his hard work of putting all the community stuff together so nicely, sorting through the data gathered for months by member of our Steering Committee, etc. He shook my hand and expressed to me how he enjoyed our time together Thursday and Friday, and then complimented me on the love I have for my church family. He told me to keep up my efforts of being the "mother hen" to my fellow members, and when I looked surprised at this comment, he said, "Well, in talking with folks it is obvious the love you have for your church family." Never saw that coming either and once more, out of his sight, I wept once more.

A few words......yeah, right!

In a couple minutes I will be heading over to church for worship, pot-of-blessings meal, and then the meeting with LES Team who will report about their findings regarding adding grades to our preschool. Another Greek-styled sentence, long and run-on! A couple folks have contacted me about not being able to attend Sunday school or worship due to sick family members. They will be missed!

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Already this morning there was excitement in the household as Joanne received a call from the Memory Care Center where her dad lives, asking her to come and help evaluate Dad. It seems he was having some respiratory problems and they did not want to send him to the hospital without consulting Jo first. She flew out of here Friday, too, as he was giving the staff a hard time about going on a zoo outing. She should just shower, do her hair, and dress herself before she goes to bed so she is ready to go when the call comes in the morning! I have not heard from her since she left, so do not know the status of Clyde or Joanne! She has planned to make us some supper tonight as we are staying home to watch the Oscars together. Mention was made that she would make meat loaf and macaroni with cheese and cauliflower. And, yes, it is good! I should go check what form of meat is going to be used in the meat loaf because she might try to slip some mystery meat in on me!

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My lunch will be something quite delicious as our member-chef, Mike S. is making Boston butt for our main dish with others bringing dishes to share. Good eats! A hopefully well-attended meeting is following the meal when the Team will speak to us regarding their findings.

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I wish that I could have attended worship at Victory today as they are celebrating 10 years of worship. My family was there for the first service, including Mom who made numerous canvassing calls on behalf of the new church. Timmy very much enjoyed sitting in the conference room chairs, spinning and rolling around, as any three-year-old would! They are having a picnic afterward but I know I'd never make it over there in time to share in that portion of the fun either. Thursday and Friday will be Victory days with Bible study and scrapbooking. I can celebrate in that fashion!

What does today bring?

Well, the fasting has begun and I am thirsty already! Just knowing that I cannot have even a tiny sip of soda is making me nuts. Sips of water are permissible but not encouraged to down glass upon glass before the blood work after 3:00 pm. What will the tests show???? Joanne crowed the other night something to the tune of "wait 'til they see your cholesterol!" For that reason alone, just to show her, I hope the tests come back favorably. My family doctor, Dr. House, for real, said once that if he had his way, he would walk around the house eating a stick of butter. But, his wife won't let him. He also said he has the longest life span of any man in his family, living beyond age 63, thanks to Lipitor. His sales pitch to me worked and I accepted the Lipitor, but am trying to not take any more prescription drugs. We will see what the tests show, to see if I have to give in to the peer pressure of taking Lipitor!!!

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Yesterday I had the privilege of sitting in on an interview with the County Supervisor for Argyle and Oakleaf, with the LES Team. He explained about the new schools opening, coming on line, in the Oakleaf area, and how the beltway corridor which is being planned will reduce the traffic going past our facility when it is completed. Mike C. seemed to feel that Doug was "towing the County line" by promoting the government schools as compared to our private school but I did not take it that way. We need people from the community and area reps to be straightforward with us, not sugar-coat their reports, so the most accurate assessment can be made by this Team.

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Later, I was able to be the commentator on a riding tour of the parish area from church east and south, with Mike serving as the driver. This worked out well as he is familiar with the Bel-Air area and knew the locations of the grade schools and such. The guys thanked me later for the information, the local color of the area, instead of only the "nuts and bolts" about Orange Park. Once in awhile Mike and I would sort of disagree about details, but, for the most part, we bombarded these two men with more information than they could handle. Not really......Joanne had given me a briefing the night before as Phil had given me a list of questions for which they needed answers regarding the neighborhoods, make-up, demographics, and so on about our potential student draw.

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Last evening and today the Team is meeting with non-member parents of the preschool, individual members, families with school-aged children, folks who would be the ones to help support the additional grades should they be added, and so on. I am not part of this portion of the weekend. Also, the Council and Elders will be meeting with Greg and Phil at some point today. Tomorrow they will give their presentation at a meeting after lunch, which is pot luck mixed with home-cooked bbq Boston butts, by our own member-chef, Mike S. Yummy! I pray we have a good showing for this important meeting!!!

What are the moral issues in motion now?

Watching and listening to the market news from yesterday and what is going on today, whew! The family or individuals who are actually paying their mortgages, made legitimate and affordable loans, will be carrying the weight of those who messed up. Did they not read the fine print? Did they have such a skilled, silver-tongued sales person urging them to buy beyond their means? Was the mindset one of "deserving" more bedrooms and bathrooms? Keeping up with the Joneses???? Or, was it caused by job loss and work stoppage perhaps...

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On the trading floor in Chicago Thursday, a reporter for CNBC, not a right-wing news station, Rick Santelli, just went ballistic about the very suggestion of being coerced into paying the bad debts someone else incurred, "rewarding their bad behavior". He had the traders who were in the room during his report marching around with pitch forks and spears, encouraging him to speak up on behalf of reason and capitalism. Even the traders see the fallacy of "co-opting", taking on the expense of those who messed up royally.

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Recently I was having a conversation with someone about the joys of my heated car seats. It seems those up north where heated seats would be ideal, it is not a popular option, but here in the South, it is valued. Some say the "cold" is different, but that is beside the point. I made the foolish statement that I could "never live without heated car seats"....

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It occurred to me what a truly ridiculous thing this is to say! How do I know that I cannot live without heated seats, or a rear window defroster, or intermittent wipers? How about call waiting? How about Internet connection?Is that not just way too much to declare I cannot live without it??!!! It seems that is the mindset of people now, that once we have had something, especially if was given to us, we do not want to NOT have it. Things have value to us, often, when they are taken away. Like air from my tire! When I had air in my tire, I took it for granted-----now that I had a flat, I no longer simply assume there will be air in my tires! The same goes for accountability, if you do not have to be accountable for awhile, you will certainly get used to be not accountable!

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My understanding is that there is a groundswell forming, other than the traders on the floor in Chicago, where folks are rallying to reclaim our nation, our freedoms. There was a commercial on TV the other night featuring a convertible car, cannot recall the brand, where the ad touted the fact that "America loves freedom", being free to ride with the top down....I nearly choked on my chocolate-coated popcorn. (A gift, not a foolish purchase...)What a ridiculous statement to make in the same week that the humongous government spending bill was endorsed! Supposedly the nation has 'elected' to "mortgage" our freedoms, liberties, independence for generations to come in order to get our shorter-term bills paid (or be the ones paying the bills!!!) by a no longer government of the people!!!

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Anyone????

And I did not even have a bad dream!

Last night before I went to bed, I talked on the phone with my sister, Lori, in Holmen. A bit earlier I had called her house and spoke with David who reported that she was still leading her Bible study, the one he referred to as "the bat coffee". He asked if I knew this story and I told him that was what I was calling about. Mom had asked if Lori told me the "bat story" yet, and she had not, so I had to find out what was going on. I passionately HATE vermin, winged or not, and was not sure I really wanted to hear the story. Did her cats do something or was a bat swooping around their lovely home? Had to know!!!!

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First David told me, and then Lori, about how, at their Bible study last week, Lori was cleaning up the coffee maker and such afterward. They have the type that is plumbed in, an automatic Bunn-style commercial coffee maker. She was rinsing out the decanter portion, I think, and looked inside just to see if it was clean. It appeared as though a napkin was left inside or something, so she reached in to pull it, and it was a bat!!!! Ewwwwww! The absolute height of grossness! People had been drinking coffee at Bible study which had been laced with a bat! What are they doing---practicing witchcraft at their church or something?????

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David teased me that I would blog about this and told me NOT to mention the name of their Lutheran church because they did not need any more negative publicity!

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Lori, after screeching her head off, tossed the bat into the garbage, but then decided she might need it in case the bat had rabies. She called the local hospital to ask someone there what to do, who transferred her to the ER dept. who transferred her to infectious disease control who referred her to County Health Dept. They, in turn, not knowing what the protocol was for bats in a coffee maker, called the CDC! I can just picture the red phone on the desk in Atlanta ringing and people putting on their haz-mat outfits to deal with an ole bat in a Lutheran church. That should REALLY keep them busy!!!! Anyway, someone from the County Health Dept. came to collect the cooked bat but said they could not do any testing since it was well-done. But, they did get the names and numbers of those who were at the Bible study to let them know what happened. The whole "picture" just makes me sick!!!! And I was all creepy from seeing a smashed rodent in the parking lot in the space right next to my car the other day!!!!

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Here is the warning: all old bats in churches, watch your back!