It appears to be a glorious day

As I finished my bowl of raspberry sherbet (yes, I finally got my sherbet), I was savoring the lasting flavor of the fruitiness, Justin had called me. He had to tell about a marvelous treat he was enjoying, Diet Coke with raspberry flavoring. He assured me it was still diet but I cannot imagine how this can be. Justin got his lunch at Moe’s, a Southwestern-style eatery not far from our ‘old’ office where he is busily preparing for the upcoming yard sale. Moe’s has this fascinating Coke machine that supplies over a hundred flavors for the drinks. He chose the raspberry and said he swore he felt the little seeds in his mouth, though there were none. He wants me to go there to get one, just to try it.

Justin uses a hands-free device for talking on the phone so he can work as he talks. (This reminds of my friend, Carol, expressing her dismay at me being able to do this. She cannot---it’s one, or the other for her, never both!) He related his weekend in Orlando at his friend’s wedding, for which Jesse was best man, and his other former housemate, Ron, a groomsman. The bride, named Kim, declared Justin to be her “Jacksonville secretary” because he kept things in order and running smoothly on this end, as the bridal couple live down state. The parents of the bride also thanked Justin for his assistance, and Kim said she could not have done this without him. He is the grown-up of the group, especially when it comes to keeping things organized and on schedule. He told me last night how, after the all the groomsmen had gotten dressed in their hotel room, he went behind them and picked things up. Said the place was trashed with the hangers, plastic bags, pins, and ‘tuxedo stuff’, plus the guys street clothes. He made it all nice and tidy while they were gone for photos.

Jesse, as best man, was struggling a bit preparing for his speech, thinking of a funny story or something to share with the room. He did not want to stand up there with note cards, wanted it to seem ‘off the cuff’, so did memorize his speech. Jesse told me that he did pretty good, only lost his place a couple times, and yes, got choked up a bit. Justin and he both told me how Jesse had to be up right after the father of his bride read a multi-page poem he wrote to his daughter. Not a dry eye in the house, I guess. I told Jesse it’s hard to go on ‘stage’ after a pet or a child…..add to that now, a tearful poem by the father of the bride! Jesse could have used his note cards and not lost his place, as Justin described to me, in radio lingo, of having "dead-air". But he recovered nicely and gave a very well-received best man speech. Justin nearly got to fill in for one of the groomsmen who had failed to show up for the fitting, if only Justin could have squeezed into the guy’s tuxedo! The brother of the groom just needed a reminder call….

We played Trivia last night, Justin and Jesse joining Stephanie, Erica, and Trisha, their family friend, and me. The first half of the game we were on fire, I think only one wrong answer if at all. I did great coming up with the correct answers that I did, proud of me! The second half, not so good. Some really sticklers for questions, including having to determine which brand came first: Teflon or Tupperware? Roller blades or jet skis? Sprite or 7-Up? There is one more but I cannot think right now what it is…We got every guess wrong!

The UPS man just came to the door, bringing me a new book and my lapdesk. I had a 15% discount card to use from Barnes and Noble, and no shipping, so I ordered the lapdesk for using with the little computer when I am on the bed. Hopefully it works as well as my pillow does now! The book I ordered is called “Why Johnnie Can’t Sing Hymns” and I cannot wait to crack it open, but will. First things first! As I type, I am snacking on my dehydrated veggies which I managed to find at Publix. This way Ellen won’t have to pick them up for me at Whole Foods or Natural Market anymore. Books and dehydrated veggies---what’s next???

Some pictures for your listening and dancing pleasure!

My church hosted a Christian group, Branches Band, which comes from Milwaukee. Beforehand, our two chefs, Mike 'n Mike, prepared a soup and salad supper with about 20 in attendance. I even have leftovers of the chicken wild rice soup for the rest of the week!

Two of the entertainers with their CD sales, and in the foreground, our newest member, Sterling. He is the man who had the bicycle accident last Wednesday on his way to church. It is his right side which is banged up, can't see it in the photo.

The young lady on the left is the soprano from the group with a pure voice. Very nice, especially when singing "Amazing Grace", accompanied only on the keyboard. My favorite number of the night!

This is the chancel area of the Open Bible Lutheran Church where our mission rally was held last Saturday. All the furnishings were hand-built. I really like the wall treatment, it reminds me of the walls from my house in The Preserve, over burgundy.

Two of my friends, Ruth and Barb (in red). Barb and her husband, Doug, used to be members at Good Shepherd years ago. Ruth is the grandma of Tarren and is the mom of Mark. She had invited me to a sleepover at her house for the Rally but then uninvited me! Her sisters were coming down from up north and it just wasn't going to work out this time. Victory hosts next fall and I invited these two ladies to stay with me if they come up!

Here are Gretchen and Judy C. in their seats before the opening devotion. Someone at church asked how we got to the Rally and Judy said, "The Chappell van..." I chimed in with, "Instead of a church bus, we have Chappell van!" I just tear myself up!!!

A home-baked cookie!

Yes, I was treated to a wonderful home-made cookie, from scratch, I'm told, tonight when I got home from church. Jessica, my upstairs neighbor, returned my scrapbooking supplies which were borrowed for Beckham's birthday party. She brought with her a cookie the size of a small pizza, on a paper plate.

Not only did I get a cookie, but also carried home a container of chicken and wild rice soup from our dinner tonight. Mike S. made that batch of soup, while Mike C. had made the chicken noodle soup. It was his first time ever and truly was delicious. I also had some pasta salad with assorted vegetables chopped into it. One of the other men donated pizza thinking the kids would not like having soup and salad only, and since we had only a few folks in attendance to eat, there was plenty of pizza for us all to have some. A friend of Brian's who came for the concert was able to take an entire pie home with her. The concert I mentioned, Branches Band, from Milwaukee, performed in front of the church on a keyboard, bongo drums, and guitars. It was not bad, entertaining but not over the top. A couple of the tunes were a bit more 'spirited' than I like but we were invited to sing along on "In Christ Alone" and a couple other hymns.

Stephanie and Erica came to sit with me, and before the concert began, Stephanie leaned over and told me Erica said on Sunday, "I'm glad Kim's not here today..." and I knew exactly why. They sang "In Christ Alone" at Victory and she knows I would cry, and then Erica would cry, and then Stephanie would cry...I had to laugh about that. We did not cry tonight, though Erica was ready with the tissues! While it was being played and sung, my phone was going off, on vibrate. Sure enough---it was Justin. I tried to hang it up but it would not hang up. Erica chuckled as she watched me valiantly attempt to do the 'hang up' move on the screen. He called back again, and I sent him a text message telling him in was at church, asking "Can it wait?" Justin sent me a reply saying he saw something about Manitowoc on a TV show he was watching, a place called "Washington Ice", an ice cream parlor. I would have thought it was in Two Rivers, the home of the sundae, but he said they said Manitowoc.

Things are back to normal on the radio/Internet for me today after folks were off on vacation last week, although there seems to be a problem with the streaming again. Thought that had been resolved but at least I have iTunes to hold me over. The other day I was thinking to myself that I wish I had spent more money for the DVD player built into my laptop but really, because it is not there, makes it much lighter to carry. And substantially less costly. For the difference in cost, I can go to the TV and put in the DVD in the player rather than having it right under my nose.

This a.m. we began a new Bible study from the book of Matthew, beginning with the triumphal entry into the Jerusalem. There is a video which matches word for word the text from the Bible, and it is interesting to see it acted out. It seems fairly historically accurate, not much license taken. There was one scene showing Jesus holding a little boy in His arms and it moved me. Such a picture! And one I love to see, and consider.

After class we went to Longhorn, and today I ordered from the children's menu like the others do. I have enough leftovers in the fridge to last me so I wanted to order something I could consume in one sitting. The small sirloin was just right in size and done-ness, and cost! Some of my beef roast is left in the fridge plus the to-go box from Koko's last week. Yikes, that might be too old very soon! Better have that tomorrow for sure. Too full tonight, although we ate very early, 5:30 in order to be all done in time for the concert. We had about 24 people for the event, even though canvassers had gone out and invited the neighborhood, plus put ads on the radio, etc. Two came from Victory and one guy brought his neighbor, who took home the pizza afterward. The rest were our own members. Weeknights might not be the best time for such a concert but they had to work with the troubadour's schedule. Tomorrow they go to GA and then back to MKE. Glad the weather improved for their time here!

Still feeling funky today

After my wonderful day having, as Gretchen referred to it, "a good, Lutheran day", and resting my bones last night, I am yet not up to snuff. Losing the hour of sleep can be to blame or perhaps having something else which causes me distress and heart sickness might as well, can wear on a person. Next week is a special 'meeting' at church which rather has me in a knot.

I did not attend Bible study this a.m. as I was still so sleepy when I woke up, and would rather watch the news from my bed than get up and dressed! I got to church early enough to be one of the only ones inside. Man, it was cold in there! Warmer outdoors than in, and when I woke up, it was 41 above zero! Fortunately after church, it had warmed substantially, to the mid-70's as I drove home.

Robbie, "The Maestro" played for our service today, using the piano to accompany the hymns. The Sunday school children sang the first hymn, "Were You There?", memorizing the first three stanzas, four kids making up the little choir. Sarah, my goddaughter, was supposed to sing also but her daddy came to pick her up after SS. After the kids had returned to their seats, Emily came in and was looking around for Paul and Sarah. I explained that Paul came earlier but that she was not there to sing. It seems he picked her up and went to Sam's Club to buy gas, and then she wanted a doughnut, so he got her one, although she'd had breakfast. Emily was irritated for a number of reasons, not the least being she was scared, wondering what became of them! Plus the little choir could have used Sarah's voice! The five children of the Sunday school made up a tenth of our attendance today, so we need every single voice! Paul and Sarah came in just after the kids finished their anthem.

On the bright side, Marky came to church again this week, and sat with his Aunt Jean. He had called me on Wednesday to find out the service time but did not make it for Ash Wednesday. It delights me beyond measure to have him back at church, making the effort to 'regroup' as it were. There was a little fellowship gathering after the service sponsored by the Outreach folks so I went inside and got a slice or two of salami on crackers, and two home-baked chocolate chip cookies. Mmmm....delicious! Judy and Terri T. were counting today so we did not go to lunch, and I came home after stopping at Publix for soda. Managed to get a few other items as well, as the buy one/get one bins greet us at the door. Today I got more tuna for the stocking-up closet plus some fruit cups to eat with my cottage cheese. I was out of gallon-sized food bags and those were on the BO/GO display as well. Not sure I needed that many bags, nor did I need the brand name, but the price was right. And the Diet Coke, of most import, was buy two and the third is free! Not bad, not good, but not bad, either.

Yesterday's ride to The Villages area was lovely. First, I drove to Judy's house and then together we drove to get Gretchen in Mandarin. I could have gone to pick up Gretchen before going to Judy's but then she would have had to get up even earlier to be ready for me. This way, Gretchen had an extra half hour to ready herself. It took a bit of talking to get her to go, so we wanted to make sure she did! Then the 2 1/2 hour ride, sometimes in the fog, and then through the beautiful horse country. It was interesting to hear about the two ladies' history, those who came from the Missouri Synod churches, where they met each other, and so on. Great stories between them, and about the Schreier's and Zelenak's and others who were formerly LC-MS.

Our speaker for the Rally was a young mother from AZ who is active in the "Truth in Love Ministry", with their focus being the Mormons. She told such interesting details about their religion, how easily folks are fooled into believing the LDS are Christian, and most especially how to witness to them. She has the distinction of being asked to leave the grounds at the temple at Salt Lake City for handing out literature to the Mormons. We had to break for lunch and I got us a table near the doors and the bathroom, greeting the 2 Victory ladies and had them join us. It turned out we were asked to start the buffet line and Judy said, "Good choice of tables, Kim!" We had a catered chicken dinner which was great but the table company even better. Some traveling Kingdom Workers plus a man who serves on the mission board...plus a Facebook friend, Carolyn. Marvelous day, marvelous event!

Only the night before Judy had gotten a phone call that her oldest son, Billie, was in Tampa and would be coming up from there to see her. Rats! She was going to be gone most of the day and would not change her plans but Michael was home to entertain him. He was making ribs on the grille for their dinner and I offered to take Gretchen home so Judy could just go inside to spend one on one time with her son. Oh, and with Michael!

Post script: Imagine my surprise in reading the Forward in Christ (Feb.2011) and see the Kingdom Workers featured, the same couple with whom I dined at lunch yesterday!

Tired to the bone!

But I didn't do anything to make me this tired....unless you count the five hour plus car ride, 'round trip, for the LWMS Rally today. Whew! It was a great day, loved the ride as a passenger and back-seat navigator as Judy C. drove Gretchen and me to The Villages area. We were greeted by our shared friends, Ruth and Barb. They have a lovely, new church building with the narthex/fellowship hall packed full of tables and chairs for their guests. We were told that 170 had indicated they were coming, woman and men, which is the largest ever. I understand that fewer than the 170 came but still it was extremely well attended. My friend, Jennifer, is going to be next president of the group, starting right now! We were supposed to have a fourth member in our group but last night she called Judy to cancel.

Part of the reason I am sleepy is because normally I do not set an alarm clock as I wake up on my own and usually have no tight schedule to keep. But this a.m. I HAD to be sure to be up early in order to be ready to go for the day, and had a rough time going to sleep and then staying asleep. It seemed every little while I would find myself awake, and checking the time. If I was up once, I was up three times! It seems in my sleep I remember hearing that the NFL players were on strike...will have to go on-line and check that out for sure. Tonight for sure I will sleep well...and am ready to get started right now! Good night, all!

Another wacky dream

I have to write quickly while the dream remains in my head, is not replaced by the current terrible news on TV. I wish the earthquake was only a dream.

In my dream, I was in this house (which will make this dream quite unrealistic). When I woke up one morning, my brother-in-law, David, had pulled out the furniture from the walls and patched holes. He did not move the bed because I was in it, nice! He was looking in the game closet in my room for his tool boxes, where he told me he kept a kept a trashy romance novel he read as a 'guilty pleasure'.

Okay, so as I started to get up and move around, Timmy came into my room. (He was already gone before I moved to this house, you know). He needed a dry diaper, so he went to get one, plus some wipers, while I got dressed. I had clothes to wear, except no tops. Where were they??? I put one on that I found in the closet and it was skin tight, evidently not mine, but it did the trick.

In the meanwhile, I went down the hall toward voices, and it was Justin and his father re-arranging furniture in the guest room, trying to find room for Timmy's crib. (the dream changes forth and back from David to Roger.) Timmy was sitting in the hallway, in his highchair, and I was trying to find something to feed him.

Then, suddenly, we were back in my room, and I was horsing around with him, trying to wrestle him onto the bed for the diaper change. He got himself wedged under a drawer, which was pulled out, and was shivering. The wet diaper likely made him cold and I asked him if he wanted to get dressed. He was still a baby, or more a toddler, but apparently went to preschool. As I changed him, he told me about Tony, his friend at school, whom, he said, was "an acquired taste..." Wait! Is that a preschooler's description or an adult's?????

David was telling about signing football players and I asked if the strike was not going to happen. I was assured by the menfolk that a deal had been struck and the NFL was business as usual. What a wacky dream!!!!

*********************

Now that I am awake, I will try to figure out where the dream came from----Justin was here, painting and patching on Tuesday. Where Timmy figures in does not matter, he is welcome anytime, looking just the way I remember him! Justin and I talked about straightening the closets, including the game closet. He also told me he has a 'guilty pleasure' watching "Jersey Shores" on TV (UGH!!!!) That must equal a trashy novel, which must be kept hidden....But, I am curious who Tony is and why he is an 'acquired taste'!!

This morning on Facebook I posted Psalm 121 in full, instead of only a verse or two, in reaction to the earthquake and its resulting devastation. Some of my friends from Victory had lived in Japan and I thought of them first when I heard this news, wondering about their friends and adopted 'family' still over there. I understand from the news reports that all the military folk are present and accounted for, in Japan, as well as the islands and Guam. One of the young men from church recently was stationed to Guam. David was evacuated to safety, grabbing his laptop, iPod, and cigarettes for the trip. At this writing, Hawaii, Alaska, and CA are waiting to see if the tsunamis will hit their coasts or not.

Ethel called a few minutes ago to get the news about Twila. She has no computer, no Internet access or interest, for that matter. The rest of the folks get an e-mail follow-up but hers has to come the old-fashioned way, telephone! Last week I told her I could write her a letter and mail it to let her know what's going on. Which reminds me---I got an e-mail from my Elder and the Council about the upcoming Listening Sunday, which is great. But then yesterday, I got a paper letter in the mail from church as well, about the same topic. My thoughts would be to snail mail to those who do not get e-mails or did not receive the hand-out on Sunday, which is why I sent Mike the attendance sheets after church. Duplication of services, as it were, just like the federal government.

Yesterday, of course, was Bible study at Victory, still reviewing human reason vs. the Scriptures in regard to baptism, reading various Christian theologians' words on the subject. The fastest hour of the week! Justin grabbed a service folder which were being assembled as we left and was sad to see that "In Christ Alone" is one of the hymns for Sunday. When he showed me the page printed out in the folder, Pastor Hoyer asked what we were looking at. I told him Justin was sad he was going to miss singing that new favorite hymn. Then I told Pastor how I sent it to Judy J. in MI for her brother's pending funeral.

As we left church, I asked Justin if he wanted to have lunch, since we had not had lunch together since the day before. (We had met my friend, Robin C., at Koko's. Robin and Justin had worked together for our company so knew each other fairly well.) Justin said he would like to have lunch (it is a formality for me to ask him) and then asked if he could turn on the tap one more time (does that sound just like him???) I gave him a very sad face, of course, and asked him what he wanted now. It seems he cannot locate the dress shirt I got him last year for his grandpa's funeral so asked for a new shirt to wear for their buddy's wedding this weekend. With the obligatory eye-roll and exasperated sigh, I said I would get him a shirt. He has to look nice, it's a reflection on his mama!!!

We rode together to St. Johns Town Center Mall, going first to Old Navy, where he wanted to get a vest and shirt combo. (I am a sucker!) Sadly, this is not the season for sweater vests, or any other kind it seems, so we went to Dillard to check. Fortunately, we did eventually find a button-front navy blue vest and a couple shirts to mix and match with it, which will also work well with his sport coat. Love the sales at Dillard! The wedding is at Disney, complete with carriage ride for the bride and groom, with the reception being at the Grande Floridian Hotel. He has to look nice. The other guys will be in tuxedoes, and I offered to rent him one, too, if he wanted!

For lunch we chose Libretto's Italian where he had a spinach calzone, and I had a regular one. He took half of mine home with him as I have two more meals of Koko's in my fridge to eat yet.

Justin sure wishes I was a fan of "American Idol" but that does not stop him from telling me all about it. He tries to sell me on it but I am so stubborn, refusing to succomb to the 'cakes and circuses' of American Idol...

Justin also borrowed my big camera for the wedding which I took along for him yesterday, plus his insurance card. He is all set for his big weekend. Last night he asked me if he could come by to get one of our long-term passes for Epcot. Sure! I asked him to stop at Winn Dixie to get me some raspberry sherbet and he was going to do that. In my fridge is a partially consumed mint chocolate chip ice cream, which I bought last month some time when shopping with Justin. It seems to be sort of gritty feeling in my mouth, as though it has melted and refrozen. He told me it tasted fine on Tuesday when he had a spoonful of it...rascal!

So, anyway, he called back in a few minutes to say his plans had since changed and would not need the pass to Epcot. But he still would have come over to get me sherbet. No, that would not be necessary, I am fine without it, but wasn't that nice? The guys have some time between their tuxedo fittings and the rehearsal today, thinking they would go to Epcot for a few hours. He said, "We aren't sure what we are going to do. It stinks to be in Orlando with no money...." Like they didn't know this wedding was coming up? Or, to spend less on the bachelor party activities and save the money for this weekend instead.

They went bowling last weekend, out to dinner, to a beer place that serves fruit flavored beers in tiny glasses (reminds me of a "Happy Days" episode!), and also to an ice bar. The entire tavern is made of ice, I guess. This would not be on my list of things to do. He told me about two of the groom's cousins, groomsmen, who got up for Mass on Sunday morning. Justin told me, "I like them. They are like adults!", though the same approximate ages as the guys. That's a pretty telling remark!

Oh, another place they went was called "Howlin' at the Wind" which is dueling pianos and a sing-along venue. He said I would probably love going there. So, all that fun and activity last week used up their money for this week. The good news was that one of Justin's friends who is in the wedding, with a degree in civil engineering, finally got a job in Jacksonville. He will be working with my friend, Ricky, who is a draftsman. On his way to becoming an adult as well! This young man and his mom and grandma joined us for Easter dinner last year.

Besides writing this posting I am watching the news from Japan and the destruction. I hope and pray that the coastline of the US is braced for the tsunami heading their way. Makes me wonder what we would do here, on this side of the country if a tsunami was aimed for Jacksonville. Am I up high enough? Would the supports of the building hold? How far inland would the waves wash and would the river rise? I cannot recall any tsunamis forming when Haiti had its earthquake. Is that a Pacific Ocean thing or just not a Gulf of Mexico thing? Hmmmm.......

There was so much more I wanted to write about today but the earthquake replaced it. Forget the madness in Madison and the craziness of Charlie Sheen---the Lord has once again grabbed our attention and said, "Be still! and know that I am God!"

Yawning when it is yet early

For some reason, I feel quite ready to go to bed but it is hardly time for sleeping. If I did, certainly then I would be awake far too early in the morning tomorrow, and throw off my entire schedule. I have none, but that's besides the point. The river is busy with helicopter traffic tonight, looking at me as they go by. Close enough to look in the windows, it seems. Last night and this morning there was a good deal of rain, with Pastor Hoyer reporting eight tenths of an inch in his rain gauge. At least it's not snow!

It was pouring rain when we were in church last night and some of the members had to wade through the deep puddles around their cars in order to home. We had an intimate gathering for Ash Wednesday, two tables were served Holy Communion. Sterling, our newest member, was absent although he was expected to play the bassoon for the service. Later I heard that he'd been in a bicycle accident on his way to church and got banged up a bit. When I asked him once about riding his bike all that way, and his reply was, "Only about 35 minutes..." He comes from around the Roosevelt Mall area, using Blanding Blvd. as his corridor, which is where his fall occurred. When I communicated with him later via Facebook, he told me he hit a reflector on the pavement which caused him to flip right over, basically end for end. A passerby stopped to assist him, offered a lift home, but Sterling thought he'd continue on to church. The driver said, "You had better look in a mirror, first...." and at that point, seeing the bleeding and abrasions, etc., decided to just accept the ride and go home. He had to make a repair to the bike, but his bassoon was none the worse for the wear. Yikes! Sterling could have been run over by a car or something. What a trouper he is!

We did not have choir rehearsal either as Robbie had to rush off to babysit his little nephews so his sister, Laurie, could go to the hospital to watch "American Idol" with their mom, Carol. Whew! There were not enough of the members there to actually practice anyway so it's okay.

Carol had knee surgery and was expecting to go home but since she ran a fever, had to stay longer. Twila had her surgery this a.m. and I was getting updates via e-mail most of the morning, plus Jean, her sis-in-law, called me once Twila was in CCU again. All went well, as expected, and we breathed a sigh of relief, knowing this for sure! We have a good and gracious God!!