Working backwards

Tuesday in Manty was a lovely day, with high temps in the 80’s, windy and even a crash of thunder to startle us at one point. Lynn did not hang her wash out today as it was predicted to be a stormy one but that really did not materialize. In fact, her wash would have been dried in no time at all in the wonderful breezes. Oh well….instead, we went to have breakfast at Warren’s Restaurant, although one of us actually had breakfast!

From there we went to Hartmann’s Garden Center where Mom found some flowers to plant in her window box and I found a lovely glass candle holder on sale in the gift shop. And made a friend, who enjoyed looking at the pretties as much as I did! We also made a trip to Wal*Mart to get a few things but we were warned of a pending storm complete with hail so hurried through the store to avoid being pelted. That never did happen so we rushed for no reason. After dropping off Lynn at her home again, Mom and I came back and wrestled our purchases up to her apartment. Whew! Who knew “Bonanza” was such a fun show to watch in the middle of the day?

Since I had trouble going to sleep last night, it felt good to take a short nap before having dinner at The Green Street with Lynn, Jill, and Danny. Perch! At long last, I had my perch, and no bones caught in my throat, either. Oh, so good! Mom was tired so opted to stay home but I brought her a piece of poppyseed torte and a perch filet to enjoy at home.

Earlier at Wal*Mart, I got a bottle of Tylenol PM to take for sleeping, normally breaking one in half at bedtime. That might have been my problem last night, as I had not brought any along for this trip. Tonight will certainly be a good sleep!

Monday morning some of us met for coffee at Manitowoc Coffee before heading out to the curb to watch the Memorial Day parade. What a delight it was to see the patriotic parade, soldiers and sailors and even Civil War re-enactors march along ‘main street’. (I took many photos but have not a way to unload them here, will have to wait until I am at home or perhaps on Jill’s computer, if she has a place to insert my photo card in her printer. That would be awesome!) Lisa and her family joined Mom, Lynn, and me to wave and put our hands on our hearts when the flag came by. At one point, when packing up, I realized my purse was not with me, and I rushed back into the coffee shop building to see if it was in there. Sure enough, one of the shop owners had just discovered it hanging on a chair and asked me, “Are you looking for this?” I hugged and kissed her and wished her God’s blessings for saving me losing my purse. Love love love this small town culture!!!

In the afternoon, Alayna and I attended a graduation party at church while the rest of the family went to Lisa’s house in Sheboygan for a cook-out. Naomi’s party was a true delight and I enjoyed chatting with some ladies there, some of whom are life-long acquaintances and one, a Facebook friend! We stayed about an hour or so and then headed to Lisa’s, arriving in time to eat again. They had a bonfire going in the backyard which was most welcome as it was NOT in the 80’s for Memorial Day! Lisa made apple and cherry ‘pies’ on her bonfire using a camping tool called Camp Chef, with simple slices of bread and pie filling. Yummy! Angelo, was, of course, adorable as all get out, laughing at himself in the mirror on his bouncing seat. Love it!

When we got back to the apartment, I watched a couple episodes of “House” before Mom and I watched the reunion show of M*A*S*H last night before going to bed, and, as mentioned, I had troubles going to sleep.

Sunday was graduation in the afternoon at MLHS and I got to see so many people that I knew. Family members and extended family from the in-law side of the family, folks I knew from FG days, and met Lisa’s pastor from where the boys attend school. She introduced me as the “auntie who writes the thank you notes” for the tuition help her family got for the boys’ education. I began to thank him some more and got choked up, explaining, “I cry easily…” and he said, “It must run in the family!” which made us laugh! She is just like me in that respect. His wife will be the boys’ teacher this next semester, both in the same classroom for 2011-12.

It was a quiet evening on Sunday, as we were tired from our full day of worship, fellowship, and then more fellowship around a large table at “Fork and Knife” restaurant with the family and Tom and Linda. The waitress did a fine job taking care of all of us, with Lori and David leaving right from there for home. Lisa and family were there, too, as they stayed overnight at the hotel where Lori was, enjoying the pool in the evening after Danny’s party, which was on Saturday. A nice weekend all in all for them.

As I mentioned, I have tons of photos to share but they will have to wait until I can unload them somewhere. We were in the news paper, my family was, either at MLHS graduation or at the parade. Celebs all!

A Memorial of my own!

I made it! I am here! Against the odds, I eventually arrived in WI later Friday evening than my itinerary indicated I would. Justin came to my house on Friday morning, telling me that he would come not long after he woke up that a.m., as he told me on Thursday, “I don’t want you to have any stress…” Somehow, that did not work out once I left Jacksonville. After my tearful farewell to him at the airport, I navigated without incident through security, going through the “put your arms over your head and make moose ears” screening device, which was more of a test of following simple directions than anything else. I did not mind being called “young lady” one little bit.

The flight to Atlanta was swift and without incident, and I made my way to the next gate with time to spare, allowing for a Chik Fil A sandwich and even some Aunt Annie’s cinnamon pretzel sticks. We boarded our flight to MKE, I was on track to have Lori and David collect me there on their way to Manitowoc. All seated, buckled in, and then the announcement came: “This is your Captain. When we landed we had one of the three generators not operating, which is fine, but now that the tail generator was disconnected, we see that we lost a 2nd generator. Who is optimistic with me that the mechanics can repair it in 20 minutes like they think?” I did not offer my support on this. Glad I didn’t because the repair they attempted failed and I had not charged my phone in the airport as I should have, leaving me with limited battery power. I borrowed a phone from the young lady next to me (we eventually because quite familiar as you will hear) and called Mom to let her know, asking her to call Lori and let them know.

Well, we had to get off the plane again and were told to wait in the gate area for further information, except those who had to make connections. They were sent down the hall to rebook. Immediately I located an outlet and charged my phone, sending text messages to Lori about the situation. The pilot stayed with us the entire ordeal, herding us from gate to gate before we found a plane that could leave once it landed. Three times we changed gates, and three times we boarded the planes, en masse. I felt most badly for the service people trying to get home to see their families on leave, and others on the plane had tickets for the Brewers’ game that night. Instead of arriving in MKE at 4:00 pm as planned, my plane landed around 7:45. And my heroes, Lori and David, found stuff to do instead of ditching me in MKE! My family and I were planning a dinner at Charcoal Grille that night but cancelled that as well. It was so wonderful to get upstairs to Mom’s and situated. For my inconvenience, I was given a $100 travel voucher from Delta…We’ll see if that is all I get, once I pursue this a bit further.

Saturday morning a group of my family went to have coffee (soda) at Manitowoc Coffee downtown where I saw some people I knew from the old days. Former neighbors and fellow builders who were host parents for one of the foreign exchange students graduating from Lutheran High Sunday. Nice! In the building where the coffee shop was housed were also a couple gift shops where Lori bought a purse. The man running the shop, I discovered, was a former classmate of mine, actually a year older than me, had a crush on me 100 years ago, as was indicated in my yearbook. (Proof!!!) He did not recognize me but I knew him. Lori got the MLHS alumni discount when buying a purse from his shop!

Kerry, Lori, and I went to run some errands for the graduation party to be held that afternoon for my nephew, Danny, and found a stand selling brats. Oh my! And do I love Festival Foods grocery store, too! The brat was delicious, would have to hold me over until I get my first perch sandwich, which was to have been Friday night!!!!!

More later, time for the Memorial Day Parade downtown! Thank you, service members, active and retired, for your service, and thanks to those whom we are remembering today!

The clock is ticking....

Here it is, 5:30 pm, and I still have not packed for my trip. I wish I had a midsized piece of luggage to use rather than my giant-sized suitcase but oh, well. Even though it is cold up there, by compare to FL, I am not taking my big, fluffy sweaters along, leaving more room for packing. It would stink to pack in too small a piece and then have to struggle in getting stuff home again. Sometimes it happens that items come home with me, but am not sure if much shopping will take place or if it’s needed. Shopping can be just plain fun too!

Right now the sliding doors are open as are the exterior doors. When I left for Bible study this a.m., I turned on the A/C to run until I returned in order for me to open the kitchen door. Justin was warned about this in case he comes over when I am away, although the humidity might be lower with the doors closed. He suggested over lunch that the door could be sanded down or adjusted in some way to prevent that from happening. We shall see about that…

Mmmm….somebody’s grille smells good! Not sure where it is coming from but it sure smells awesome. Hopefully the weather will improve enough in WI for us to have at least one fry-out at Mom’s. At least the church picnic will provide such burgers and brats, and the home-baked pies and cakes and bars! Starting right away tomorrow night, there are plans at some point in the day, except for Wednesday. Thursday Lynn, Linda and I are having lunch at Harborside before Linda and I get our nails done across the street. Wish I had not hacked away at my toes but certainly the professionals can repair the damage. Hope they don’t call me a ‘butcher’ like happened to me once with Cindy Sholes!! “You, butcha, you”, “you come back, every two week…” from the nice Asian woman.

Sunday night I saw Butch, the repairman, at the house concert. One of my former customers was there, too, and she was asking me about my house, if things were all put back together and such. Another lady standing nearby asked what happened, and Butch told her the whole long story. Later I apologized to him for having to repeat our sad lament but he said it was fine. He sort of likes to tell the story, a very animated little guy. We can look each other directly in the eye, that is how short he is! Now, it seems, he will have to talk to me some more as the insurance company for the folks below me wish to discuss my policies and such. That will need to wait until I am back home in FL, but I have forwarded the information to my insurer. Certainly they have the ‘power’ to address these issues, likely being no stranger to subrogation, the legal term for this action. In answer to Merry’s question, yes, I love my house! Especially when it’s not leaking on me, or me on anyone else!

Remember, folks, that Mom is on dial-up service in Manty so my blog posting might be less than daily. Perhaps you need a break from me anyway. See you when I get to Manty!

The count down continues....

....to departure time! Judy C. was here tonight so we could make our flight arrangements for our shared ride north to the national Worship Conference in MN. She did not wish to wait to do this when I got back so we had planned to meet after choir rehearsal. I hated to do that to her since she has to get up so early in the morning to babysit but that's all we could work out. Then, at 6:30 pm, Robbie, The Maestro, called to tell me choir was cancelled because so many were not available to rehearse. Great! Immediately I called Judy and she came over to plan the trip. We had tried using her computer to register for the Conference but it would not allow us to connect or something a few months ago so opted to do the travel arranging from here instead.

My trip and hers are ending quite differently as I come home again in August from WI. At least we are flying up together, and as far as I know, we might even sit together. The website, Travelocity, would not allow me to process my trip, kept telling me to try again later, so I did Judy's instead, with no problems. After entering ALL that information multiple times for my reservation and not being able to complete the transaction, I switched over to Orbitz.com and made the reservation! Ta da! Without having the reservations side by side (hers was e-mailed to her home e-mail instead of to me), I had to make the seat selections. If we do not end up together, perhaps people will trade with us so we can!

There was a Board Meeting for the condo but I missed that, knowing I likely would anyway with choir and this meeting with Judy. Hopefully I can wrap up The Palace Press when in WI, using Jill's computer. If I do not get the official Minutes in time, then Ellen can give me the low-lights of the meeting. Most of the newsletter is ready, just waiting to fill in some blanks.

Earlier in the day, I met my two lady friends, Betty and Robin C., for lunch at Longhorn on the Island. The place was simply crawling with police, actually from the Sheriff's department, in support of Special Olympics. I was escorted to the table by a young man in a motorized chair, and handed my menu by him as well. Others 'working' were special needs kids in conjunction with the CCSO and staff. It was great to spend time with the two ladies again and get caught up on their news and situations. Betty has a possibility for a job and I am so hoping she gets an interview for it. She fears she might lose her home and then what? It was the home built by her father somewhat from a kit, she lived there with her mom, and now, she owns it. She and the bank, that is. My heart hurts for her situation. Betty is also taking three classes during the summer semester, good for her!

When I got back home after lunch, I got ready for the pool. Only a few folks were out there, more on the kid's end of the pool area. The lifeguard had turned on the music so it was nice when I was doing my 'laps'. My upstairs neighbor's cousins, regular visitors, were down there and it was great to chat with them. They come from PA several times a year and are so nice. They are a married couple, official "kissing cousins" of Donna's, one from each side of her family! How about that???? They were leaving this evening to fly back into PA and I hope the weather allows for safe flights.

When the sun went behind a tree, I opted to come back in and get things organized before my trip. I folded and put away some laundry, got items ready for the luggage including my long-johns, as it's quite cold up north these days! I can hardly wait to stand along Eighth Street for the Memorial Day parade...yikes! My family is freezing and when Judy was here, she closed the sliding glass doors because I had the shivers. We were sitting in the breeze in the river room. "You should not have to shiver in your own home!", she said. Once the other doors were closed, however, the breeze was not moving through the house and it is fine for sleeping. At least I think so!

Tuesday night at Trivia, our little team of 4 people, went from 1st place at halftime, to not even ranking in the second half. We came away as LOSERS, somehow. Some of the answers were easy to get, including the 'free' answer provided on their website, but others, as always, kick our butts! While I am gone we are taking a break and as Jesse suggested, we need to study the Oscars, rock music, and sports. No small order there...since the questions are sometimes quite obscure information. There is trivia and then there is 'what?????'

Today I stink!

And not from sunscreen like the other day. No, because I have made poor use of my time today, neglecting to post in the a.m. as originally planned. With so much to say, I should not delay another moment.

As I sit here typing, my toenails are visible which means I should have found time to get to Middleburg for a pedicure. Otherwise I will simply have to get them done in WI. Remind me to take them along! Last year I decided not to have them polished during the summer because the pool is hard on my toes, wrecking the polish in no time at all. Not even wearing the annoying water shoes prevents this so I might do the same thing this season. Since I normally do not sport sandals, it matters not if they look like bratwurst with ketchup, when I go out. At the pool, my bare feet look just fine with undecorated toes!

Perhaps I do not stink so badly after all, thinking back to what I did accomplish today. The mail has been taken care of, being held for me until my return; had a nice lunch with my Justin at Koko's; spent a bit of time with the ladies at Great Hang Ups; started working on The Palace Press newsletter which hopefully I can finish in Manty on my sister's computer; did a load of wash in preparation for packing; paid some bills on-line; thought about which books to take with me; talked on the phone with two Judys; drank two bottles of water since getting home from lunch; wrote two cards to shut-ins and got them ready to mail...that's enough! Opted to not take time for the pool and such since the lunch came up rather abruptly. The way I like it! Also, am making plans to meet two friends tomorrow so we can have lunch and say "good-bye" for a couple weeks. Whew!

It is a gorgeous day, weather-wise, but my sis-in-law, Mona, told me the temperature in Manty was in the 50's today. Yikes! Going to need the long pants and warmer shirts. Mom has a jacket I can borrow that used to belong to me, so won't need to take one with me. Mona told me that Sharon is doing better, responding well to the antibiotics, sitting up to eat, and laughing. Great news!

Last night the sleep was good, although I did wake up once or twice, able to fall back to sleep. There was a dream this a.m. but right now, I cannot recall it. My eyes are rested but somehow, I feel like a nap would be welcome at this moment...huh. That reminds me---I must grab my "driving down the road" glasses from the car, in case I do some night driving in Manty. And my car charger for the phone as well. Mental notes going on here...excuse me a moment...there!

Let me see now, what happened since the weekend? Did I mention being at the pool both Saturday and Sunday? Both visits allowed me to have a hot dog from the cabana, with a strawberry margarita one time, and a pina colada the next day. Many of the regulars were around, some enjoying the water, others enjoying the cabana being open. Sunday, the staff was experimenting with some treats and made me a tiny glass of a shake, which was ice cream sandwiches mixed with some milk and ice. Oh my, what a refreshing treat it was! Randy W. had come out to take the water's temperature, declaring it to be 86 above zero but my thinking is he measured too close to the shallow water where it's always warmer. In other words, the water was too cold for my tastes, but I hung in there, so bravely!

Saturday, my friends, Fran and Rick, met me poolside, and it was great to catch up in person instead of via Facebook. Rick is a pharmacist, enjoying a week of vacation, culminating at the pool. He told me I did not have to take the Mobic (my bad knee medicine), instead taking over-the-counter Aleve or store-brand equivalent. This would prevent my needing to go back to the doctor for a check-up at six months to check my kidneys. Nice! He suggested taking the Aleve in the a.m. so it lasts all day, instead of the evening as I am doing now. Despite me making a face about that, I can try to remember to do that. It has to be taken with food which is a problem in the a.m. since I am not much of a breakfast eater. Eating in bed is no problem, when I normally take it, but in the morning is nearly a deal breaker! Rick is a confirmed Kindle user and spoke highly of its value. Good to know!

Sunday after my time in the pool, I joined some of my other neighbors on the 5th floor at Michelle's house for a concert. Kort McCumber, a St. Johns grad and now professional musician, is traveling with his musical partner, James, who is from Superior, WI. They played only the bouzouki and acoustic guitar, with Kort's sister, Beth, joining on several numbers with her violin. The music is mainly folk-style, original pieces, incorporating local sites in many of the tunes. Not sure if everyone around the US enjoys hearing the charms of Clay County or Middleburg, or Jacksonville, but we sure did! It ended tearfully, as the entire group raised a cup of champagne in salute of Michelle and her daughter, Maya, as they are moving out. Michelle is being divorced after nearly 25 years of marriage, her spouse's company buying their condo at an extremely discounted amount, so the two ladies are moving to the Beaches area before relocating overseas in the fall. Maya will be attending college in London for a semester, a student of voice, while her mom returns to her family home in France. She is keeping the place at the beach as their 'headquarters' in the US. It was quite sad, as you might imagine, as her friends and neighbors wished them well. Kort performed her favorite song, Marjory, as his closing number, and there was hardly a dry eye on the veranda....

Sunday before pool time but immediately after church, MamMa and Jeff came upstairs so she could try out my potty. She is quite petite but has troubles getting up again in her bathroom, so I thought my raised height toilets would be ideal. Only, it is exactly what she has now! Either Tracy did not realize that, or she thought mine be higher than theirs. Jeff thinks they might go to the health aid store to see about getting an attachment for the seat, but I fear that may too high for MamMa. Oh well, she took mine for a test drive anyway!

Monday was Bible study and then lunch, when I said more tearful 'good-byes' to the ladies. Gretchen gave me a couple hugs to-go, for Lynn and Mom, and I took an extra long one for myself, getting a bit choked up. I love her so much! Jackie was jealous her hug was not as long so I gave her another one to hold her over. Wednesday night I will say 'farewell' to the choir members and then that should be it until Thursday when I say 'bye' to the Victory Bible study folks. Nothing matches saying 'good-bye' to my boy, though, which we will do at the airport on Friday. His father offered to take him along to WI in June, as he and his lady friend are coming up for one or both of the graduations, but Justin refused. He does NOT want to travel more than a day at a time, and that's it! Unless it's on a cruise or something....hmmmmm.

Listening to the breezes

What a gorgeous evening it is! The breeze off the river is a delight, not too hot outside right now, after being near 95 most of the day. It felt great to be in the pool and alongside today, in fact, my shoulders are aware that I spent the past three afternoons in the water. When I hang on the edge of the pool and do my bicycles, my shoulders support me, as best they can. Thank heaven for buoyancy!

My eyes are like pokers tonight so this posting might not be lengthy but I can make up for it in the morning. It seems as though being in the sun so long this afternoon made my eyes tired, even though often they were closed. Maybe those wrap around sunglasses were not a bad idea! Also, I had dinner this evening with Terri T. where we each had a blue drink at Blu Tavern. It is new, where a bbq or two used to be on Wells Road. I loved it there, lots of blue accents and decorating, sort of like the Blu Grotto looked like on Fleming Island. I hope this place does better than Grotto did.

Interesting news from the weekend, aside from the horrendous destruction from the weather, from the getting-crowded political field. Wow, this is getting exciting! Who's next to enter the fray? The tornado news from MO is awful but also areas in and around Minneapolis and even Oshkosh, where my sister, Kerry, lives had serious storms. If it isn't flooding, it's tornadoes...and people worry about us living in Florida with hurricanes. At least we get a bit of a head's up that it is coming!

I will check back tomorrow with more words, as my fingers are lazy tonight! Hugs!

A smile on my heart!

Angelo with his brothers and Mama were outside today, enjoying a lovely day, at long last. The two older boys and Lisa were reading together and Angelo just looked around and amused himself. I hope the weather is decent when I am up there!