I managed to make myself sick

I had something entirely different written here but since deleted it. My heart was sickened after reading some of the reports from the trial of two men, a father and son, who killed little Christopher Burrios two years ago. They sexually molested him, strangled him, and stuffed his body into a garbage bag. He was missing for a week before someone found the bag. I remember writing about it, how losing a child is NOT a parent's worst nightmare, but actually not knowing where your child is and what is happening to the child is much worse. The report tells how he loved Batman and Spider-Man, and how his Star Wars lightsaber was found on the side of the road....

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On the other hand, the man who kidnapped and raped Jessica Lunsford here in Florida, died of "natural causes" after being taken from prison to an area hospital.

It is time for a break

How come I am perspiring while sitting in my window when it was so chilly overnight? Well, I guess you could say the weather got over it! According to the radio website the temp at the moment is 70 above zero and is expected to stop when it gets to 80. Normally 73 or there about is the low temperatures here so having that be the near high is a bit startling to some, especially me! I knew this was coming so it was no big surprise to me, as over a week ago I checked the 15-day forecast and saw the low temps. Up north, where my people live, they are experiencing near freezing temps, praying for mittens. My one sister has been pleading with her apartment building manager to turn the heat on, as it was around 62 degrees in her apartment when she got home from work yesterday. The "rule" for the building is evidently the middle of October for turning the heat on, which seems a bit arbitrary to me.

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Once again I made the serious mistake of stopping at my mail box and found just over 20 pieces of mail, of which only three were keepers. The rest went into the trash, including catalogs and the endless mailings from the financial people. My friend, Diane, who recently changed companies, told me that Prudential and the others are obligated by law to mail investors the reports and prospectus, but we are NOT obligated by law to read them!! Fair enough! A couple nice pieces I got were greeting cards, one for a baby shower and one a thank you note from one of the church ladies. So thoughtful!

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Monday night, in case I did not mention it, Twila came over to watch a movie. At lunch that day she reminded me that we had planned to watch "Ghost Town" and decided, since our Monday plans were all goofed up, we would watch that night. Pizza was ordered and delivered just as she arrived, which worked out perfectly. Wally, the computer guy, was supposed to be coming by with my laptop at 5:00 pm or so but did not come until well after 6:00 pm. Since Twila and I were just finishing up, we sent the balance of the pizza with Wally. "Ghost Town" was just a hoot, save for a few filthy words which the move could have survived without. The best part for me was the scenery because it is filmed and takes place in NYC. I got to see many familiar sights, including the Metropolitan Museum, where the female star worked. Twila did not know that the Egyptian display really existed, thought it was just part of the movie and I got very excited to tell her about it. We were just there in May, Justin and I, on Memorial Day. Man, it was great to see it all again in this movie!

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Yesterday I had lunch with Brenda and dinner with Joanne. My fridge holds the remainder of my meatloaf meal from Cracker Barrel, which is where we would have gone if Bible study would have been held. Seth, our "usual" waiter, already knew what I was having but it messed him up having someone different at the table with me than the usual Tuesday night crew. He knew to bring me the take-home box even before I had made a dent in the dinner, and kept my soda glass nicely filled at all times.

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Joanne is busier than ever in real estate, most of her struggles are with the short-sales she is handling. These transactions are the ones where the seller simply cannot continue in the home and are selling it for less than what is owed, in agreement with their lender. This is different than foreclosure, where the bank has taken back the property from the owners (as the bank actually owns the home) because of their failure to make the payments. She said she has never worked so hard in real estate in all her career, taking sometimes months to get to a settlement agreement for the buyers. The lenders certainly would rather have "some" money for the property vs. getting the entire piece back in foreclosure, but they, too, are just buried under the number of properties being sold in "short sale". It has become a bureaucratic nightmare. One of her seller packages includes 98 e-mails between her office and the lender simply to end up NOT closing!!!

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I have been working on the newsletter for The Palace this a.m. but since there was no BOD meeting, there is little to add to the letter. Much tap-dancing is going on here as I glean pieces of information from various other sources to fill the letter. At least I have two new residents to write about, not new Owners, but tenants. We need some people to come and buy our "For Sale" units because we also need to fill most of the seats on the BOD and I don't want to do it!!!! I would not like having people hate me and say nasty things about me....which is not to say that does not happen already! Just not to my face, like happens to the current BOD members. Yikes!

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My doors are in the open position, the temps are so nice, and no longer am I perspiring as the sun has moved around the building some. Tonight is a birthday dinner for our friend, Brian, at Ted Turner's restaurant, and I have to suck it up and eat there, for Brian! I can do it! Justin said he ate there once when his friend's mom treated. I hear the food is good and the company certainly will be, and then we go to choir. 'Twill be a great night, I can see that already!

A crazy, mixed up week

Only a few moments ago our Staff Minister, Mike, called to cancel Bible study tonight. It seems he needs to attend the Sunday school teacher's meeting instead because he is heading it up this year and cannot be both places at the same time. I guess Pastor must still be at the Conference. Now what do I do?? Two cancelled studies in one week, in two days, actually, and it is throwing me out of whack!

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Joanne had called me earlier today to have lunch with her but I was already out with Brenda N. at the time. As I write I am waiting to hear back from Joanne about going to dinner---oh, we are going---we just do not know the time, as she is busy working on real estate. I see meatloaf in my future....For lunch I had a butter burger at Steak 'n Shake with Brenda, and while it was simply yummy, it was not a Culver's Butter Burger, ya' know? This place is next door to her office which made for a good lunch within her time constraints. When we walked back over, I saw Jimmie W.'s truck in the lot so I went upstairs with her to say "hi" to him. Oh, it was soooo wonderful to see him again, as we sat and chatted in the lobby! Gosh, I miss those people! Brenda introduced me to their receptionist as being her former boss, although I hardly feel that way about these people, my "co-workers". We really do love each other, both then and yet!

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At lunch, Brenda told me about the goofy TV situation at home, having only analog reception, no cable service. She can pick up one local channel somehow or another which brought us to the subject of movies. She was unaware about taking movies out at the library (the bibliophiles in the reading audience will have a fit about this!!!) plus I offered to share my collection with her.

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As we talked a bit, the subject turned toward the things she has on her "Bucket List", which really got me started! It has been a Bucket List couple of weeks for me. She has only seen the movie once but it really stuck with her. Before she dies, she wants to see Greece. This was the year that three of us---Martie, Brenda, and I---had planned on taking a Mediterranean Cruise, saving money for just this event. A year ago at this time, things really changed dramatically in our nation, in our community, and in our homes, making those plans somewhat disappear. When she mentioned it again today, I was so happy, because I sort of felt like it was too difficult a goal for my friends to reach. Perhaps not! Now I am excited again! Add to that the statement Brenda made about "going over and not coming back...."

Don't you love this: Dream Houses between sky and earth......

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I did tell her about the RE/MAX office in Mykonos but she would need to get her international sales designation, which Joanne has already earned. She could be a bartender or lead the donkeys up and down the side of the cliff in Santorini! There is no shortage of restaurants and bistros in either of these two places and certainly someone who spoke English for the tourists would be most welcome! Oh, dreams, bucket lists, are what keep us going. Justin says I would be too distracted in these tourist towns to get much writing accomplished which defeats only a small part of the reason for going there.....Last night I watched "Under the Tuscan Sun" yet again, on broadcast TV, and longed to see Positano once more. When I talked with my mom last week one day, I had come upon Rick Steve's Europe on (gulp!) PBS, and he was touring the Amalfi Coast. That is what started this whole thing over again for me! Thursday at dinner Justin told me he found the entire series of Europe on hulu.com and said he got water eyes, too, just previewing it. Oh, man...................

Something to chew on today

A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked:

'How heavy is this glass of water?' Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.

He continued, 'And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on.

As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.'

So, my friend, put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue.

* Always keep your words soft and sweet, 'cause some of them you'll have to eat..

* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.

* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

* Nobody cares if you can't dance well----just get up and dance.

* When everything's coming your way, you're probably in the wrong lane.

* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Who is a hermit? Me?

Many years ago when I was buying this condo, I brought my friends, Christine and Brenda, to see it. They had spent much time with me enjoying my home in The Preserve as well as the lake house in the past years, where I liked to entertain. Having them share this home with me was simply the natural transition, or so I hoped. Once they walked through the doors of the then empty home which seemed at once more spacious and bright, they were smitten! Not that they would like condo life themselves since they live on the same road in Middleburg with wide open spaces around them, but they realized that this was going to be right for me! At least Brenda did. Christine was walking around the place going, "hmmm, hmmm" and looking out the sliding doors at the river, listening to my plans for Jimmie building a desk at my window for me. Quite wisely she turned to me and wagged her finger in my face, cautioningly, "You are going to become a hermit up here! We will never see Miss Kim again, you won't want to leave here!"

Christine, the seer!

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Well, what do you know about that? At the time this was the most ridiculous statement I ever heard, and when I shared it with others they too scoffed at the notion. Kim---a hermit?? When Joanne, Twila and I were out looking at houses together a month or so ago, the one place would have been ideal for me, except for the fact that it was "small". I told the ladies I needed more square footage to which Joanne immediately retorted, "Kim! You do not! You stay in your room all day and only come out for soda!" As harsh as that may sound, she is not wrong, and neither was Christine too far off the mark. After just more than three years of living here, both ladies are correct, it seems. At least to a point.

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We did not have Bible study this a.m. due to a Pastor's Conference taking place which I would not have even known about but for Pastor sending me a late night e-mail to inform me. Because I was not in worship, I missed the announcement. Really, only moments before I was to head out for Bible study did I read the e-mail!!! Now what? My whole day is thrown off---talk about a woman of routine! As I took care of some laundry, I had chuckled to myself about what Joanne said about my living in a only one room, having all this lovely space outside my bedroom waiting for people to come over and enjoy it with me! Tonight it will be used as Twila and Judy are coming over to watch movies, our "free" night!

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When I went downstairs this late morning on my way to meet Twila for lunch, I met Connie, the maintenance lady, working on some pipes. She asked me where I had been, and when I looked surprised, she said, "Well, I haven't seen you around in a couple days..." Hastily I rushed to my own defense, mentally retracing my steps, or lack thereof. Of course, the weekend does not count since she is not here. Much of last week was consumed by the newsletter and my church outings also take place after she has left for the day. Thursday I was gone to Victory for Bible study, plus Wal*Mart was marked by me one of those days.....I guess I had better make sure I let Connie know when I am moving about or she will think I died up here!

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The picture one gets of a hermit are hairy men sitting in dark, dungeon-like rooms, piled high with boxes and refuse, and empty pizza boxes. My home is hardly like that, except for the desk, that is, and the passenger side of my bed, busy with papers and books. Light is abundant and I do not allow for clutter, somehow not being able to control the amount of dust which finds its way to my surfaces. Will someone please explain this to me, since I am not buying Lori's theory of my dead skin flying madly about the house!

A glorious Sunday coming to a close

Well, I guess 4:30 pm counts as a close to a wonderful day. I am not expecting much else to happen or take place today so if this is how it ends, great! The desk is piled full of papers, my tummy is stuffed with food and my eyes are begging to shut, leaving no room for more of anything. The sun is shining yet after the heavy grey clouds moved on, but it is really too late in the day to head down to the pool. Perhaps I will join the neighbors on the sun deck during happy hour later on. I would have gone down last night but I had not dressed again after coming in from the pool and was not about to just for that!!

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My friend, Ellen, has her hands full, or at least, her houseful, with people on crutches. Over a month ago when her daughter, Ashley Rose, was returning to her home in CA, Ellen went with her for about a week. In the meanwhile, her friend, Michelle, had fallen and broke her thigh bone. Since her home is two-story, she came to stay at Ellen's to recuperate upon being released from the hospital. Michelle's kids came by on rotation to tend their injured Mom all these weeks, and Ellen loves to nurture so it all works out. At least it works out until Michelle's son slips on the stairs outside the condo and chips bones in HIS ankle. I saw him yesterday trying to manipulate the crutches while his sister toted the groceries up into Ellen's place. At one point he was sitting outside on the steps to smoke, and his crutches went sliding down the steps and overboard. Oh great! Now his sister had to come back outside after certainly putting the groceries away, run down the stairs to first locate and then retrieve the crutches. All this was observed from my vantage point in the pool, and I was thinking, "Poor Ellen"....

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Today I went over to Victory for Bible study and worship. There I saw many new faces, met some new people, hugged on some "old" ones, and even sang with the choir! Anne asked me to help out on the psalm since they were a bit shy choir members today and since I knew the anthem already, why not? "Oh, God, you are my God, for you I long, for you my heart is yearning...." We have sung this at G. S. first with Pete singing the stanzas, and after his time, the choir singing the stanzas. Once I sang solo on the first one, plus did the descant for the refrain---but not today. Straightforward today.

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Justin was there, too, and we enjoyed worshiping together. At least he told me so after church. He had already taken care of the "book exchange" as I had left my car unlocked on the assumption that he would take care of it before church. He has the new Beck book while I now have the Levin "Liberty or Tyranny". As I said to Linda J. the other day, I really need to settle down and read some of these books which are stacked around me! Because I had to rush right back to G. S. for a church meeting, I had to basically leave Victory without saying "good-bye" properly except to my Justin, of course. I got to the meeting only a few moments after it began so I did not miss much. Kathy B. had called me on my way between churches, wondering if I had told her I was not coming today. She said lots of people asked about me, wondered if I was sick or something. Some speculated where I was, and they were correct!

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Then I went to Winn-Dixie for a few items even though the game had already begun. The Jags were up by three points when I stopped so I ran as best I can run with my little cart through the store. They moved the soda aisle just to mess with me so I lost a little time backtracking in search of my Diet Coke, but still got home in good time. The Jaguars and Houston both played good games but I rejoice that Jags came out on top....thanks to a fumble in the Houston end zone which the Jags picked up!!! Add to that a Packer win and we call that "the end of the day"!

Shopping by sunlight

I am just burning up right now, sitting here in my window, basking in the sun. Already I have "chatted" with two friends on Facebook, one actually being my sister in WI and the other a young lady with whom I used to work and was close friends with back in my "old folks home" days. Annette now lives in Las Vegas and was getting ready to go to work, very early in the morning there. She is expecting 92 degrees above zero there today and I am expecting only a few degrees less than that. The way I feel right now, I could just dive right in (cannonball!!!!!) but I am sure the water is not quite warm enough yet for diving.

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While chatting and updating Facebook, I also did some shopping on-line at NPH, getting some more books to add to my stack. If only someone would come and read them to me and then explain it all. As I look into my river room, the sun is catching on a cobweb which has grown between the table and a chair. This is particularly troubling since Justin was here only Wednesday and had moved all the chairs from the table to vacuum, which I rarely do, but also because it means no one has sat in the chairs since Wednesday! What is up with that? It has been quiet around here. I hate it that school started again because all my teacher friends have been swept away to the classroom, leaving me fewer peeps with whom to play!

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Recently I have been communicating with someone from my WI congregation and cannot help but notice the unusual way she uses capitalization and punctuation. If she was not the age she is, I would guess part of it would come from using some hand-held communication device (sounds rather like Star Trek!) but she is not quite savvy electronics-wise. I have noticed in others' writings that punctuation has somewhat gone by the wayside, as in contractions, which are run together. While the short cuts might be suitable when using text messaging on the phone or instant messaging on the computer, it has found its way into every day "language" or usage. Linda H., at dinner the other night, declared that she never ever uses abbreviations when she writes or texts to her kids or grandkids, she always uses full words. The ladies were saying a recent study showed how few kids were being taught cursive-style writing in school any more nor were they really being taught proper grammar. The more adept people become at using these electronic tools, the "dumber" people can become. It is like a swapping of knowledge.

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On occasion I will read the obituaries on-line from our local paper where folks can post a message to the family in a Guest Book. Some of the messages are simply unintelligible and one cannot help but wonder if those leaving the message, while certainly heartfelt, did not take the time to review what they tried to write??? All capital letters, no space between what appear to be sentences, no periods or commas or apostrophes....Then there are the abbreviations and use of a single letter to say a word---UGH! Many moons ago I wrote about what my friend, Jami, was doing in the prison with the men she counseled. She was trying to teach them to read, and used the sentence in her blog, teaching them "the importance of vowels....". This phrase just caught my eye and mind because, for many of these cons, so much in their lives could have been changed or affected if they had known how to read beyond even a certain level. The things we take for granted...Yes, I am ordering these books and I swear, I will read them cover to cover!

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Just so that no one takes the liberty of pointing out flaws in my writing, please spare me, I am yet in development! I am a huge fan of the trailing thought tool of ....