Oh, by the way-----I just found out this is my 500th posting!!!

I forgot to mention earlier that I am meeting one of our younger moms at church tomorrow to work on Timmy's flower bed! She volunteered to pull weeds and help make our church property look presentable so together we are addressing the front flower bed by the sign. In the past week one of the male members trimmed back the lantana which is planted in that bed so all that remains now are the trunks. Lantana is good for attracting butterflies and looks quite pretty when it blooms but also tends to grow a bit wild and looks unkempt if not kept trimmed. I must confess that I have basically been ignoring the flower bed since none of the flowers I would plant in there could live without irrigation, which has been out of service for a long time. There are a couple statues in the memory garden, including one donated by my friend, Cindy, plus one the Douglas family gave us on the first anniversary of Timmy's death. It had been at the cemetery all the while until I had to remove the decorative pieces last July. Now it sits in the flower bed at church in a somewhat obvious spot.

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I had some flower bulbs in the freezer since leaving The Preserve house so I hope they are okay, Joanne seemed to think they would be okay to plant. Tara and I are meeting at church after lunch to stick some bulbs in the soil and wait to see what happens. For some reason, I cannot recall what type of bulbs they are, some sort of lily, I think. In a few weeks there will be an official work day to address the property and get things in order for Easter and at that point mulch can be added to help dress up the flower bed. Tara is taking this bull by the horns and I am privileged to witness to it! She made me chuckle by saying she would use duct tape to secure her young daughter to the lamp post so we can work! Hopefully she is willing to do the bulk of the bending and kneeling work as I am so out of condition for doing this type of yard work anymore!

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It is my opportunity to serve as church cleaner with week so will take care of that before Tara gets there. Judy J. wanted to come with me to see what is required to clean the Lord's house but she might still be keeping her neighbor company on Saturday. We are in such need for volunteers to clean, and even though it kills my back to do it, I will keep my name on the list. Our little vacuum cleaner is so nice, lightweight with a beater brush attachment, but according to Judy, vacuum cleaning is the worst things on backs. Mom will attest to that one! Hers has bothered her for years, and it's all she can do to vacuum her floors.

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One of the ladies who is again serving on the Building Comm. was there last night and asked if there was anything her granddaughter could do to earn volunteer hours needed for school. I guess the criteria is only that it be unpaid service so it was suggested she help with the painting on the classroom building, helping with the Spring Cleaning day, volunteer in the nursery on Sundays, maybe watch kids while their parents are planting bulbs in flower beds....There are many serving opportunities for young men and women, so many that I had a hard time coming up with them on the spur of the moment! Justin earned his hours helping out in the preschool during the summer, but I think that won't work now since the State has more stringent rules in place for the preschool.

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The weather has been most pleasant here the past couple days, with high today being in the mid 70's. Tara and I might be sweating bullets Saturday as it's predicted to reach 80, but then plummet as thunder showers roll through. My friend, Julia, is in Atlanta a potter's workshop and might have to experience driving in snow on Sunday, as foul weather will be passing through there on its way here. I hope the snow stays north where it belongs, and that she gets home safely! Joanne is going up there on Monday as she has a "meeting" planned with King Tut! She asked me to go along but we had already spent time with the King in Chicago a couple CHRISTmas's ago. The first week of the month is too busy for me to go bumming anyway so I will stay here and hold down the fort while she ventures north into snow country!

Koko's for lunch, what could be better?

This morning I was thinking about Carrabba's, having not been there in months, it seems. A fellow I know in Morton Grove who used to work at Carrabba's here reported cooking this type of cuisine for a group at church, which simply made my mouth water! Mmmm, I have had some of Duane's marsala sauce and I would be hard pressed to tell the difference between his and the restaurant's sauce. But since I was not going to Carrabba's for lunch.....

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...I now smell like Koko's. Joanne called me last night while I was at the Building Committee Meeting so I was not able to answer her, but she was up when I got home last night. She said her sister, Toni, and Dad wanted to go have lunch at Kan Ki Japanese restaurant and asked me to join them. Sure! I arrived first at Kan Ki and found the parking lot to be empty, with the opening time posted on the door being 3:30 pm. Nuts! I called Joanne right away and told her the news, so we met at Koko's instead. Yippee! Her dad was not in the mood to eat but the rest of us enjoyed our personally prepared feast cooked by Hung. He always makes an onion special for me as I do not care for the veggies. Such excellent customer service! I have brought half home for either myself or Justin. And Toni paid for my meal, which was icing on the cake!

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After lunch we stopped in at Hang Ups to say "hi" and for Toni to see the lovely art and gift items. They went down to Maggie Moo's to get their dad a strawberry malt so I sat with him at the store until they came back for him. Clyde had gotten into a conversation with another customer regarding their shared service in the Air Force which brought Clyde sort of back to life for a little while. I stayed and chatted after the rest left. Clyde was finally hungry now, since he was getting his favorite treat!

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Justin could not join us as he was quite busy finishing up a house, ready for the final walk-through, and then had to go back to the office to clear some space for a renter moving in today. Whew! He has been kept quite busy on the jobsite these past weeks and it seems he has sort of taken ownership of his job.

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He told me yesterday that he is not been keeping up with the applications he put out closer to his home and school. I realize jobs are not easy to come by for anyone these days but I still encourage him to find a job where he does not have to drive quite so much to this side of the world. Yesterday we talked about how I miss my house on the lake but am glad to have sold it when I did, and he said we had to get away from the spiders! I thought he was over the spider-fear problem but he assured me that, no, oh no, he still has no use for spiders!

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Kelly T. and I had talked about going to Victory for scrapbooking tonight but now that she has her dad and mom staying with her while he recuperates after knee surgery, she is hesitant to be gone so long and leaving them home alone. Since I am weary, it might be for the best to stick around here tonight. Judy J. is staying with a friend/neighbor at the hospital where her hubby is in need of a heart procedure but will be coming by on her way through tonight to pick up the balance of her tuna salad and croissants leftover from Ash Wednesday. She had expected to leave the hospital that day in time to be at church but the neighbor was not doing well so she stayed with them. Our shared friend, Linda O., called me today as I was coming home from Hang Ups to see if I could have lunch with her mom and her at the China Buffet on Tuesday before Frieda heads back home to MN in a couple weeks. Wow, first a couple meals of Japanese food, then a hankering for Italian, and next week, Chinese! Judy will join us if the neighbor is doing okay by then....If I am ever sick, I want Judy on my team!!!

I thought morning would never come

My poor eyes are so tired this a.m. because I barely slept a wink last night. Add another exercise to my work-out routine----tossing and turning 3/4 of the night! Although I had made up my mind to not let things bother me, I never should have allowed the thought of not letting it bother me into my head at all. Make sense? The harder I tried to sleep, the worse it was to let go, and let God.....

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My mistake, depending upon how one looks at it, was venturing to the mail center in the lobby to see what was stuffed in my box. Much to my chagrin was a big, fat envelope from my attorney, which means, which means, which means---what? Once upstairs I opened it and found a more paperwork which spells out about the upcoming Court date in March. My "advisor" friend from church reminded me, certainly the judge will sort everything out fairly, and he further advised me to "not lose any sleep over this" so I did!

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Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

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I do not wish to be thrown into the fire and truly I was not all that disturbed or upset by this packet of papers, but my brain took over and perhaps even the evil one wanting to stir me up when I was not even willing to go! Joanne told me this a.m. that she also had trouble sleeping and knows nothing of my paperwork---she just might have her own things stirring 'round in her pretty little head! My head kept going to "In Christ Alone" and those fine words offering their calming arms. One of my first memories of this anthem was sitting in the pew at First German, watching the slide show about the young people of the congregation on their trip to Washington, DC to canvass and such. As the slide show played, this small choir of young voices sang this hymn in the background, with periodic shots of them standing in front of the mission congregation they were assisting with outreach. Justin looked over at me, cautiously, and saw, of course, the tears rolling down my cheeks. He squeezed my hand because, as he told me later, he knew that was going to get me. "For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ." "No scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand....." So, tonight, I sleep, confident in the promises of the Savior.

Back to the Soup and Sandwich Supper

I was delighted to be in charge of the first annual (and probably last annual) Ash Wednesday Soup and Sandwich Supper at church last night, held before worship. The thought was to streamline the evening for parents with small children and anyone on the way home after work to be able to just show up at church, have a nice supper, worship, and then go home. Seems smooth enough to me! I made a kettle of my famous chili, changing it up by using some dark turkey meat Joanne had bought and wanted me to use. Not my first choice, obviously, but it did the trick. The chili and its assembly was flawless and the house smelled wonderful while it cooked. It is the Bloody Mary mix that makes it so delicious, I believe, as well as the can of beer I pour in. Talk about mixing drinks!!!

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My next kettle of soup was a recipe provided by dear friend, Judy R. in MN, for beer cheese soup. Again with the beer! It was really quite easy to make except for the fact that I saw fit to burn some of the veggies instead of sauteing (is there a thin line I was not aware of????) but managed to pick all the black pieces from the pan, transferring to another pot, and soaking the black-bottomed kettle in hopes it would come clean. It did, after I dissolved a cube of dishwasher soap in the pan as it soaked, something I learned from my friend, Jean Nichols. (To my family: I need a new soup kettle for CHRISTmas. My Teflon one is losing its finish.) Can you believe I am asking for kitchen tools???

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After I got the overcooked veggies taken care of and the balance of the ingredients mixed in, the soup took on substance, and as Judy informed, it was more thin than I would have liked. I added more flour to thicken and was surprised the recipe did not mention dumplings, which formed upon the adding of flour. No worries, I squished the dumplings with my spoon and moved on. I added a package of shredded cheddar cheese which enhanced the cheesy flavor. Justin came over as planned to help me transport the kettles plus the other food items to church. He carefully packed both containers with towels to protect them from sloshing around as we drove to church, but I still have a wonderful aroma of cheese soup on my floormat in the backseat. Oh well.....

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He helped me get the stuff inside, set up some tables and chairs, etc. while I put the soups on the stove and plugged in the cheese soup kettle. I was only away for about 10-15 minutes, putting out the plates, napkins, bowls, etc. When I stepped back into the kitchen, I discoverd the kitchen counter between the two stoves was layered in cheese soup!!!! Oh, my goodness! It had boiled over and made quite the mess. My good soup! As quickly as I could, I grabbed a cotton towel to help stop the run, mopped the floor and front of the cabinets, and used paper towels to start corraling the mess into a neat pile. Sandy D. came in and saw my dilemna, pitching right in with paper towels to wipe the mess. She grabbed the wastebasket and we simply swept the entire pile of towels into the trash, using my bare hand to push the rest along into the can. Whew! I know that someday when the stoves are pulled out for some reason, there will be soup dripped down the sides of the stoves and cabinet!

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As mentioned before, only a handful of folks came to enjoy our feast, which included my two soups, plus clam chowder and chicken 'n dumplins' brought other folks. Two other families brought sandwiches and cookies for less than two dozen people including four children to consume. It frosted me when I found out that some people who could have dined at church for free, with "family", opted to have Mexican fast food instead. Here comes my Pharisee-side again! This means I have leftover soup, somehow or another, after all the sloshing and boiling over, in my fridge, to live and die another day!

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Jim and Janet sat with me, as I wanted to be in the main aisle in case people came in, so I could invite them to join us. We had the best laughs! Janet was telling how some friends of theirs from MI are coming down on some kind of break from the school where they all taught, and all will be staying in a hotel in Daytona, using their vacation package. When Janet got the confirmation from the resort where their time share is located, the message started: Hello, bikers. What? Here it turns out this group of Lutheran school teachers and their spouses will be staying in Daytona during the most vulgar of all times---Bike Week!!!! Oh, how we laughed at this picture. Jim, of course, as laid-back as he is, was saying how much fun that would be, but Janet warned the guys not to take any binoculars along. I asked what they would use to keep their eyeballs in their heads then? Fists, perhaps?? That is in keeping with recently read Scripture passage from Tuesday night's Bible study about the right eye and plucking it out if it offends you........

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Being a good friend, I offered to lend Janet my leather chaps and halter top, and she believed me. Poor Jim couldn't eat another morsel after that! Fortunately they are only staying there a couple nights before heading to Orlando for more fun. Janet said the one lady is someone with whom she attended DMLC so they go back many many years.

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Janet gave me the President's binder for the Ladies' Group meeting on Monday as they will still be traveling. Twila should be good to go for heading the meeting again so I will have to make sure she gets the book and such again. No rest for her, she has already missed one meeting this year!

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Well, tonight is yet another Building Committee Meeting. Like someone told me the other day, "and this was the "easy" project!", as we go into nearly six years from conception to this point. It is getting to be "old" but we must press on toward the goal, no good for us to get weary now. The temperatures are warming up nicely, with the high reaching 72 today so far, and hopes of 80 by the weekend. Sorry, you folks in the upper midwest who are awaiting yet another snow/sleet/wind storm. I pray Linda and Tommy have safe travels to Madison to see their grands! Am anxious to hear about the visit!!!

Who gets wounded in their sleep???

Me! I did! I woke up with a pain in the leg this early morning, rather than the pain in neck I used to have---ha ha ha! In my dream, I was excited because Lisa had gotten Noah an exotic animal for his birthday and I was collecting lettuce heads from trees (I told you it was a dream!) for her to feed the beast. It might have been a gorilla or similar, can't be sure. At one point, as I was getting up from the table, I had to ask those going lettuce gathering with me to wait as I pressed my leg against the table leg in order to forestall a cramp coming on. Too late! I woke up in the throes of a leg cramp which has left my calf muscle feeling quite bruised. That is it! No more lettuce gathering for me!!!

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Once I was awake, I stayed that way, being cautious about not repeating the movement or whatever which triggered the initial cramp. The best way to do this was to sit at my desk and let my feet hang down (don't laugh!) which allowed me to get the newsletter wrapped up and sent off. Joanne was bustling about getting ready for the day while at the same time talking on the phone. I guess her sister in Belgium called to see how their father was doing and such. I had not seen Joanne after she left for the airport yesterday a.m. to pick up her other sister, Toni, who flew in to sit in on a meeting with the Allegro folks. My bed already had taken me by the time she got home last night so I had only a few minutes with her this a.m. Which is why it works so well for us to share a home---she is seldom here!

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This a.m. was Bible study at Victory and we have begun a new study, this time a "Focus on the Family" series about truth. Pastor had gotten it as a gift from his sister and did his own study on it awhile back. Occasionally he'd mention it so I looked it up on-line to see how much it costs, because it would make an excellent small group study. For less than $100 it could be mine, but at the time was not sure if that was how I wished to spend the money. We will see how I like this study before making the decision about buying it for myself and others.

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After class I picked up Justin from UNF, waiting for him in the parent pick-up line, and, as he requested, we went to have lunch at Wasabi, a Japanese restaurant at the Town Center Mall. He has been so busy working to finish up a home for a customer that he has not been able to get away for lunch recently. This is a perfect opportunity for us, and we love taking advantage of my being there already for Bible study. Mmm! Good food! I brought home the leftovers but he is going to collect them from me at a later date, so I put them into the freezer. My fridge is full with leftover boxes and kettles of soup from last nights' Ash Wednesday Soup and Sandwich Supper. Only 17 people came to eat and we had so much food..........."but where are the nine?"

Hoping some of this dust settles.....

Many hours have been spent in recent days on the phone or in person with folks from my church family. Some are dismayed and disappointed about the determination made by the LES Team our congregation hired to help us see "through the trees" regarding adding grades to our preschool or not. If you have missed a few postings, the Team, using gathered facts, figures, individual interviews, discussions with County officials and other area school representatives, plus using the info garnered from the congregational surveys, came to the conclusion that this is not the right time to add grades to our existing preschool.

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While this program has been a long time planned for and discussed since before I even became a member at this church, nothing says "now is the time". Not even the enthusiasm and promise of students from the few parents who had said they wanted a Lutheran grade school. It was vital and important to have this answer come from those who are not personally invested in our congregation, but who ARE invested personally in Christian education in their career choices and the responsibility of doing this work for our Synod and its churches. These men would have done us a great disservice by recommending we go ahead, roll the dice, start a grade school, and then have it fail because we are not able, willing or otherwise, to maintain and support it in coming years. I, too, am saddened by this, but more by what the Team brought to our attention than by the conclusion.

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On Sunday I wrote about the "mirror" held up in front of our congregation and the not-too-pretty reflection we had. Much of this reflection is what now brings the phone calls, meetings and written discussions. I am finding out things I either did not know, or did not want to know (keeping those rose-colored glasses handy!)

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And now I must write a newsletter, using my normally optomistic paint brush. I CAN do that, because, truthfully, I am still looking for the silver lining, the Light our congregation is established in, and reveling in His Light rather than the one which casts the yellowness of jealousy, the red hue of hatred, the green tint of envy, the black tones of sin, the blue tints of sorrow....the whole crayon box that makes up humans. Often crayon cannot be erased. Fortunately, the Heavenly Father has provided the Eraser, the cleanser of all sins and evil, in His Son.

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Tonight, Ash Wednesday, we begin the walk Jesus took as He prepared to face His accusers, His convicters, His killers, all on our behalf. Let us adjust our focus toward Jesus and to each other in Christian love and unity.

To say nothing of my finger joints!

Not only am I working out my ears and eyes these days, my finger tips and knuckles as well! Lots of typing and mouse-clicking going on as work continues between phone calls and posting on the three newsletters. All three due this month! What day is it exactly today????

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It appears, according the ticker on Fox News, that the Dow is showing an upturn thus far today, with the markets only being open a short time at this point. At first when the markets were falling, people like me were riveted to their sets or monitors, watching and marking as the numbers fell, turned red, bright red at the end of trading. Now, we ask one another, "How much did we lose today?", as though it is expected. None of the Wise seem to realize the market just is not "buying" into all these attempts to socialize our nation. Neal Boortz loves to ask the question: "When did a poor person ever hire you for a job?" I guess the answer to that would be: the guy who hired you for his start-up company on borrowed money who is now able to make it without bail-out money and has repaid the loans!!!!

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I was telling my friend, Judy R., yesterday about reading my "Grandma..." books she recommended, which I bought "used" on-line. What is this world coming to? She is a voracious reader and I am not, but she likes me anyway---talk about unconditional love! She told about a read she just finished and I asked her to not tell me about it because I simply cannot keep up! It seems I am using the Grandma books more like a devotional than a cover to cover read because of the way it is set up. And I really enjoy it! The writer includes Scripture passages between her paragraphs as well as hymn stanzas to tie it all together. As I was looking at the back cover and saw "testimonies" from other readers, I recognized names of people I know, like the Spiritual Growth leader of LWMS, Carolyn Wehmeyer, here in our circuit! She comments that this book is "a great devotional for personal daily use....". Yup, I knew that!

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The chapter I read this a.m. was about getting to put away the winter underwear. My readers from the South are not going to know what this is, but back in the old days, the kids actually did have to walk to school all the time, even in the winter and had to wear heavy, scratchy "woolies" under their clothes to help keep them warm. The city kids did not have so far to walk so were able to shed their woolies sooner than did the rural students, who were then teased for still wearing the winter weather garments. While all rejoiced over having the woolies to keep them warm during the worst of winter, come spring, all wanted to cast them off, even if it meant not being comfortable for the long walk back home, to avoid being teased. Pearl (who I think is really Judy R.!) places the passage from Romans into the text: "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Makes me feel badly about not liking the little pink half coat that was handed down from sister to sister when I was a girl! The kids who had to wear the winter stockings and shirts felt the mockery of their rude, nasty classmates while enjoying the warmth of those items of ridicule on their way home! Just think.....