Recent sunrises

 I generally post these sunrises on Facebook. My friend, Christine, noted that this one looked like an open book--- a new chapter to begin the day!

 This photo was remarkable in that between the time it took for me to capture the shot and return to my bed to download it, it went to full sun. First this glimmer, and then bam! Timing was everything for this picture. 

The colors in this sunrise were just so calming and remarkable, splashing across the smooth waters.

My friend and neighbor, Sharon, took this photo earlier this a.m., remarking at how quickly the sky changed between her shots. Great minds think alike as regards sunrises! I describe them as being like fingerprints---no two are alike!

Catching up on some news

Often when I talk with my mom, she'll say, "Well, I don't have much news for you..." I don't need news, I get that from the radio, TV, Internet, and my podcasts. I can simply just chat. Brenda will say to me, "We need to get caught up..." but does that ever happen? Nope. Stuff keeps going on and going away, a steady stream of information and living. And celebrating!

Last weekend I attended a birthday party, a surprise one, for a pool and Club friend, Mark. His wife threw it for his 50th birthday at The River House, here on our property. She had a caterer lined up to serve on the lower deck and it was a great plan. That is, until it began to rain! The young man setting things up kept on setting up regardless of the rain. More than once I offered to secure help for him to carry things back up onto the covered porch but he assured me he had things well in hand. 

By the time we ate, Bill O. was about to pass out from hunger. There were no lights on that part of the deck either so I stood with my cell phone flash light on the deck above to light the way for people. At last the caterer's boss came with a flash light and replaced me. It was the least I could do so folks could see the wonderful food they were choosing.  Pulled pork sandwiches, homemade mac 'n cheese with ham, chicken wings, chips and salsa, oh my, it was all quite delicious. And soup, too. Surprisingly, all stayed dry. By 9:30 pm Bob and I were walking home (saving Justin from having to come for me), he walked me to the gate to the pool and went on home, and I came upstairs, with a birthday cupcake for Justin. Black frosting did not appeal to me!

Glo for Congress!

Well, ladies and gentlemen---the primary is over and we have a winner! Glo handily defeated her opponent and will now go to head to head with Corrine Brown for the House seat in Washington. Last night Justin was busy in the kitchen preparing hundreds of pizza muffins for Glo's victory party. Our neighbor, Kay, who co-hosted the meet and greet last week delivered the muffins for us, since neither Justin nor I planned to attend the event. You should have seen my kitchen during this process....I got the job of cleaning up, which is my favorite thing to do in there anyway!  God's blessings on Glo and her family as now the gloves come off in this battle for the seat!

Sweet, hard memories

A week or so ago I broke all the rules of the house and climbed around on a ladder in my kitchen. Had to laugh at myself for doing so for a number of reasons, not the least being that I had lined up help to get things cleaned and ready for the upcoming political event being hosted here. Because the day the help was coming coincided with much of the food prep being done in the kitchen, I decided it was on me to do what needed doing as far as cleaning went prior to the food prep. My boy does NOT like me to climb on the ladder or footstool due to my bad knee but I did it anyway because I was intent on getting this done. I paid for the ladder-climbing for several days afterward, as expected. Ice is your friend!

I wiped the cabinet doors, uppers and lowers, using the Pledge multi-finish cleaner, and also opened the doors to wipe off finger prints, etc. As I looked in one cabinet, from a different vantage point than usual, I discovered a partial bag of mini-marshmallows used in a recipe I made many months ago. Oh, how that brought back memories for me....

When I was in grade school in 1960's, my Grandma Sickles lived only a couple blocks from First German. My sisters and I could walk over there once in a while and have lunch with her or just hang out if we felt like it. As memories often are, all I can think of is the time she scorched some tomato soup, so that makes me think it was every time she made it. 

Grandma had a drawer in her kitchen which we were allowed to invade, with her permission, of course, and find treasures. Among those treasures were little boxes of raisins, hardened with age, sticks of Wriggley's chewing gum, and mini-marshmallows, also hardened with age. My partial bag is still fresh and springy, but I couldn't help but wish they were a bit hard, like my Grandma's used to be...

A great movie

Last night, Nancy W and I went to the movies. It was more like afternoon, going at the 'cheap' time when old people go. Ha ha! That's us, I guess! She asked for the senior discount and it cost less for the matinee than senior tickets were later on. Works for me! She is 66 years old so actually qualifies!

We'd been at the pool much of the day and decided not to wait another minute to see the movie "The Hundred Foot Journey". We had heard nothing but good things about it and could not wait to see for ourselves. The trailers on TV looked good, reminding me of a cross between "Under the Tuscan Sun" and "Eat, Pray, Love". Nancy and I loved the movie, with me warning her that I cry at the movies, even during the previews! She got a chuckle out of that. 

The gist of the movie, a feast for the eyes, is about an Indian family moving from India to France as refugees, and deciding to open a restaurant in this small town. The only thing was---the wreck of a place they found for their restaurant was 100 feet away from a One Star restaurant (that doesn't make sense to me either but....). The woman who ran the nice place obviously was upset with the new neighbors whose food reeked of curry and their music annoyed her, etc. The son was the cook and a wonderful one at that. It's a sweet story with a happy ending, I won't give it all away and be a spoiler.

The movie got out around 6:30 which would have been close to dinner time, but neither of us were hungry. I suggested we go to my house for some ice cream, and sent Justin a text message letting him know we were coming. He texted me back that we had no ice cream...He had purchased two half gallons within the week but somehow it got consumed. So, Nancy and I went to the Dairy Queen instead. It was a lovely evening to sit outside and watch the cars go by. The end of a perfect day!

Yesterday after Bible study I met with Brenda at Steak 'n Shake. I love our time together, though that hour flies by quickly. It was her turn to treat to the milk shakes, always handy with our coupons for BO/GO. I'm trying to lure her over to my pool, her granddaughters, too, of course, but since she doesn't drive, it's harder for her arrange. Her sudden onset vertigo keeps her from taking the chance, and I don't blame her. She is doing such a good job helping to raise her grands, she could use a break poolside!

Makes me want to paint again

This morning's sunrise

I was watching the news this a.m. and they were sharing the story of all the people who paid it forward (or backward, as the case might be) at a Starbucks yesterday. Over 100 people paid for the order of the person behind them in line, until one person opted out. It had to end eventually but still, a pretty good story, a feel good story. It makes me want to do that sometime...but at McDonald's, since I don't visit Starbucks.

Tonight is a big night in this house as both the Packers and the Jags are playing. Yippee!!  The Jags are playing the Lions (a real cat fight) and the Packers are up against the Raiders. It's a home game for the Packers which is exciting because it's the first one this pre-season. Love to spend the night watching football with my boy. He'll set up the computer with the Packer game on and then we'll watch the Jags on TV. Yay for technology!  Go Pack, Go!

My favorite day of the week

This morning was Bible study at Victory. Traffic was not too heavy so I was able to talk to Mom without much stress or lane changing. Every week, though, in about the same area of the road, I encounter sod pieces littering the lanes. And in the same area, I have to slow way down for no apparent reason. I am concerned that a motorcyclist is going to go buzzing up the road and hit one of the sod squares. That would be just terrible. My theory is that there is a sod farm off of Phillips Highway and the trucks or trailers loose their pieces in that stretch. At a buck a square, that load should be more secure!

Class itself was excellent, as always, continuing our look at Isaiah. Our group likes to discuss the issues of the day and often Pastor H. has something he brings up not entirely unrelated to our study. What is interesting about Isaiah and other prophetic books is that we can measure our current state of affairs with those in that era, making the comparisons and seeing the promises God made to sustain them and us. I just love this class! We have some newer participants, a couple about my age or a bit younger who moved here from San Antonio. Larry was taking classes online to become a Staff Minister, second career, as he's retired Navy. Both Karen and he are looking for work, but in the meantime get to take care of their grandkids who live in the area. They bring much to the table in our class as well. Nice people. 

My young friend, Naomi, and her boyfriend, David, are engaged to be married. She is in her senior year at Martin Luther College and David is teaching at a school near Milwaukee, his first year. I told Linda I feel like it's my daughter who is engaged, that's how excited I am for them! David is the fellow who played the private organ recital for me at First German, my favorite hymns. He had offered to take me to Manty, too, after the Worship Conference but it would have been out of his way since he lived in MKE already. I can't wait for their wedding! Both are such devoted believers, I am pleased to know them!