It's a blessed day!!!!

I rode in the new elevator tonight!!!! It smells very new and I hope it stays this way for a while... such a joy! The "car" seems quite modern with tiny lights on the ceiling, like spot lights, instead of the fluorescent tubes that used to illuminate it. Nice, very nice!

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Some storms passed through the area late today but let up in time for Brenda N. and I to enjoy an evening sitting on the deck at Whitey's. I'd wanted to sit on the "new" deck but it's closed due to the construction of a permanent roof, so settled for the other one instead. She loved her birthday necklace purchased from Lori, a pearl-looking blue/pink disc with a multi-strand beaded necklace holding it. You get the picture...She is quite impressed with Lori's craftiness, and wondered how come I didn't get into beading. I explained not needing another hobby at this time---let Lori, Lisa, and Linda make beautiful things for me to wear.

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Looking around my room tonight, I can't help but think back to the old days when we'd be hosting a party or some gathering at our home, and my spouse would go clean up the garage or the basement instead of vacuuming or dusting the rooms where we were actually entertaining. Junk would be piled in the laundry room or brought up from downstairs, making more of a mess than we started with upstairs. This is how my room looks after emptying the suitcases and putting them away. Now the contents of those bags is scattered or piled on available flat surfaces, waiting for someone to put them somewhere......It always gets worse before it gets better! At least my clothes are put away, now it's just papers and mail and purchases and scrapbooking supplies...

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....which reminds me----just before I left tonight, my doorbell rang and here was the delivery man with my purchases from The Honey Pot! I said, "Don't tell me you just carried those up the stairs!?!" and he replied, "Yeah, and they got heavier the closer I got to the top!" He then said, "They are from Two Rivers. I know where that is!" This guy is originally from West Bend, and his accent was exposed. He said it gets stronger when he's talking to someone else with this accent....a very nice guy! Little did he know that 20 minutes later and he'd been able to ride the elevator instead of hike the stairs!

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When I got downstairs, I went over to see how the elevator was coming. Three workmen were standing there talking to Jeff, my neighbor, who ran the job. I told them all how tickled I was to have the elevator back, that it was a long climb up to the 6th floor. One guy looked at me and said, "There are only 5 floors" and I said, "Oh no, don't tell me it doesn't go all the way up!?!" I had him going there for a minute........

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It's still drizzling a bit out there, but at least my car looks better than it did. Most of the yellow accumulated pollen washed off in the rain this afternoon. Julaine left me an hysterical phone message, accusing me of trying to steal her husband, telling me he was still too new to let go of...This was in response to my request for Fausto, the Master Gardner, to make a house call for my ailing lemon tree. Yes, my tree is sick, so I am sick, too. Last year we had the same thing, a white yukky fungus gunk appearing on the leaves and the lemons...sticky feeling and leaves falling. I am scared about something killing my tree, can't bear the thought of a disease bothering my precious lemon tree. I told y'all about the history of the tree. He's going to come over, and bring his bride for safety purposes, to check on it for me. I thank God for all the good people in my life!!!!

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While thanking God for these people, I must also ask for His guiding hand as my dear friend, Dee, undergoes a cardiac cath. procedure tomorrow. My "job" is to make sure that Julia gets lunch, and I am so qualified for this responsibility. It will be good for Julia to have a bit of company midday, so she doesn't have to think about her mom all by herself. I can wring my hands with the best of 'em----but, of course, that's not necessary, since the Lord has Dee fully in His! We'll just enjoy our sandwiches and leave it to Him!

Anniversary Day today

I feel purple today!

Back at home, changed into my civies, and at my desk....what a day! Today was a celebration of the 30th anniversary of my church, Good Shepherd Lutheran. Just think----G. S. was merely a child when we moved to Florida and joined there. That was in fall of 1988 and Justin was a babe in arms yet--well, more like 15-months old, but still....

When I arrived at church, two Mike's were out by the grill, roasting the fatted calf to be served for lunch. Mike C. enjoyed the bag of cheese curds I gave him to devour while they cooked. The other bag was my "dish to pass" for the dinner.

The worship service was quite nice, starting with the Sunday school children singing in front of the church. Robbie served as cantor for part of the liturgy and did a remarkable job, of course. At the end of the service, the choir sang The Doxology, accompanied by piano and viola (played by Suzanne), and then we exited immediately to get the choir robes hung up so we'd be out of the way when the dinner started. Whew! As we hustled through the breezeway, I commented to Kristi that I hoped no one was wanting an encore, the way we flew out of the church!

I got back over to church in time to serve as Greeter. My hug supply was renewed, as I got as many as I gave. Oh, it was terrific to see everyone again after being away so long! As soon as I could get into the Fellowship Hall, I got the VCR fired up, showing the video of the pouring of the concrete and framing of the former classroom building. Much of the video has the excessive moving and focusing which causes nausea but we got through it okay. Cindy kept her purse close by in case she felt urpy....At the appointed time, Pastor read excerpts from letters sent wishing us a blessed day, including one from Dan Reich, who served as Vicar when we arrived here in '88.

Then it was show-time! Mike Kelley, Evelyn Ruppert, and I gathered around the Time Capsule and they used screwdrivers to open it while I read my speech. Gordy claimed I took an hour but it certainly was not that long! One page, man, one page! It was rich to see what was in the capsule--newsletter, budget, pricing for the building, newspaper, bulletin, directory. The clincher, though, was the cover of the capsule which had the "autographs" of our members and friends. Some got a bit messed up because the box was glued shut and had to be pried lose, but think it can be salvaged. Even Mom's name is written inside the Time Capsule!!!! Mine is there, too, plus my former spouse, but not Justin's. Sad!

It was fun to watch people watch the videos, seeing people who are no longer with us or to comment about how much people still at G. S. have aged or grown, as it were. No one could believe how cute Justin was, dashing about between people's knees and such, as was his custom. Part of the video shows the ribbon cutting for the new classroom building, now our "old" building, and then a birthday party for Pastor Schuppe, who was there as our Guest Preacher. George Sitgreaves was dressed up as Father Time and we gave Pastor amusing "old age" gifts and a black frosted birthday cake.

Those were the days!

More photos.....if you can stand it, and even if you can't!

Here's Linda, working hard at her desk at F. G.

Kim, Tarren, Grace, and Pete Prange

Grandma K holding Manny, then Lisa with Gabe

Manny, who learned how to cross his eyes!

See the pretty snow banks at First German!!

My first day in town and I was off to First German to help collate the newsletter. The ladies from left are Marilyn (friend of Judy J.'s), Alice, Marion, and Mom

Listening to old music with old ears

Some of the time spent at Lori's at Holmen was once again playing with the old vinyls. David and Lori still have a usable turntable and had great fun digging through the archives of albums-bins and bins worth-carefully sorted and catagorized. Lori wanted to surprise me with the albums, not letting me peek ahead of time, to see if I could guess the artist and song in "record" time, like we used to do when younger. To my surprise, I did fairly well, not always remembering the titles but most often the lyrics.

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The reason this came to mind today is that I was lying in bed, watching a strange movie with Hugh Grant, and the lyrics to "Free Man in Paris" suddenly passed through my mind. I got myself a bowl of cereal and then located my copy of "Court and Spark" by Joni Mitchell. We'd listened to some of that album at Lori's which was extremely cool to do again. Such huge contrasts in my musical tastes, Joni and Janis and Sarah! Unfortunately, the Schipper collection has no Janis in it, those were all mine, but David did manage to find the Buffy Ste. Marie albums to play, none of which had the "Must I Go Bound" song I needed to hear! I'll have to research that on-line or something to find it.

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"Must I go bound and you so free? Must I love one who doesn't love me? Must I be born with so little art as to love the one who would break my heart?" Can't you just hear Buffy's quivering voice launching that question? Perhaps not, if you've never heard her sing...I hear it often in my head, that, and "Free Man in Paris".

David the Troubadour, playing his guitar at Justin's graduation, entertaining our Goddaughter, Sarah

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One last thing about Buffy: I became a fan of hers many moons ago (a little Indian lingo there) when I babysat for my cousin's daughter, Cheryl Lynn. David and Rochelle lived in Newton, a suburb of Manitowoc, and I'd often stay overnight due to the late hour and long ride. TV used to go off the air just after midnight back in the day, so I'd listen to their albums on the console record player. That's also when I discovered Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, what's his name Waggoner...did I mention David was a truck driver??? This must have been 1972 or 73, I think.

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I told Rochelle one day how much I enjoyed listening to Buffy and she told me to take it along home with me, that they didn't really like her singing after all. Great! That started it for me, and Lori as well, since we were into folk-style music at the time. I loved Buffy until she got all nuts with the politics and anti-war stuff. We did get to see her up close and personal in Milwaukee at a fund-raiser for the Indians that took over the novitiate---in support for Wounded Knee, I think. That was back in 1974 or 75, can't remember, only wanted to see Buffy! Lori drove down from Manty and the three of us went to UW-Milwaukee to hear her sing. I was still a newlywed at that time....back in the day.....

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Okay, so I am ashamed of myself for whimpering about climbing the stairs these days! Yesterday, as I was leaving to have dinner with the Rosses, I met my 5th floor neighbor, Michelle, on the 2nd level, heading up the stairs, pushing a bike. The poodle rode in the basket...I asked what she was doing and she said they've had to do this every day in order to get the bike up and down. I was astounded!!! I didn't ask why she needed the bike down stairs everyday but she said the dog loves to ride in the basket...okay.......what? You'd think there was a place it could have been secured downstairs, even on someone's patio, rather than moving it on the stairs....oh my! And I fuss about carrying my purse down and up again!!!

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Kerry sent me a video tape of the terrible storms that passed through their area (Oshkosh) last evening. I can even hear the storm sirens howling above the pounding rain. She said she's such a goober for standing there with her camera, but I'd do the same thing if I were her! I'll have to check the TV stations in her area to see what the reports show, as far as touchdown or anything.

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The river is calm today and I'd love like anything to jump in the car and head for the beach! It's supposed to be 81 above zero today and I have nothing pressing until the Symphony tonight...I really should unpack my suitcases though and put that stuff away once and for all. It looks like such a wretched mess in here, could do that instead of going to the beach. I could also sit by the pool, if I want to.....it's great to be home!

A much better morning!

What a great night's sleep! Whew! It makes a difference, this is for sure. I woke up in the middle of a strange dream, where Justin and I are standing on the deck of a ship (really?), witnessing some sort of flying vehicle, in the shape of a large paperclip, crash to earth on the shore. We were paralyzed, mesmerized, didn't even seek cover or anything to protect ourselves, but watched as explosive pulses ignited a tree, then knocked over a house built on stilts. We could see people sitting around a table eating dinner. I was screaming to Justin about the people in that house, when it shook first, then collapsed. People were struggling to get out from under the debris.....as dreams go. In a real-life situation, the people would have already been on the floor if something next door exploded like that, wouldn't have continued with their dinner....and then I woke up!

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When the explosion happened, Justin was trying to find the place where we sign up for the soda and adult beverage cards on the ship, the pursor's office. It seems pretty real, especially when I took an "elevator" that ran horizontally instead of vertically!?!? The ship's Cruise Directors always tell the joke about the passenger looking for the elevator that runs from front to back on the ship-- this would be me!

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Dinner last night was lovely, with Matt serving as our personal chef. We had to wait our turn, though, as he was in high demand. Paul, Joan, Pam, Martie, Justin, Jesse, and Raymond ate dinner with me. Matt put on a good show, had the boys laughing pretty good, even Paul was chuckling. Afterwards, Martie and I sat on the bench outside to chat, when who pulled into the parking lot but Dee! She had Caesar Augustus, Julie's Italian greyhound, with her, and had planned on going in to do some work. Instead, we chatted on the bench, which she said was more fun than working!

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Oops, just upset Lynx by throwing my soda can into the trash....sorry, Lynx! Go back and lay down...quit looking so wounded!

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Dee told us about a recent women's retreat she'd been at, about the fun and interesting topics discussed and the great fellowship. Her group, or soon-to-be group, has a tablecloth and 8 napkins, and starting this weekend, they are going to do the "Traveling Pants" theory using the tablecloth and napkins. Isn't that neat? She's starting with a dinner at her house, then the next lady takes the tablecloth and napkins to her house, hosts a group, passes it on, and so forth. Wow! This is so neat. The goal would be to invite some new people to participate, to expand the circle that uses the tablecloth and napkins. Mom gave me a cookie plate that is supposed to be used that way--take cookies somewhere and leave the plate, it gets passed on and might come back to me, might not!

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Oh, the joy! I just heard my wind chimes singing from the river room. The breeze is delightful, at one point noisily closing my kitchen door. I've propped it open with a bag of potting soil so the breeze has no restrictions now. One set of chimes is supposed to play Pachelbell's "Canon in D" but my ear can't pick it out. I guess I love the idea more than I need to hear the melody. Because Timmy wouldn't nap over at the daycare center next door, I'd pick him at noon and take him back to work with me. He was supposed to sleep in his playpen in my darkened office, sometimes needing my persuading, while listening to the strains of "Canon in D" playing over the sounds of birds chirping, water flowing, calming noises. I took a nap every day just listening to it. Why do kids fight that nap so hard???? If we'd ever hear it playing in a store or on the radio, he'd immediately start chanting, "No nap! No nap!" This is why I bought the chimes, to remember his chant.

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I had to chuckle at Justin last night. He rode with Jesse as far as Pam's house (Pam is Jesse's mom) and they all rode together to Koko's. He came up and gave me a big hug when they arrived. I looked at his shorts and asked, "What happened to your shorts?" They looked as though they'd been dragged under a car with him wearing them. He said they were his new American Eagle shorts and were supposed to look this way. Am I getting old or what? I was so surprised he had them on, Number 1, and that I paid "good" money for them, Number 2! Instead of looking fashionable to me, the shorts looked like those an urban outdoorsman with bladder control problems might wear. I should have asked him where his "will work for food" sign was! Of course, overall, he looked nice, I'd just not seen these shorts before, only paid for them!

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Carol D. has asked me to send some photos taken of the construction of the classroom building so must get at this job now. They will be included in the Time Capsule and they want to work on this today. Better get moving. I am also having a room-to-room search here for the videotape of the construction of the classroom building. I can't find it!!! Pastor looked around his office and home for it, as I thought I'd sent it with him for his amusement, but it didn't show up there. Nuts! The search begins--again!