More organizing going on here

Not closets today, or the drawers, or even the fridge, but my head. A few thoughts have rattled around, things I meant to report but forgot when the time came.

First, thanks to everyone who extended good wishes and warm thoughts during what I call “funeral week”. Several of my friends, whether they remembered it or not, came through for me with invitations and such, and got a lovely card from my sister, Lynn. Via Facebook many folks wrote their comforting messages, from all over the place. Some did not even know Timmy, but will, some day!

My friend, Julia, at Great Hang Ups, is celebrating 25 years in business and has asked clients to send in photos of work done in their shop, with a little story about the piece. She was looking for special memory pieces as well as photos which have been restored, and the like. I agreed to send in some of the special ones done for me and did so.

Click to make photo larger

This paper hug made by Timmy in pre-k was framed by Dee and Julia and hangs over my bedroom door to the river room. Besides framing the original one, they also had a copy made, and laminated, so that I actually can 'wrap it around you when you feel blue'....Yes, I would say this counts as being "special"

On a lighter note, I posted on Facebook yesterday that I might be ready to go the H-O-M-E soon. When getting my bottle of water from the fridge (yes, you read that correctly!), I reached into the shelf for the lemon to squirt into the bottle, and nearly used yellow mustard instead. Yikes! In my defense, both bottles had yellow caps, but to indict me, the bottles are shaped entirely different, and certainly smell different! Another time, I told Justin to get ready to pack me away when I nearly put in two different earrings. Either would have looked good with my outfit, though.

Many of my friends, then, reported going out with one black shoe and one brown shoe, even different styles of shoes without noticing. Another lady wrote to say the tell-tale sign is when you find the mail in the refrigerator. This made me laugh because Connie told me the mailman is afraid of me ever since my delivery was lost, so he delivers the packages to my door now. I am not mad at him nor did I give him any grief other than encouraging him to check his little truck from one end to the other. If he puts the mail in my fridge, sets me up to be sent away, well, that’s on him. (Is paranoia a tell-tale sign?)

Justin is so funny, and seems to be moreso since he’s come back home. His doing the laundry has brought up some interesting discussions, starting right off the bat with his washing HUGE loads at once. This discussion was short—NO! Not in my washer or dryer! His theory was as long as they are wet, they are clean. Well, this is simply not the case, as I explained the technical aspects of the machine. The agitator in the middle moves the clothes through the sudsy water, and then moves them again through the rinse cycle. The dirty water goes away, and the laundry is now considered clean.

My machines, though newer, are not the heavy-duty style he must be used to, more basic (i.e. cheap) than impressive. The same is true for the standard dryer I have. No sense loading it jammed full if the clothes cannot bounce around (hence the name of the dryer sheets!) and get dried (hence the name of the machine!) See? I get that. This has not happened again although sometimes I do look askance at how much he puts in, since his jeans weigh far more than do my pull-on denims.

Another time I used the washer after he was done and discovered dirt all around the top of the machine, and under the lid around the edges. When he helps his father, he does not usually come home filthy, but when he works his landscape job, he is a mess! Often Justin will step immediately into his room to change so he does not drag the grass clippings and other soil through the house. The schnibbles, then, end up in the washer for me to clean away, more easily done when they have dried. I asked Justin once why, oh why, is there enough lint in the trap to make a bail. His immediate come-back was, “…because my undies are cotton, not silk like yours…” Ha! That is likely the right answer, and a funny one, but I do not wear silk underwear! Nice that he thinks so, though!

What is this world coming to?

Does that make me sound old? Just because the world is upside down, that should not necessarily age me, but it has. I was reading an article about a student who wrote a pro-marriage column in a school paper near Green Bay. You would think that would be a favorable thing. But, oh no, it’s not! Because it was in favor of traditional families rather than the opposing article of same-sex couples adopting children (pretty deep stuff for high school kids!), the author, a boy, was considered guilty of ‘bullying’. Oh, for heaven’s sake!

How would our playing “King of the Hill” in grade school be looked at in this era? Maybe I would view it differently if I were not often King! When the plows cleared the parking lot/playground at FG, huge mounds of snow bordered the perimeter. The ‘big kids’ would play King of the Hill by getting to the top and throwing down anyone who could not stand their ground in getting up there with us. In those days, I could hold my own with the boys, battling my way to the top despite the best efforts of the older, bigger boys. Occasionally I would have a broken bow or nose piece on my glasses but I was King of the Hill. And evidently, a bully! We got no participation trophies for this activity, either, only the broken glasses to show for our efforts.

When talking with my mom earlier, she was convinced that it was primary day here in FL but I assured her it is next week Tuesday. We do have ‘early bird’ voting here, typical of Florida but I prefer to vote on the actual day. The precinct is right here on my property which is incredibly convenient. Thursday night there is a debate at UNF and one of my friends has applied to get a ticket for it. Rita said she had to fill out a short form and jot down a question she would like to ask if a seat is given to her. Having lived outside the USA on a couple occasions, including in China, her question was in regard to how the US is regarded by other nations, our role in the world. A good question to open to discussion in the debate. “You take this one, Dr. Paul”! As I mentioned, Justin and I will be having a margarita at a Tea Party gathering at La Nap instead of battling for position at UNF. The topic discussed is considering the remaining candidates, which should be interesting. The guy I like is still in the running but Justin’s first choice candidate dropped off several weeks ago.

When Justin came home from work Monday he thanked me for getting his car repaired because he actually used it to drive to St. Augustine that day. Wow! First, he was afraid to drive to Winn Dixie and now he goes cross country (well, almost!) with it. He was still apprehensive but did it anyway, having to get a permit in St. Johns County. Next on the list is to get his windshield replaced, as it has a long crack in it. This happened when toting some boards from one site to another and they didn’t quite clear the windshield when he closed the hatch on his car. The boards shoved forward, cracking the windshield from the inside. We have insurance for this type of thing but he was hesitant to report it due to the cause. Using his car like a truck was not a good thing for having things last more than 5 years, it seems. He’s had to haul lawn equipment, the pressure washer, building materials, and moving office stuff back and forth, which has really taken its toll.

Well, anyway, back to today---we play Trivia tonight with a guest player joining us. My friend, Stephanie, has her mom visiting from Janesville, WI for a month and will join us on team Nothing Tips Like a Cow. Last week we took 2^nd place but our most faithful contenders were absent. We can only hope to do better this week, or at least stay the same. It seems the more people we have playing on the team, the worse we do, but the food and company make up for the loss. 


Justin’s new glasses are ready for him to pick up so we will plan that for Thursday. He will have a fresh outlook on life from that point on! To improve his outlook in his room, he is picking up a different light kit for his ceiling fan in hopes of casting more light into the corners of his room. Because of the windows being high on the wall and under the walkway roof, the rooms on this side of the condo are extra dark, dramatically so compared to where I spend my time. That was why I moved the office into my room in the first place---it was too dark to be productive in the extra bedroom, but it is perfect for sleeping!

Later this evening is the State of the Union show, which I should not have a problem finding a channel for, opposite situation of the most recent debates. I should probably just wait to hear the radio programs revisit it tomorrow and read the text instead, but we shall see. Justin might want to watch and we can digest it together. Alka Seltzer at hand...

Debating again tonight

Justin and I are in mourning that football season is nearly over, with neither of the teams we support going into 'overtime', as it were. I am still having a Super Bowl party which might be even more fun without a dog in the fight. Michael C. reminded me that the last time I had a Super Bowl party, or perhaps the last time he came, it was the same teams playing---2007. He remembers it best because Gordy was here, too. 


Sunday at lunch, we were talking about my decision to have the gathering and I said that Michael had talked me into it. Justin piped up, "Oh, you just wanted to have a party, that's all!" Terri laughed, but Judy defended me, saying Michael had asked about it. But, I fear, Justin is also correct! At lunch today, Michael asked what he should bring, but I leave that entirely up to him. I am sure it will be delicious, whatever he brings.


Bible study had a nice group, every chair filled. Jackie was not there but Sue K. came instead and joined us for lunch. In fact, she treated Michael for his birthday. Our study is "What Must I Do to Be Saved?", with him being our leader the first two weeks. Next week Pastor will be back, conducting the class in a different fashion than does Michael. Being a teacher, his classes have much more interaction and discussion than do Pastor's . 


I forgot to mention that Pastor K.'s father was our guest preacher Sunday. Before class began, we were discussing how much we enjoy his sermons, when he comes up from Leesburg to preach. Such a smooth delivery with a soothing voice, but not so much that it puts one to sleep.


My lunch was the half sandwich and a bowl of soup at Longhorn, but the potato soup is so filling, I could not finish it! The same thing happens every time I order it, but I still do! The sandwich, braised bbq beef, on a good roll is so filling, I could never handle the entire sandwich. In the past I have brought home the remaining soup but left it this time, since I have bean soup leftovers to eat up. 


Judy and I told the others how much we enjoyed "War Horse" and invited anyone else who wishes to to join us next Sunday for "Red Tails". Justin told me at dinner that George Lucas, who produced this movie, thinks it will be on the shelf next to the Star Wars series in his own home. His 5 year old son, when viewing the movie, asked his dad which of the Star Wars movies this one was from, because the planes reminded him of some from SW!!! That's kind of fun, through a kid's eyes...


Justin is going to the movies next Sunday, too, with his buddies, on the Southside. They will likely see Red Tails or he mentioned another one that I never heard of. He wants to see the "Extremely Close...." movie, featuring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, with me instead of his friends. Obviously they would not be in a hurry to see this one because of its highly emotional content, but he is comfortable seeing it with me. We have been known to cry together now and again...


We ate dinner in with my resident chef preparing something I had never eaten before---Pad Thai chicken. I was apprehensive but should not have been, because it was absolutely delicious. Justin started with a mix for the noodles and flavor packet but added a mess of veggies and some other things I did not recognize. They turned out to be oddly-colored baby carrots, plus bean sprouts. Yikes---I ate bean sprouts! He forgot to buy peanuts and I mentioned there were some in the snack mix in the cupboard (I had bought a plastic container of trail-type mix when Lynn and Linda were here last summer) but he told me that was eaten up. There goes the peanuts!


He had plans to clean up his room this evening but that did not happen. We watched Jeopardy! together after dinner and then I retired to my room to finish watching my Internet show on Roku, which is hooked up in here only. He is catching up on old TV shows he had downloaded, including "The 4400" from years ago. 


We were both in search of finding the network carrying the debates but did not find it listed for the channels I have. Instead, I am watching it via the Internet as I type at my desk. When they go to commercial, the site goes quiet so I have to refresh every little bit to make sure I don't miss anything when they come back. Thursday's debate is at UNF but we are not going. First of all, it is very difficult to get tickets and secondly, we are joining my friend, Peggy, for a Tea Party event at La Napolera that same night. I think we'll be just as happy there and then go home to watch the debate! 

Just call me poker-eyes!

My eyes are sore and make-up entirely gone, and I am happy. Not about the way I look or the way my eyes feel, but from watching a wonderful movie with Judy C. Her daughter had gotten a gift card for the AMC Theaters but where she lives, there are none. So she gave it to her mom to use...nice! We are going again next week to see "Red Tails", a WWII movie about Black pilots as heroes. 


But, now, back to WWI, the Great War...This story takes place first in Great Britain, showing a young boy witnessing the birth of a pony. It progresses to the boy forming an affectionate bond with the horse, named Joey, who is put to work on the family farm, with hopes of saving it from being a total loss. When the Great War started, the British army representative came to town to buy horses from people and away went Joey, sold to save the farm. 


The movie follows Joey and his heart-sick young owner through the war, and all the lives touched by this valiant beast. At one point, Joey got tangled in barbed wire right between bunkers occupied by the opposing sides. One guy from the Brits' and one from the Germans' bunker came out to work together to cut the horse loose, and decided who would get custody using a coin toss. Fortunately the Brit won and the horse went back to the bunker with him. Truly a good good movie about the struggles of making a living and for ending life, and preserving, all at the same time! I highly recommend it!


Justin and I went to Bible study and church this a.m. The class was held in the church office which was a bit tight of a fit, but can't be helped, I guess. We could swap rooms with the Sunday school but I am not in charge of arranging the rooms. The preschool room is off-limits to other uses so one of the classes meets in front of the church, setting up tables at which to work.


The Fellowship Hall has been vacated with an extremely well-attended workday Saturday clearing everything out. One of our newer members, Sterling, who rides his bike as transportation, took charge of organizing the garage portion of the classroom building, with more than one person telling me about it. I was told he worked there all day but he said it was only three hours...A Navy man who plays in the Navy Band, physically fit from all the bike riding. And an organizer, to boot!  When I thanked him for his work, he sort of shrugged it off as nothing. I told him my lifting and toting days were behind me and he said, "That's reversible..." and he is probably right about this!


Justin asked me what time the movie was and when I told him 3:45 pm, he said, "Oh, good! We have time to go to lunch!" Yes, we did, going to Olive Garden with Judy C. and Terri T. Judy had a gift card for there also. Life on gift cards, it's a beautiful thing! Justin and I had the soup and salad, both us full to the brim for less than $20, and in good company. He was taking some of his bakery to his friend's house for football watching but the games did not begin until 3:00 or after. 


On Friday I got the e-mail that goes out to Victory members which tells about the Sunday service and other events for the weekend. It mentioned a baptism being held at the 2nd service, which Pastor had mentioned at Bible study on Thursday as well, when Rachel was recording the music for the service. When I saw the name of the parents, I was overjoyed, and toyed with attending to witness the baptism. 


Years ago at the lake house, my 'pool boy', Jeff, would come at the break of dawn to take care of the pool. My bedroom was immediately off the pool/patio and I had no curtains or blinds covering my windows. I don't know if anyone could see in or not, but when I would hear the squeak of the screen door, I flew for my robe!


Jeff, a nice young man, was the boyfriend of my friend's daughter, Natalie, who shared ThanksLiving dinner with us recently. He did pool work as his side job, working in the graphic arts for his day job. Eventually he got a job at the brewery, working the worst hours at first, which caused him to quit the pool business. Natalie and he also broke up at some point, so I did not see him at all. 


Anne H. works at the same brewery, so I kept up with his news and goings on via her, as well as Brenda N., whose daughter is Natalie. It's that social network again! Jeff got married a few years ago and now has a baby, who was baptized today. Anne sent me an e-mail and a text message from Pastor's phone, besides the church e-mail, inviting me to come to Victory. But, I had to sing a psalm for the service, I thought, and could not go. It turns out the psalm we practiced is for a different upcoming service, so I blew that! I can still send Jeff, the pool boy, a card, and rejoice that perhaps his wife and he will have found a church!

I shall sleep better tonight!

Last night, I had a terrible time falling asleep, due in part to having to get up early in the morning to get Justin's car to the repair guy. We had decided to leave here about 7:30 a.m. for our less than 30 minute trip across the bridge. We wanted to leave a large margin of error in case the car acted up. As it turned out, we left closer to 8 a.m. with his car starting right off without any problems. Whew!


Once we found the shop, actually a bus lot where "Pat", we found out, is the head mechanic for the school buses there. Pat, whom we had never met, is the gentleman friend of our teammate at Trivia, Justin's, mother. I know, right? Justin is Erica's boyfriend, and Erica is my friend, Stephanie's, daughter. Victory friends! When Justin S. sent me a message at CHRISTmas in WI, telling me that Pat could do the repair for cheap, my Justin made me laugh. He told the family members that his mom was her own social network, finding someone to fix his car for less. 


Altogether this repair cost far far less than what RPM told us they would charge. Pat also changed the burned out light bulb in Justin's taillight, and managed to get the hatchback open, despite the broken latch, to access the light bulb! He showed Justin which cable needs to be replaced in order to make the latch operative, and offered to install it for him (takes 10 minutes according to Pat) once he has the replacement! Nice!


While the car was being worked on, Justin and I went to Publix to pick up a few things. He stocked up on some noodle meals (perfect college student food!) on sale for 45 cents each. Both the cashier and the bagger remarked about how good these are, and how they eat them a lot as college students! Justin bought another confetti cake mix and a can of frosting to make treats for his friends, plus the little cups for lining the cupcake pan. We found some break and bake cookies on sale, a strange brand, plus some cleaning products, real miscellaneous shopping, just to pass the time.


We were unfamiliar territory on that side of town, but thanks to Justin's cell phone, he got familiar! Besides Publix, he found us a McDonald's where we got breakfast and sat down inside to eat. They had TV's on there so we could watch/listen to the news as we wiled away the time. Justin had his iPad with him on which he played a game. My book was left in the car because I didn't really feel like reading, and talked with Justin instead. We got a text message that the engine mounts were installed so we headed back to the shop. Pat was still doing the lightbulb thing so we stood around and watched/chatted with him while he finished up. 


With renewed confidence, we headed back to Orange Park, Justin so glad to have his car up and running again. We got our groceries upstairs and put them away, then we retired to our own rooms. He was glad to have that broken-down car burden behind him, and I was just dog tired! After our little rests, he came into my room and relocated the router and modem to hopefully allow him better reception in his room. He got busy baking and, after my rest, I did a load of wash. Instead of making the confetti cupcakes, he made red velvet ones which smell and look great! His friends were not doing much so he was not going over to Mandarin. 


Feeling somewhat celebratory and a bit relieved about his car, I suggested we go to Manny's Bistro for dinner. The 'family' has all been asking about him, so off we went. The parking lot was nearly full when we got there and I joked that perhaps we'd have to park at La Nap and walk over. (In 2010, my friend Judy C. and I had our cars towed from this same parking lot when going to La Nap!!!) Because they were so busy, it was hard for the family to hang around to visit at all, but he got a couple of nice hugs. 


Rosaria reminded Justin about how he grew radishes in his backyard garden more than 10 years ago. Wow, even I had forgotten about that!!! She was struggling for the right word in English to describe what she was telling about, calling them 'pomadoro', for the color, before he recalled the radishes. Such fun that was! "Oh, you so handsome, honey, so handsome..." Yeah, that won't get old any time soon!


The rest of the evening will be spent watching the returns out of South Carolina and reruns of "Big Bang Theory", bouncing back and forth, waiting for the results. Who will be the next to leave the race? Any bets?

The Lost Friday

Friday went by so quickly, it seems. It began with friends and ended with them, but different sets. I like that! Early in the morning, I walked over to the “Breakfast Club”, as I have taken to calling it, since we have not played games for several weeks.  This time only Carol W. was there which is perfectly fine with me. She is the wife of Randy, our token man at water aerobics. He was expected to join us but he goes to the gym first and sometimes forgets to come for breakfast. She did not leave him a note as a reminder. Carol invited me to join them at an Italian restaurant in Mandarin to hear Randy play the piano at dinner time but I was already booked for Dinner and A Movie. My other friend, Mary, was going along as well.

After breakfast, on the way out, one of my pool friends, who works in the office, called to me. Patty wanted to know how many tickets I wanted for the upcoming fashion show. I was going to order two at some point but since she caught me, the first two sold were mine! The show is a fund raiser for the Quigley House, a home for battered women and their kids, for which my friend, Penny, works. Hmmm…I had better confirm the date so I don’t accidentally double-book. When Justin cleaned out the pantry, we got a few items together to donate to Quigley House. All I have to do is get it to Penny.

When I got home, I busied myself getting the soup made for our dinner. I had soaked the beans overnight in baking soda in an attempt to defuse them somewhat. I had mentioned to Justin that I can use a can of chicken broth to help flavor it since the packet in the bean bag said “chicken flavoring” on it. I am a bit slow on the uptake because I did NOT notice the bean soup was meant to have chicken added to it rather than ham. I never even knew to verify that but so what? In went the broth, the season packet, and cut up ham, and a handful of shredded carrots.

What I did not bargain for was the inability to properly ‘boil’ the soup since the pot was so full. If it came to a rolling boil as the directions said it should, soup would splash out onto the stove. If it did not boil enough, the beans would be tough when dinner came around. Fortunately, when Justin straightened the pantry closet, the large stew pot came to the front, allowing me to reach it down. Using both hands and one foot, I managed to pour the larger kettle of bean soup into the larger still pot, with plenty of room for boiling and stirring. Problem solved!

Justin was going to try using his own car for going to work and but if that didn’t work out, he was taking mine. When I went out for breakfast, my car was gone which lead me to believe his would not start. We needed his to be able to run in order to get to the repair shop in the morning, so I was sad. Later, when he came home, he said the car did start but he was concerned it would not again when it was time to leave work. The landscape equipment is kept deep into a neighborhood, actually beyond it, and would be hard to give a wrecker-driver directions to help him if he needed it. Seems reasonable.   

  

When he came home from work, he asked if I needed anything from the store. Sure! He went to Winn Dixie and got fresh dinner rolls and some bread for making sandwiches. Betty drinks regular Coke so he got her a small bottle for the evening. When he came back, I asked him what he had gone to get, thinking he wanted something for himself. He said he did not need anything, but knew he had left me without a car all day…What a nice guy he is!

The soup turned out wonderfully, despite the chicken flavoring, and all were happy. The ladies, Betty and Robin C., were glad to see Justin and spend some time with him. Once we finished our meal, Justin cleared things away as we ladies got set to watch our movie, “Midnight in Paris”. Robin had brought brownies and Betty, a coffee cake which tasted like a cheese cake. Yummy for dessert! Justin was going to hang out with his other friends but when he went to start his car, it would not. Instead of using mine and joining his friends, he jump started his, drove around awhile to get the battery filled back up, and then stayed home! He watched the end of the movie with us (said it looked good, what he saw of it!) and spent the evening with us old ladies! He said he did not wish to fool around with his car in the morning, wise choice!

My neighbor, Randy, offered to plug his charger into Justin’s battery overnight but Justin kindly refused this suggestion, being sure that now the battery was fully charged and ready to go. Other of my neighbors offered their help if we encountered problems with the car on the way to the shop, or to just get out of the parking lot, and I am so so thankful for the support. Now, just to get it fixed…awesome!

Timmy's birthday

Well, here it is---the day which would be Timmy's 16th birthday. Yikes! What an incredible concept for me wrap my head around. In fact, I will not even try, because, as I told Beth B. this morning, he is always going to be 5 to me! Beth lost her daughter, Hannah, the age of 12 to brain cancer at  in 2010, and she considers her daughter as always being 12. We have become fast friends for some of the obvious reasons, and I was glad she was able to attend Bible study yesterday morning.

Justin pointed out to me that I attend two Bible studies on Thursdays now, since the Bible Information Class began last week. "Ask, and ye shall receive!" He had to work today and was going to have lunch at Sweet Tomatoes with his father, a custom since 2002, to celebrate Timmy's birthday at his favorite restaurant. He called it "Taste Tomatoes", with the strawberry on the sign. No, it was not a strawberry, but as far as Timmy was concerned, it was! 

So, without Justin, I went to Bible study at Victory, and then took my car in for an oil change. Instead of sitting in the waiting area in the shop, I had a small stromboli at Aron's Pizza, next door. I love it that the young waitress knew what I was going to order, and even brought the to-go box with extra sauce in anticipation of my taking half of it home with me! The guy at Sun Tire, who also rotated my tires for me, assured me all was well under the hood, news I love to hear, and I was on my way home again.

For awhile this afternoon I worked on the church newsletter, writing an article about the coming of the season of Lent. Imagine that! We no sooner finish Epiphany season and now Lent. I like doing the research or the reading about the seasons, hymns, liturgical colors, and so on. I need some info yet from the preschool staff and then the newsletter is good to go.

I also sent out a blanket e-mail to all our members inviting them to a Work Day at church this Saturday, to prep the fellowship hall for renovation. The building has to be emptied out (and put it where?) as the roof is being modified and the ceilings replaced. We understand the kitchen remains 'as is' but will still be affected by the overhead renovations. I hope lots of people with good, strong backs show up to do the heavy lifting. 

A couple people have asked me if I was having a Super Bowl party and I said I would have to wait to see if the Packers won. As we know, the Packers did NOT win but I have opted to have a party anyway. Why not? Without a team in the running, it might be even more fun, and I have not had a gathering here, of any size, since the Ladies' Group party in early December. I don't care how many people come, it's a party with two or three, or even only one!

In the late afternoon, I got a text message from Justin telling me he was ready to get picked up. Usually I have to get him when my favorite TV show is on but today I got to see the majority of "The Five". Soon we should have his car repaired and he can drive himself. Saturday is the day for the repairs, yay!

Since I had to be at BIC by 7:30 pm, Justin and I timed our visit to Sweet Tomatoes accordingly. While we were there, I mentioned to him that I saw several folks eating by themselves, so I could have done the same. He jumped on that quickly with "I would never let you come alone on Timmy's birthday!", even though he 'had' to eat there twice in one day. Good answer, Justin! He said he knows that now he gets two of everything, including CHRISTmas dinners, birthday parties, and other events, and is good with that, as long as he doesn't overeat. That guy!

We had enough time after dinner for me to bring him home again, instead of his plan to walk from Wells and Hwy. 17. He wanted to watch "American Idol", but when I walked in the house after class, I discovered more had taken place...He was cleaning another closet! After American Idol was over, he tackled the pantry closet near the foyer, having two card tables set up and using the glass table in the family room. Wow, I have alot of stuff! This closet had not been cleaned since we moved in and was loaded by Martie and Brenda T. in 2006. 

Again, many items will be donated to Quigley House or to anyone who wants them. Foods which had expired in 2007 were disposed of, just in the nick of time!, and other items relocated to the freed shelves in the front hall closet, cleaned out on Tuesday. Sometimes a person just has to organize and shift things around to make more room, and that happened tonight! The tables are still in place with the items to be donated waiting to be boxed up. Robin and Betty are coming tomorrow night for Dinner and a Movie so they can have first pick before we box them up. Nice!