A goofy weather day

This morning it was gloomy and overcast, quite a contrast to yesterday's start. Before church began, people were coming in wet with raindrops! Spring showers! And it rained nearly all day, ending right around four p.m. Now, the sky looks decent with some grey and pink clouds layered below blue sky. And it is still light outside, which I like!

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Waking and watching the news this a.m. and again in the afternoon was like biting on a sore tooth and finally I just had to look away. Ugh! As hard as it is to believe, we must now brace for government-run medical care. As one Congresswoman assured today, we should have no fear because (paraphrasing) "the task forces will be put in place to 'educate' people and help them live a healthier lifestyle." Oh great! Life as I know it is over!

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It was interesting in Bible study this morning as we continue our study of the civil world and the Christian, how we live according to the laws of the land, unless they would be in direct opposition to what God's Word says. We had some lively discussion and questions today, not even touching the sensitive subject facing our nation today. We have some learned people in our congregation, some of them teachers, and I must say that I learned much in class this morning.

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Kathy B. played our pre-service music and Suzanne accompanied on our congregational singing and the liturgy, Divine Service 1. We sang several hymns from the supplement including two which the choir helped along. Thankfully Pastor had the congregation glance at "Draw Near" before the service began so they knew to turn the page....last time it was a disaster because the cong. did not know it was three pages long and that they needed to turn the page. The choir was at the communion rail and could not help out so this time, it went perfectly.

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While the choir was singing "Draw Near", the congregation was taking the Lord's Supper including those who sat in the back row. One lady is quite elderly and unsteady on her feet, yet chooses to sit in the back. Today an older man helped her back to her pew, holding her hand and guiding her along. It just struck me as so touching and kind, and brought tears which made it VERY hard to sing for a moment. Carol touched my shoulder because she, too, was moved by it. It sure does not take much to get me these days....When I spoke to Bill about it after church, he said, "Oh, no, she was helping me...." in typical 'Bill' style. Usually Brian is her escort but we were busy singing so she had to rely on another man!

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Oh, it was so good to see the rest of the family today, at least now I have seen most of them. One couple is visiting in South Dakota having left here before I did. Darwin's brother is quite ill and I guess they are staying until the end. Hopefully they are not in the flooding areas. Their last trip had them nearly snowbound in VA when they watched their grandson graduate from the Coast Guard Academy a couple months ago.

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Poor Martie really has her hands full with her family. Her daughter-in-law and the grandkids are leaving for AZ soon if not already; her other son has a degenerative disease in the MD family and not faring well; and her little grandson, Mark, presently has a blood infection or something. He was staying at her house this weekend and she thought he would join us for our outing but since ManMan wasn't feeling well, he stayed home with his grandpa. Martie and I are shooting for Tuesday now if nothing else falls apart around her!

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Night fell since I began this posting. The grey has taken over the sky! No boats in sight but earlier, after the rain stopped, I did see a few dotting the waters. Today in Bible study the subject of lottery winners came up, when we were discussing settling inheritances and such. It brought to mind something a dear young man in my life said to me at lunch last week....This young man often talks about 'what ifs' concerning the lottery, always coming up with 'big' ideas of what to do with his landfall. This time it was not to install central air conditioning for his cousin or have a security system put in her house, or not buying a pipe organ for our church. Nope, this time, he wants to take all the WELS members on a trip to Lutherland!!!!! Maybe I am missing the boat by not buying lottery tickets if that is what a person can do with the winnings. I love the idea, however, and tried not to make a fuss over it. Good for him, and good for us all if he wins!

Spring has sprung!

As one of my Facebook friends identified it, today is the Verna Equinox...I wrote that I think I went to school with Verna! Happy first day of spring! It seems that the day is going to be quite lovely with the sun beaming into my room making it nice and toasty in here. At long last, it is warm in my room without my intervention.

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I am listening to the radio and the TV, following all the junk going on today in the nation's capital regarding the take-over of what's left of our lives by the government. Even my friend, Judy R., who listens to public radio and does not normally follow these type of things reported tuning in to Rush to hear what is going on. The slight of hand and arm twisting going on in order to get the votes needed to slide this debacle through is dizzying, to say the least. So much horse-trading and deal making, backroom deals, etc. I hope and pray that reason will prevail and this take-over is stopped one way or another. We will have to become very cozy with our elected officials in case we need a surgery or treatment because they will be the ones approving or declining our medical care....perhaps an exaggeration but maybe not for long!

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Before bed last night I took care of the some of the laundry in one basket so now my room is decorated with stacks of folded items to be put away today. Such a process! Some of the things are towels and such from when Lynn and Linda were here, layered on the bottom of the basket. When I was at Lori's, David presented me with a pennant featuring Maurice Jones-Drew plus a sort of holographic trading card with MJD on it. His company produces these things and when he sees them come through, prototypes and such, he saves them for me. The pennant is rolled up yet and now buried under a stack of towels and wash cloths for the guest rooms so I had better set it free some time today.

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Somehow I must stimulate myself enough to take care of the dusting in my rooms today as I can use my buffet in the dining room as a message board. At some point I am getting together with Joanne for the rest of the envelopes but this a.m. she is busy at her church planting flowers right now. Oh, my! It just occurred to me that today is Easter4Kids at my church. I had better get dressed and over there to take photos! I hope they did not count on my help for anything...I did not sign up since I was gone, and expected to be gone right now according to my original plans. Yikes! The dusting and laundry can wait, I have to get to church!!!

A glorious day!

Even though I had to drop too much money for new tires (with an oil change thrown in!) and new wipers, it was a wonderful day! First order of business was to stop by Edward Jones to drop off something and I had a nice chat with Debbie. She was alone in the office so we could sit and chat without interruption from the boss, Frank. We had a good chuckle, too, because I accidentally set off my car alarm when I was getting out of the car, as I was reaching down to pick up a plastic cup from the floor and leaned on the panic button on my keys! No matter what, I could not sneak up on Debbie!

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From her office I went down to the cemetery to check on things, since I had not been there since before I left for WI. It was quite busy today, tents were set up in various spots with one committal service taking place not far from Timmy's site. I saw a couple ladies walking around, looking at the grave sites, as I sat down on the bench. One of the ladies, Helen, came and sat next to me, saying her sister knows the child's parents. I said, "Well, I am his mom" and here came Dorothy! Helen, Dorothy, and another sister were at the cemetery sprucing up their mom's marker and that of Helen's daughter, killed in a car wreck three years ago. Helen said that Dorothy and she would often come over and visit Timmy's site and today they were fortunate enough to find me there! Dorothy is married to one of our former superintendents, Scotty, who knew Timmy and attended the service, sitting with the rest of the family/staff at the church. I was quite touched to know that others thought enough of Timmy and us to go visit his site periodically. They asked about the bench, how and where we got it, and I told them how the marble under the marker was special ordered from our contractor in WI.

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We four ladies talked at some length, mostly about available property, when I told Dorothy and the others where I live. They got quite excited because only the day before Helen mentioned that she would like to live at Club Continental!! How ironic they run into me today! I told Helen about the units in my building and those on the compound with waterfront views. If they had not just eaten a late breakfast, we could have come over here to have lunch at The Club and look at my place, to whet her appetite. Good thing they did not come because my house needs a good dusting and I have wash baskets in my bedroom....

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When we parted company, I went to get my new tires at Sun Tire, next door to Aron's Pizza. It seems that my car has anything but 'ordinary' tires, hence, an extraordinary purchase! Justin's tires cost just over $500 and I expected mine to be about the same but it seems that is not the case. My 'deal' came with lifetime tire replacement if they are destroyed and lifetime rotate/balance for the tires. Oooh, I HATE those type of things but I surrendered and bought the extra coverage. UGH! Having the oil change thrown in softened the blow a bit but I still feel slightly victimized, as often happens at the hands of those who take care of our cars! When checking out, I asked the guy at the desk what kind of vehicles actually use the standard tires they sell, and he pointed to a Saturn up on the rack, and said, "That car takes standard...." 'Nuff said, I want the extraordinary ones, thank you!

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While my car was being work on and I was being worked over (ha, ha!), I was able to enjoy one of Aron's fine Stromboli and read a book. I had forgotten to grab the WI book from my bed but fortunately I had a book in the car from Bible study, "The Theology of the Cross". I have owned it about a year now but was intimidated by it, until today. I am loving it, not too deep a read yet at this point, and it filled me up, more than the Stromboli did. The strom was filling but in an entirely different way. I had to call Linda to tell her about what I was reading but she did not answer her phone. Oh well, it will keep!

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"Kramer, I tell you, Elaine doesn't know what she's doing!! I'm going to have to take over this whole operation!!!" Poor Jerry is worried about a marathon runner, hoping he does not again oversleep and miss the race. Jean-Paul overslept 4 years ago and missed the Olympics and Jerry is determined not to let that happen again. This episode is called "The Hot Tub" when Kramer inherits a hot tub which he sets up in his living room. I cannot recall if this is before or after he brings home the set from the old Merv Griffin TV show for his living room....

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My house is smelling good with my supper cooking---meatballs in golden mushroom soup, baked potatoes, and cream-style corn. Mmmm.....this is in contrast to last night's posting about not enjoying cooking. I like to throw something this together and let it do its thing. I can wait...At Aron's I ran into Miss Chardonnay who said the gang might be sitting out tonight since it got nice out today, not quite 70 above but with loads of sunshine. Oh, goodie, sun deck time again! I did take a peek out there and no one was sitting on the deck, but people were being seated on the patio at The Club for a wedding. Very pretty but not quite warm enough for sitting outside on the sun deck.

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The river had boat activity today and I even saw a jet ski scooting around earlier. It looks so pretty out there with the sun beginning to set, casting a pink hue over Mandarin. The envelopes for Joanne are as done as they are going to be, since I ran about 20 short. Rats! She and I are going to connect some time tomorrow for the rest of the envelopes and perhaps even something to put into them! Hopefully Martie can meet me after work tomorrow so we can 'connect' too over some nacho chips and an adult beverage. I hope so anyway, because I miss her like crazy!!!

I have writer's cramp

Much of the evening was spent hand-addressing envelopes for Joanne, resuming the task I left unfinished before heading to WI. My hand gets tired from writing so carefully, since most of my writing is done by machine these days. A huge dent was made in the list and by midday tomorrow I believe they will be done. Then I will stuff them, once I get the items to stuff, and prepare the envelopes for mailing. And then begin the process once more....

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To my delight, I am watching back to back to back episodes of "House", old ones, which are fine when busy with other things. Originally there were plans to go for a margarita and some Mexican food but now Martie and I will be going Saturday instead. Her daughter-in-law and family will soon be heading across country to their next duty station (Air Force) in AZ, so they are spending some time together before they leave. So, tonight for dinner I enjoyed some of my delicious mac 'n cheese from Panera Bread. Since I ate there two meals in a row, both times ordering the same thing, I have two meals of leftovers. When I place my order, I ask for it to-go so they automatically put it in covered cups.

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Justin and I went to Bible study this a.m. at Victory, today led by Tim instead of Pastor Hoyer. Phil, Anne, and Betsy were at Mayport waiting for Betsy's boyfriend to come back from his Navy cruise. He was a pirate hunter for 6 months and will be most welcome back at Victory. No wonder I saw so many helicopters going up and down the river the last couple days!

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The class of course just ripped right along without Pastor there to really lead it but some interesting discussion took place. Part of our subject matter was about the presentation of the olive branch after the flood, assurances that all is forgiven. I mentioned how it seems miraculous that the ark reportedly came to rest not terribly far from where it started out. It could have come to rest on Pike's Peak in CO instead of Ararat in Turkey. Or stopped in China or someplace far far away from the Holy Land. Actually it was closer to the supposed Garden of Eden where the Tigress and Euphrates intersect than to Jerusalem. I don't think we know where Noah actually lived (do we???). I will be right back, I am going to look....

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Okay, I am back...it seems Genesis does not specify where everybody lived, which means they could still be living, at the time of the flood, close to where the Garden of Eden was. When Pastor is back I will ask him about it, hopefully I will remember next week. There is one man in the class who is extremely contrary and wants to argue about things not requiring discussion. Keeps things lively, to be sure.

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Justin and I went to have lunch since he is on spring break this week, no worry about getting to class on time. At first we were checking out Bahama Breeze but it seems they will not be open for service until next Monday. Since the day was actually cold, contrary to Harold's opinion, we opted for some soup or other comfort food at Panera. That is where I had my second order of mac 'n cheese and Justin chose a sandwich instead of the soup in a bread bowl. Their mac 'n cheese is made with four kinds of cheese and is so creamy! We had a great lunch together and he was heading home to take a nap. It seems he stayed up late helping at his friend's hot dog cart, so needed to catch up on his sleep. We could have gone shopping, I guess, but neither of us was in the mood.

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I am so happy that next Tuesday "The Blind Side" comes out on DVD. Justin knows I will stand in line to get that movie and cannot wait to cook something for my lady friends on Movie Night! Speaking of cooking, I was telling Justin today how a monster has been created by having me read a book cover to cover. Now, I torture everyone with stuff I read about Julia and her cooking. He asked me if I was going to start cooking like Julia did and I told him I would not, that her cookbook was written for 'servantless' people who love to cook, and that would not be me! I am servantless, except for Justin, but do not love the process of cooking the way Julia's cookbook is intended. If I do cook, it is because I so enjoy having people come and sit around the table but nothing I make is overly fancy or involved. Not for me! Justin said that I did become like Francis Mayes (Under the Tuscan Sun) because she also wanted people to cook for. I will give him that one, Justin is correct about that. But I am not a competitive cook or flashy, just want good food to share and comfort!

"Mama loves the snoring...."

Awww! This statement brought a tear to my eye, said by the sweet son of my dear friend, Suzanne, at the dinner table tonight. She is having a bit of trouble sleeping alone while her hubby is working out of town because it is too quiet. No snoring to listen to....hence, the comment by Daniel. I wondered if there was a white noise machine that would make snoring sounds to help people sleep...."Mama loves the snoring...."

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I just gotta tell you that my feet are freezing and I am under my covers trying to warm up. It was still drizzling when I got home from church and drove over in the rain as well. At least it is not colder here than it was in WI today, as it was in the high 50's. Saturday is predicted to be mid-70's and sunny----yippee! Thankfully I still have my little space heater in my room to help bring the air temp up.

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It was a busy day today, once I got started. I wrote a couple letters, answered Facebook messages, and other computer work before heading out on errands. Yes, it was time for Koko's!! Julia joined me for lunch and we got caught up on things since I left here. Oh my, what a good meal we had! My personal chef from Koko's has moved on and opened his own place over near the Mall so I must make plans to go visit him. Rats! Now I have to break in a new personal chef again...just when I get everything just right, they leave!

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After lunch, we went back to the shop to visit with Dee, who stayed behind to work and eat her leftovers. With more errands to run, I left there and headed to Publix and the post office, stopping at Sonic to get my happy hour Route 44 Diet Coke...man, I missed that, too! Other errands included dropping off my taxes at the CPA and stopping at the bank to make a deposit. Before I left this a.m. I was stopped by Connie, the maintenance person, who scolded me for not letting her I was leaving. It was not on purpose and she knew I was gone because of my car and Justin's being moved around, etc. My new neighbor was also outside and invited me to come up and see their new place, having finally settled in as of Sunday. Love it!

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When I came back I put my groceries away and headed up to Jessica's with her cheese curds. I got to look at the baby who was snuggling with his uncle and gave Jessica the curds. From there I went to see the Howard's unit and it was fabulous, as I imagined it would be. He said he set up his desk so he could look out at the pools and watch the women but when I told him I go out there all the time, he decided to relocate his desk!!!

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My room is still littered with laundry and baskets of such but perhaps tomorrow will be a good day to take care of that. I have a few sweaters air drying in the family room over the backs of the chairs which I will collect and get put away. In the morning will be Bible study at Victory and lunch with Justin but after that nothing until I meet Martie for a margarita after work. I hope so anyway....

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It was so great to be back at church tonight, where I received warm welcomes, hugs, and even some kisses. Nice to know I was missed! Pastor even remarked from the front of the church about having me back and that I will help to swell the ranks since our attendance has been quite low on Wednesday nights. I joked that I should have sent out an e-mail reporting my return! So many of those there said I was missed and that it seemed too long for me to be away. Now that is a warm fuzzy to be sure, but still did not warm my toes! Gotta love my new comforter!

Musings from my own home

As soon as I saw Justin pulling up in my own car at the airport last night, I began to cry. It was so good to see him again, we really missed each other. On the way home I told him the story about Lori fearing David's demise Sunday night. I will tell you also: When we got home from the bus trip, there was no David to be found. The radio was blasting Irish music, his computer was still active (no screen saver up yet), the dishwasher running, warm hamburgers in the fridge, a cooling grille on the patio, sliding door open to the patio but screen shut, window open in the family room.....but no David! Hmmmm.....the car was there, the bikes were there. Lynn walked around the house to see if he was out there. I encouraged Lori to call some of his music friends to see if they knew where he was. When asked what I could do, Lori said I should just pray he was alright. Finally she called her neighbors on the hill whom reported they saw him out walking....and he appeared on the porch! Lori ran to him and threw her arms around David and just sobbed in relief. He had left his cell phone at home and was gone at least an hour, by our account. David did not expect us to come back so early, as last year's outing got home at 9:00, not 6:00! It was a huge relief to see him safe and sound, and he has promised to keep his phone with him at all times, or at least, let someone know where he is going. He walked about 8-10 miles total on Sunday, now that the weather is nice.....Justin listened intently to my story and then shared his.

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Saturday Justin had to attend the funeral service of one of his classmates. Howard died of some yet to be explained cause, much too young. He told me about the other classmates who were there, those who rose to speak about their friend, coaches from Little League ("how do they remember a specific game from like 9 years ago???"), and remembrances of what Howard was like. My friend, Jami, who is a prison counselor, uses the movie "The Bucket List" as a teaching tool for her inmates. At the end of the movie, Jami asks her 'class' to write their own eulogies, what they want said about them when they die. Interesting and introspective....Justin found that out the hard way Saturday at his young friend's service.

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Justin also made me roar with laughter on our ride home. He was lamenting the time change, the return to daylight savings time. It seems he overslept Monday morning, but remembers dreaming about the game where you take a hammer and pound on the head of a mole as it pops out of the hole. "That would be my snooze button...." which made me laugh my head off! We stopped at Pizza Hut for a cheap pizza to share at my house, as he decided to sleep over. Sadly he was gone before I crawled out this a.m., although I was actually awake before 9:00 a.m.

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Hey, Lynnie! My suitcase is empty! This a.m. I got the washer busy with the contents of my suitcase and ran the dishwasher, which made me feel quite productive. One wash basket already had unfolded clothes in it so I have more than I started with to deal with today. I can actually put my luggage away in far less than the usual week! I still need to make appointments for my hair and my toenails, both which look tough. Mostly the toes need work, the hair is probably good for another week. In my opinion....

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I am still reeling with excitement about finishing the book "My Life in France". During my afternoon rest, I started reading the book I bought in Onalaska's Barnes and Noble, "It Happened in Wisconsin". The book tells about various newsworthy and perhaps lesser known things that took place in WI, not the least of which is it being the birthplace of the Republican Party. Also stories about the Peshtigo fire, Ed Gein and his horrible crimes, and the circus! It will be fun to take this trip and perhaps finish another book in less than a month! I still have the book about growing up in Manitowoc County collecting dust here so that will be next. A monster is created, perhaps.....

Captured on film, or with a digital camera....

Justin is looking at the scrapbook and other memorabilia in the church parlor before the funeral service for his grandpa, Arno Hackmann. His cousin, Tabitha, is on the sofa behind him. The lovely stained glass window is perfect, especially on such a day as this!

The pallbearers, nephews and grandsons of Arno, carefully place the coffin into the hearse for the short ride up the hill to the church cemetery. Due to the terrible weather, only a few folks went up for the placement of the coffin into the grave, as the committal service was held in church instead. Justin, JR, Uriah, Kevin, Ron, and David served as the pallbearers, the last two being Arno's nephews.

Some of the family and a guest assembled this pictoral board for display in the church parlor along with Arno's confirmation certificate, written in German, with his confirmation verse serving as the sermon text. On the table also was the scrapbook I had put together after Lucile died in 2007.

This is a keepsake photo taken in the school gym where the funeral luncheon was served. The color made a perfect backdrop for Allie, me, Justin and JR. JR is now at his base in Germany, having had to delay his orders due to the funeral. Justin was concerned that having JR in uniform would overshadow him but I think they both look just great! We all do!

If you click on the photo, it will come up full-sized, if you'd like a better view!

Here is the family photo taken after the funeral service and luncheon, minus Marian and her family, and Diane, who could not make it, plus a guest of one of the family members. The last time a family picture was taken like this was after Timmy's funeral where all but one of the children of Arno and Lucile were together. Nancy, though quite tall, is hard to see in the back row. My Justin is one end, and his good friend and cousin, JR, is on the other. Barb is the shortest one of the family, unless I would have been in the picture, which I opted to forego...