America's birthday

As I lie here writing, I can hear the sound of fireworks being exploded all along the river. It doesn't bother me one bit. After all, it's America's birthday, Independence Day!  There is cause for celebration.

Mike's smoker drew the attention of passing firefighters as they saw plumes of smoke billowing over the playground fence as he cooked. They had just come from a fire elsewhere, after the thunderstorm, and came to check out where the smoke was coming from. The firemen startled Mike but also made us happy to know that they were keeping an eye on things. 

My young folks are in the house with me, playing board games in the living room. They worked hard today getting their props and set ready for VBS. I got see some of their efforts as I was invited to join the group for dinner at church. Mike n Mike were making dinner for them, plus Judy and me. I hated to leave home for fear of losing my parking place, but I had nothing to worry about. No interlopers for viewing the fireworks had parked in my stall. Mike S. smoked two Boston butts, one of which we had for dinner, and the second one he portioned between me and some others. We are going to use the pork for sandwiches during the week. With the meat we had French bread, mac 'n cheese balls, baked beans, watermelon, and brownies. 

I brought the kids home with me, having to battle somewhat the traffic which congested the streets around my area due to the fireworks. We had to creep down Mcintosh and Astor Street to avoid pedestrians already working their way toward Moosehaven and the river. After getting towels for the kids and my fold up chair, we got ourselves situated on the north lawn to await the fireworks. We had rain much of the afternoon (totally ruined the daytime celebrations at The Club!) so the towels were necessary. 

We had the viewing area to ourselves at first. The young folks took a walk around check things out. Here they are all three on their phones.

Dinner wrapped up on the patio of The Club and diners were made their way toward the grass along the river. My friends, Nancy and Bill, were planning to watch with us, but instead they went to view the fireworks from the hotel where our other friends had taken a room for the night. That was an even better spot than my yard. Eventually more and more of my neighbors came out to join us and meet the CO kids. Prior to the fireworks show, my friend, Ellen, who was having a party, had her friends sing "Hello, Miss Kim", harmonizing as they did so. Loved that and so did those sitting out there. My neighbor, Hugh, played patriotic music while the show went on. 

This picture was a happy accident, Chris in silhouette in the rocket's red glare.

Part of the fun of this annual fireworks show is watching the boats gather for it. The police vessels keep the boaters from getting too close to the barge anchored in the river.  Because the weather had been so bad today, complete with a thunderstorm and wind, I didn't expect as many boaters. I was way off on that prediction. It was completely dark, of course, after the fireworks display ended, so it was more interesting watching all the boats leave. How they avoid each other out there is beyond me, and I am just glad that they do!  

All excited about the kids being here!!!

This is a recap of the past few day's events: 

I've been making an attempt to not refer to these fine young people from Rocky Mountain Lutheran High School as kids, but it just slips out. A couple years ago when Justin was leaving his bungalow (shack) at the Beach and moving back home, he told me he would have come home sooner except, "Those kids that you love..." were still here. Now that's a line I like to use about these young folks, "those kids that I love".

Caleb (the brother of Jacob who has served us for two years prior), Chris and Noelle, both serving Good Shepherd last year have returned for another go at it. They arrived in JAX on Wednesday night on a late but direct flight from Denver, having no adult escort this time. Michael picked them up and stored the group overnight at their house (Judy's and his) due to the hour. They all slept late and after having a breakfast/lunch Michael brought them over to my house. I had already come up after exercise class and had changed into clothing, rather than wearing my night gown. There is plenty of time for that!

Michael came back for them around 5:00 pm after having decided to not have dinner before arriving at church as they were still full from their late breakfast/early lunch. After they were done with the canvassing of the neighborhoods, Michael took them to eat. Justin and I were already in bed before they came home and got themselves off to bed for their big day today.

They left here this morning around 6:00 am for a day at SeaWorld. The weather should be good, likely getting some rain at some point during the day as is expected in the summer in FL. I didn't think to advise application of sunscreen for them so hope it's not a problem for their fair CO skin. We have had young people here who have had some sunburns and it is not a pleasant experience for them, or for anyone.

The group had to seek shelter for a bit at Sea World due to a thunder storm rolling through. Michael sent me this picture showing their unexpected 'rest' during the day.

Before I headed to the pool for the afternoon, I got busy cleaning out my purse. It was filled to overflowing with papers and receipts and church bulletins. AND, my ticket stubs from my flights to and from WI from over a month ago, plus crumbs from the Pop Tart I had purchased in the airport in MKE for my trip back to Florida. I ate only half of it and the rest made for sticky crumbs in the bottom of my purse. Yech!  

Also, I broke down and ordered two new swimsuits from Sears, on the advice of my pool friend, Pat G. She gets her suits from there and I like how they look on her. They were on sale already at 60% off which is why I took two instead of only one. Prices on suits are simply ridiculous and I refuse to pay full retail for one, much less two!

I haven't actually eyeballed the young folks since they left for church yesterday afternoon and likely won't see them again until Saturday morning. Justin and I will be quiet as we normally are, allowing them to sleep until they wake up, or until Michael is ready to come get them for setting up VBS stuff at church. My plans are to enjoy the Independence Day celebrations at the pool and then join the group at church for dinner as Mike S. is smoking some Boston butts and making other good stuff for us. 

We will get back here in time to enjoy the fireworks from my property. Hoping for great weather for those events as well. My greatest concern is that some interloper will park in my spot while I am gone to church, but hopefully we'll be back in plenty of time to prevent that. Looking forward to having fun with these nice young folks for the time they are here and that our VBS will be blessed having them here!

Shall we play a game?

This morning I went out to water exercise class, leaving the kids to fend for themselves for breakfast. I showed them where everything is in the fridge and have the other stuff out on the counter for breakfast and for making their lunches. The young people went to church to do some prep work for VBS and then came back here to get themselves settled in. 

Once Michael dropped them off, they got ready to go out to the pool and did have a little bit of time before we got rained out. Nuts! I hate this for them because it's such a nice part of their stay here. Instead we came inside and I got them situated with a few board games. They actually requested Monopoly which Noelle had played for the first time last year when she was here. All I could find in my game closet was the Manitowoc version but they didn't mind. I taught them how to properly pronounce "Manitowoc", fingers pinching their noses shut! Ha ha!  When Justin got home I asked him if he knew where the original version was and he thinks it might be at Ron's house where his group generally play board games. My guests don't mind this 'quaint' version so I won't worry too much about it.

This evening they were having dinner at church and then off they go with some others canvassing. Hopefully the rain won't hold them back from their tasks. Tomorrow is a big day for them so I don't expect them to stay up too late to finish their game. Michael is taking them plus his niece and nephew to Sea World for the day. This is a nice change for Michael as previous years they have gone to Universal Studios. It is fun to change things up a little bit!

Taking one for the team

Justin and I have at last gotten things wrapped up and ready to go our house guests. Tomorrow the three young people from CO arrive here at my home. Noelle and Chris were here last year, and Caleb will be new this year, his brother, Jacob, coming for two years before him. We have the two boys set up in the back guest room and once again Noelle will sleep on the air bed in the living room. Justin brought out a white wicker table for her to have alongside her bed which may or may not afford her some privacy. She will have the convenience of the table if nothing else. 

I was helping Justin with some organizing in the guest room, as much of the disarray was his. As he walked between the day bed and its trundle which was popped up, he hit the edge of trundle, right in his shin. Ouch! Later, I hit the same edge, only it caught me just above where my knee is supposed to be. Ouch!!  

I have hurt myself three times this week doing household tasks. One night I had to throw one of my tops in the wash load with Justin's clothes because of getting a spot of food on it. Wanting to grab it out of the machine so it wouldn't get thrown in the dryer, I reached in to fetch the top. The cover of the washer came down as I was stretching into the machine and caught the bridge of my nose. Thump! That really smarts! Justin was standing there and saw it happen. I reached in yet again and darned if that lid didn't come crashing down on my arm. Ouch!  Justin was trying to tell me that he could pull it out, meaning the entire machine and not the blouse, but I was already yanking it out. What he did do is scoot the machine forward to where it is supposed to be so the cover would open all the way and stay open. And not smash my face and arms in the process! He also pulled the dryer forward so both machines were perfectly lined up, the way I like them. 

So, I caught the washer lid with my nose, my forearm, and the frame of the trundle bed with my chubby little knee. This getting the house ready for company takes its toll on me. My back is aching tonight because I did some vacuum cleaning in fear that Justin wouldn't get done in time. It's like Christmas---we know for an entire year that the holiday is coming and yet we are caught off guard by it. What is up with that??? And, yes, I do know the kids probably won't care if the floors are vacuumed or not, but I do care and want everything nice for their visit. Can't wait to see them!!

Interesting skies

Is this not a dramatic cloud? The white was so brilliant and the blue around it really set it off beautifully!  This was taken a couple nights ago and after I posted it on Facebook several folks commented that they had seen it,too, some as they drove across the bridge. Glad I was home and able to catch this shot. 

Today I went out to the pool for water exercise class, as always, excited to see who else would show up. We had a good group of attendees, three rows of people thrashing about madly in the water together. What a sight we must be!  Marlena every year says we are going to put on an end of the year show (for whom???, we'd like to know)  She is the only one excited about that, the rest of us are more than reluctant!!   

I had a cool message from a FB friend today, a classmate of mine from high school. She has some physical maladies one of which is hand pain. She was telling how her arthritic hands hurt so much that cooking or baking is most difficult most days. I told her I have dough hooks as an attachment to my mixer which are useful for mixing bread dough and can be used for meatloaf. 

She wrote to me with great thanks for suggesting this she had forgotten that she owned dough hooks and used them to mix up the meat for their evening meal. Her cousin who is also a relative of mine commented on Joy's posting that she daily reads my postings, especially the Bible passages and hymn stanzas, and is blessed by them. This was so great to hear, and the dough hooks remark was simply a passing comment. And it was life-changing for Joy. Glad to be of service from this far away!

Gorgeous sunrise

As the month of June draws to a close, we have been blessed with sensational sunrises of which this is one. 

I mentioned the other day when we surprised Stephanie at Monroe's BBQ for her retirement party, one of the local papers was there taking photos and such. This particular restaurant had been voted the #1 BBQ place in Jacksonville. The photographer came by our table more than once to take photos of us ladies and gentleman and said we should watch for the story in the paper. That was pretty cool, having Stephanie's retirement be front page news!! Unfortunately for Monroes, I have been at 4Rivers and I have to tell you, their brisket beats Monroes by a long shot. In fact, for the sake of research, I ate bbq twice on Saturday---once with my Victory friends and then for dinner with Justin. Hands down, 4Rivers is far better. Makes my mouth water now even thinking about it!

Another thing making my mouth water is Justin trying a new recipe for dinner rolls. It's one I found on Facebook and it looks easy enough. I can say that because I am not the one making the rolls. 

The other day Justin was at Publix and found packages of fresh cut rhubarb in the produce dept. I have never seen this before and was surprised it was there. The frozen stuff is sometimes available but fresh cut is a first, at least for us. He didn't buy any but sent me the picture which I posted on Facebook. No one else can believe either. Those folks up north scoff that we would have to buy it when it's either free or much cheaper for them. This is sold at $1.16 a pound. Makes me think of rhubarb crunch. I should make some! 

Today was my at-home day as I enjoy watching JAG reruns on the Comcast preview station. Not even my radio shows take precedence over my JAG jag! My mom watches this program as well, so like Linda and me with The Five, we are watching together. The difference is that I am not chatting with Mom at the same time. I have seen many if not most of the episodes before but it's just fun to revisit the story line and the places they go. Sometimes they are at NASJAX, which is right down the street from me. Yes, I could be at the pool, but that's okay, I can skip once a week for this!

Pretty cool!

Late yesterday afternoon I got a call from a WI number. It didn't show a name but I answered right away. The voice on the other end was my mom's and she was surprised how quickly I picked up. I told her I was excited to get a call from WI. She went on to say that she had a problem...this made me nervous. What kind of problem did Mom have to tell me about???  

I asked her if I could help and she said I might be able to. She said, with dramatic pauses, "I fell...(I caught my breath) asleep during Jeopardy! last night and missed Final."  Whew!!  Yes, I can help you out, Mom. What a relief to just simply look up the final Jeopardy! answer and question for her. While I was researching it she told me how she fought sleep to watch to the end, especially since she had to stay up until 10 pm for it to come on, due to women's soccer pre-empting regular viewing. Often she falls asleep in her chair right after 8 so staying up to watch "Jeppy" after 10 is a job! This is a re-run, mind you, but she does not care. 

The catagory was Novel Characters and the answer was something like 'this lawyer was named in a 1960 novel after a famous and wise Roman'. The question was "Who is Atticus Finch" but Mom didn't get it. But she was so so happy to have the final in order to not lose sleep  over it. She is so darn funny when it comes to Jeopardy!!!  But she did give me a start, that's for sure. I still don't know why her name didn't come up with the phone number, identifying her as the caller. I'll have to check that out.

Today while I was dining at Chili's with my church friends and Justin, I got a message from my Facebook friend, Judy. She lives half the year in FL and other half in my hometown. We are Facebook friends, met on the Manitowoc site. Anyway, she messaged me that she was eating at Fork and Knife and discovered that my mom, sister, and Linda were seated at the next table. She thought she heard my name mentioned and recognized my mom from my blog, so went over to introduce herself. She said, "You must be Kim's mom..." Oh, how my family loves to hear that all the time. Linda is friends with Judy, too, via FB so Judy wrote, "I have met all your family now expect you!"  She has also met Jill at the ice cream parlor. Love this!!