A very early start to ThanksLiving Day

When Lynn, Lisa and family were here in August during our tropical storm, Faye, we had our windows and doors open for ventilation, especially when there was no electricity. People were coming around fairly regularly to check on us, see if we were leaking, asking of we needed anything as they headed out to Target. Hollaring from floor to floor, neighbor-stuff.

Afterwards, when I was in WI to help out with my father-in-law, I'd jokingly mentioned that Lynn should come down here to live, and Mom, too, of course, not joking. Lynn said no, it was too noisy in my building for her tastes. What? I am not aware of too much noise----noise, yes, sounds, yes, but usually not TOO much. I am aware when my upstairs neighbors arrive home and walk across the floor wearing hard-soled shoes, or slide their glass doors open but it certainly isn't on a level where it bothers me. Once in awhile I'll hear the downstairs neighbors talking on their balcony which is open air, but again, not bothersome.

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Well, this morning, I was awakened by a man shouting, calling out for help in a frantic fashion. Since I sleep with my TV on all night long it could have been from there but once I was more awake, I realized it was not from TV but instead, coming through the wall of the unit next door to mine! That has never, ever happened before, never hearing side to side sounds. I wondered what was going on and then remembered that their master bedroom backs up to mine. The elderly man who is recovering from a stroke occasionally gets agitated and is quite restless so his wife sleeps in another room in order to get proper rest. Evidently Jack needed to get up for the bathroom or something, or was frantically trying to get his wife's attention. Wow, it was a startling way to start my ThanksLiving Day! I know his wife gives thanks because her husband has survived all his maladies and lives another day, but I'll guess she wishes he'd start his day just a couple hours later!

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My evening got a bit screwed up last night as the plans to share worship and pie with Justin at Victory were changed. He called me, a bit upset, around 5:00 to report that his father and his girlfriend were going to attend church over there, too. I told Justin it was fine, I'd stay home and take care of a few meal preparations, but he said it was not fine, he knew I'd love the worship and Pastor's sermon so much. Justin knew he'd be uncomfortable in that situation and it hurts my heart to have him put there. He also told me, then, that he'd planned to come back over here with me after church and stay the night so we could go to church together today, but now he'd just go home and sleep. Nuts!

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He called me immediately after church on his way home and was excited about the singing and the sermon. He kept saying, "You'd have loved it! You'd be crying!" Does he know his mama or what? The sermon text was the story of the Prodigal Son, how ironic! Justin said he saved a service folder for me because it has funny things on the cover for which to be thankful, like "chocolate shakes, warm sweatshirts, people who bring out the best in you"..............He said he knew that one would get me, bring on the tears! Rachel, the music director, played a wonderful intro and accompaniment for "Now Thank We All Our God", one of Mom's funeral hymns, and Justin said again, how much I missed. I realize our worship service today won't quite match the grandiosity of Victory's service because we don't have the amazing organ or the powerful speaker, but we do have the same Word, the same Gospel and the same hymnal---to God be the glory!

I rejoice!! My table will be full!

Whew, the morning began with a flurry of activity and I am so glad I was dressed when this fun started. The first phone call was from the church secretary, asking where "her" big stapler was put....nuts! I'd meant to take it back over Tuesday night but Bible study was cancelled again, and no trip was made to church. I'd already taken it to my car and all I had to do was put shoes on to head to church. Jackie was there sorting the pages from the new church directory so I gave her the stapler. The secretary sidled over (a "Seinfeld" reference) and took the stapler from her, used it, and then handed me the very first, hot off the press, new edition of the directory. Pastor got the second one.

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As I headed out again, the secretary, who was working on the calendar and such, said she nearly put me on the schedule for church cleaning two weeks in a row, but caught the boo-boo and changed it. Good! It was then I remembered this is my week to clean--again--twice in one month!, and since we have worship tomorrow, I'd better do it now. So glad I grabbed a can of soda as I headed out my door this a.m.! While folding up chairs and carrying them to the back of the church, I was also talking on the phone with Justin about the carpet cleaning at the "old" place. Evidently the Realtor told them to have the carpeting professionally cleaned by the end of the month, Sunday. Yikes!

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Justin was lamenting to me, wondering why this stuff always falls to him to arrange (and then trickled down to his mama!) but since I have that sort of contact, I made the phone call and got the First Coast Restoration people all lined up to take care of it. I guess the actual owners of the condo will have the electricity put in their name on Monday so if they need to schedule the shampooing for Monday, it's still okay with the Realtor. I hope that's the case anyway.

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A pair of herons are flying along just above the water further out in the basin, quite beautiful. A boat or two dot the river as well, appearing to be fishing rather than just joy riding. I think, but am not certain, that the resident alligator is swimming diagonally across the basin toward the south. It's busy without being busy in the river today. So far no helicopters!

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Since I was out and about this a.m. I decided to go pick up my Rx refills at WalMart and shop for some CHRISTmas presents for a little boy I've "adopted" through Art Guild, a child in foster care. A Wish List was sent to me for him and this guy, Austin, is a huge Spiderman fan. He also needed a jacket besides the other things on his list and I was hoping to find a Spiderman jacket for him, but not to be had. I got him a movie, pjs, and an art project in keeping with the theme on his List. Shopping for little boys in that particular department was usually quite difficult for me but today I managed nicely. A couple weeks ago I was helping Dee locate fabric for making banners at her church, and searched the fabric dept. in two different stores. Normally I avoided looking at fabric because often I'd see the kids' prints Mom used to make outfits for my two guys. Fortunately, the banner fabric is separate from the juvenile bolts, and I was 'proud' of myself for braving it and going in!!!! Time passing seems to make a difference, little by little by little, and not everyday!

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After cleaning at church, as I headed toward WalMart, I remembered to call Hilcheys to find out when they were coming into town. Here they were in a service garage in Tifton, GA, getting work done on the car (not my big red car), after having car troubles on their way home last night. Guess they must have a hotel or motel in Tifton where they slept. Sandy had her daughter, Olivia, and another girl who attends college nearby riding back with her. I can only imagine how that went for them, going 10 miles an hour on the freeeway until they could find a service station!

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The Hilchey family will be joining us at our festive table tomorrow and for this, I rejoice! I was so wanting to fill all the seats at my table and now, it will be! Pastor's family will be flying in to Jax ThanksLiving afternoon and they are having a pre-ordered feast from Publix for their dinner. I asked him if he'd like to come and have lunch with us, fill another chair. He said he'd probably have to go home after church and clean up the house, as his family has been away since last weekend. I can just see that!

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Joanne just called and said she won't be coming into Jax at all tomorrow as she flies south from MI. Her flight lands in Orlando and then she needs only come as far north as Welaka where she is staying these days. I hope she is able to help her clients find something to buy as she works hard for them over the weekend. I told her to sell them MY condo, would be the second time I sold something to this couple, but they want to live at the beach instead. Wouldn't that have been just too much?!?!? This family had bought my home in The Preserve, then sold it and moved to CA, and now are coming back. I can't imagine anything more perfect than them buying my condo on the river. Too bad their minds are made up about living at the beach, but will plan to drive their son all the way over here to St. Johns....makes little sense to me. It would be incredibly convenient to live here at The Palace and be only a few minutes from the school. Come on, Joanne, you do your thing!

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Mmmm, I just removed my two pies from the oven, one pumpkin and one apple. Besides my home smelling good, the heat from the oven as it cools down will feel good. The temperature is in the sixties by now, but the sun is behind the clouds and not warming me right this minute. Later I will steam my potatoes and get them mashed for our festive dinner. I like to do as much ahead of time as is possible to not having much rushing about to do before and when company arrives. The bird will gets its baking done when I am at church, needing only three and half hours to do its thing, unattended. Tonight I am going to Victory with Justin, at his invitation, for worship and then for a pie social afterward. Love it! After getting home from that, I can get my dishes out for serving and table setting, keeping the cat away from the dining room by closing the doors all the way around the room. I am ready to have a feast with my friends and my precious lamb, Justin!!!!!

A picture of snowfall in Sheboygan, WI

You're correct if you think it "looks" pretty, the first one usually does. After another foot or so, the vision somewhat changes. We will have low 70's on the weekend, something I look forward to greatly!

"He has a certain jerk quotient......"

What kind of statement is that? One of the announcers on Monday Night Football remarked how one of the Saints has this reputation. Bet his mama is proud! Yes, it is the Packer vs. Saints tonight and I only hope I can hang in there long enough to see half-time!

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For some unknown reason, I had a dilly of a time falling to sleep last night which makes for a weary girl today. If I took a nap during the day, it might interfere with my sleep tonight so avoided actually falling asleep during my rest. Having "Seinfeld" "extras" play while I am resting is sort of self-defeating, because I can't look away, particularly for the deleted scenes and such. Too funny to miss anything even though they aren't going anywhere, you know?

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It's chilly here in the family room so I am delighted that the computer generates heat from the bottom to warm at least my lap! Something I realized yesterday was it was the first time since Judy left that I'd even been in the family room, over a week without using this room. Probably for a number of reasons, not the least being my bedroom/office is so much warmer than is this room! Something must have happened on the river or else there are drills taking place because helicopters are going up and down on a regular basis with a spot light, since before dark. At one point I even saw one of those huge Army choppers with the hatch in the back fly over, but it was only a one-way trip, not the forth and back the others are doing.

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Last week I was excited about the nuclear carrier coming to Mayport but now I guess there is some controversy regarding this decision. It seems other naval bases want a crack at having the carrier in their communities so now the games begin. The best thing that could happen for our part of the world would be to have the carrier and its battle group stationed here, the residual effects would be a blessing to the economy.

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On the way to Bible study this morning, I stopped at the Post Office to purchase stamps to mail the Advent calendars to the congregation's children. CHRISTmas stamps must be relative because I had little to select from, limited to only a Madonna and Christ-child or nutcrackers. I took half and half, planning to use the Botticelli-styled stamps for my personal cards and letters. Here comes another helicopter again....I'm getting curiouser and curiouser about what's going on out there. Anyway, after the P.O. stop I headed to class for one of our last Bible studies of the year. We have only two classes in December and then that's it until next year. Doesn't that sound weird to be saying already? Time must go by more quickly after the age of 50!

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Of course, we ended up at Longhorn for our lunch, to be met by Jackie, who wasn't in class at all! She stayed home to watch the news, CNN, because her niece was being interviewed regarding the markets. She is a hedge fund manager and must be well-respected because she is also going to be on "60 Minutes" this coming Sunday. In her inimitable style, Jackie wondered aloud just from where this family member got her smarts. She claims no one else in her family seems to have any sense at all---funny, isn't it? Just like a mom, doubting or second-guessing what the kids are capable of doing.

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While dining, I was sort of back-to-back with a couple guys, but we are so engrossed in our own conversations that I didn't pay much attention. When they got up to leave I caught sight of one guy whom I knew, our "old" concrete guy. We hugged each other and he gave me his card so I now have his contact info again. I'd kept much of that when I moved from The Preserve house, but the Daytimer it was written in got thoroughly soaked during Hurricane Charley back in 2004. I then lost much of my contractor and supplier information when water backed up into the garage/storage area at the lake house and ruined many items, including my contacts' book. Stuff of little value survived, go figure!

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After lunch, we ladies' parted company until ThanksLiving Day services on Thursday. I was off to the post office again after applying the postage to the cards; the Christian bookstore to get something for the baby shower on Saturday for my niece, Tina's, new baby; to the bank; to McDonald's for a soda; and then to the 'booty' shop for a haircut. I arrived ahead of schedule so dug through the storage hump in my car to see what was all in there. Such an incredible bunch of paper napkins and stuff in there, even cords for phones I don't have any more. Weird, since the car is only two years old!

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On the way back to Fleming Island, I placed a call to Publix to warn them I was coming and they'd better get my turkey out of the freezer for me. The nice man in the meat department told me they'd already pulled them out and had one put aside for me----without even getting my name---they'd secured a bird for my uses! Gotta love that excellent customer service. I am definitely a Publix girl. Chardonnay says she is a Winn-Dixie girl but I'd sooner drive 5 miles than make WD my go-to spot for groceries. I'll run to WD if I just need something quickly but is not the first choice for me. One of our members works at this closest WD so it's nice to go in occasionally to say "hi", "always workin'", as Linda would say!

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When I got to the car with my groceries, I discovered Justin had returned my laundry basket for me, which worked great for carrying my stuff upstairs. Heavy, heavy load, but got it all in one trip, including the other stuff from my outings. From church, I borrowed the big stapler for assembling the booklets for the Ladies' Advent service. I was warned to have it back there by Wednesday so plan to get the booklets put together and take the stapler back with me Tuesday night for Bible study. Don't want any trouble, right? Our Sunday service folders are now printed and stapled in such a way that no loose pages fall out, due to some complaints from parishioners. Whatever....

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For some reason, could be the weariness, I find myself fighting a headache tonight, even after taking some pain relievers. Hmmm, might need to just call it a night and miss the end of this most exciting game. Quite a different story from yesterday's horrendous display! Such a good game, shame to go to sleep now, even though it's already 10:30 pm. My eyes might be tired because I worked on the newsletters all afternoon after getting home again, except for the brief rest before 5:00 pm. There is so much to do before the end of the month, with the two newsletters due out and all the stuff to orchestrate for the Advent service. Really, that part is taking care of itself, with the musicians lined up and music divvied up, ladies planning what to make for dessert, tables will be decorated on Sunday before the event.....I just have to print off the rest of the Scripture readings from biblegateway.com and we're good to go. Tonight I addressed the postcard invitations, will stamp and mail them tomorrow. Sure don't want anyone to miss out on this wonderful preparation for the Advent/CHRISTmas seasons!

"In the end, we're all fruit"

Can you guess what I just watched, with my ears, on TV? Yup, "My Big, Fat Greek Wedding"! For some reason, that movie never gets old for me.

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I just hung up from chatting with Cliff and we both came to the conclusion to use the Fellowship Hall vs. the new classroom building for the Ladies' Advent Service. It was quite iffy whether or not we'd even have temporary electric power back there and no heat, and heaven knows I need my heat! We'll simply use the Fellowship Hall and pray we get everything cleaned up properly for preschool the next morning. If we are packed together a bit, that means we had a great turnout, right?

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We also had to discuss some of the selections for the construction concerning the floor coverings and such. One of the older ladies, Fran, told me today that she was just soooo happy about the amount of painting they got done on Saturday. And then she has the nerve to thank ME for my work!!!!! Oh please...............

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Justin came to Good Shepherd today to hear our songs and worship with us. The first hymn was "Jerusalem, the Golden" and I went to sit down next to him while it was sung, because I was afraid I'd throw the musicians off if I stood back at my podium to sing, and weep. I did just great through the first stanza but cracked up a bit part way through the second:..."Forever and forever are clad in robes of white. Jesus, in mercy bring us to that dear land of rest where sings the host of heaven your glorious name to bless." I can just visualize those gone home before us enjoying the blessed feast and singing hymns of praise unending, ever in the presence of our Lord.....wow!

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The congregation also sang "In Christ Alone", and I could hear Kathy and Brian singing in harmony from behind us. I can't say if Justin heard it or not because it would have been coming on his left side, the deaf ear side. (I just realized that I had tears dripping onto my shirt from my previous paragraph yet!) I leaned over and told Justin to add this one to my funeral hymn list and he said, "I already did", as I told him this about 100 times before. Lynn, my sister, said today that she heard it this morning on one of the area radio stations, and has also listened to it on youtube. I told her about Pete's website so she can hear the "new" tune for "Jerusalem......" so hope she finds it tomorrow when she is at her computer. She's not heard it yet, the Thaxted melody.

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Garnet was in church again today so I 'tracked' her down and told about being at the dog track on Thursday and how I wagered on her dog. She said they'd been sick, some kind of kennel illness, and weren't at the top of their game recently, but hey, the dog I bet on won so it's great! I encouraged her to attend some of the upcoming social and devotional events and she said she'd try. I hope she does find the time to come at least to the Ladies' Advent Service Sunday night. Wow, that came up quickly, didn't it?

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Following worship, another of our members came up to me, a man who is, much of the time, on the shut-in list, and asked if I was "Kim". Now, we've already established this more than once but, knowing his poor health, I just went along. I said I was Kim, thinking he was going to say something about my sitting behind him and singing, which is what he usually thanks me for. But this time, he told me how much he enjoys the newsletter that I send out, "Keeping the Faith" for those members away from the congregation for whatever reason. He says he likes to see the pictures I include. I was on a roll today, let me tell you!!!

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The ladies who have agreed to play the keyboard and flute for the Ladies' Service met with me after church to decide who would play what, a process that went quite quickly. I am absolutely delighted that one young lady, the flutist, is going to contribute for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that her playing will so enhance our worship. Sadly, our wonderful viola player will not able to attend as she is going camping over the ThanksLiving long weekend and couldn't promise she'd be back in time. I'm sad, not only because she can't play but also because she can't be with us. Sigh.........

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Justin and I will be pleased to have our "old" friends, Wendy, Jonathan (who goes by the name Jon now) and Joshua at our festive table on Thursday. We also asked this other lady and her son to join us but she'd already accepted another invitation from someone in her son's class, otherwise she'd have loved to come. Brian and Kathy asked what we were doing for lunch today and I said we were coming home for chili and football......................so guess what! They came over and enjoyed chili, rolls, and lousy football with us until they just couldn't stand to watch another minute and went home! Ohhh, the Jaguars stunk today, it was almost sickening. Lynn called about 20 seconds into the game to see if we were watching because it was going all wrong in the first two plays of the game!!!! But, we loved sharing our lunch with them anyway, makes up for lousy football!

I'm such a dunce sometimes

Yes, only sometimes! In re-reading my posting from Friday, I see I failed to mention what exactly I did that was "creative", other than listening to "Seinfeld". After spending an hour and a half on the phone with a long lost friend, I had to rush right out the door, with no make-up on, to attend an Open House at the home of Lisa, the Creative Memories lady. I found her home with no difficulty, talking to my renewed acquaintance all the way there, and trying to apply eye make-up and blusher as I sat in Lisa's driveway. Finally my friend had to go as she was seeing a Thanksgiving program at Josh's school, perfect timing for me to go in for my "appointment" with Lisa.

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Lisa showed me the wonderful things that CM has come out with this season, including a digital book she made about her father, in celebration of his 80th birthday. It looked so profession and was quite the tribute to her dad. Something to think about, that's for sure. I picked up a few things for my new best friend, Chrissie, as she is just starting out and needs some basic "tools" of the craft, as it were. I'd hate for her to go buy things on her own and end up with stuff she doesn't even need, like I did in my flurry of purchasing years ago. I also came away with some little gifts just for showing up, some tickets in for the "big" drawing she's having, plus a "make and take" item to work on when there. I passed on that, since I talked too much and rolled into the next person's appointment. Had a cup of hot cider and a sugar cookie, though, and great conversation, and came away with lovely parting gifts. Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes!

The smell of smoke fills my room

My room and laundry room smell of smoke, bonfire smoke, after my wonderful evening spent at the beach with the Olson's last night. I don't care how large a bonfire they could have built, it wouldn't have been enough to keep us warm. Even with blankets on, we were freezing. Hot embers landing on our feet didn't even help. But, I wouldn't have missed it for the world!!!!

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The fingers of my red leather gloves are quite sticky from the s'mores we enjoyed and the tips a bit blackened from my reaching into the fire to move logs around to stimulate more heat. I might need to put red leather gloves on my CHRISTmas list if I can't get the blackness off of them. The marshmallow will most likely lick off! Fred, the firemaster from Linda's condo building, has been forced to use the more"accepted" fire pit, rather than the sawed in half water heater used last year for the bonfire. It was warmer, then, too, because of it being held in late April instead of mid-November, where we had a low temperature overnight of 30 degrees above zero.

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Justin's move began and was over in less than two hours, costing more than I expected, but.........at least it's done with. I couldn't imagine those guys trying to move his large dresser or 50" TV in their cars or S-10 pick up, nope, wouldn't be a good thing to see or experience. His platform bed with all the drawers underneath. I can't even imagine the mess they have, at both places. The most odd thing was, that with all the confusion and such, neither of the other two guys in the quad even poked their noses out of their rooms to see what was going on. What is that about? I asked Justin if they were actually alive, and he said he could hear video games being played which really fills me with great joy and delight. Oh great! He was going to be dropping off my donations at the Yard Sale at Victory after the move was completed. As I thought about it, I did the thing we hated the most about the yard sale---my donations were unpriced!!!!!!

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Justin is also coming over tomorrow to go to church with me, because our congregation is singing both "In Christ Alone" and "Jerusalem, the Golden", the second of which will be accompanied by organ played by Kathy B.; viola by Suzanne; and Robbie on trumpet. He had to regain "his lip" just to play this hymn, and I think he got it! After worship Justin is coming over here to watch the football game and eat chili. He asked me to make some of my famous chili complete with beer added, and also asked me to get some sour cream for him to add to his. This is something he tried at Jesse's dad's house and loved it, so I'll get him some sour cream.

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I've been invited to dinner down at Chardonnay's tonight, having some sort of fancy beef roast she picked up at the Fresh Market. Four of us are having dinner together, with me being responsible for the dessert, of course. As soon as the call came in from Sharon, my mind immediately went to what to bring for dessert so when she asked me to bring dessert, I was so ready! We are also going to try our hand at Mexican dominoes, a game I'd played at church on game night awhile back. Justin said it sounds like something "old people" do, and I had no argument against that. At least it isn't maj jong! A visit to the store is pending as I need to get my pie plus a few things for our lunch tomorrow. It's just tooooooooo cold to go outside, only 47 degrees right now and windy!