Some graduation shots, plus one not a graduation shot!

This photo was taken at the Ungemach graduation party that I crashed in my effort to meet in person my Facebook friend, Patty. She is a cousin to the mother of the graduate and has connections with other mutual friends throughout Facebook Land. Linda J. and I arrived just in time to find Patty and her husband as they were leaving to go home to the Chicago area. Timing was perfect and made my day! It was a fun party, too, as many of my other Facebook and real life friends were inside....

This would be the NOT a graduation shot, taken of Dolly and me at the Fork and Knife. We have been friends since 4th grade. After several years of less than regular contact, my phone rang when on the cruise ship in Alaska, with Dolly on the other end, stepping outside her box to say, "I was thinking of you after hearing "Angel of the Morning" on the radio." Ever since then, we are very regular in our contact and see each other at least once when I am in WI. Hugs, Dolly!!!

My niece, Tabitha, posed with her cake for graduation, as her other auntie, Barb, looked on. Harv, Barb, Kevin, and I had dinner with her family at their home and later enjoyed a wonderful bonfire in the yard after the young people left to enjoy other parties. Her actual graduation ceremony was the next day but I abstained from going back to Valders for it.

Even though I did not attend the ceremony, I still got to capture Tabitha in her graduation cap and gown. Her plans for next fall are to attend the UW-Manitowoc to get her pre-requisite classes taken care of before venturing on to college.

This young lady, looking quite serious at the keyboard, is the multi-talented Naomi, whose graduation party I was able to attend on Memorial Day at church. She is a classmate of my nephew, Danny, and both young people are members of FG. MLHS graduation took place on the Sunday of Memorial weekend.

Danny is walking up to receive his diploma. The guy handing them out used to be our landscape man when we did business in Manitowoc.

Here is Danny marching in to the graduation service at Manitowoc Lutheran High School, May 29th, 2011.

These next photos are of Allie's graduation, another niece, who attended Lincoln High School, and was part of the 100th class to graduate. What a landmark! All the graduates received a commemorative medallion to wear and keep. The trumpeters are one of my favorite parts of this school's graduation events, just prior to the flower girls carrying in their baskets.

Here she comes, marching in with lovely flowers in her hair! Her good friends are with her, the marching partner and directly behind her. Gorgeous procession!

Allie is about to get her diploma. She, too, will attend the local UW Center for her first couple years. In the meanwhile, she is working at two area stores in order to make some money. Allie was also an "Athlete of the Month" in May, with her sport being Track and Field, shot put division. Only the weekend before, she was competing on the State level in her sport, but did not take first in shot put. Two years in a row she made to State!

Allie's party theme was Tropical which is ironic as it was quite cold and nasty that day and evening.
Festive cupcakes and delicious homemade bars rounded out the dessert table. Some of her ribbons and awards are displayed on the wall behind her cupcakes. A couple of her coaches attended the party which I thought was just wonderful!

Great ending to the day

Sweat is running down my face and I do not mind one bit. The A/C has kicked in, much to my regret, because keeping the doors closed prevents the breeze from circulating. The air is heavy with smoke once again this evening, although the late afternoon rain storm cleared things for a bit. Now it is lightning and a bit of thunder is rolling, which means another rain shower might be coming. What would be good is some wind to blow the smoke away from here but that also fans the flames. Many folks are hoping this is not a repeat of the fires we had in 1998 where the counties south of us had to evacuate when the flames crossed the freeway. Awful!

The reason I am so warm is that I just came in and settled down after being out at the pool having dinner with my neighbors. Rose and Joe's son came up from Tampa for a visit and we were discussing the available units in the building. We went with Miss Chardonay to look at the one on 5 that has the long porch, front to back in length, and at a very discounted price. Almost a third its original value, in a 'normal' market. It is owned by the company that employed the owner and they are responsible now for selling it, and want to unload it. So tempting but no, I am not considering it. But, I just love that porch!!

After the five of us looked at that unit, we came down here so I could show Scott my place. Joe had never been here and he loved it. Scott said he did not know what to look at first, that I had so many fun things. He described my living room as being cozy and homey, and I thanked him for that. They loved the chess sets, light fixtures, art work, clock collection, and glass pieces. And the river room! Another fun thing Scott said, keeping in mind this is the first time I am meeting him, "I am not surprised about all the color..." I had warned them that my bedroom was untidy, the only room in the house I actually use (which we chuckled about!) so they only glanced in from the river room. Makes me want to clean my room, maybe tomorrow!

Before going out, I was on the phone with Justin, who called me with a sweet message. He had rented a video game, something to do with assassins. The reason for his call, though, aside from killing people, was to describe the scenery included in the game. In one 'scene', his character was standing atop a structure looking into the ruins of ancient Rome, and seeing many things illustrated that he has seen in person. Justin called to thank me for taking him to see these things in real life. My heart! "You are so welcome, my dear..." And that, my friends, was a fabulous moment!

I did not think the cabana would be open since it had been raining but Hugh and Maureen informed me that others were going over to eat dinner, having called to make sure Danny was there. Sure enough, when we got there, Danny and his helper had packed everything up to close since no one came out. They had to reset the whole thing and made about 8 dinners before closing for good. Then we went and looked at real estate after dark! Oh, and Danny gave me his cell phone number so I can call or text him to inquire about the status of cabana so they don't pack things up when we are planning to come over. Love that! There is a phone in the cabana but sometimes it does not work and he did not know the number for it. What a great plan!

Joe is going to give the number of window repair man he knows of from Green Cove Springs so I can get my bedroom window fixed. Justin sort of fixed it by shoving a rolled up towel between the window and my desk shelf, so it would not blow in if gets really, really windy. The Scotch tape I tried to use did not do the trick, somehow or another. When the sun catchers and lanterns moved in the breeze, yes, we have a problem. Joe will be busy with his son visiting this weekend so I will wait until Scott is gone and remind Joe of the number. It would be a problem if we get a huge storm!

Nice, clear skies

Even at night, the skies are clear and moon is bright. Around midnight last night, or earlier this a.m., the smell of smoke became quite strong, so much so that I thought perhaps a door had been left open or something. In checking, the doors were all closed tightly but yet the smell permeated. The moon was a funky orange color due to the filter it was passing through. At some point in the wee hours, I heard my printer cranking and grinding in my dark room, and it occurred to me we had lost power at some point. My TV was off which would absolutely wake me up but the pounding rain did the trick as well. Lightning was also visible which is not good when we already have so many fires going on. This a.m. when I woke up for good, the wind was blowing quite hard which succeeded to move the smoke away for a while. It is a breath of fresh air in many, many ways!

This afternoon I sent yet another e-mail to my insurance man regarding the certified letter I received before leaving for Manitowoc, and it seemed as though he had not even read my first communication to him. In his response to my original e-mail, he wrote that I should call him, he would be in the office all day. That day being my travel day, it was not ideal to discuss this business from the airports. The weekend was Memorial Day so I called him the next week, having to leave a message with one of the ladies in the office, and she assured me he would call back. Today, after I sent him my e-mail, he finally called me back. Russ asked me to scan the letter from the insurance company to him, and I said I had already done that. No wonder he could not figure out what they wanted---he had not opened the attachment in the first place!!!

Russ also made a remark about why the letter was sent to me and not the insurance company, and, hey, I don't know either! He said the letter would be referred to the Claims Department and I gave him the name of the guy who had been helping me. Russ said, "You made my job easier!" which is exactly what I was trying to do. NOT! He sort of ticked me off, you know? Later he sent an e-mail saying he had turned it over to Claims and I should hear something tomorrow. I can rest more confidently now that Greg will be on the case, since time is of the essence as so much has gotten away from us. As I was talking to Dee tonight at a Club function, she said, "It is never going to go away, is it?" So it seems!

Today I drove over to Victory where they are holding their VBS this week. The cheese and sausage was delivered to Ed, who was wearing one of his many hats today including photographer. He was happy to have his special treats and told me Judy stayed home today because the smoke yesterday was too much for her. Rita was there getting snacks ready for the children and we greeted each other. She said I looked like I had lost some weight, mostly around my face and neck, which was exactly what Julia had said on Tuesday. Did I??? My photos taken in WI do not attest to that, but I graciously accept the compliments. From Victory, Justin and I met Stephanie and Erica for lunch at Bahama Breeze where we enjoyed a lovely lunch. Both Stephanie and I had an adult beverage with our meals, which was had al fresco. Such a different day than yesterday, remarkably so!

Justin picked up some garbage bags for me at my request as I was totally out and needed to change a couple. My office basket which gets full quickly from soda cans, to-go boxes, and shredded paper. It was not emptied before I left for WI so really needs taking care of. I offered him my to-go box of chicken mini-sandwiches with yellow rice but he refused. They will serve me well for breakfast tomorrow. Not sure if we will go to La Nopalera or not, have not heard from my neighbors. Several of my other neighbors have welcomed me back home, one lady wondering where I was since she did not see me at the pool. It is time!!

Out of whack today

And out of sequence as well! I am writing this late afternoon, after spending much of the day downloading the photos between both computers, posting some to Facebook, e-mailing some to the families involved, plus including many in my blogsite. More than once Justin has mentioned to me that I should have two monitors on my desk and today, I would not have scoffed at his suggestion. Some of the photos were posted twice on Facebook and many because I could not tell by jumping back and forth from page to page to see which ones were already there. Tomorrow, I will set up the laptop on the desk next to the "jumbo-tron" monitor and compare there. My guess is that Justin would know how to have two websites opened at once, side by side, but I do not. Oh, I do know how to do this when watching my radio show, having a Word document open and working while watching, but not two websites at once. Maybe I need to take a class!

Speaking of Justin--he called me a little while ago to report a funny church sign he saw along Highway 17 on his way downtown: "You think it's hot and smokey here....." in reference to smoke-filled air northeast Florida is experiencing these days. Today I have not ventured out at all, and have my doors closed in an effort to keep the smoke out. Even turned on the A/C for a bit to help move the air around. The temperatures are in the mid to high 90's and the smoke so dense here on the river that at times, I could only see the trees closest to the building. At present, the breeze outside has moved some of the smoke away so I can see Mandarin. Victory is having its VBS this week, during the daytime, and had to keep their kids indoors today due to the heavy smoke and air quality advisory in effect for NE Florida. Hard to keep them busy without letting them run off some steam, but they did it, I heard.

I have a bone to pick with my battery-powered toothbrush....Ever since I replaced the battery in it, my toothpaste goes flying and spattering when I use the brush, regardless of how tiny a drop of paste is applied to the bristles. If I am dressed, my clothes are dotted with paste, and if I am not dressed, my body and the mirror and sink have spatters. While I am hoping the more active toothbrush is doing a better job working on my gums, etc., I cannot help but hope the battery gets a bit less enthusiastic sooner rather than later, simply due to the mess. Am I too fussy or is this a legitimate gripe?

Another gripe is the smokey skies prohibiting the use of the swimming pools here at my house. What I so looked forward to enjoying has been 'yanked' from me the past two days because of the rain of ash and thick blanket of smoke. Today was absolutely choking out there, and I am a great great fan of bonfires. Our area simply needs some good, soaking rains to extinguish the fires and make the foliage less likely to burn. One report said the best thing for us would be a tropical depression but who hopes for that???

We had a great time playing Trivia last night, even though it was hard to hear in the back of the restaurant. Others had troubles hearing, too, so it was not only us needing the questions repeated on several occasions. "Nothing Tips Like a Cow", our team's name, took 3rd place which means next time, we have $10 to spend toward our meals. Or $3.33 per family! Cary and Nancy from Victory joined the fun, too, again and he ordered a piece of cake for dessert. It was absolutely enormous and we just laughed at it. Jesse thought it looked good so had a piece too as Justin and I enjoyed our cherry pie ala mode. When the bills came, it showed the chocolate cake as being "Cake for Two"....now they tell us! The 3rd place prize would barely cover the cost of that slice of cake. We won't make that mistake again...Our waitress was new and she likely did not know it either until she rang it in. It certainly lived up to its name! I was still in "pie mode" (ha, get it?) from being in WI and so was Justin, since I brought him a slice when I came home. Their desserts seem to be homemade, especially the pies. Stephanie's mom, Jean, was with us, too, from Janesville. She came for Erica's graduation and is helping with VBS this week with her daughter and granddaughter. My leftover pot roast with mashed potatoes made a lovely lunch for me today, thank you very much!

Tonight is the last choir rehearsal for the season, as we sing on Sunday. Our anthem is Psalm 150, one of our all-time favorites, which had been directed many years ago by Gordy. The sheet music is all marked up with men and women's parts being moved up and around, all around. Robbie, The Maestro, is changing back to its original writing but it sure makes for some fun rehearsals. Men who usually sing tenor are singing bass, and vice versa. Now that I am back, Kristi can help the altos instead of singing soprano, as I can carry that part by myself. Since Suzanne, our first chair alto, left, the altos need a stronger voice to help them along. Kristi is able to move back and forth, which I admire greatly. Perhaps next fall when we resume, we can find more willing voices to help round us out. Brian H. is moving to New Jersey later this month so there goes one of our tenors. Pastor and Sterling remain as the men of the group, and three or four of us ladies for the upper voices. We have to keep our music simple to match our skills!

It is Wednesday! That means it is cheap hamburger night at McDonalds, where I normally stop on the way home from choir. I have not have a burger in ages, since before I left for WI. Do not cry for me, though, as I had bratwurst and perch sandwiches when I was away, plus a magnificent steak sandwich at the Charcoal Grille. I really should have stopped there once more before leaving town to have another one! Maybe tonight my usual sleep pattern will return and I will go to sleep at the 'normal' time for me, instead of me staying awake later, due to the time change. Often I would fall asleep with Bill O'Reilly and wake up to him as well the next morning. That did not work in Manitowoc because everything happens an hour earlier than it does here. So I laugh myself to sleep with "Frasier" or "Seinfeld" reruns...and last night, "Friends" did the trick.

I am nearly done with my book, "Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns" which took me longer to plow through than I expected. One section was quite involved, including a study on contemporaneity and other topics such as historicism. Hmmmm.....The same book that started out with me in tears had me scratching my head and looking things up on-line for compare. The sign of a good book, as this, is that it makes you think. The next book I wish to finish is "The Freedom Writer's Diary" which is halfway done, and then one of my other more sociological reads waiting for me. More head-scratching coming my way. Softcovered books work better at the pool but more of mine are hard-covers. Right now I don't see one of the books of I was thinking of reading, which makes me wonder if I took that one to WI with me, and left there. No worries, there are plenty 'virgin' books here for me to press into service!

Tomorrow evening is a fund-raiser at The Club which Julia is giving me a ticket to, hopefully she will get the ticket before I go over there. It is a tapas and wine tasting event to raise funds for an Alzheimer-type center similar to the Senior Center for Clay County. Free is good, and perhaps I can make a small donation in exchange for my free admission! Time to get ready for choir, splash some toothpaste around my bathrooom before I go!

More photos from my trip

The day after Danny's party, the same day as the graduation service, a large number of our group gathered at "Fork and Knife" for breakfast. Jill and Danny were not there but the rest of us were!!!

I managed to get some "up close and personal" photos during my visit, this one being Noah as he smiles at his boys playing on the floor at Danny's graduation party.

Kerry is sitting on the floor with Angelo in her lap, as Bryson tries to make him laugh. It does not take much to make Angelo happy normally, but he seemed to like having a kid closer to his size to hang out with!

The Man of the Hour's cake and decorations, all set for the party

Lynn was presented with a lovely floral arrangement by Danny, in thanks for all she did for him while he was in school. Instead of taking the bus or carpooling, Danny waited at school for Lynn to come and pick him up every afternoon. His cousin, Alayna, who also took a turn now and again, is standing in the kitchen doorway behind Lynn.

Here is Manny, up close and personal, keeping himself busy with his toy in front of him

Alayna discovered that Angelo is growing a tooth or two so now he wants to chew on everyone's fingers! He has some mighty powerful gums!

Angelo looks like he could wrestle Alayna but he is pretty docile. Bryson is looking him over closely as I watch from the side.

The boys try to explain the games they are playing to Alayna and Lynn. Lynn said she just listens and nods when they go on and on about the intricacies of their respective games.

Alayna appears to be dozing at the table as Linda is chuckling about something funny down the table. I gave the waitress an extra tip for serving this great number of people at one time. Well done!

This charming cart is on display at Rohrbach's Florist Shop, where we picked up the arrangement for Lynn. I just loved it!

Angelo gets around!

Jamie is holding Angelo at Danny's graduation party, as Hannah looks on

Angelo and his papa, Noah, hanging out at the party

"Can someone please wipe off my mouth?"

Sometimes a guy just needs his mama....

Kerry is laughing as Lynn and her grandson, Angelo, have a conversation

As you can see, this was an exciting party which simply wore Angelo out!

Jill's grandson, Hunter, is making Angelo and Lori laugh

Bryson, another of Jill's grandsons, is striking up a conversation with Kerry and Angelo

Memorial Day picnic at Lisa's house, and Angelo is keeping me warm

Gabe, Manny, and Angelo at Grandma K's house. Look at the way Angelo is looking at Manny...so sweet!

Alayna and Angelo at the grad. party

Lori and Angelo are chillin', especially after he took his little jeans off. A guy needs his breathing space, you know?

It's so quiet here!

As much as I enjoy my time with family and friends in Manitowoc, it feels good to wake up in my own bed. And it's so quiet here compared to my mom's house. It is not the neighbors being noisy as her apartment is on the top floor, but the traffic from the street and other sounds seemed to be more pronounced, especially in the wee hours of the morning or later at night. Fortunately I only lost sleep one night but that was primarily due to a storm making racket. No, it is not “Chicago-style” traffic but Mom's building is between two of the main east/west corridors for the town, and it seems, in the middle of the train tracks! Depending upon the heaviness of the air, the train whistle sounds was as though the tracks came through Mom's parking lot. And the birds! Yikes, can they ever sing outside my mom's house and they get up so early!

Of course, we can hear sirens and train noises here, too, but my sleeping and working room is on the river side of the house, away from the sounds of the streets. When the front doors are opened, however, I can hear the children playing at the pool, and they sound as though they are on the porch! The streets here in OP are incredibly active and noisy, plus I am located only two blocks from the police station and fire department. Fortunately only the occasional helicopter draws my attention instead train whistles or sirens. Whirly bird vs. singing birds....hmmmm.....I used to say that in my next life I wanted to come back as a fire engine dog but in my old age, my enthusiasm for that is waning!

When Justin picked me up from the airport last night, after my problem-free return flights, we were listening to the debate from New Hampshire which he had on podcast from CNN---gulp! We normally do not watch/listen to that network but the local stations are Fox so that was the only option. When I called Mom from the car to report my safe arrival, he reached over to turn it down and lost the station. He was not too upset as he was taping it at his home. Justin suggested if I were not too tired that I could watch the replay of the entire debate at 1:00 a.m. I was asleep just after 11:00 pm eastern time so that was a no-go for me. Most of the highlights will be re-aired on the radio shows today or I can look it up on-line.

Justin loved his piece of rhubarb/raspberry pie that I brought back for him from Manitowoc and I ate one of my smiley faced sugar cookies from Johnston's Bakery in Sheboygan. They survived the trip, arriving intact. There was room for 5 more pounds of stuff in my luggage so I could have brought home my new candle holder purchased at the garden shop. But it will be there when I return to Manitowoc next month!

When Linda J., Mom, and Lynnie dropped me off at the airport, it was a tearful farewell on my part, with a stray tear easing its way down my cheek as I stopped at the kiosk outside to check my bag through and get my ticket. The nice young man came around to get my suitcase and I apologized for the tear, asking him if he was coming for a hug, too. He said, "I'll take a hug if you want to..." so we hugged each other. I told him it was hard to say good-bye at the airport and he agreed, having just returned from a trip himself. What a nice guy! He handled my transaction and such outside the airport rather than my having to deal with that nonsense indoors, and I was on my way!

My escorts were going to the Synod publishing house on their way home but due to the great deal of construction around the airport and roads leading to it, they missed their turn-off, so skipped their visit to NPH. It was too hectic for them to try to circle back. We enjoyed a breakfast/lunch at Perkin's near the airport before they dropped me off, which worked well for my staving off hunger on my trip back to Florida. At the airport in ATL, I did find the Annie's Pretzels shop and got an order of cinnamon sticks there, which I had also enjoyed while being hustled from gate to gate to gate on the ride up to WI. A special treat!

Strangely enough, I am drowsy here this morning. Perhaps after my haircut, my stop at Great Hang Ups, and then Publix, I will have time for a rest this afternoon before heading to Trivia. Already I have been to the mammogram center, Office Max for a card reader, and even grabbed a breakfast sandwich to have at my desk. MUST get some food from Publix as my larder is empty…or at least my fridge is!