Making an ash of myself

A little play on words there...I just sat here on my bed, scratching at my legs which are itchy like being freshly shaved, but were not. Wherever my nails touched, white streaks remain, as do my arms if I scratch them. The ash on my skin is from the chemicals in the pool and the cruddlies coming off on my bedspread are messy. 'Tis a small price to pay for the great enjoyment I experience being out there most of the afternoon. I did not get out to the pool until about 2:00 pm and came up again right around 6:00, eating my dinner el fresco in the company of Ellen. This evening's fare was eaten earlier than usual, but since we ate somewhat early at church, it was time to eat again!

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The intentions this morning were to attend Bible study at Victory since they are studying Galations but I somehow slept too late to get up and dressed to make it over in time. Rats! Thursday Lucy had invited to stay for lunch today so I had pretty well made up my mind to do that. Justin and I sat together for worship, as expected, on the piano side of the church so we could be close to Rachel. He can hear better up there. The service today resembled the Morning Praise used at First German, using many of the songs which were first introduced to us many years ago by Pete Prange. I whispered at one point to Justin, "I miss Pete..." with my sad face on, and he said, "I was thinking the same thing!" The Te Deum and You Are God We Praise You...echoing through my head much of the afternoon. The 'songs' used today came not from Christian Worship, but I loved those printed in the service folder. The sermon was excellent, where St. Paul reminded us not to get caught up with enticements of this world and its philosophies, that we are buried with Christ through our baptisms and raised again through faith in Him.

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Yesterday when I was cleaning at church, Robbie was there practicing the organ, actually, the keyboard. He makes the most joyful noise using the MIDI keyboard instead of the actual organ, changing up the sounds and tones according to the hymn or part of the liturgy. What a great way to vacuum, with the hymns booming out in the background. I shared with Robbie how moved Justin used to be, and I still am, the first time I hear the big pipe organ at First German when we go 'home'. He used to say when he won the lottery (many years ago...) he would buy a pipe organ for Good Shepherd. Pete told him he would also have to find someone to play it, since it is not that easy. Robbie and I guessed that Janet B. might be the only one in our congregation who might know how to play such a thing, but until that time, we make do with our keyboard, piano, or MIDI, and the occasional viola!

The start of a great weekend

What a different attitude this weekend as compared to last! This a.m. I welcomed an e-mail from Jen P. regarding VBS last week and our head count and demographics, etc. Victory's daytime VBS which also had a fee charged, I believe of $25 each child, had 20 kids. Good Shepherd's VBS which was free and in the evenings had an average of 35 kids nightly, with about 40 families represented, the majority of them being non-members. This is not to say the children are unchurched, but at least all of those attending heard the stories about Jesus and his saving work for them, which is the measurement to be used in addition to the numbers. At Victory, they reached out to many of their VPK students/families through the VBS and have recognized new members via their VPK program.

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During this week I have been working on the Flock Talk which seems like be shorter than usual given there is little going on, except for VBS and the preschool anniversary. Most programs are on recess for the summer leaving little to report on. Next month will be busier as programs get up and running, Bible studies resume, Sunday school gets underway, and so on. When there are fewer articles to post, I will often use photos to speak, but then it is difficult for some readers to open in their e-mail. The copied versions of the newsletter have the photos included but in black and white only, so it loses something. It is a delicate balance, to be sure!

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This weekend is my opportunity to serve by vacuuming the church which I will be doing when done with this posting. My plan is to put on my swimsuit under my clothes so that when I get home I can immediately get ready for the pool, as it might rain this afternoon. Brenda N. is coming over to enjoy some poolside fun with me and I will make an exception regarding the sun not shining. Usually I will not enjoy the pool if the sun is gone but Brenda might like that better since her skin is fair. I will also take my sun screen along down to the pool in case she needs some, and might take a dose or two for myself. Tomorrow I am going Victory with Justin, the day before his birthday, but will not expect him to be available for anything afterward. There is a pot luck taking place after worship and then a meeting but I likely won't stay after the luncheon.

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Yesterday I went to Office Max after lunch at La Napolera to get the compressed gas and to look at floor mats for under my desk. An employee tried to help me with this, showing me, of course, the wood floor-looking mat which was about twice the price of the clear plastic one. Fortunately he loaded the plastic mat into the cart but I had to unload it into the car myself. It did not remain in its rolled position and in fact took over the whole back of my car! I could not see out my back window, so I pulled over in the lot and wrestled it down lower, yikes! I sent Justin a text message asking him to stop over on his way home after work to carry it upstairs for me, which he did. Since the mat has the lip on it, which would be where one would put their feet under a normal desk, this would not work on mine. However, I had a brilliant idea of putting the mat under the desk, the whole desk, leaving enough of the plastic sticking out for the chair. And it worked! Justin held up the desk as I slid the plastic pad underneath. And then picked it up again because I needed the edges of the plastic to align perfectly with the boards on the floor. He knew that the minute he saw it and did not hesitate one second in picking the desk edge up again. Justin told me a little joke he heard about OCD-----a true OCD person would call it CDO, to make it alphabetical!!! We all have a few things about which to be quirky and that is just one of mine. I CAN mount my photos crookedly in my scrapbooks and do so regularly!

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After Office Max I was planning to go to Home Depot to get storage bins which are being advertised on the radio at $4.44 but Justin was coming to get that chair pad out of the car. So, another day for the bins, perhaps after cleaning the church. Justin had a few minutes before he had to leave (he was holding a party for himself at Ron's house last night) so I made sure to be home when he swung by. He also moved the leftover floor boards to the storage cubbie in the elevator lobby and reinstalled the cover on the ceiling vent in the hall bath after the leak incident. I am going to get some paint for the ceiling in the bedroom hallway and the hall bath, and he peeled a nice strip for me to use for matching. There had been a leak awhile ago which caused the paint to bubble and I just helped it along a bit. Now, it needs a putty knife or a blade to remove the rest of it in that area so Justin can repaint. The ceiling is low enough there that he likely won't even need a stool to reach it. He didn't need the stool in the bathroom for the fan, either, it was simply a reach for him. Humpf!

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Later on last evening I went up to Great Hang Ups to see the 'Dueling Demos of Donna and Dee: Part Deux'. Dee and Donna Grasso, set up their easels in the front window of the shop and folks could sit on chairs in a semi-circle to watch them paint. There were about 4-5 people there when I left and I do hope that more came later. They are doing it again on Sunday afternoon and we'll see if I go back again or head to the pool. After the demo, I went to the pool and found some folks with whom to enjoy the evening.

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Penny was there with her visiting family so I did not crash her party. They had eaten already, since I was 'late' in arriving. Some of the others had gone in already and others did not come out. I did set up camp with Randy, the guy who last year kept after me to sing torch songs as he played the piano at The Club during Happy Hour, and his lovely wife, Carol. I had spent part of Saturday evening with them last weekend, and it was nice to hang with them last night again. We had such a lovely visit, talking about travels in the Mediterranean as well as traveling to Fleming Island! Carol has a mental block when it comes to driving from north Orange Park to Fleming Island but no problem riding the trains all over England! We had a good laugh about that!

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She was telling about having boxes of personal papers in her trunk which she had taken to work to put through the shredder, but realized the documents and such were too new to be ground up. Less than two years old and such. Carol said she has a checklist (oooh, I love checklists!) of what to keep and how long, and what to get rid of from our personal records. She is going to make a copy of it to share with me. We laughed about the affection I have for long distance phone bills from 10 years ago, as she lost her mom in April and has been going through all her parents' paperwork and such since then. My theory, then, was a good one, about if I died this weekend, how would anyone go through those old papers and make sense from them? I must make sense of them myself long before my time to go home comes.

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At the table next to ours was my new friend, Mary Lew, who also had friends over, including one man from Mexico. Not sure how she knew him, I will have to ask her Tuesday. But she also introduced me to her gentleman friend who is an evangelist of some sort, with his adopted son, who celebrated his 22nd birthday poolside. Mary Lew brought me yet another book which she claims I will read in a day and a half! It is by Nora Ephron and is about women aging, called: "I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman". Carol and I both feel it will be a hoot to read, as this is something many woman complain about. I love it that Mary Lew thought to share this with me. I sense a conspiracy in people trying to make me read again!!! And watch movies, as Mary Lew gave me a bag of old movies last weekend, and Carol is bringing me one this weekend, called "Tea with Mussolini" which was filmed in Florence. Nice! I am much better about watching a movie than reading. There is a "Seinfeld" episode where George joins a reading club and finds out he hates to read! Really? Instead of reading the book, "Breakfast at Tiffany's", he tries to rent the movie....It is already rented to another family, so he sneaks a look at their address from the video rental store and goes to their home to watch with them. Only in Seinfeld would this happen. When it comes to book club meeting time, he totally blows it because evidently the movie and the book do not match. No book club for me either, because I am so lame!

I am showing my age!

Either that, or I live in Arizona! Is that not nuts, folks being upset about showing their ID's if they behave suspiciously? Twice in the past couple days I had to show my ID and I was not even doing anything suspicious. The other day when I was shopping on senior discount day at Bealls, I had to show my driver's license to prove I was over the age of 50. Some people will seemingly do anything to save 15%! Today, when buying compressed gas to clean up my laptop's keyboard, I had to again show my ID to prove I was older than 18. Really! It seems young folks either like to clean their keyboards or they use it for huffing purposes so now, all must show proper ID. If I am over 18, I am free to please, go ahead, and inhale the vapors! I felt compelled to tell the clerk and the lady training her my story from Bealls, and the younger lady said, "Oh, you don't look like you are older than 50...". If I could have, I would reach around and given her a hug, but I simply thanked her. I think it was when Gloria Steinam turned 50 many years ago, someone said to her, "Oh, you don't look 50..." to which she replied, "Honey, this IS what 50 looks like!" So, yes, keep asking me for ID, I am not proud or embarrassed---yet.

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The most delightful of breezes is wafting through my doors, which I had to prop open with shoes or books to keep them from slamming closed. During the times of the full moon, we experience extremely low tides and then higher than usual tides. In between, we see yuckiness below the water, which is today wearing a coat of white sudsy looking stuff. Tracy, my neighbor, described it as the foam seen in a hot tub recently treated with chemicals. Justin looked out at it and said, "Hmmm....I have seen that somewhere before." After a moment, he said, "Oh, yeah, a root beer float!" This is the picture I have in my mind now instead of the suds from chemicals. It might be treatment for the algae blooms which caused a fish kill in late May/early June, most of which I missed. As I said to Tracy, we might simply need a good wind to come through to move things along because it has been hot so long, things are bound to develop in the still waters.

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This noon I had a lovely lunch with Tracy, Cassidy, and Mammaw at La Napolera, with the eldest one treating us all. That was unexpected, and I am most grateful for her treat. She misses living in TX but there is just no one there to watch over anymore. Tracy asked me when I was moving my mom down here with me and I told her I would do it later this afternoon if she would agree.....Sigh. As I explained to Tracy, my other sisters and the grandkids simply have me outnumbered so even though I have the time, they have the proximity working for them. So, I will just continue to hang out up there several times a year until they all grow quite weary of me!

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Time for me to head to Fleming Island to watch a painting duel between Dee and Donna at Great Hang Ups. Then, I will be back here for refreshments and time with my friends at the cabana. Yoohoo! Later!

Making progress

But I am not a progressive! The mound on the desk is getting lower, I can see daylight, and I have had to empty my wastebasket once already due to going through papers. Yes! Another friend of mine from Facebook reported this week that she, too, is going through boxes of papers dating back to the mid-80's so it must be catching! Thus far I remain at my desk but at some point will need to tackle boxes of 'old' papers which I know I will have trouble doing. Who gets attached to their old long distance phone bills??? The mindset I will have to use is this: "What will happen to this stuff if I would die this weekend? Would someone get stuck looking through this all (as we did my mother-in-law's stuff) or will it simply get dumped in its entirety into a dumpster??? Will any one miss it or find it valuable in any way?" Not likely!!!

At this particular moment I am listening to my podcast, eating a hamburger left over from Sunday's event, writing my posting for the day, and waiting for the moon to rise. Multi-tasking!! The sun is still shining at this point and, as I went to my car to get a 12-pack of soda, saw people yet in the pool. From our high temp of 96 earlier today to now only 92, it is still a lovely evening.No storms since last week Thursday's HUGE one.

Last week I was rejoicing because I got my statement from the hospital where my kaleidoscope was performed, and it was about half of what I expected it to be. The insurance lady there showed me another person's bill which was over $7000 out-of-pocket for the same procedure so.....whew! Of course, there will be more bills coming, likely from the doctor herself and from the handsome anesthesiologist, but the largest amount, I believe is behind me, in more ways than one. Sorry. I had to say that. Whew again! And thank you, Lord, for answering that prayer!

I missed the moon rising because as I look over my right shoulder, it is already in place in the sky to the south, looking white against the blue sky. It is still sunny outside and not quite ready for the moon to do its thing. Justin and I attended Bible study this a.m., having last week begun a study on The Kingdom of God, using again the series from "Good News". My guess is that it saves Pastor a ton of time to use this type of study and it is quite interesting. Hopefully soon we will be getting our Sunday and Monday Bible studies back in action at GS for more regular 'feedings'. Tuesday night's class is more like a Bible information class which is still good but more structured than a study would be. Especially since the class comes in the form of a DVD, less interaction with the speaker. Mike C. leads this class and we simply go through the worksheets and answer True/False questions and such. Some discussion but not like in a regular setting. Make sense?

My radio show is making me laugh and laugh, hard to concentrate on what I am writing. So much for multi-tasking! There is much helicopter traffic today, all day, which might mean a squadron has come in. Normally there are welcome home signs along Hwy. 17 but I didn't notice any when I was doing my thing after Bible study. I barely recognized my car when I went down for the soda, it is nice 'n shiny after its bath and vacuuming. When I went to the Hess station for my soda and was going to put it in the back, I noticed that it was still sandy looking so I went right back across the street, got in line again, and had the young lady vacuum it up. She acted like she could not see any sand, and when I walked back there, she was doing the little pockets on the sidewall of the 'trunk'. It seems what looks like sand is actually sand, but it was not loose enough to vacuum up. Guess I will need my handy dandy scrub brush to work it loose. She was acting like, "What sand?", as though she could not see it...ugh!

I cannot believe I am going to say this but I am feeling as though it's a bit stuffy in my house tonight. Nothing has changed, the dryer is not running nor the oven going. I am not exerting myself other than laughter which is not unusual, so I don't know. I could go and turn the thermostat lower, I suppose, just for a few minutes to move the air around. Maybe it is because the moon is getting brighter, but it is behind the palm tree right now. Hmmm....

The other night when my brain stayed up long after I went to bed and refused to surrender to sleep, I got up and decided to do some cleaning in order to put my brain into idle. Did not work, but the cleaning got done. The work I did was quiet so as not to disturb my neighbors above or below me. Earlier in the day I had bought some scrubbing bubbles which I sprayed on the frame of my bathroom mirror, where there was accumulated dust (there she goes with the dust again!!) and other grime. The mirror looks gilded, like a picture frame, with the part furthest from the faucets and counter looking nice and bright. Pampered Chef long handled brush and the bubbles made that lower edge look much much better, and I am glad I finally did it. I sprayed in my shower as well, but the smell was gagging me so I closed the door to the bathroom while it soaked overnight. The next day I did the same type of frame in the hall bathroom with less satisfactory results. Also, I went around and put bleach in the toilets which also burned my nose-hairs and made my eyes water, but there is nothing like a sparkling white toilet in the morning----it smells like victory!

During my sleeplessness, not at all connected to the cable TV, I made various checklists in my mind as well as plans and promises to myself, and God. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart"! That means I have a witness who is going to hold me to my checklists and promises---gulp! One checklist adds more 'work' to my load while another list removes a few things. Somehow, strangely enough, the one that removes things is the more bothersome checklist!! Might require some modification but not too much. Because a deal's a deal, right?

Midweek catch up here

A couple days ago I lamented the cable outage in my bedroom, which happened rather abruptly late Saturday morning. When I left home to set up at church that day, the TV was working fine, but when I got back later, it was out. Not a cloud in the sky or wind in the trees, and no storms since the window rattler on Thursday. Hmmm.....My friend, Gayle's husband got an appointment set up for me on Monday. Dick is in a management position at Comcast and has some pull evidently. Gayle called me twice that day to keep me informed as to the status of the service call and such. Wow! My scheduled time was between 2 and 5 pm which was fine with me, since it sure beats Thursday!, and in fact, I stayed home all stinkin' day long! I needed a day like this. Actually addressed some items on my desk and worked on thank you notes for the helpers at Sunday's event, etc.

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Gayle used to work in Customer Service at Comcast and she was saying to me that she would not have stood still for an answer like "no one is available until Thursday...". Gayle told me she would have gone higher and higher in the food chain until she got results. I told her, "That's what I did, too! I called you!" which made her laugh. I am not sure what time the guys showed up but Connie called me from downstairs to report they were on the way up. As I stood in the door watching for them eagerly, the one guy, the lead tech, looked at me and then walked the other way. I yelled, "Hey!..." and he turned back this direction, saying, "Just teasing..." My kinda guy! He made a comment to me along the lines of my having some 'pull' and he described me as being a VIP. Evidently he was sent specifically to my job, personally selected by his superiors. Oh, yes, I am big crybaby VIP who can't sleep without her TV on!!!! His helper trailed behind, more like a step-n-fetch than actual tech, I believe. We had to slide my desk over so they could access the jack inside the cabinet, and I am so glad to have wood floors to make that easier.

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The tech was getting no signal at all from the wires coming out of the cabinet which meant the problem originated outside, on the back of the building. Before they arrived, I was watching rain showers in Mandarin as they seemed to come across the river, but it was full sunshine on the pool side of the building. I was hoping they would not get rained on, too, while working down below my windows but the rain never made it all the way over here. At one point the helper came up to report that they were working on the wires downstairs, trying to sort it all out. I thought that was very nice of him. Later he came back and we had to turn on the family room TV to let the guy below know when we had signal in there and when we did not. After some time, the lead guy came upstairs again and hooked up his machinery to the cable and ta da!!!! We had a signal! He hooked up the little box on the stand where the TV is and I was back in business, including now accessing HGTV and Lifetime in my bedroom.

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I made the remark to him that I was glad to see the green light was solid and not flashing anymore, even though I know Comcast is using that to spy on me. I told them I always change my clothes in my closet but it would serve them right if they caught me on their camera. The guys laughed and said, "No one can see you through this box..." I am not totally convinced!

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Yesterday, which would have been my 36th wedding anniversary, began at the pool with water aerobics and then some lounging with Ellen. We made plans to go today to have lunch at the Beach Cafe which is located where Truffles used to be in Mandarin. My friend, Dena, who made my beautiful birthday cake one year, has a bakery in the same strip mall so I might pop in there to say 'hi'! After I made the plans with Ellen, Martie asked me if we could have breakfast or lunch today. Rats! Breakfast won't work with water aerobics but we certainly have room for one more at Beach Cafe! She will not come to aerobics though as she is not fond of the water, although one time she did get in and really enjoyed it! She said she misses me and I certainly do miss her. Her job, and grandkids really use her time these days, especially in the summer when they are out of school. So, I am looking very much forward to lovely repast in Mandarin with a couple of my lady friends, Maggie O. is likely coming, too, and, of course, spending some time with Martie!!!

Ellen took this photo of me Sunday with her cell phone, which is why it is sort of small. Good thing it is! The noodle makes my arms look fat, though!

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After the pool time, I got dressed and headed to Bealls to do some birthday shopping for Justin. I have neither seen nor heard from him since last Thursday's lunch after Bible study, but still decided to buy him a present or two. There were huge banners promoting a senior discount that day, which would be great to take advantage of. Up to that moment, I was a senior discount virgin, except for one time when accidentally getting the lower priced ticket at the movies, without my asking for it. Twila and Jean got theirs at the senior rate and the cashier simply did the same for me. Nice! Even after I pointed it out, she told me to just go ahead. So, anyway, I got what I wanted, having an additional discount on all housewares, which is where I was shopping. When I got to the check-out and began the process, I asked the lady if I could have the senior discount of 15%, too. She looked up at me and said, "That's for people 50 and older..." so I had to prove my age by showing my driver's license. She made my day---minus 15%!

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Julia did not need any lunch so I got myself a drink and stopped at Great Hang Ups for a bit. She commented that my hair was getting so light, and asked me if I dyed it that color. Nope, it must be from the sun or the pool water bleaching it out. When Dee came in, she also remarked about my hair turning lighter, both of them complimentary. Last night I got a message from my friend, Michelle, who had seen my pool photo on Facebook and told me I was so cute, especially with the red hair. Red? Okay, which is it---red or white?

Some photos from the week

Evelyn came to church for the first time in at least a year. She looked great and was so welcomed back. Even got hugs from the Langley boys which warmed my heart!

Fran is getting some dessert for herself and Andy. Isn't that cake cute? It looks like a slice of watermelon!

Come one, come all! Well, it was a great idea anyway! No one came to the event as a drive-by, but they might at least keep us in mind when they are making preschool plans or looking for a home church!

Brett with a smiling face---so very nice to see! One of our earliest students at Precious Lambs, he is seated next to two of his new brothers. Behind them are Kim and Deb, talking with Evelyn.

Judy C. was right----we needed the tablecloths on the tables! They do brighten the place up and set off the buffet table as well. Fausto and Bonnie shown filling their plates.

Three of our alumni, Phoebe and her cousins, Mika and Luis, joined us for the celebration. I can't believe how big they are getting!

Sue B. is hard at it on Saturday, mowing our lawn at church, making sure everything looked nice for Sunday.

Suzanne and Laurie have a snuggly moment before the event got totally underway

This wall in the classroom building is end to end photos of the students, staff, and leadership of Precious Lambs Preschool over the years. "Feeding the Sheep" for 10 years at Good Shepherd!

"Feeding the Sheep" for 10 Years

Yes, I feel ashamed of myself for doubting. No, more for wearing undo stress over things which are outside of my management or control. Janet B. was right to say, "STOP IT! Quit stressing!!!", in her imitable style. That was just what I needed. To sum it up, before I relate the entire day's events, there was more than enough food, more than enough help with the take-down and clean-up, and plenty of time to rest in the pool. By the way, it is NOT a good idea to report loudly that you are there to relieve yourself while in the pool. Boy, they are so quick with that yellow caution tape around the pool area.......I really did say that, but quickly corrected my choice of words!

Janet B---this photo taken in my dining room

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Saturday's set-up went well, with two men doing the heavy lifting and two ladies doing the vacuuming and chair placement. The floor, littered after VBS with schnibbles and cruddlies, needed to cleaned up before the tables were placed. I think I covered the set-up sufficiently in my Saturday posting. On Sunday I stopped at Publix on the way to church to pick up my fruit tray which weighed 100 pounds plus a container each of potato salad and macaroni salad. Judy C., my BFF, was concerned that there would not be enough side dishes, but boy, was she wrong! I brought my cookies home, as well as most of the 2 containers. My potato chips were the only ones there so they nearly were wiped out. Glad I thought to pick those up! I was prepared to give the guys money to run to the store if we needed more meat for cooking but it turned out they did not even cook up all the purchased hot dogs or burgers.

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With sending out all those invitations and the other promotions for the anniversary of the preschool, I fully expected to have a churchful of folks, or at least, a full fellowship hall. Not so much....My guess is that about a half dozen non-member families came, and not all of them for lunch. Disappointing? Yes! But, as my friend, Ellen, pointed out to me later at the pool, the ones who needed to be there were there! After a certain point, no, right from the beginning of the plans being made, this was not my control, but the Lord's. Those who were in attendance for the lovely worship service and fantastic meal were blessed to be there, and I am rejoicing over it!

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Of course, being the close of VBS as well as the anniversary, the kids sang two songs, one from their VBS week and one hymn, "I Am Jesus' Little Lamb", the latter being one from Timmy's funeral. Gulp! Suzanne was their director (as well as playing viola pre-service, setting up the games, and bringing pasta salad...she was supposed to count the offering, too, but that didn't happen!). She wore her bumble bee antennas as she directed the kids. Pastor had told me that he strongly encouraged the non-member VBS children to come and sing but not one did. The alumni of the preschool were invited to come forward to sing the hymn but none of them did either. Brett L. said he would have if other kids his age went up. He was in the class after Timmy's, and none of the first class students were there. We did have some empty seats in the fellowship hall for the meal which means fewer than 100 dined with us.

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The highlight of the service, of the day, for me was unrelated to the anniversary, however. One of our charter members, Evelyn Rubbert, came to church after being away, shut in, for nearly a year!!! And she looked like a million bucks!!! Every hair in place and dressed so nicely. I have a picture of her I will post when I unload my camera later on. She is the epitome of a come-back-kid....and it was just so wonderful to see her again. Fran Kelley made the effort to go and pick her up, while also dealing with her failing husband.

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The closing hymn was "Go, My Children, With My Blessing", another of the funeral hymns, chosen for that very special reason. I knew it was coming and helped Evelyn find the page, keeping my hymnal in my lap. About partway through the first stanza, my friend, Carol, showed up, sitting in the pew in front of me. (Here come the tears again.....) She reached back and I squeezed her hand in acknowledgement and thanks. After church, since she was not staying for the luncheon, she gave me a hug and then said, "I couldn't leave you sitting there like that...." I know, Carol, I know....I love my friends! There is nothing like dear, Christian friends, you know? After the service, Pastor gave me a hug and said he tried not to look at me during the service because a couple times HE was getting choked up!

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A related thought: Judy C., at my request, ordered a bouquet of flowers for this special service and after all the mess was cleaned up, I took them to the cemetery. It had been a while since I was there and the little fence had come up from around the tree which was donated by Carol and family in Timmy's memory. The fence got stuck back into the soil, and the flowers placed in the vase. I took a single flower, as is our tradition, now only my tradition, to place on the marker of Carol's son's grave nearby. For nearly ten years we have done this, imagine that....

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We had such a great crew help with the take down, people hustling about with tables and chairs and vacuuming and hauling trash and carrying dishes....Jayne's new family has some big boys in it and they picked up the tables as though they were made of cardboard. It made me laugh to see how easily they could carry a table, could probably run a decent foot race carrying a table in each hand! Ladies were busy in the kitchen, washing the dishes left behind and such. Before the meal, a team of ladies, lead by Janet, got all the foods onto the buffet before Judy C. even was out of church! (Remind me again why I was so concerned???) By about 1:30, the whole event was over. Judy and I were in the kitchen wrapping up and I said, "Wanna come over and float around in my pool the rest of the day?" and she said, "That sounds like a great idea!", so she did! After my cemetery stop and getting my clothes changed, I headed out and was in the water right after 2:00 pm! Judy got there about 15-20 minutes after me. She met several of my friends and enjoyed 'relieving herself' in my pool. Judy did not stay out there, though, until after 6:00 pm like I did as she had things to do at home. She goes to bed early because she gets up at 5:00 a.m. to be at Suzanne's before they leave for work. It's about a 25 minute ride each way for Judy, much longer, of course, for those going to work or to their jobsite for the day. Danny, the cabana boy, served me my drinks while I was in the pool and life was good along the river for a Sunday afternoon.

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To God be the glory, great things He hath done!