Scuttled Plans

Oh, hear the cry go up from Orange Park, the cry of scuttled concert plans! Kathy let me know this a.m. first thing that the Jacksonville Symphony concert featuring Leann Rimes has been cancelled. The disappointment took my breath away at first, but I has since collected myself and decided we can still get together here at my place and spend time poolside, picnic down there or up here, weather determining. It seems Leann has lost her voice but in my opinion, we could have enjoyed the Symphony all night long without hearing the country western music sung, right?

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The breeze off the river is delightful today but is making my river room look like the a wedding is going to take place! Loose petals from my Mother's Day bouquet are being scattered about on the floor, catching my eye as the wind scoots them along. My first thoughts are usually, "mouse!!!!", but since there have been a couple snake encounters recently, I think for a moment, "Snake!!!" Oh, how I so wish Connie would have never told me about the snake wrapped in my door!

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One of my "friends" on facebook, Carrie, is mourning the fact that her dad is going home to be attended by Hospice in his last days. He has lung cancer and there is nothing now for the doctors to do except keep him comfortable. Dan is a retired pastor and moved to Manitowoc to be close to family. The last time I was home in WI I got to hear him sing during the worship service, Morning Praise. Prayers for all involved are appreciated, the Unggemach's and Hennigs.

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While I am sitting here at my desk, Linda J. is preparing to go to Stamp Camp this weekend, and I am soooo envious of her! One time I had a chance to go with her but for some reason or another, I think a family issue came up, I was unable to go with her. I blew my chance! Yesterday when reading Carrie's postings on facebook, I saw the name of someone Linda and I met at the Women's Leadership Conference in 2007. I sent Kelly as message through Carrie's site and sure enough, she wrote back and we are now officially "friends". It didn't "take" evidently when we met in person----nah, we had to wait a couple years and reconnect via the Internet!!!!

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Speaking of things not "taking", Justin and I watched a couple episodes of "Seinfeld" on Mother's Day, and no, my mom does not approve. Many years ago my sister, Jill, was a fan of Bobby Sherman and would watch his TV show, much to the rest of the girls' chagrin (I have 5 sisters!). We wanted to watch "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." or something instead, back in the days of only one TV in the house. We would mock Jill about her love of Bobby Sherman until such a time as my mother announced, "NO MAKING FUN OF ANYBODY'S FAVORITES!!" So there! So, because of that declaration, I try to not be critical about TV shows people watch...I learned from my mother not to make fun of other people's favorites! Anyway, the "Seinfeld" episode that was on was one of my favorites, when Jerry and George come to the conclusion, while sitting in the diner, that they are NOT men, they are boys! They decide to change their ways, not break up with girlfriends just because they eat their peas one at a time, or shush them in the movies. George confesses to Jerry that he thinks about his former girlfriend, Susan, who, when they broke up, became a lesbian. George drives his girlfriends to lesbianism, but that is another story. Jerry asks him, "Susan, hmm, didn't she become a lesbian?" and George immediately came back with, "Nah, it didn't take...." which just made us roar with laughter. Jerry sits with his raised coffee cup and simply acknowledges the comment. "It didn't take...."

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In a few minutes I am heading off to have lunch with Justin. He invited me to join him as he has office duty today and can take an hour for lunch. The restaurant choice was mine to make and while I would much rather eat at Koko's, I knew Justin's diet would like Ruby Tuesday better. Truly, I do not care where I eat, normally I can find something to order, but it is more the company that interests me. It is overcast again today, and I noticed something interesting here in my room----when I stand in a certain place in my bedroom/office and look out, the cross piece on the windows obliterates the trees on the horizon, so the sky and the river look exactly the same color! I know, I know, this girl needs a new hobby!

Some are getting their wishes granted!

In fact, probably many are! It is raining cats and dogs out there, complete with some wind and rumors of hail. I did not encounter hail on my drive but the radio mentioned reports of small hail in areas of town. I felt just like our friend, Tommy J. in Manitowoc, driving in huge puddles, only not on purpose, like he does! I hope the engineers that are working on the construction on Wells Road have a chance to observe the great amounts of standing water today!

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This morning I went to Victory for Bible study, on another "tour" about the Truth. The DVD we watch is taken from an actual classroom and sometimes I feel compelled to answer when the professor asks a question. It is pretty real. Our lesson today was about The State and I will tell you, it was so good that it made us feel sick! Uneasy is probably the better description of how we felt, shifting in our seats, fully aware of the warnings given to the Israelites in I Samuel which came true, and are truer yet today. This DVD series was prepared in 2004 and has proven to be quite prophetic, the way things in the government have become exactly what the Bible cautions. Yet, despite the warnings from the Lord, the children of Israel said, "We want a king!", and the people in Jerusalem said, "Give us Barabbas!", and what do our voters say? Let the chips fall where they may, we get exactly what we asked for....gulp! The closing prayer asked the Lord to help us draw a line and say, "This far, and no further." I like that. We can do that within our homes, in our Christian schools, our Synod, making sure that God Almighty remains our head, our focus, making sure we remember that all things are in His control and under His control. Powerful lesson.

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I remember as a little girl, (if no one knew it, I am in my young 50's), getting milk in little bottles at school. The milk man carried the bottles downstairs in the "old school" where they sat until lunch time when the boys would go downstairs (the older boys, of course) and bring them to the classroom, rattling and clanking against each other. The bottles, I mean. At one point, I recall there was conversation about "the government" helping our school or the students pay for the cost of the milk, for those who could not afford it or something. The answer was "NO!" to the "government intervention", because 'what would stop 'them' from telling us what to teach in our classrooms?" I was just a wee little girl but I distinctly remember this being a big deal. What was so tempting and gracious could also be a curse on our curriculum and way we did business. Who else remembers these glass milk bottles or the free milk controversy? I am glad that our parents and church leadership opted to not compromise our religious freedom in the face of getting something from the government.

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The ride over and back was quick, little traffic to hold me up, and no rains yet. Just before I left this a.m., my doorbell rang, and there was Connie at the door. She wanted me to move my car so she could work on the lawn around the area where my car sits. I told her I would be leaving in a minute and sped around my house to get myself out the door. Certainly did not want to hold up progress on the lawn reworking! I heard she is getting some flak from the neighbors on the north end of the building when she tries to work on the trees and plantings, in the common area. No trouble from me, I will get down there chop chop, so to speak. When I returned home, she announced that my snake was back, discovered by the young lady on the 2nd floor, encountered on the stairs. I asked if she killed it this time and she said they threw it in the river, which means he will be back!!!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!

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Yesterday I marked a mess of files, printed labels for them, and started to clean off my desk. And what did I do today? Stopped at the mail box and brought up more paper! The majority of it went in the trash, catalogs and flyers and advertising...I get paper bills for those I pay on-line which I find to be just goofy! If I pay them on-line, send them to me that way, too! I must insist....Although I filed so much yet there is still much left to do. It appears I hardly made a dent!

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When I saw the skies darkening and the first storms came through, I could not help but think of our prospective member and her little granddaughter, walking sooooo far in the heat and rain. When I called her, it seems I woke Sheila and she was unaware of the storms. I asked if I could pick her up and take her to get the 3 year-old grand so they would not have to walk in the rain. On a good day that is just too far to walk, so on a rainy nasty day, I can take a ride. I needed to get gas anyway so it worked out perfectly. The heavens opened as I was gassing up so the timing was just right. Sheila was quite glad I called because otherwise she would have slept too long and not made it up there (45 minute walk on a regular day) to get Akeila before closing time. And then the two of them would walk back home in the pouring rain! Whew! If my name was on the list for pick up and if I had a car seat, we could skip the part where I collect Sheila first, but it is okay the way we worked it out.

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Sheila was supposed to call one of her prospective employers, for whom I am a reference, but she slept through the day after having had a treatment and massage at the physical therapist's office. That must have been some massage! I hope that tomorrow is not too late for her to call in, and I her urged to not tell them she fell asleep because that would not look good to the interviewer. It would be better to have no excuse at all than one which would not reflect well.

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Tomorrow brings the Youth Group to my house as I hostess Game/Movie/Pizza Night for the teens of the congregation. Brian and Kathy are coming over around 5:00 pm to get things in place for the arrival of the teens, like ordering the pizza and setting up the DVD player, choosing the games and so on. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy having my home used for these types of events, a gathering place for good things and good kids and good leaders! Saturday night is "Starry Nights" downtown, where we have a reserved table under the stars, listening to the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and Leann Rimes. I think I am going to make ham salad to serve on crackers plus take the table dressing things complete with candles and fake champagne glasses. I have some leftover from another party, perhaps my birthday when I turned 50....I hope they are still good!

Welcome back, Sunshine!

You were missed!!!! And now you are playing peek a boo with us behind some threatening clouds, casting yellow streaks across the grey river. Nice touch!

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Yesterday on the way back from Middleburg I needed a Diet Coke, other than the five cases in my backseat, so stopped at Hardee's. Before Justin got his driver's license,I was his wheel-man and would take him to school every day. Then I would follow a morning routine which included stopping at Hardee's to get a large Diet Coke, stop at the cemetery, and then proceed to church to work in the office, or run other errands when I was not working for the church. Daily, I got a drink at Hardee's. Back when I was expecting Justin, I had a hankerin' for Hardee's 1/4 pound cheeseburgers, and would slip across town (we are talking about Manitowoc here) to get one. So, yesterday, I thought, "Hmmm...I wonder if they still have those burgers..." Well, they are no longer 1/4 pound, but actually considered 1/3 pounders. Wow! Need I report the mess that ensued as I attempted eating this monster burger as I navigated through the construction mess on Blanding in Middleburg???? My washer is in the spin cycle, taking care of the removal of the stains, hopefully, from my nice Coldwater Creek top, which was on the receiving end of onions and mustard raining down on it from my burger! Make a note: No trying to eat 1/3 pound burgers while wearing a nice top and driving on Blanding!!! And, yes, the Diet Coke was just as delicious as I remember!

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While at the nail salon yesterday, Lisa had several people come in, waiting their turn to get nail work performed. One rather robust woman (this is the pot calling the kettle black!) came in with her own kit for Lisa to do her nails. It was glitter acrylic for artificial nails. It turns out this woman is a graduate of the clown schools in WI, including one she attended in LaCrosse. She told about climbing up Granddad's Bluff and looking out over three states, and how beautiful the area was. I will be going there in late May, traversing the river to get to Winona to see Judy as well. Anyway, the clown lady does face painting and balloon bending at a restaurant on T-ball and little league nights.

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I moved my bouquet of flowers from Justin into the river room so that I can gaze upon them as I work. Some of the petals from the roses have dropped off already but the rest of the flowers look fresh yet. Justin told me that he has one more present coming for me but I won't get it until we are with my sister, Lori. Hmmm, I wonder what it could be....a necklace perhaps? Really, the movie and lunch treat, the flowers and card, and more importantly, attending church with me, is more than enough, but who am I to refuse a gift from my son?

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Thankfully the sun shined across my face, waking me from a rather unusual dream. I was evidently building a new home with now former, then current, spouse, and the Douglas family was over, looking at the project. Our family room had a little stage at one end for the boys to put on plays or whatever (not my boys, strangly enough, but Lisa's boys). The area where the kitchen normally be instead had a snack bar with prep sink and already had a bed in place. I remember looking at the area, wondering how we would get a dinette table stuck into such a small space. I also felt as though I was drifting through the scenes, not an active part of the dream. Hmmm....It may have been more like our cottage in Door County rather than a permanent home, because I guess we can all agree there is no such thing as permanent!

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I so enjoyed my time spent at home last night, writing and watching back to back to back episodes of "House", some of which I had seen before. I was a spoiler Sunday when I was talking to Justin about "House", as he was the one who got me into watching a first-run TV program (normally re-runs of old programs for me). We had seen in the opening scenes of "Star Trek" a mom giving birth to her first child. She was in the throes of labor, as they were being evacuated from their starship. The mom giving birth looked familiar and I whispered to Justin that it was Cameron, from "House". At first he doubted me, but thanks to his iPhone, was able to pull it up and sure 'nuff, I was right! Later, at home, we were talking about something else related to "House", where I expressed how strange it was that even the two engaged people referred to each other by their last names all the time. He did not know Cameron's first name was Allison, and I mentioned something about the episode where Kutner died....WHAT???? Kutner died? Oh, wow! Justin had no clue as he is so far behind in his viewing that he did not even know this tidbit yet! Oops, I'm a spoiler!

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Lisa, the nail lady, is married to my friends son, and is about 24 years old. An old lady as far as she is concerned. A young pup, if you ask me. She had asked me some questions about Justin and I filled her in on the "lost semester" Justin experienced and how he is now trying to make up for lost time, earn enough credits at least to get an AA degree. She kept saying about him being young and doing foolish things, not having his act together, how it might be good to let him have his fun, etc., etc., etc. I found this rather amusing since Jason and she are only a couple years older than Jesse and Justin, and yet she was talking like she was much older. She HAS been self-employed for several years already, and granted, has had room and board pretty much provided, with the Woodruff's being her only family in this area. As I mentioned to Lisa, although Justin is just shy of genius on the IQ scale, that will not make him smart, and I must be genius enough to realize I cannot be smart FOR him. This is a tough tough pill to swallow. I also do not have to encourage foolishness or approve of it, but must accept that sometimes stupidity and childish thinking are simply out of my control. Lisa told me I was right, and that was all I needed to hear! She asked me why he was thinking of moving to Miami and going to school there (higher costs of living, more dangerous, etc.) and I said he told me "because it will be more fun...". She said, "That's all those kids think about, what is going to fun." Again, an inside chuckle because she is not much older age wise, but is a lifetime older experience-wise. I told her I needed to have him come in and get a pedicure and perhaps he would listen to her "sage advice", if not mine!

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In reading my "Grandma" book this morning (thank you, Judy!), some of the passages were perfect subject matter. The chapters were about dealing with the things life brings us, basically being Proverbs 31 women (like Linda!) "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." Or in Proverbs 17: "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." I do not want dry bones, I want to laugh! In Psalms we are reminded "Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. The Lord has done great things for them." I have confidence in the Lord, in His control of all matters, remembering that our time here on earth is merely a blink of an eye. I also believe that our heavenly Father will watch over Justin, and will guide His ways, even if he is out of my sight.

Proverbs 27 says "Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart; then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt."

An unusual Tuesday

I find myself at home on a Tuesday night which is totally goofy, since this is Bible study night. First, we go to dinner and then to church, after I collect Sheila from her home. But not today...Late afternoon, Pastor called to tell me class was cancelled tonight as he had an urgent member matter to attend. He asked me to contact the others to let them know but I got only answering machines at which to leave messages. So, now I have a 'free' night in front of me! My telephone was plenty busy as I got calls from one lady, asking if she could use me as a personal reference on a job application (how personal???), to which I said, "Sure!". My nephew in WI called to discuss some wedding plan glitches he is faced with, and he received my counsel on this, whether he wanted it or not. Hey, that is the price you pay for dialing my number, bro!

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Last night I talked for over an hour with my sis-in-law in Manty, going over the details for the West Point trip at the end of the month. Some of our original plans are not going to work as they need to be on the campus at the same time our flight arrives, so Justin and I will need to arrange for transportation to the hotel. Hmmmm....Plan B in the making. We always find much to talk about and inevitably my phone battery runs down. When we hung up, I plugged my phone into the charger, only to discover this a.m. that the charger was not plugged into the wall! I hate when that happens! Fortunately I was not expected anywhere until 11:30 so it was no problem.

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Jen called me while it was still charging but I was able to answer and chat. A while back Rick had come by to get my "old" golf clubs for Christopher to use, left-handed clubs on the short side. Well, it seems that although Chris is a lefty, he somehow finds it more 'natural' to use the clubs, and it seems, baseball bats, right-handed. She asked me what they should do with them and I suggested donating them to the school for some other short, left-handed child to use. I told her I was coming out that way later in the morning to get my toes done by Lisa, and Jen thought she might come over to the shop to visit with us. Nice!

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As I drove out to Middleburg, picking all the roads with the most construction going on, Jen called to say she would not see me at Lisa's after all, she had too much pain today probably due to the weather. It turned "cold" here, and I know those in WI and elsewhere might find this ridiculous, but a near 20 degree temperature drop is significant 'round these here parts! On facebook this a.m. Tarren's sis-in-law was rejoicing that their temps were going to get up to 70 above zero and she was going to work in the yard. Those temps put me in my fuzzy slippers and under the covers! Yes, funny but true!

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Lisa did a marvelous job on my toes, today's color being "Big Apple Red", perfect for our trip up to NYC over Memorial Day. I am looking so forward to our time up there, first for the graduation where the speaker is going to be Secretary of State Robert Gates! Yippee! Mona said she was wishing for a real Democrat, the beast that she is, but Justin and I and hopefully the graduates will appreciate hearing from Gates. Anyway, Lisa fixed my toes up, got all the rough edges smoothed, cuticles cute, and so on. She was still on cloud nine after her wedding, honeymoon and reception----Middleburg-style. Her excitement is contagious, I am so happy for them both!

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I made my way toward O. P. on the under construction roads and stopped at CVS in Middleburg for soda. They offered "buy 4,get one free" so I whipped in there to load up. I did not have my CVS card but the guy used one they had on hand to give me the great bargain for the sodas. Once back on this side of town I stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up a scrip and to drop off a couple disposable cameras for development. Then I popped in to see my lady friends at Great Hang Ups and had a nice visit with Dee and Julia. I just love spending time with them! Dee gave me back my piece from the Thrasher-Horne Art show, but not before paying one more compliment to my work. No wonder I love her!

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Boy, it is windy out there tonight! We were expecting thunder storms but as far as I know, they never came. The rest of the week shows possible showers but not strong chances, with the temps coming back up where they belong. The news also brings the reports about the area children who have died or were hurt, and my heart aches. Julia said she has been thinking about me lately, hearing the reports of the tragedies befalling children in recent weeks. Last week, in Martie's neighborhood, a four-year-old girl was killed when she pulled a large-screen TV over on herself. In Keystone Heights, some older teens were playing with a gun and accidently shot a two-year old boy, who lived and may be okay after surgery. And then the twin girls, found clutched to each other in the pond....I have to go to bed now...g'night everybody..........

Why are my eyes wet again?

Oh, it might be because I was just writing to Judy R. in Winona, responding to her e-mail about the lovely weekend she enjoyed. Saturday she was leader of a women's Bible study, based on "Taste and See That the Lord is Good", which was the theme of the retreat she attended recently in Stillwater. She had the ladies hum the melody to "Go, My Children" while she read some closing passages and said the prayer. Judy reported it was well received, with some of the ladies wiping their eyes at the closing.

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She told me that when she was at DMLC and toured with the choir, they sang "Now the Light Has Gone Away" in German for their closing, and knew they hit a home run if some of the ladies were wiping their eyes. When I wrote back to her, I reminded her about how Pastor Hahm sang that hymn to Mom at his farewell dinner, but said he could not look at her while he sang. He gave her a foretaste, because he has promised to come back and sing it again for her funeral....but she will already be in heaven, singing God's praises full-time! I sent Judy the hymn in German, shared with me by Gretchen, my friend from church.

Pastor Hahm addressing the assembly at his farewell dinner. A dear man, missed by his former members, but appreciated by his new ones!

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Speaking of Gretchen, she met me at my car this a.m. before Bible study and gave me blue gift wrapped present. She finds these treasures in her home when she is going through her things, and today, I got a treasure! It is a wall plaque that looks like a mini-chalk board, with the message: "If God meant for me to cook, He would not have invented restaurants!" We just had to laugh about this, and I told her I was in full agreement, as she knew I would be! She is so thoughtful, doing the things for people that make them feel so special!

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Well, I stood with binoculars at the ready and listened to the radio announce the count down and lift off of the Space shuttle Atlantis.....but, where is it??? Karen, my next door neighbor, was also watching from her patio and neither of us could spot it, which means it must have been either too cloudy that direction or it went in a more northerly direction, over the top of our building and out of our sight. Nuts! I so enjoy the shuttle launches and am disappointed that I could not see this one. Hopefully the rescue shuttle will not have to go up, but I will certainly watch for it, if it does have to be launched.

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The radio is also reporting a double tragedy on the northside of Jacksonville, the kind of tragedy I am familiar with. It seems a set of twin girls, aged 18 months old, were found floating in a retention pond, were air lifted to Shands, and are in critical condition. I hope that God, in His mercy, will take them home if they are badly brain damaged. Justin and I often talk about that, because one of his teachers at St. Johns had a son drown, only to be resuscitated, living the next seven years in a vegetative state in an institution, and then finally dying. Prayers for the family of the twins would be most appreciated, asking for God's will to be done for these girls, and support for their family.

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For the next few days my nest is empty, as Joanne is going to visit her sisters in Atlanta. We think we solved the mystery of the smelly refrigerator and it was not really fish! Even though all the finest noses in northeast Florida sniffed and squeezed, no one, except for perhaps Martie, seemed to find the cause of the fish odor. She had taken out the potatoes and washed them, sniffed them, and put them back in the drawer, dismissing them as the offenders. Well, yesterday, Joanne was in the fridge again, rooting around while making her supper, determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. She had me smell the potatoes, and sure enough, there it is! The smell is solved!!! And I owe her an apology, accusing her of "fowling" my fridge with her wretched fish, and instead, it was her wretched potatoes!!!!

Happy Mom's Day all you mothers out there!

The day is winding to a close and darkness is coming. Justin has since left my house and supposedly heading for home. I know he had left some of his belongings at his father's house where he had spent a couple days taking care of Mickey the dog. Whether he is going there tonight or waiting until tomorrow I do not know. I DO know that he starts his summer class, Astronomy 101, I guess, tomorrow evening. He needs a couple science or similar classes to earn his AA degree, so he is working in that direction. Good!

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Justin came to church with me, met me as I was greeting at the door. All were glad to see him, some not seeing him on Easter Sunday. The choir sang a hymn about Christian homes which was quite lovely and then I got to sit with him the rest of the service. The closing hymn was "Go, My Children" which was another funeral hymn, and yes, a perfect message in musical form. At first Justin asked me, when we noticed it in the service folder, if we should step outside while the song was sung, and I said, "Sure, if you want to..." but then he changed his mind. We sat through it, made all the more lovely by Suzanne playing the viola with the MIDI. We shed a tear or two and then regrouped.

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After church, Sarah came over to me as we were being dismissed, and handed me a card, gave us each a hug, and left. Then she came back and told me about signing her name and writing mine on the card, in her own hand! Such a big big girl! And I really loved the card. They (Lawcock's) are just so thoughtful. For the first couple years after Timmy died, Emily would get me a Mother's Day card, to sort of make up for the losses I was experiencing. Justin is really good at Mother's Day, and did good today, too.

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Our plans included going to see "Star Trek" after having lunch at 5 Guys burger joint but the tickets he got were for 1:00 pm and we arrived too late to have lunch first. He insisted I would need some Dramamine for the movie. This took time and two different stores in order to find some. Good ole Publix comes through again! We decided to just snack on our little candy treats, no popcorn, and then have lunch afterward instead. The movie was great, and I am glad that I was not aware of the controversy from die hard "Star Trek" TV show fans, because I was tickled to see and hear so many similarities to the old program enjoyed by my sister, Lori, and me years ago.

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We got our nice lunch, eating inside the restaurant because it was too hot outside in full sun for Justin to enjoy his meal. We shared a small order of fries but still ended up bringing about half of those home with us. Once our clothes were changed, it was down to the pool we went, choosing shade to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. "He is a talker", as our friend, Jackie, used to say about him, making the time pass rather quickly. When we came upstairs, I got my caftan on and we settled in to watch a couple episodes of "Seinfeld", Justin's choice, before he decided to go home. Justin had gotten me a bouquet of flowers and a pretty card, which he admitted was not as perfect as the one he got for me last year. In fact, that card has remained on my buffet all year. He told me it was the first card he picked up and it was exactly right for me....I told him that one would be hard to beat and he said he toyed with putting last year's card in a new envelope, as sort of a joke. That is the problem with perfection, it is soooo hard to beat!

What a marvelous day it has been!

Although I had the opportunity to attend an all-day crop at a new establishment in Orange Park, described as a scrapbooking spa, I opted to pass. I have been cropping three times in recent weeks and must print off more photos before I can do more "work".

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Kathy B. and I met at Grumpy's for a late breakfast/early lunch. I had not been there since yesterday so it was time I went again. In the past I have encountered Gordy and Terri and family at Grumpy's on Saturday mornings, but not so today. Somehow or another a space was open near the front of the building and I pulled right in. As I came across the parking lot, I saw a young lady on the phone. Her dad, I am guessing, came out to tell her that their food had come and he literally leaped over the railing and across the lot. At the very same time a car rather screeched to a halt in the bike lane on Kingsley and a man got out and ran to the sidewalk. Once on the ramp to the door I could see they were helping someone lying on the concrete.

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A couple other men also went over to assist and they eventually got the older man back onto his feet. The car and driver pulled away from the curb, while the other men helped the grandpa to the bench by the building. The waitress got a cup of water for him, and someone told us that he had walked from an assisted living facility a few blocks down. A phone call was made to the facility and supposedly someone was coming to collect him. Before we knew it, here he came tottering in and took a seat at a table, ordering a meal. Okay, I guess he's staying!

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Kathy and I enjoyed a lovely meal together, meatloaf for me, breakfast for her. She very nicely treated me plus gave me a "for no reason" present----a mini-pitcher, beautifully painted, with the passage "Delight in the Lord" printed on the front. It is gorgeous, and much appreciated. When we were about to leave, the old gentleman was finishing his dessert, and I asked the Host if he needed a ride home. He went back to ask "Roy" if he needed a ride, then came back to report he would. Kathy helped load him in my car and off we went down the road, back to his facility. He told me his shoulder hurt, telling me he fell down on the sidewalk, and I pretended I didn't know about the fall, to save him embarrassment. We wished each other the Lord's blessings as he left my car and went inside. Such a sweet man, and I would like to think that people would rally to my mom's or sister's aid, if they needed it.

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Kathy was going to attend her niece's "rock climbing" birthday party today which is one reason why it didn't work for us to go to Joe's. We must try again for another time, when we are not so tightly scheduled. On the way home, I called Judy J. and invited her to come over to swim and sit. Joanne was going to be bringing her dad and Shadie, the dog, over for a visit, too, so I put ribs in the slow cooker with bbq sauce to roast the better part of the day. As it turned out, Clyde refused to venture out and Judy went home to eat so only Jo and I were here for supper. We ate leftover dirty rice with our ribs, plus a dinner roll purchased from Grumpy's . Mmmmmm, fresh baked rolls----made me think of Linda J.!!!! Martie also planned to come over after getting her haircut but the appointment involved more than a cut, making it after 5:00 before she got out. Too late to sit poolside, I had already come upstairs and changed from my suit. I decided to pull a Joanne and get right into my nightie, even though it was still daylight!

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Tonight, while Joanne is taking Shadie back to her house (where Jo used to live, too), I am sitting here in my family room, typing and laughing at the TV. An old movie is on, "Liar, Liar" with Jim Carrey, whose antics are often over the line, just makes me laugh. He plays a divorce attorney who for one day simply cannot tell a lie, and finds himself being unabashedly honest, to the point of being brutal. Parts are really funny, some, not so much. But the part which tickles my funny bone is where the elevator doors open and all the people are fanning their noses, obviously someone was indiscreet, and he turns around, announcing, "It was me!!!!", because he cannot lie!!!