Where is the sunshine? Where are my commenters?

Boy, it is just so gloomy looking out there today! Earlier it was bright blue sky offset with puffy white clouds but now only gray as far as the eye can see. Today it is 65 degrees above zero now with is about 50 degrees warmer than in my hometown. Sorry, guys!

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Joanne was up and out the door well before I even opened my eyes as she is taking her dad for his medical tests downtown. She didn't have the remote control for operating her fancy alarm clock (it's a combination device) so used my cell phone alarm to wake herself. Hope that all went well for them.

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Jackie and I went to the Friday Musicale and truly enjoyed the choral group which performed for us. The room was again packed, which is excellent, with the majority being senior citizen groups from various "homes" in the community. The women's chorus sang a nice selection of tunes including many religious (imagine that at CHRISTmas!!!) songs, and a surprise visit from Santa Klaus. The second part of the program was extremely precious as a man, former violinist with the Symphony, who has tackled the music education of children who live in the homeless shelters and domestic abuse centers. Preschool children. You've never seen such darling little ones! There were 12 kids aged 3-5 with whom "Dave" has worked, teaching them little singing ditties in which they act out parts, on the order of finger plays but using instead, stuffed animals and small shakers. My collar on my turtleneck was soaked with tears after watching these little ones go through their paces, and quite well, I might add. Dave said it was like to herd cats!!

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Once they played all their ditties, the door to the stage opened from behind, totally freaking out one of the teachers sitting in the background, and with a mighty "ho, ho, ho!", out came Santa again! He had a big bag of stuffed teddy bears and a small gift bag for each child. Later, the President of Musicale said all the kids would also be receiving a book to take back with them to their "home". I was quite moved, naturally.

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Jackie, the gem that she is, treated me to a lovely lunch at the European Cafe where I enjoyed a delicious brat and a side of beer cheese soup! Oh, yummy! Some folks were enjoying their afternoon repast el fresco but we ate indoors since we are both chilly willys. Which is the reason I ordered the soup. It was good for Jackie and me to have some one-to-one time, as she so aptly stated it, but were also sad that no one else took me up on the offer to attend this event. Now that she has a taste of this bi-monthly social/cultural/free concert, Jackie is sure she'll attend again!

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My e-mail has been fairly quiet these past couple days, save for hearing from Linda, Judy R., and Suzanne. Judy is being a busy bee sewing for her daughters, after doing her knitting and other handwork projects. Oh, for half her talent! And her love of doing it! Speaking of handwork, Kelly brought me a present yesterday when she came to work on her cards. She made me two dishtowels that hang on the oven door or cabinet handles, plus two extra towels. It was such a blessing to have these towels, because as I told her, I need a wedding shower right about now, since my kitchen towels and cloths are going to pot. Must be using them too much!

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Oops, I hit "Publish" before I was ready! Sorry 'bout that everybody. One thing I wished to include in my blog today was the address for a place for where to order edited, family friendly movies but now I can't seem to locate it again. I was looking to buy "Good Will Hunting" in its edited form because I love the story so much but simply cannot, will not, tolerate the filthy language! The one site was going out of business and I'd have to purchase 10 or more movies to get only 1, which is far more than I wish to do right now. I'll keep looking to see what I can find. Today Suzanne sent me a link for a little video which she said made her think of me. I am quite flattered and honored that she thinks that of me. Click on this to open the video and let me know how you like it: http://www.youtube.com/user/andyradorfman

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In a few minutes I am heading to Mandarin to crop/work on cards with Chrissie, Judy R.'s niece. She spent the day in St. Augustine on a field trip with her son's class and is chilled to the bone so I offered to come to her house instead of her coming here. We are having pizza and, of course, a wonderful time! Tomorrow Justin and I are spending the day together until I need to shoo him out before I go to Kristi's concert at the Thrasher-Horne Center with the church family. I have also been invited to see Jax d'Ville at RE/MAX for a party Joanne is part of, but won't have a spare moment, I'm afraid. Remember last week when I thought I was feeling "let down"?????

Whew! Morning has come and gone!

Here it is just after noon and I've had a full morning already! Only a few moments ago my friend, Kelly, left after spending 3 1/2 hours working on our CHRISTmas cards. She is making hers, including a family photo on hers complete with a matte, and mine being store-bought but stuffed with my newsletter. Barnes and Noble sold out their cards last year after CHRISTmas with a buy one, get one deal, on discounted boxes. Can't go wrong with that price!

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Rush is finally back at the Golden EIB Microphone after being out all week with a cold. Zicam must have let him down this time! I can hear he's still sniffling a bit and sounds husky but at least he's back. Normally the guest hosts are just fine, but there's nothing like the real thing!

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Soon my kitchen is going to smell wonderful as I begin roasting a chunk of beef extracted from my freezer. It's about time I make it, and this is the first time this week that I'll be home at dinner time and Joanne, who is moving in today, might be here to eat with me. Her dad has a mess of medical tests tomorrow and she will be gathering him very early in the a.m. The good news is that they can do about four different tests all in one visit so she doesn't have to try to get him out and about more than once. He's suffering with Alzheimer's disease and lives in a facility less than a mile up the road on Fleming Island. Being a good real estate person, Joanne knows about location, location, location!

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Last night was our first mid-week Advent service, beginning with a brief choir rehearsal and ending with another choir rehearsal. We must be really bad!!! We actually sang at the very beginning of the service so the first time was to go through that hymn, from the Supplement. After worship was the "real" practice, going through our "Awake Oh Sleeper" which is sung for the four Sundays in Advent. I love it, the melody is quite catchy. The church looks so beautiful with the "M & M Blue" paraments for the season. The poor little girl serving as acolyte had troubles keeping the wick lit on the candle lighter and had to return to the rear of the church to be lighted a second time. She seemed nervous but denied it, and I hope she's not too freaked out to do it again the next time. At First German the candles are electric so no problem with getting them to light. Only a few more weeks until I worship at my home church again!

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Earlier this a.m. the sky was nothing but buttermilk and looked so lovely with the streaks of jets woven in between the puffs. Now it is more clear, still some clouds but more blue sky than before. Again the river is quiet, only one small boat sitting beyond the basin, apparently fishing, and the occasional leaping mullet. Joanne is thrilled to see the water level gone down since more shore and wading birds will be haning around than when the water was deeper. Maybe we will even get to see the raccoons walking forth and back from the breakwater. They are so amusing, except when they get into your cooler and steal Capri Sun packages like happened on Chappell's camping trip!

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Besides my great news from the insurance company yesterday, I also got some sad news. Let me retrace my steps a bit: Monday I went downstairs with my trash bags and opened the doors to the area where we load them into a cart for Dave, the doorman, to drive over to the big dumpster every morning. Well, the big cart was gone so I carried my bags over to the big dumpster near my car. The wheeled cart was sitting there alongside, the doors opened into the area where the big dumpster is, but no one was around. Hmmm, where's Dave? Was there a rapture??? The dumpster was filled to overflowing and I tossed my own bag up, only to have it roll back down again. It held my broken wine glasses which made a wild racket when it smacked onto the concrete. Somehow I managed to get the one bag to stay but simply placed the 2nd bag alongside for when the dumpster was emptied and room was made.

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As I fiddled around there, my neighbor, Jeff, came with his bag of trash and I expressed to him that the dumpster was too full to add another bag. He thought the guy would come that day to dump it and I said I just left mine alongside for now, since I couldn't locate Dave. It was time to leave for Bible study so I couldn't hang around to see how it would play out. Well, yesterday I met another neighbor carrying some boxes down and she had to tote them all the way over to the big dumpster, as the regular place was padlocked. I asked if she knew where Dave was, as I hoped he wasn't sick. It was then it came to light that he was not working for us any longer, abruptly leaving his post as our maintenence man! Guess that is why the cart was parked over there and doors left open and all that stuff from Monday! Must have just had enough of our "garbage" and went home!

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We just got an e-mail from the Board secretary saying Dave is not coming back and that the position is open, in case we know anyone interested in this type of work. I have a few people in mind, but don't know how they'd feel about compromising their unemployment compensation by taking this part-time work. It is truly perfect for a retired man, and I say "man" because some of the work most likely is more than a woman would wish to do. As I expressed to Justin, I still wish to give Dave his little 'tip' that I give him at the end of the year, as there is no bonus or anything built into our budget for the condo building. Certainly I will miss him and all that he did for us here, and wish he'd come back, kiss and make up!

Here's a new blog for you all to follow, if you wish....

http://girlsfishiikinkosprings.blogspot.com/

Those of you who read the comments will see several from a young lady named Suzanne. She's joined the fun of being a blogger and you can read all about Suzanne and her family at this site. Welcome, Suzanne, to the World of Blogging!!!!

Two of my favorite guys!

Here is Manny as a baby, when the family was all here for Justin's graduation. He looks a bit sad!

What a difference three years makes! I can't get over how much he looks like me! Must be the hair....Lisa just cut their hair, making for new looks for them both.This is Gabe when he still a baby. This fall he began attending pre-school, turning 5 in mid-November!
What a great smile that child has! He is just darling! Lisa is such a good mama to these two boys.

It's a blessed day!

Don't you always feel better after a good night's sleep?!? This is most certainly true for me. It was the oddest thing that woke me early, however----no one yelling for "help" from the next condo, no cat gagging on it's own hair. Nope, it was the furnace kicking in to warm my quarters! The thermostat is set at 74 degrees and there is no reason really for me to set it lower as normally my room stays fairly comfortable for sleeping. The little radiator thing I love so much is set at "low" all night long, the heating pad tucked into my bed warms my shoulders, and my comforter does just that. The morning sun, when it is there, warms the room nicely, which means that the rest of my home, outside my closed doors, is quite chilly! By the time it really was morning, I got up and dressed for the day, not one bit chilly at all right now.

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It's not cold enough in my house to freeze the Slush, though. When we lived in WI, we'd make big batches of a drink called Slush, for obvious reasons. In order to freeze these large containers of "liquids", we'd set them on the back deck and only visit them to give a stir. The alcohol addition to the mix did not allow the ingredients to freeze solidly, only turned the mixture to slush, hence the name. It would be a very sad day here in Orange Park if I could keep my Slush on the porch!! Hmmm, I think I should make a batch for when Lynn is here, a small one, of course. We can mix it up, add the soda, stick two straws in the ice cream pail used to freeze it, and slurp away! Talk about an Eskimo Pie migraine!!

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In speaking with my friend, Kristi, from church last night, I found out she had no more tickets available for the Clay County CHRISTmas Concert at Thrasher-Horne Saturday night. I got in touch this a.m. with the ticket office and secured two seats for Martie and me. Her CHRISTmas present from me is a date to the T-H for this show! Kristi is in the Chorale and will be performing as will my upstairs neighbor, Donna Wissinger, who is a renowned flutist. What a great way to begin our celebration month for the Savior's birth!

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Some of the others from church will be there at the concert as well and am wondering if there will be some before and/or after fun to be had....Speaking of fun, last night Martie was my date, or I was hers, I guess, at our Art Guild CHRISTmas party at the Lions' Club. Oh, my, what wonderful foods we had to eat! I was embarrassed because I only brought a 'pre-made' beef and noodle dish where another couple brought a whole roasted turkey, complete with mashed potatoes and gravy! In my defense, I'd say my donation matched my mood, which started out as a "whatever".....

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Spending time with my lady friends at Guild is great fun and good for my soul, as I shared a table with Dee, Martie, and two other ladies. I recently accepted a position, not really a Board position, to serve as Mentor for new members. When the one lady congratulated me, I said, "I thought the job was for "mental", so that's why I took it!" Her hubby thought that was so funny, but he didn't know I meant it! I won three ornaments in the drawing so came home with a gift bag with bulbs and ginger cookies tucked away for a midnight snack. Never saw midnight!

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When checking my e-mails this morning, I saw one from the insurance company from whom I buy my health and Rx policies. It is renewal time again, and I recently took care of that business. I did have a question regarding the Rx portion, bought separately, or so I thought, so wrote them an e-mail about it. Today's message was that last year's policy actually included the Rx package and I was paying extra all year long. No one caught that apparently and so now she is going to mail me a nice reimbursement check for the overages I paid! This check, while not all that substantial, is better than a sharp stick in the eye, and will pay for most of my CHRISTmas shopping. It is a blessed day!!!

The policeman always rings twice....

As promised, the policeman came back yesterday to deliver my Court paperwork to me. He was quite nice, explaining what I need to do and in what time frame it is to be done. I wished him a sardonic Merry CHRISTmas and we both had to chuckle about the whole thing. Certainly I am not the only person receiving a summons yesterday. I expressed to him that we have a good and gracious God who is going work all things for the benefit of those who love Him. Maybe that stuck with him the rest of time he spent ruining peoples' days. Not a very satisfying job but great extra money for process servers.

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The paperwork was forwarded to my attorney for her perusal and then we'll most likely need to meet to come up with a counter suit. The whole thing is so unreal, what's all supposedly taken place in four years since we settled the end of our marriage. This never should have been revisited, it was a done deal as far as I'm concerned.

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On the bright side, as there is always one, my dear friend, Joanne, is considering coming back to stay with me, since the place where she was living is going into foreclosure. What next???? Please, Lord, please, have mercy on us and turn this economy around again! Joanne and I have to work out some details yet but she's been busy putting together a major real estate deal (the Lord does answer prayers!) and has to focus on it before anything else. I told her I didn't want a "mercy" roommate, she can come if she wants to, not because it would help me out. It will be mutually helpful, certainly, and I don't bother anybody by hanging out in my room. Which is the point I make to friends who say they don't want me to sell this condo. I can make a home no matter where I live.

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Justin said the sweetest thing when he was here yesterday. I told him about receiving the paperwork and we were sad together. We talked about options and such, and I told him that Joanne might be putting my condo on the market. I expressed to him that I didn't want to "de-Kim" this house like I did at the lake house when it was for sale. The painter had to come in and cover the garish colors I'd used in a few rooms to make it more "friendly",(i.e. generic) for buyers. He said he didn't think I'd have to do that at this house since the colors aren't outrageous, and Justin described my home as having "a classy look"! Wow, thanks, Justin!

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Once again, the thoughts are crossing my mind to buy a place in Manitowoc, for more than the noble reason of making a home for Mom. It might be a way for me to start again, run away from the shame of being knocked down a peg or two, and freeze my tail off. Now, remember folks, I'm on no sleep here, no sleep ("Seinfeld" reference) so my thoughts are not as clear as they could be. Maybe I have a call of my own to answer, maybe a church in Manitowoc needs someone like me, or a church secretary or a church busybody........

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Enough about that, let's talk about the river. For the first time since TS Faye, the water level is so low that I can see the sand barrier both up close to the building and the one further out in the basin. A log or piece of a dock is poking up out of the water outside the basin, looking almost like the hull of a sunken ship. It is perfectly calm out there, good jet ski weather (oh, why did I bring that up???), after a rainy night. I don't think the rain falling kept me awake but I wish it would have lulled me to sleep.

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Justin is going to come this weekend and help me decorate the tree and a little bit of the house. Because I am going to be gone much of the season, I've decided to not decorate as much as I normally do. Other than a dinner party here next week Tuesday, I won't be having any parties here, boo hoo! My sister, Lynn, is coming down for the Packer/Jaguar game which is on the 14th so that is something to look forward to. Last year she was here, too, with Lori, David, Dusty, and Alayna. Lynn and I will then be traveling back to Manty together on the 18th so we can see Gabe in his first CHRISTmas program!

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In looking through the calendar of events for this area, the most likely thing we'd do, besides our expensive football game, is the Nights of Lights in St. Augustine. The Nutcracker will be performed at the Times Union Center plus The Messiah but the tickets for those shows are nearly sold out already. Lynn and I will have to sit around in my condo playing endless games of Old Maid! She is not really crazy about playing Scrabble and I don't have the DVR any longer, I am DVR-free! Perhaps we can use my library card to go get a movie or two to watch, or even go to the theater for a show.

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The other day I was lamenting to Justin that I felt sort of a let-down this year because it didn't seem so busy. That was, until I started ticking off my schedule for the first couple weeks: Ladies' Advent Service on Sunday, Monday Ladies' Group CHRISTmas party, Tuesday Art Guild party, Wednesday is choir and Advent worship, Thursday is free, Friday is The Musicale CHRISTmas chorus, Saturday is the Trunk Sale at Great Hang Ups with Kevin the glass artist for which I am hostess, and that night is a show at Thrasher-Horne with one of our members performing in the OP Chorale. Guess that's a busy enough week, and weekend! Sunday is the Youth Group Party at Pastor's house and Kathy and Brian wish me to attend. I guess they want to take me on in "Dance Dance Revolution"!!!! What am I feeling "let down" about? I guess it's because only one event is being held at my house, as compared to last year's busier hosting schedule. It just happened this way, not by plan, certainly.

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Justin also told me yesterday that the carpet cleaning was completed and the Realtor came through to do her inspection. She determined they didn't get the bathtubs clean enough nor the stove top made shiny and nice so professional cleaners are going to come to make it sparkle. Nuts! That cuts into our security deposit funds, and I hope equally so. Just as the carpet cleaning must be shared equally. Once the JEA bill comes in, I'll be able to put the numbers together to settle it up.

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Here's a rib tickler for you----while I was waiting for the policeman to come back with his paperwork for me, my doorbell rang. As I opened it, there stood another man in uniform, a fireman, this time. This was a surprise because I didn't expect him to be a process server! And, he wasn't! Instead, he handed me a piece of paper, inviting me to come and have lunch, courtesy of the Fire Fighters Association. I told him, "Oh, I like lunch!" and then, upon a closer look, saw that the luncheon was at the Senior Citizens' Center!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ouch! I said, "You're inviting me to the Senior Center????" and he said, "We're delivering these to all the Units here, ma'am." The least he could have done is call me "Miss"!

These may bring a tear or two to the eye!

I highlighted in pink the ones that struck me the most at this moment. Subject to change, certainly. Do you have a few favorites, some you consider to be so true?? Thanks, Linda!!!


TIME GETS BETTER WITH AGE

I've learned that I like my teacher because she cries when we sing "Silent Night". Age 5

I've learned that our dog doesn't want to eat my broccoli either. Age 7

I've learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they are doing and wave back. Age 9

I've learned that just when I get my room the way I like it, Mom makes me clean it up again. Age 12

I've learned that if you want to cheer yourself up, you should try cheering someone else up. Age 14

I've learned that although it's hard to admit it, I'm secretly glad my parents are strict with me. Age 15

I've learned that silent company is often more healing than words of advice. Age 24

I've learned that brushing my child's hair is one of life's great pleasures. Age 26

I've learned that wherever I go, the world's worst drivers have followed me there. Age 29

I've learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it. Age 30

I've learned that there are people who love you dearly but just don't know how to show it. Age 42

I've learned that you can make some one's day by simply sending them a little note. Age 44

I've learned that the greater a person's sense of guilt, the greater his or her need to cast blame on others. Age 46

I've learned that children and grandparents are natural allies. Age 47

I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. Age 48

I've learned that singing "Amazing Grace" can lift my spirits for hours. Age 49

I've learned that motel mattresses are better on the side awayfrom the phone. Age 50

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a man by the way hehandles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. Age 51

I've learned that keeping a vegetable garden is worth a medicine cabinet full of pills. Age 52

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you will miss them terribly after they die. Age 53

I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life. Age 58

I've learned that if you want to do something positive for your children, work to improve your marriage. Age 61

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. Age 62

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catchers mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back. Age 64

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, the needs of others, your work, meeting new people, and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you. Age 65

I've learned that whenever I decide something with kindness, I usually make the right decision. Age 66

I've learned that everyone can use a prayer. Age 72

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. Age 82

I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch-holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. Age 90

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. Age 92