Off to Publix I go!

Justin had a dish of cut-up chicken in the fridge, looking somewhat gross, if you ask me. He was planning to make a chicken dish in the slow cooker for our dinner. He asked me if I would mind going to the store to get an onion and a container of mushrooms. Of course I would do that, going all the way to Publix (make it sound like a journey!) rather than across the street and down a couple blocks to Winn-Dixie. I chose Publix because Justin told me exactly where the mushrooms were located, exactly which ones to buy, so I wouldn't mess up the recipe.

                       

Upon getting home from the store, I sent Justin a text message to ask him what was to happen now. He told me to cut up the onion, put the chicken in the slow cooker ("set it on warm, not cook!") with a 1/4 stick of butter, and layer it with the mushrooms. Now, doing the math, it seemed to me this recipe would NOT be done cooking in time for dinner. These type of recipes generally cook for 6-8 hours and it was already 3:00 pm. Regardless, I plugged the machine in and let it do its thing.

About an hour later, Justin sent me a text message asking me if it was okay for him to meet his friend, Michael, for dinner. Of course it is! He and I sort of live by that guideline--if the phone rings, turn off the stove and go! Since I anticipated the chicken would not be quite ready to go by 7:30 pm, it mattered not to me!

I could have gone to Happy Hour due to our plan change, but opted to stay in to eat dry bread and water. Or, leftover bratwurst and pasta salad. My friend, Kathy, was looking for me at HH, but I excused myself, leaving her the option to come up here if she needed to talk. She often does come by for a visit but did not come tonight. Justin said I should erect a booth like Lucy has on the Peanuts cartoons, and charge 25 cents for a visit!

The TV news has me riveted, watching as the GOP caves yet again and agrees to the debt ceiling increase, etc. Ugh! Stephanie, my friend at Victory, didn't know yet at this hour if she was going to work in the morning or if she was going to the Southern Women's Show Thursday morning. She had anticipated the shut-down and planned for it financially, was ready to ride it out for the long haul. Around midnight or sooner, she might know what her day holds for tomorrow.

A going-away day!

Quite a different one than yesterday, it started out on-the-go early. I had to go see my friend, Peggy, have her take a look at my temporary bridge and x-ray the site where the tooth was extracted. She said it appeared to be filling in, which is good. It would be another four weeks before more work could go on for the permanent bridge. We decided to wait until after Christmas for doing this, postponing the expense until the next tax year.

Yay! From the dentist office I wandered over to Wal*Mart to pick up a scrip and a few other things. My bottle of Obsession is getting empty, not quite but getting there, so I thought I would pick up a new one while I was at it. It's gone up in price since the last I bought it (I think...), now at $15 for a half ounce. The smaller bottles are better for traveling which is why I get them, plus it's less of a hit a half ounce at a time! 

Brenda and I had made plans to meet for lunch, though I was going to be there a bit early since my dental appointment was brief. Oh well...I took my Isaiah book and worksheet into the restaurant with me so I could do my homework while waiting. The waitress kept my soda glass filled as I waited for Brenda. 

When she came we compared coupons, as is our custom, and ordered exactly as we do each time we meet. Let me rephrase that---I tried a different relish this time which made my steak sandwich taste like it had spikes sticking out of it. Much more potent than their crazy green relish I usually order. I asked Brenda to remind me the next time to not order the mustard relish! Drank a whole lotta soda at lunch! Brenda treated us to shakes (using the coupons again, bo/go) and parted company. That hour goes by so quickly!

                        

Once home, I carried my purchases upstairs, welcomed by the racket of jack-hammers again. This time the work was going on is between the 2nd floor and garage, removing some stucco or something. Not sure what that is all about but I did my job of asking the residents to remove their vehicles from the area so the work could go on. 

                            

The rest of the day was spent piddling away at the desk. This evening, I was all set to go to a building committee meeting, leaving Justin at home to fend for himself. As I sat in the parking lot at church, finishing my homework, it seemed odd that no one else was arriving. I thought I had better check my e-mail from Mike K. to verify the date, and sure enough---I was a whole week early! I had so wanted to just stay home tonight because of the dreary weather, but went to the meeting, which was not!

I surprised my boy by coming home so soon. Justin had ordered a pizza for dinner but I didn't care for any of it. Instead I had some of the pasta salad from the night before and watched Jeopardy! in my room. Justin's season tickets allow him certain benefits which includes discounts or special deals on things, such as Papa John's Pizza, the official pizza of the Jaguars. Whatever he doesn't eat for dinner he has for breakfast or mid-day snack at work, so it all works out. This time he also got the chocolate chip cookie which has been advertised. Surprisingly, it is quite a lot smaller than the pizza! Sort of made us laugh...

                                    

An at-home day

Happy Columbus Day everyone! Yes, it is a holiday which normally means the banks and post office are closed for business. It also means no school for the kids and no Bible study for us. Nuts! Not a single one of the attendees are affected by the work stoppage and Judy usually brings the kids along with her when there is no school. But, no Bible study for us today. That means no lunch at Longhorn, either!

It's a good thing, I guess, that I was home this a.m. because at last I got a call back from the insurance company regarding my health policy. It seems my insurance coverage expired last April, after my debit card did! I was issued a new card with a new expiration date but it never occurred to me the insurance was linked to this card. 

As I said to the nice lady who called me, a local number, it would have been lovely to get an e-mail or a letter about this, as there is a 30-day grace period when something like this occurs. She told me there was no note or anything on my account regarding them contacting me. They just dropped me like a hot potato! 

Maracella transferred me to an agent who could help get back on insurance, though I had to wait a year after being dropped to be picked up again by the same policy. I didn't really care which policy it was, just wanted to be covered. "Ben", in Miami, was able to help me find a similar package to what I had. He also did price the (ahem, ahem) AFFORDABLE Care Act's policy, just to see. Wow! 

While it covers "everything" like pre-existing conditions and so on, for the small price of 3 times what I am paying now, per month, with a $5000 deductible, I very politely refused. Holy cow! And that was lowest priced package offered. My sympathies to those who will be compelled to make such a purchase! I don't think I have ever reached my deductible in a year's time (thanks be to God for this!), even with everything being covered, there is no way I could justify paying such a terrible fee for health insurance. And then find a doctor who will take it...

Once this ordeal was taken care of, I got busy writing Thank You notes to the folks who made our Sunday event so wonderful. It took a trial run and one ruined card to figure out how they will go through the printer. Got it figured out, cards printed, and ready to be mailed tomorrow when mail service is operating again!

                                 

Justin asked me the other night if I could make a salad using bowtie pasta. He had picked up two boxes at Publix and has been asking for such a salad. I said I could use them, and got myself busy this afternoon in the kitchen cutting up summer sausage to use in the recipe. For the 'sauce' I used a mixture of mayo and Henri's Tasty Dressing. It tastes great, if I do say so myself! Had a nice sausage sandwich for lunch, while I was at it.

For dinner, Justin and I worked together making brats with caramelized onions (okay, Justin did most of that!) to have with our pasta salad. He got done working earlier than usual, and was quite hungry when he got home. To hold him over he had some banana nut bread, but we did decide to eat dinner earlier than usual. 

He has the 'habit' of having me watch "Duck Dynasty" before we watch "Jeopardy!". Tonight he said, "I think I am getting you to like it!" Tolerate, yes; like it, yes, but the reason I do like it is because he does! I love it that he likes it, and enjoys a wholesome program such as this. 

He knows I am skeptical of reality TV shows and will admit to the situations being contrived, but I try not to dissuade him from enjoying them. In fact, some of the family members on the program remind us of our friends in Middleburg! I am good sport, if nothing else. There you go, Jack! (One of the characters on Duck Dynasty uses "Jack" as punctuation in a sentence).

Pastor Kuske's anniversary recognition

Pastor Kuske's dad, Prof. Kuske, was our officiant today. It was a lovely service...

 Kathy took her place at the piano once more to play a pre-service hymn, "The Navy Hymn" as today is the birthday of the Navy. It was so wonderful to hear her play again!

 Chefs Mike 'n Mike ready to serve us our lunch!

 You will never figure out whose plate this is, but doesn't the food look good???

 Pastor posing with his cake

Two good friends, Gretchen and Terri T.

 The food tables are all ready to go!

Look at all these desserts!

 Looking from the end of 'my' table to the other end of the room. I was seated with Danny and Kathy Roy plus the Brown's and Husted's

Some of the guests from the neighboring apartment complex joined in the celebration

LWMS Rally today

This morning I had to get up VERY early in order to be at church by 6:30 for our long car ride to New Hope Lutheran Church in West Melbourne, FL. Judy C. was our driver, with Betty riding shotgun, Janet and me in the second row, with Esther and Nancy in the back row. The last two ladies are from our sister congregation, Victory. Our ride was expected to be about 3 hours and we made it in good time, with only one stop on the way down, and one stop on our return. Janet, a 'needy' passenger, must have fountain sodas, though Judy and I would have shared our cans with her. She makes us laugh, that's for sure!

Janet, Judy, Betty, Esther, and Nancy discussing the upcoming Rally schedule. GS is hosting in Fall of 2014...I wonder if our renovations will be done by then!

This one is Jennifer posing with Janice, both of whom are friends on Facebook as well as in the flesh. Jennifer used to be a member of GS, and Janice I know through LWMS and have attended a women's retreat which she conducted years ago. 

Jennifer being silly with an orange in her teeth!

This is Carolyn (standing) talking with two ladies at the Rally. The lady in purple, Marge, was with Carolyn at the National LWMS Convention

When Janice and I were talking, she said to me, "I enjoy your postings everyday---sounds like you have so much fun!" I do, or at least I used to...Nah, I can still have fun even after pool season has ended. I just have to wear my clothing these days!

Love getting good news

It was a lovely day but not a pool type one. Already I am missing my friends. How I dislike thinking of them as being only seasonal, you know? Often these folks do not make use of the rest of The Club facilities but the pool alone is their draw. I might have to do something about this, see if I can get them, or some of them anyway, involved in other social activities. 

I was so glad to have my friend, Judy C., call me to ask me to lunch today. (When I got out of the shower, I saw my friend, Brenda, had asked me to lunch, too. We made plans for next Tuesday, instead) After I accepted, I asked what she was hungry for and she suggested Pengree's. Of course! I enjoy the country fried steak there and it is enough for two meals for me. We had a good visit, made some plans for Reformation coming up next month (the dinner, that is) and other stuff.

She helped to keep my mind busy as I was going to the eye doctor this afternoon and I was concerned about what he would tell me. The plan was to have a full exam with an added feature of an optic scan. I believe it is like the ones I had prior to my LASIK procedure in 2000. I sat in front of four different pieces of equipment before the doctor saw me. 

                                 

He remembered me from St. Johns (his son was in Justin's class) and was so friendly. Toward the end of the exam he dilated my eyes and then left the room. When alone in the room, I could view the monitor and saw many places where it said "normal". Yes! At the end of the exam, he reported he could see nothing amiss inside the eye, the flashes might be from stress, especially now that they are dissipating in frequency, and might even be considered an optical migraine. I don't even need to get glasses unless I want to sharpen my vision. What great news! I do have to get some sunglasses, though, upon his recommendation. He did not say wrap-around ones, though!!

                                

I had to wear the little plastic ones from the eye doctor in order to drive, because of the dilation. I took River Road for my route just to be on the safer side. I got there before Justin got home from work, and when he did get in, he said he could not hug me because his 'hunter's musk' was too profound to do so. That's my boy! After his shower, though, he came in and gave me a big hug, so glad to hear my news from the eye doctor. He was more concerned than was I, it seems.

For our dinner, we had leftovers, taking care of the foam boxes lined up in the fridge, plus the remains of my sloppy joes. Justin ate the second half of my burger from Johnny Angel's as well, and I had my food from lunch. I was quite exhausted, my eyes taking a while to recover after the dilation. 

We watched a segment of "Duck Dynasty" via Justin's computer, and then "Jeopardy!", retiring to the living room to watch Greg Gutfeld hosting "The O'Reilly Factor", watching half of it together. We both decided to go to our rooms for the night, as I had to get up early for a road trip to W. Melbourne for a mission rally. Justin showed me how to set the alarm using Siri to do so. I like having another 'person' to boss around!

I am most thankful to the Lord for the good reports from the eye doctor. Surely I expected to have to get some glasses (I should have asked about contacts) or have to use eye drops or something. Looking forward to a good, sound sleep tonight and hope my alarm does the trick in the morning!

Battling in the trenches

The day started out on such a pleasant note, talking with Mom on my drive to Victory and then enjoying Bible class with my other church family. Fran, from GS, joined us today as she does not care to take the long detour around our damaged Matthews Bridge. I had let Pastor know she was coming and had made copies of a few pages for her to do her homework for the class. 

Rita made chocolate breakfast cake for us to enjoy with our study. Stephanie left me a present, as she told me she had some treasures for me. They are ceramic Italian flowers, Capodimonte porcelin, a set of two. She is in the process of sorting through things from her parent's home, and I inherited these. Yesterday I got a set of glasses and today, some flowers!

                                             

The ladies were going to lunch and asked me to go along, though they didn't know where they were going. While they brainstormed, I came up with Johnny Angels Diner, my old trivia place. They were in agreement and away we went. For once, I joined them. We had seven of us in our group, including Stephanie, who is still on furlough. She is making good use of her time off, just like she had planned to do 'when she has time'...

On the way home I got a phone call from the lady at the eye doctor's office. I had made an appointment Monday and had to give them insurance info even though my insurance covers little. She called to tell me that my policy covers nothing regarding vision, and besides that, my policy expired. What?? 

When I got home I dug through papers on my desk in search of a letter or something, and looked in my bank account to see if they were still being paid. They were not, and had not been since March. I left a message with the insurance company for a call back and I am waiting to hear what the deal is. I would think for something like this, a letter would go out. And, as I told Justin, I HAVE cleaned my desk off since March! The eye doctor's office told me they have self-payer discounts which is good. 

My desk also yielded a paper statement from ATT, complete with late fees for me not paying it. Huh....I no longer have that DSL service here and yet,  I am being billed. Erin, from church, works for ATT and was instrumental in getting my new service hooked up in July. She could view the statement but was not able to do anything about it. She gave me a phone number to call, but I tried the LIVE chat first. 

Kendrick was able to view my problem, apologized multiple times for the error, but he also gave me a phone number to call. At the end of the chat, Kendrick told me this will be resolved, not to worry, and "I hope I will get customers like you the whole day." Now, isn't that nice? And, we were only typing to each other!

I got John on the phone, no hold time, and he was also most gracious and aplogetic. He saw the problem, saw the note where I had called at the end of July to make sure the other service was disconnected, and all that stuff. A credit was issued and a check will be coming in the mail. I let Terri T. and Erin know of the good service I got, even though it took some doing.