It's quiet here today

Except for my noise, it's so very quiet today. My downstairs neighbors are gone on a cruise, the upstairs people are either gone for the day or simply not directly overhead, and no machinery running outside. The river has been busy but not so many helicopters today as others. The boats are the floating type, not the roaring jet engines some of them have. Not sure how long that will last, but for now, it's kind of okay. I make my own racket with listening to my shows on the computer, and roaring with laughter!

Half of my Friday morning Breakfast Club are away on a transoceanic cruise so I decided not to go over to The Club this morning. I am getting quite hungry for the baby red breakfast potatoes so hopefully Randy and Carol get back soon. Mary and I could just go but I had not gotten in touch with her about it ahead of time and didn't wish to chance it. Not that I mind dining alone, but if I don't have to get up, I won't!

                         

My friend, Annette, sent me this photo, taken by her friend. She knew I would like it, even shows the F-18 that accompanied the Shuttle from the Cape. Annette and I used to work together at Shady Lane Home, starting in 1976. Although I am several years older than she, we became fast friends, losing touch after we left SLH. One night when I was in Manty, dining at the Green Street, I looked up and there she was, visiting from Las Vegas!!! Facebook keeps us in touch now almost daily...just like when we worked together!

Justin left early this morning, with Fridays being one of their fuller days in the field. The kitchen counter reports that he made a sandwich to take along with him. Monday we bought several boxes of "Hop"Tarts (as Timmy used to call them) from the BO/GO bins for him to take along in the truck to help sustain himself until meal time. The guys usually grab lunch at Taco Bell or somewhere else cheap, where they can go in, use the bathroom, and cool off before finishing the day. 

Today they used a coupon at Gibb's Sandwich Shoppe. He said the theme of the small shop was New York City and he likely drove Jesse nuts with his excitement over the posters and such. He told me Jesse doesn't share his love for NYC, excusing him because he has only been there once...I told Justin he and I are simply cliches and that's it!

There is a "Seinfeld" episode where George was asked to watch a stranger's suitcase on the street, but the guy didn't come right back. George put the guy's clothes on and had a map in his hand when a woman from the Chamber of Commerce sort of adopted him. He behaved like a tourist then and even moved his stuff out of his apartment in order to make it look like he was going to move in. The lady told him he shouldn't move to NYC as the city would "eat him alive"...And his apartment, not knowing it already belonged to him, she said smelled like monkeys lived there before, and was terribly over-priced. 

Jerry teased him about carrying out this ruse, and having this woman show him the town. "Are you gonna take a show while you're in town?"  So funny! How it works out is the man whose suitcase George was supposed to watch found him in a bathroom somewhere, took his clothing back and left George on a pay phone, calling Jerry to bring him something to wear. The woman finds him, in his underwear, and says, "I told you this city would eat you alive!"

                                          

This episode is about George taking over Jerry's kitchen and starting a new business of harvesting the 'crust' off the top of pudding. He has some in plastic wrap, showing it to Jerry at Monk's, their diner of choice.

Wednesday when Justin bagged up my clothes from my cleaning spurt, he also brought my file baskets out of the closet for me. I stored them in there since Linda's visit to make room for the wingback chair. The clean look appealed to me and I will have him wheel the cart back into the closet again once I am done filing. I hope that is soon! Now that the taxes are done, there is no really valid excuse for not cleaning off the desk. I should make sure that's all done before I head to WI in May. This will be my goal!

My arm has returned to what has been normal, no longer aching like it was on Wednesday. In that posting, I used a graphic of racks of shirts. My friend, Joanie, asked me on Facebook if that was actually my closet. She hoped it was so she could show her husband that it's really okay to have so many items in one's closet! Broke my heart to tell it was not really mine, but it was my mistake for not taking a BEFORE picture of the closet!

Two in one day

I have two baby showers coming up, not two in one day, though. That title references my Bible studies on Thursdays. But the showers are this Sunday afternoon and then one next Wednesday evening, as part of the Happy Hour event at The Club. In order for me to participate, I will have be there at 6:00 pm and leave promptly at 6:30 to allow travel time to choir rehearsal. 


The bar manager, Jacob, and his wife, are expecting their first child and the 'regulars' are holding the shower for them. Jacob is the nicest, most polite young man I have met in a long time. Because he is so sweet, I allow him to address me as Miss Day, even though I have asked repeatedly for him to at least say Miss Kim. Nope, no can do! And Lahaie Day is too much to remember on the fly...


Sunday's shower is for Lisa W., the daughter-in-law of my friends, Jimmie and Brenda. I will make the journey to Clay Hill to help them celebrate the pending birth of their first grandson. Jimmie and Brenda have two granddaughters, Faith and Hope, by their son JD, but now, a grandson is on the way! Lisa is the young lady who does my toes for me so I will have to wear closed-toed shoes that day!


Justin told me about a baby bib he saw in a parking lot where he was working (landscaping) which he thought quite clever. Paper on one side, with a plastic backing, with ties at the neck. A little pocket at the bottom to catch the drips, and then, throw it away! Or, leave it in the parking lot for someone else to pick up. I think I will look for some of those to give as gifts to the new parents, as well as some wipes and disposal bags, always good things to have!
                                   
His describing the bib reminded me of the time I sent extra napkins along to school, when he was in pre-k, to protect his uniform shirt from the spaghetti sauce they had on Mondays. When he came home, his shirt still had sauce stains on it, despite his extra napkin/bib. I asked him about it and he said, "Well, one side got dirty, so I turned it around..." That is sooo Justin!!


Today I had the distinct privilege of attending a pair of Bible studies, one at Victory. What a great give 'n take we had this a.m., and eventually we even finished the lesson. Pastor shared some sad news affecting members, two separate instances of suicide. One family had their parent, recently left a widower, take his life. Another couple had their dinner interrupted as a bullet shattered a framed picture on their living room wall. What? 


It seems their next door neighbor put one in his head while sitting in the backyard. It exited out the other side of his head, through the wall of their home, and shattered the picture. Much much more was shattered that evening than the picture on the wall. 


It is so tragic, the lack of hope these poor folks had. Neither men were practicing Christians, but even we believers feel pressed down on occasion. Prayers for all those affected, those left with questions...


Our small in number group discussed several issues relating to these events and what the Bible says about them. One man who is known for speaking when he should not said some rather...um....less- than-sensitive things, which the rest of us resisted. (How diplomatic was that????) Unless someone has lived with or around a person with mental illness, you cannot speak to it. There!! Even though the actual topic on the pages of the study booklet escape me, the memory of the conversations do not.


Sadly, Rita was absent yesterday as were Marilyn and Judy A. I missed them in the class, my only chance to see them once a week. Oh well, next week, then!
                           
About 5:30 pm Judy C. called to ask if I had plans for dinner. I did not so off we went to meet 'n eat at Steak and Shake, for which she had coupons again. She got home from babysitting early which freed her for dinner before BIC.  
                     
When I order my single burger, I get only pickles on it and use the ketchup at the table to add to the burger. The sandwich comes with shoestring fries and my soda was free with the coupon. Less than $5 and I couldn't finish the fries!


Our friend, Amber, was planning to be at class, and she made it. Whew! Sunday she was absent from church and missed class last week with company in town, which made Judy and me nervous. 


We were discussing baptism tonight and at one point, Amber whispered to me, "That's my problem---I never got baptized!" We were talking about being sinful from birth and having evil inclinations, rebellious toward God, and such. I whispered back to her, "It's not too late..." and she had written on her blank page in bold letters "Not baptized". I think now is good to have a baptism! 


Sometimes I wonder how much is being absorbed due to her concentration problems and such since her stroke but I think she gets it. Knows what is missing in her life, a life in faith! As we parted company, she told Judy and me that she is going to talk to Pastor about being baptized next week. Yes, and I will say prayers of thanksgiving for that day....


" I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Oh, my aching arms!

Something prompted me to get busy in my closet today, perhaps due to the conversation I had on the phone with my mom this a.m. who also was going through closets. It has been on the unwritten list of things to do, since at least The Great Flood era when Martie and I were going to tackle the job, but never did. Now, it's done and my arms ache because of it. Or rather, my arm, singular. Last January, a couple weeks after getting back from WI, I noticed my 'pitching arm' having an ache in it, which I attributed to carrying heavy bags of groceries from the car. But, it didn't go away and would vary in achiness day by day. Sometimes I don't notice it one little bit and on days when I reach a foot over my head, it bothers me more!


When Mike K. installed my new closet racks and shelves, I assured him that putting this particular rod up so high was fine, as this space would be more for storing clothes than for daily access. I was right, but he was also right about it being hard for me to reach. Perhaps that's why I seldom wore the garments hung on that side of the closet!
                
My friend, Mary, has a practice doing reflexology and pressure point therapy (I always want to call it Power Point!), myofascial therapy. She figures that I have carpel tunnel syndrome and can help me with that without having surgery to release it. Nice! It has been fine for a few weeks and hopefully I have not aggravated it too badly. Right now, my arm is complaining. By the way, she attributes this problem on being on the computer so much. Therefore, no relief in sight!


Yesterday I went around with my can of Pledge and a dusting cloth to remove the dust and soot from the surfaces in the formal rooms. After the fires and the usual dust, everything had a film on it. Someone, I am not sure who told me, had said she was told not to use the vacuum cleaner when the smoke was so bad because of stirring up the particulates in the air. I could see how that might be so outside, but inside?? Anyway, when Justin came up the stairs after work, he said he could smell the lemon Pledge outside. Wow, powerful stuff!


Connie is coming around today with the hose to wash down the building, to remove the ash and residue from the exterior walls, sills, and doors. Such a mess those fires make! She asked me to send out a notice to the residents to make sure everyone has their windows closed and put towels at their doors in case water seeps in. My front doors have enough of a threshold to prevent this but not my kitchen door, so our towel is in place!


Justin, being off work today, bagged up the castoff clothing for me. When he did so, he counted the pieces in order for me to have an approximate value for tax purposes. There are 25 items in one garbage bag and 23 in the other, tops and some slacks. Now, I just need the nice people from Quigley House to come pick them up, and we'll be good! My friend, Penny, is no longer working for them, but when she did, Penny would take the items directly to the House for the ladies to pick through before being donated to the resale store. I would prefer that happening with these bags of goodies.
                      
When I was chatting with Linda the other day, I mentioned to her that I thought I would hire someone to wash my windows. I can barely stand to look at them, and can barely see out of them! Maybe we need a good, pounding rain against the glass, but I am not sure this would do the trick. It's been a year since they were washed, at least, and look a fright. In the webs are bird feathers and bugs, the feathers from the crazy little birds which eat berries in the palm trees. They seem to stop by later in the afternoon, for a couple minutes, and then leave. The wild birds, more than a dozen at a time, act as though they are in contest or something, zooming between the two trees. Sometimes they throw themselves against the glass and try to freak me out---and usually succeed!


About my goofy arm---I was chatting with my sister, Jill, the other morning via Facebook. Not sure how it came up but we got on the topic of our aging, and not liking it. I remembered many years ago my sister-in-law, Marian, told me how she hated the way her hands were beginning to look. Of all the horrible health problems Marian had, it was the appearance of her hands which bothered her. I told Jill how the skin on my arms looks and feels so scaly these days. She was glad to not be the only one having that happen. Whew! In my case, getting sun tanned likely does not help with its condition but Jill does not sun tan so she has no excuse. I told her how when I watch "Everybody Loves Raymond", Debra is always applying lotion to her arms and hands before going to bed and I found that odd for such a young lady. Now I know why people do that---so they don't look like an alligator when they are no longer young!


A few Fridays ago I met my friend, Belinda, for lunch, at Longhorn. I knew she sold Mary Kay products, mostly for her own consumption and purposes, and looked great. She asked me the other day if I would be interested in helping her take part in a contest MK was having, which was doing make-overs. With no obligation on my part, she would do before and after pictures, enter them in a contest, and might win $2500. Sure, why not? She said she could do just me, or, if I wanted to, ask some friends to come for a make-over too. Judy C. and Donna from church said they would like to come, so we are set up for May 1st to be in the contest!


Joanne and I have had troubles catching up with each other, and we finally had a chat on the phone tonight. She was unable to make it to The Club to celebrate Easter with Justin and me because she didn't feel well. Now she thinks it was because of the smoke in the air, she might have had an allergic reaction to it. Her sister, at this advanced age (60's), has suddenly developed an allergy to shell fish. After eating shrimp and lobster all her life, now she cannot tolerate it. Weird! 


Maybe I can no longer tolerate cleaning out my closet!

It's taxing day!

This morning I had such a horrible dream that I could scarcely wait to wake up. On TV there is a commercial for a Land Rover where this couple takes arm loads or bag of clothing to be laundered, obviously after some amazing adventure. After their 3rd visit, the proprietor of the cleaners gazes out the window at them getting back into their Land Rover, likely off on another adventure...as a giant, hairy spider climbs out from under the pile of clothing on his counter. I believe this ad influenced my dream!


In my dream, a bunch of my in-laws and my yet intact family were staying at what appears to be a cut-rate hotel or perhaps rental condos away from home. The details are now faded from my memory but the image of black, bulging spiders remain in my mind's eye, seeing them crawling around our rented space. Changing units made no difference as the units were in disrepair or were under renovation, even though we were staying in them. Maybe I am thinking about the units on our property which are being renovated and readied for occupancy. Who knows with dreams, right? Regardless, it left me feeling all creepy crawly this morning!                                
                         

The thing which dreams are made of.....

On Facebook this a.m. I noted my regret for missing the Space Shuttle Discovery flying away from Cape Kennedy on its way to its permanent home at the Smithsonian Institute. I had hopes that someone along the way would snap a photo of it flying over, piggy-back riding on a 747 jumbo jet. I won't worry about over packing again, if a plane can handle a load such as that! Anyway, my former scrapbooking friend, Kimberly, snapped a shot with her cell phone as it flew over her home in VA.                              
           
Sort of hard to pick it out, but there goes Discovery on its way to Washington, DC for safe keeping


Last night a well-known commentator, co-host on The Five (the token non-Conservative), Bob Beckel, was a guest on Sean Hannity's show, which airs here at 9:00 pm. He has worked in the White House and on presidential campaigns besides being a columnist and commentator. The radio host I listen to in the mornings, Neal Boortz, was also a guest on the show. Thinking they were still in commercial, Bob continued an animated discussion he was having with Neal and a female on the panel, and he let loose with a filthy, inappropriate word, even after the show came back. 


He was roundly scolded, asked to apologize and refused, so Sean apologized on his behalf. Bob refused also to believe it was aired and even after he was told he was on the air, would not apologize. Sadly, later, the other two guys indicated that if Bob was fired by Fox News for his antics and bad behavior, they would defend him. What????


This is greatly disappointing to me, that these fellows would defend Bob, which basically gives him permission to conduct himself in such a fashion again. On The Five, the producers and his fellow panel members are always after him to guard his tongue, watch his language, and not be insulting. They jokingly made up a giant jar, like from pickles, with a label stating "Bob's Swear Jar" on it. He has to put pennies in the jar every time he uses bad language.This sort of makes light of it, and besides that,  he fancies himself as a Christian. I want proof that he knows how to conduct himself not only in public, but on the air!! This annoys me! 


First of all, he is not usually swearing or cursing---he is using filthy or vulgar language. Swearing or cursing is actually taking the Lord's name in vain, or calling down God's damnation on people. Using the language of the streets, inappropriate words, is dirty talk and has no place in the presence of decent people. Many times, and, in this case, on Sean's program, his usage of the word made absolutely no sense at all in the sentence. Pig! 


It would seem that if a person can control their tongue and measure their words when the camera is on (or when decent people are around), they should be able to control it otherwise. All it takes is restraint, and practice. Erase those words from your vocabulary and you won't have an "accident" when the cameras are rolling and the mic is live! 


If a person has a paper dictionary in their bookshelves, or on the kitchen table, like my mom does, they can see the likely hundreds of other word choices available to use to express one's displeasure over another person's opinion or belief. Here's a challenge, folks---find another word!!!!! And, behave yourselves!!!

Day is done!

In more ways than one, these Days are done! Justin and I went grocery shopping after he got home from work. First he needed to shower to wash the labors of the Day away. Normally he likes to go to lie down for several hours but instead, once The Five (Justin teases me that The Five are my family, as his Grandma says the NCIS people on TV are her family!) was over, away we went to Publix. I had a $5 off coupon to use, if we purchased at least $30 worth of stuff. And we certainly did!


He is obsessed with finding the perfect floor appliance for my rooms as he is not a fan of my vacuum cleaner. However, I am a fan of my Sears canister machine, called Dummy, which is a name acquired back in the mid-70's when 'we' had our first Sears canister vacuum. Our next door neighbor, Jim, with whom we shared a driveway, would take his dog out for a walk and call to him, "Come on, Dummy, come on", attempting to sort of harshly whisper to BeBe, to hurry the him along. So, as my sister, Kerry, who lived with us, and I would use the canister vacuum, pulling it behind us, we'd say, "Come on, Dummy, come on!" My former spouse would also use that expression when vacuuming, even when we had the central vacuum system, pulling the hose around behind us. 


So, where was I going with that? Oh, yes, Justin wants to get a cordless device to use for the quick touching up or for the dusty/hairy floors in my bedroom and bathroom. The other rooms are likely dusty, too, but this is the room I live in and it annoys me. He did find one, a vacuum with a Swiffer as part of it, but it was over $30 at the grocery store. You know it's cheaper at Home Depot or Wal*Mart. I passed on his suggestion, but he can get one for himself for Mother's Day!
                                     
Justin and I stocked up on a few things we needed and somethings we didn't. We enjoy the BO/GO bins and deals, but I refuse to buy things I won't eat or use just because of the deal. Last year I bought two bags of Dove Dark Chocolates from these bins, and I still have two pieces left from the bag I kept. The other bag went to Gretchen for her birthday, and it's nearly birthday time again! 


He got some bread to make sandwiches with, taking peanut butter and jelly ones for his lunches or breakfast when he's working. Bread is getting expensive, too, but it was BO/GO, so why not? We bought other items to use with some of the groceries Randy left for us, so we will be enjoying a nice batch of Velveeta Cheese with Ro-Tel Tomato dip for our BO/GO Frito Dippers. We will party hearty! I guess Randy made his own mac 'n cheese using the Velveeta cheese food, buying his stuff at the big box stores. Such a big block of cheese we have---maybe we should try making our own mac 'n cheese!


During the Day, I printed off postcard invitations for the Mother's Day weekend breakfast for the Ladies' Group. I will miss out on this outing at Honey B's, owned by relatives of the Sister's Tea Room ladies. Janet will have to be the leader in my absence and won't mind one bit! She is going to use a devotion based on "Life as a Cupcake" so she asked me to incorporate a cupcake into the invitations. No worries, I love playing with my Google images!
                                    
Michael lead our Bible study this morning, a new topic which escapes my memory at the moment. Oh, I remember: "Bear Each Others Burdens", which is a topic I find interesting. He will be the leader until May, and then, mid-month, his Call expires. Rats! I guess that would not prevent him from leading Bible study because we had lay people as leaders in the past.  


Only five of us went to Longhorn where I ordered the steak and baked potato. Makes such great leftovers when I use the oven to reheat it...oh my! One unfortunate thing happened today, though, with our waiter of choice, Jason. When he was bringing our tickets to us, for payment, he whispered in my ear that he is getting ready to move and having trouble getting his security deposit together, so 'anything extra you can give me will be greatly appreciated...'. Oh yes, he did! He wanted to me to tell the other ladies (I must be the boss of the group!), so I did. This bugged me, though, and I gave my standard tip. Not sure what the other ladies did, but I found this off-putting. As boss of  the group, I think I will recommend we not ask for his area any longer because of his request. Tipping for service is one thing, tipping for a security deposit is quite another!

A quiet Sunday

We had a good house, so to speak, for our Sunday worship, the Sunday after Easter. Also generally known as "No Show Sunday" as one of the poorest attended of the year, GS had a reasonably well attended service, including some more visitors. On Easter we had quite a number of guests, perhaps due to the mass mailing and delivery of 'invitations' left on door knobs in some of the communities around the church. During the service, Robbie, The Maestro, sang Psalm 63, which had been introduced to us by our former pastor years ago. The congregation joined the refrain and I have been singing it in my head all day long: "In the morning I will sing, I will sing glad songs to you, I will sing glad songs of praise to you..." Sigh....


For lunch, Justin, the Chappell's, and I went to eat at Applebee's because Judy had a coupon to use. In my Sheldon-mode, I had trouble deciding what to order since they did not offer the potato skins on their menu. I did spot the orange chicken which turned out to be quite tasty. We each had something different, so it was probably good for us to change it up a little. Judy's sandwich was a fried green tomato with turkey sandwich, which left her somewhat disappointed. For one thing, it was not easy to eat, sort of fell apart in her hands. Justin had some sort of tortilla sandwich served with homemade potato chips were simply marvelous. I might go back just to have some of those! Mike had some sort of wrap of which he ate every morsel, so I was the only one with the to-go box.


Yesterday afternoon when Justin came home from the movies, I asked him if he was still celebrating Greek Easter at his father's house. He had completely forgotten about it, so had to check with them to find out if it was still on. A week ago there was question regarding their celebration would be last weekend or this one, and it ended up being sort of both. Because Justin was overfull from our feast at The Club or simply didn't feel well, he did not make it on Sunday to his father's house, so went on Monday night instead. Tonight they will have some traditional Greek foods except for lamb...he brought home some baklava, pastiche, and some other delicacies.


I didn't think I would find it weird to have my neighbor gone, but it is. After spending so much time in proximity to each other those couple of days before he left, it seems strangely quiet now. No unexpected ringing of the doorbell or trips upstairs to receive his castoffs. Justin and I went up to got a laundry basket full of stuff from his fridge and freezer, and a couple days later, he brought stuff from his cabinets. He left a stack of unmatched dinner plates in the cupboard, and as tempted as I was to grab them, thought better of it. Not like me at all! So, anyway, it seems, as I said, strangely quiet around here without that flurry of activity, or the lack of it!!!!, going on. Facebook shows he made it to CA for a wedding on Saturday but if I was a betting woman, would have thought he wouldn't be there on time.


If there is one thing Justin and I know how to do, and do well, it's packing boxes to move. Not as though it is for a grade or anything, but to be organized and somewhat orderly is important for my peace of mind. My neighbor's process was far too disorganized to suit me. His "I'm almost done" was so far from what I would consider almost done it made my head spin. As I told Linda via our chat, it made ME nervous and I am not the one moving!


Justin used my car on several occasions this weekend, between going to the movies with Jesse, then to play games at his friend's house, and again today after church. My gas tank indicated the use so I gave him my debit card to have him fill it up on his way to his father's house. As I came down the hill toward my parking area after church, the little gas light came on, and the dreaded ding sounded. Yikes! 
                 
Not making so many trips to the Southside really helps to stretch the tank of gas out for me. But I sure do miss going to Trivia with Stephanie! She misses me, too, as she indicated on Facebook this evening. If only she could make it to Thursday's Bible study...but she works during the day!


I cannot believe how many 'reality' shows there are on TV these days. There is no aspect of daily living that escapes the camera, and is made into a show people will watch. From giving birth to being a butcher, it qualifies as being considered entertainment. The reality show I watch is Fox News and the occasional episode of "Law & Order"! Those other shows are so staged, as Justin can personally attest.


The other day Justin was lamenting that his "Extreme Home Makeover" T-shirt had a stain on it. He expressed how he liked having it as his souvenir from working on the site. At first he was resentful being 'volunteered' to help on the framing crew, and was downright scared. He didn't know the first thing about framing and now he was going to be expected to be one! Justin softened after he was able to convince his two buddies to go with him, making it more of a fun thing than scary. 


Well, the man who hosts this nationally televised program (for one of the broadcast networks) needed a bunch of guys to be doing some 'work' behind him as he introduced a scene. Justin and Jesse were two of those who got busy in the background, marking off squares on a sheet of plywood, and then using the SkilSaw to cut them out. Over and over... for no particular reason other than to look as though they are busy building a dream house for this lady and her foster kids. Thankfully a program like that one does not feel the need to add salty or filthy language to keep people watching.


Tonight I caught up on some of my Internet TV show, watching a wonderful segment featuring only individuals who had come to America seeking asylum or safety from communist/socialist/fascist regimes. Wow! Talk about powerful stories! Either the guests themselves, or their families had emigrated here and cherished the liberties afforded them in the USA. Almost to a person they cautioned against our nation turning into the type of regimes left behind them, as they see things going that direction. It can be insidious and it can be blatant. About half the guests mentioned their concern with the government-run school systems being the starting point for the ideology. What a good but frightening program THAT was!


Oh my! The horrible storms plaguing our nation...My sister in Oshkosh filled me in on the forecast for their region and my niece in Sheboygan commented on the thunderstorms and winds in their area. Hopefully they won't have hip-high hail drifts as TX had Thursday, or the damage hail can cause. Even the regular-sized hail stones wreak havoc but to have them come the size of a baseball---that would be deadly. 

Paul is pitching to Sarah, on their quiet cul de sac

Speaking of baseballs, my goddaughter, Sarah, is quite the softball player, with her daddy serving as a coach on the team. The Cardinals won a championship of some sort last season and are doing great again this time. Emily posted a video on Facebook of Sarah and Paul playing catch in the yard, and I was amazed at her mad skills. But, sadly, after church when they went to Sonny's for lunch, Sarah got sick and was still vomiting this evening. Emily posted a photo of the two cats, including Boots Day, and the dog, hanging around the sofa where Sarah was lying, keeping an eye on their little girl. Hopefully it's only a short bug and she is back on her feet in the morning!

Photos from Laura and Rick's visit

Laura was fascinated with our map of the "Lahaie Day World Travels" so she asked Justin and me to pose with it. If you click the photo, you might make it large enough to see the pins, red and yellow heads, pressed into the map, to show the places we or I have been. 

I don't know why this photo has not been taken by me, but Laura captured it perfectly!

Laura snapped Rick standing in the river room doors, gazing across the river, just after sunrise

This is a shot of the river room and my bedroom doors as the sun was coming up

                                 

This is what Rick was gazing at!

Here is Laura's picture taken from the 3rd floor over toward The Club

       Another view of the water from the river room