Those rascals!

Earlier today I was talking to my mom, explaining the situation with the concrete being poured and how I had to move my car away from where the concrete truck was being stationed. She asked me about the 2nd floor dwellers, how they were able to come and go during all this. I told her they could not, for 24 hours they were house bound or else had to stay elsewhere. Later, I found out it was only the end two units who were housebound as the concrete was poured up to their doorways. The other units would still have access to the stairs if they needed to go out. 

This afternoon, I got these photos in my e-mail, showing two rascals who simply could not bear to be housebound all day long. As Hugh wrote, they were lucky to not end up on the front page of the paper with the headline: "Two people in their mid-70's too cheap to pay for a hotel room...."

At the bottom of the ladder I see Cathy and probably the legs of Miss Chardonnay waiting for Maureen to come down with the bottle of wine. Those rascals! They would have been the first ones all over me if I tried something like this but somehow they can pull it off. They eloped when they got married as teen-agers so I guess ladders are not foreign to them! They leave soon for an extended trip to Turkey and the Mediterranean. No fear!

The next step in the project

 The concrete truck is in place and the hoses are run to pump the concrete into the recesses of the sundeck

These fellows have the job of supporting the hoses as the concrete makes it way toward the courtyard near the elevator

This is the south end of the sundeck which will be poured tomorrow. See my red car down in the parking lot? Connie is down there giving the job boss his instructions for supervising this pour

This guy had to move the tools away for the area being worked on so the project could progress

The two men standing near the elevator are supervising the concrete being poured

...and here comes the concrete!

Ignoring the TV for a bit

Over and over again I have watched the footage taken during the explosions during the running of the Boston Marathon. The words that come to me are "mindless", a mindless, heartless act. The passage from St. Paul came to mind, about having fought the good fight and finishing the race. My prayers to our Sovereign Lord are for those who are suffering injury or who have lost loved ones. 

***

The glow of last night's concert presentation remains for me, not the music alone. Judy C. was going to go with me at first but then was gone for the weekend, or part of it, with her sister-in-law. Since the performance was not at UNF, I was less excited about going to Stockton Street alone, so hitched a ride with the Douglas's. 

Two of Laurie's boys rode in the rear seat, while Joe and I rode in the middle ones. Laurie followed in her truck with two more of her boys. So thankful to have a ride, good company, and not to have to drive in the rain! Cliff pointed out the location of his childhood home, where he went to school, where Carol and he first met, and so on, which was fascinating to me. 

Andy met us there at the church, walking over from the home where Robbie and he rent. Robbie had a nice contingent of fans, including Bruce and Kristi, the only others who came from church. I saw my neighbor, Sharon, there, a few rows ahead of us. I sometimes borrow her river photos to post if I fail to capture sunrise myself.

              

Afterward, Robbie found us around a table at Cracker Barrel in OP, the whole bunch of us minus Andy, who had already eaten dinner somehow or another. The concert was at 6:00 so he must have done the Early Bird Special. I treated Robbie just because I wanted to! We had driven in rain, heard rain during the concert, and left the restaurant in rain. Ugh! The good news is leftover meatloaf, potatoes, carrots, and corn for another meal!

Saturday I had an 'at home' day, and it was perfection. Did what I wanted to do and even what I didn't want to do, which was vacuum clean my floors. I could bear it not another moment! My doors were open to allow the flow of breezes, and the inevitable invasion of the noseeums, drawn by my lights. No sooner vacuumed and the floors are littered with these dead bodies!

Friday was spent with church family working on the pictorial archives, and lunching with some at the Olive Garden. That was such a nice, nice day! As it went on, the weather changed and storms brewed including tornado watches and winds. 

***

Today after Bible study and lunch, I went to get gas (my light came on when I was driving up Wells Road!!!!!) and then picked up my completed tax return. It was on my way to the Signet center where I was having my mammogram done. They just tear me up there----make sure you are there at least 15 minutes ahead of time do to the paperwork, etc. Hurry up, hurry up, and wait. 

My appointment was for 1:40 pm and it was after 2:00 before I was seen. At 2:45 I was at last on my way home. Glad to have that taken care of for another year. Tomorrow is the post-op appointment and I am done until the end of the month for my beauty mark removal. No more doctor visits for a while then, okay?

A glorious evening

The verse sung at the conclusion of tonight's UNF concert went like this:

Mercifully grant us peace,

Lord God, in our time.

There is no other

that could defend us 

but you, our God, alone!

The stained glass window in the rear of the sanctuary at the Church of the Good Shepherd where Robbie's concert was held. The boys were so well behaved---I believe they were the only little ones present for this event---and I was wildly impressed by them. And the music was "like paradise in heaven", as Wesley stated.

After the concert, Robbie carried Wesley on his shoulders as they all climbed the stairs to the balcony to get the birds' eye view of the place. Uncle Andy was there, too, but didn't get into the shot. Love these guys---(l. to r.) William, Douglas, Brant, Robbie, and Wesley

Living in the past

This morning there was a segment on Fox and Friends about earworms and how they show up on brain scans. In chatting with Linda this a.m., when posed with the question of where does music transport one, I recalled the first time Justin and I heard "Con Te Partiro" on a cruise. It's English name is "Time to Say Good-Bye".

                      

In 2004, as our ship left port, a late afternoon departure rather than the usual evening, this most amazing song played over the sound system. I was up on deck, watching the ancient ruins of Dubrovnik slowly go by as the ship was towed from port. Justin had gone below deck to watch something on his portable DVD player he'd brought along. Oh, how I wished he could hear this....And as I wished it, the doors slid open and there came Justin, rushing to my side, asking, "Mom, can you hear this song???" Justin and I stood there, watching the scenery and listening to this lilting melody, a fond memory for me.

We were both so moved by it, and at the dinner table that night, we asked if anyone knew who the singer was. We were told this song is played every night when we left port, only we were in the dining room at that time, and never heard it. Our tablemates told us it was Sarah Brightman and they had her albums, etc. Once we got back home, I went to Wal*Mart to look for this angel's CDs and bought one. 

When Justin got home from work, after texting me twice during the day about it, he asked me where was the CD . Since I was up in the office, I called down to him that the CD was in Grandma's room, now being used as my scrapbook room. I went down after a few minutes to listen with him, and I couldn't find him. Finally, the closet door opened, him in there with the boom box, listening to the song and sobbing his heart out. As best he could express himself between the sobs, he said, "It reminds me of our trip..." and we cried together. I love that about him, and that we share this fond memory of our first cruise together---just the two of us---nice and relaxing, liberating, peaceful, and moving!

Justin was able at one time to sing along using the Italian words, and he told me once that if we went again, I should be in a contest on the ship to see who sounded the most like Sarah Brightman. Not so sure about that but I thank him for the compliment. 

Come back with us to Dubrovnik: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr5fmZKNLaQ

A day in the archives

This morning a nice group of ladies got together at church to work on our project of preserving the congregation's pictorial archives. The goal originally was to get the old photos out of the sticky or magnetic paged albums onto archival-safe papers for the sake of posterity. That mission was accomplished as the last of the albums was finished up. 

About half the ladies had left already when Judy C. and I packed the stuffed away, consolidating into one plastic bin. As I moved stuffed around to get it  into the bin, I found a Creative Memories box of photos which had been set aside to be mounted. Oh nuts! The primary goal was met but now the secondary one must go on at least one more session.

Judy suggested we put the completed albums out for display the next few Sundays for folks to page through them. Some will see these photos for the first time, and for others, it will be trip down memory lane! The groundbreaking for the WEF unit where they originally worshipped, the building of the present day sanctuary, other projects requiring hammers, nails, and concrete pours, parties, LWMS events, and the list goes on.

Carol's mom was so good about keeping such records and much of her journaling remains in the albums, transferred from the old to the new. God bless good note taking! Today we shared our fond remembrances of the fine times we had with Shirley, the lady who told me once, "I love to clean the Lord's house..." Hopefully I never forget that!

                                        

After we finished the tidying up, we remaining three ladies went to have lunch at the Olive Garden. Judy and I hadn't been there since the time we went after church with Amber and her granddaughter and had rotten service. This time it was excellent service and great food. We all tried the new menu offering of calzones, which came with the house salad and bread sticks. As the waitress boxed up half my lunch, she also packed up the breadsticks for me to take along home. Nice! 

It was another wonderful day tripping down memory lane and making new memories with the church ladies!

Leaping for Joy!

As best I can as a little fat lady, I am leaping for joy after hearing from my endodontist yesterday afternoon. He called me himself to report the finding of the biopsy, the good news that it was benign, saying: "it's all good". Normally that expression makes me cringe but not yesterday. It took less than a week for the results to come through, including mailing the sample to the lab at UF. He anticipated it taking up to 3 weeks but told he pulled some strings because he knew I was concerned about the results. Yes, once more, I got the VIP treatment! 

As soon as I heard about it, I sent a text message to Justin and then called my mom. She too was glad to hear the good news, appreciating my letting her know as quickly as possible. Mom asked me if said 'thank you' to God and I assured her I was, plus said "thanks be to God" to the doctor as well. I also thanked him for calling me with this good news. Next week I must go in for a follow-up to the surgery and get the all-clear to resume normal activity (I say, why start "normal" now???) and then that's it for me. Praise be to God! 

At this writing I have 'heard' from over 100 folks via Facebook either in the form of a comment or simply a LIKE clicked under my status update reporting this good news. Even heard from Mexico City, from Rafa, my friend from the cruise in 2006. Love it! My sister, Kerry, thanked everyone who clicked in as she was impressed and awed by the response, most of whom commented thanking the Lord for this great news. I even got a lunch invitation out of it!

As I told my friend at choir last night, I am not liking seeing so many things on my calendar with the abbreviation "Dr." in front of them. Next up, after seeing my family doctor for the 50,000 mile check-up this past Tuesday is a mammogram this coming Monday, the post-op check at Dr. Smith's office, and at the end of the month, back to the family doctor to have some skin tags (beauty marks!) removed. She is also a dermatologist and always has her eyes on my tags. I surrendered to having them removed, she said it only takes a minute. BUT, I understand, they are examined under the microscope too, as a regular precaution. Hopefully I won't be all stressed out over that!