What a blast!

Justin had to go to work this morning, the end of his 'winter break' to finish up some sites not gotten to during the week. His co-worker was out sick a couple days plus they lost all of Wednesday when a huge storm was predicted, but never came. It blew apart in the night and never re-gathered. I'd hate to be the one making these decisions for their days, based upon weather forecasts. 

I was lolling in bed, watching the news, when my phone went off. Terri was wondering if I was up for breakfast. Yes, I might not be up and out of bed, but I sure can be! She was still at home so I had plenty of time to make myself ready to meet over at Grumpy's. Hadn't been there since yesterday! 

The parking lot was packed, with several spaces being occupied by large motorcycles. Terri got there before I did, oddly enough, since I live so close. She met me at my car as I pulled in, offering to park my car on the grass for me so I didn't have to go so far. I assured her I could do it myself, appreciate the offer of course, and she went in to get our name on the list. I had to drive up the little hill, past a rescue squad parked up there, as well. By the time I got parked and walked over to the restaurant Terri was coming back out. We parked ourselves on the bench to wait for our name to be called. 

Terri was planning to meet someone who had some baby stuff to donate. Two young ladies at the JAX Pace Center are expecting so Terri will see to it they get these donated items which includes equipment as well as clothing. This meeting would take place when the lady's baby woke up so we had plenty of time to eat. They seated us at the 'romantic table', a two top back in the corner. The opening to the other dining room was behind us so it is not confining, just a bit teeny. We managed nicely!

Terri's donater arrived so we went out to our cars. Terri transferred the items to her car as I headed out to Wal*Mart to pick up prescriptions. I usually only go there when I need my medications filled, every three months, with occasional visits in between. Today I had to speak with the tech because the price the text msg I got from Wal*Mart was far too high. When I called to speak to someone yesterday, the lady told me my insurance had expired. I didn't even have that kind of insurance so I was glad to talk with someone in person today and see what was what. The nice lady told me my particular medication was no longer on the $4 list but did find one that was. I have to ask my doctor to call it in but did take a month's worth of the original one, because of being out of them. I am not a fan of this kind of thing.

The afternoon was spent at my desk, not working on taxes, while watching "HOUSE". At a certain point I moved to my bed and was watching the news, having a handful of Cheetos to hold me over until dinner. Around 6:30 I got a text msg from Terri that OJ and she were going to dinner and asked me join them.  I jumped in the car to meet them at the Outback. She messaged me that Michael and Judy were coming, too, which is just a blast. When I got to Outback, the lot was full, and I drove around and around to find a space. Every time I saw one open up, by the time I got there, someone else got it. Terri had found a place, as did Michael...So as I circled, Terri messaged me that it was an hour's wait so we decided to go to 4 Rivers instead. 

We all got to 4 Rivers at the same time and did have to stand in line a bit which is not unusual. Judy went to save us seats at a table (every where was bustling tonight!), and it was after 7:00 pm. I still have gift cards to use here so was glad they chose 4 Rivers for our dinner. Given the hour, the place was emptying out and was not so crowded which allowed us to sit and talk for a while. This was twice in a week that I got to see OJ and eat with her. I am so loving this!!  They all got a kick at how I packed up my to-go dishes right away when I got to the table, putting the containers in the bag. Terri wondered if I wasn't going to eat something, but I assured her I would eat all my meat. And did so! Love that brisket!

"Hello, Mary Lew, Good-Bye Heart"

Not long after I moved into The Palace I began to participate in the water exercise classes at The Club. In those days, the classes were held at 8:15 a.m. in the teen's pool, shallower in the first half which is good for non-swimmers. At that hour of the morning, that pool was in the shade of my building so it was bit chilly. But, we were troopers! I was the youngest, with several being a good 20 years my senior. They did not want to listen to me complain about the cold---ha, ha! 

Last summer in the teen pool, tight quarters!

I am thinking Randy is the only one besides me, I think, from the original group. He is in his 70's and has some dementia going on so am not sure how much longer he'll be coming to the class. Anyway, another of the originals was Mary Lew, a long-time Club member. She was a florist by trade and was called upon to help decorate in The Club for special occasions like Mother's Day, Easter, the big holidays, etc. She would also join the fun on Wednesday nights, occasionally coming for Happy Hour. She was a low-talker, I know I've mentioned this in the past. The room was already noisy and those with hearing problems had a dilly of a time hearing what Mary Lew had to say. 

She loved books and would spend time before our classes reading and basking in the sun. More than once she suggested our group bring our books and share them but somehow it never happened. She let me borrow one of hers, and it was such a good read. 'I Feel Bad About My Neck', written by screen writer/director Nora Ephron. It was about getting older and the things which go with it. It was funny as well as reflective about our lives. Loved it!  That year for Christmas Mary Lew gave me another of Nora's books. I was so glad that she told me she had a gift for me so I was ready with one for her. I gave her a special bookmark, but can't recall what else. The book she gave me is on the table in my living room, as I write this. 

A couple years ago Mary Lew was in a car accident while taking her daughter for cancer treatments. It was not her fault but unfortunately she ended up on the hospital for a couple of weeks with a head injury. Mary Lew never came back to class for several reasons, one including not being happy with how her legs looked in a suit. She was teeny tiny to start with but I guess she got smaller yet and felt funny. Once or twice she did come to join us for a lunch which was nice. It was just not the same without her. 

Here is our group from 2012, at Basketique Tea Room. Mary Lew is seated on the left, with Randy next to her. My hand is on Randy's shoulder, and then Marlena, her mom, and Sisti. Back row is Pat A., Pat G., Ollavan, me, Susie, Maggie O., Ina, Lynn, Rita, Lee, Sherry, and Helen.

Mary Lew passed away a week ago, and today was her funeral service. The reception afterward was held at The Club. I had let everyone in our class know, those who knew her prior to two years ago, so they could attend the service and/or reception, or submit memories to the daughter who is assembling a memory book about her mom. Sadly, I was the only one from the class who showed up, except for Marlena, who was there as a guest and not an employee today. I got to meet Mary Lew's family members and many of her friends. The friends who were florists went all out for her, using Mary Lew's own containers to decorate the tables and every available surface with floral arrangements. I am kicking myself for not taking pictures, but I didn't feel right doing so. I hope someone else did! Oh, my! It was splendid, and Mary Lew would have been honored and pleased to see it. Good-bye, Mary Lew!

Quiet day otherwise

Today was Bible study at Victory, finishing our look at Titus. We are working our way through the epistles which began with Timothy. Next we are moving right into Philemon, which won't take us long at all! We had a nice group today, three married couples, which I think is just marvelous, not all ladies like ours is at GS. It's great that couples can do this together during the week.

Me with my good friend, Lee, at The Club

I was thinking on my ride home about my friend, Lee, whom I miss dearly. She moved away three years ago, first to CA and now living downstate in the Sarasota area. We used to have the best talks, hours and hours either in the pool or on the side, or over a meal. One time she said something which was thought-provoking. She said she doesn't like the term 'best friend' because that puts all the rest of the friends in a certain pecking order. This was not something I'd ever considered and really made me re-consider my word choices. I would hate to put someone on the spot and give me a ranking in their life so this gave me incentive to no longer use that descriptive when talking about my friends. Lee is still with me, as it were, though many miles away!

Angie and Linda greeting me!

This lovely photo awaited me this morning when I checked my Facebook account. These two ladies sent me their greetings from the Wellness Center. Really got my day off to a marvelous start!

Today was my Republican Women's meeting at The Club. The lady who usually provides the invocation and offers something worthy of consideration was absent. It was announced that her son and his family showed up at her home after midnight with only the clothes on their backs, having escaped their burning home. Oh no!

It wasn't long and a collection basket was being passed around into which those gathered could make a donation to help this displaced family. It was moving, sort of quiet, as folks were visibly affected by this situation and were swift to lend a hand.  Plans are to get them a WalMart gift card with which they can get basic needs met and so the young daughter could have school clothes so she wouldn't miss too much. Surely other help will be coming to them but in the meantime their family and we can and did lend a hand. 

Facebook has come up with a new gimmick for people to click on after reading someone's post. At first there was only an imoji or graphic for LIKE which I would use with abandon, indicating I'd read their post. Now the developers have added a graphic for laughter, love, shock, sorrow, and anger, besides the thumbs up for LIKE. Thus far, I have only used LIKE but all the imoji pop-up and get in the way, pushing for use. I won't do it! Stubborn that way. I'd like a button or graphic that indicates I've been there and read their posting, not putting a grade on it. I know I am in the minority on this so I'll simply note my distaste here and leave it at that.

Tonight is midweek Lenten worship. I wonder if Justin will be done working in time to go with me or if he'll be up to it. Usually he's pretty bushed when he gets home, heads right for his bed after getting showered and his clothes into the washer. His legs are weary and his bones ache. Even though the mowers he uses are ride-on, there is quite a lot of jarring and bouncing going on. We shall see!  

Over 50 Lunch Bunch and more

This morning I got a call from Judy C. regarding a change in plans for our trip to Mandarin for the Over 50 Lunch Bunch. She was going to drive Betty and me to St. Mary's Seafood but she had gotten a call from a dear friend who needed her help. I agreed to drive Betty over, as she is afraid of the bridge. Terri let me know she was coming and bringing OJ with her. We had a large group of people, about 20. The service was good, which amazes me with this many people and orders to prepare. Another group was in there with us, and prior to their eating, began to sing "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow". Our group joined in, and it was lovely. Gives me the chills even yet, thinking about all the voices united in song! Was this a violation of fellowship? The other group applauded our joining them. I wonder who they were...

Terri and OJ sat across from Gretchen and me, with Betty at the end of our table. OJ was waving the peace sign at me. Our group was stretched along a wall of booth/tables so we couldn't really talk with everyone

Terri took this picture of Gretchen and me as waited for our meals. Gretchen is smiling as best she can because she has a broken bridge and fears it falling out if she opens her mouth more! She is a hoot!

I took this picture of Betty and Gretchen

Here is the rest of the group, all the way to the end. At one point, as a joke, Linda H. called me to say 'hello' from halfway down the booth (pink shirt, snow white hair). The gesturing hands belong to Judy J. Gotta love the good turnout for this event each month but makes it hard to find places large enough to accommodate and serve us. This is our 2nd time here and both times, excellent service and food. 

I had a delightful meal and time with the folks at this lunch, getting Betty back and forth safely across the bridge. I paced myself with what I ordered because Nancy W. and I had plans to dine at The Club for dinner. Originally we were going on Casual Grille Night Thursday but she had something else planned. Instead, she had her birthday dinner on The Club tonight, and I used a gift certificate my neighbors gave me to pay for my meal. She ate both the appetizers that came with our meals for me. When the waiter brought out our tiny scoops of lemon sorbet to cleanse our pallets, Nancy said, "Oh, good! Something she likes!" I also did like my prime rib, baked potato and brocolli. Brandon boxed up my salad automatically but Nancy didn't take it so I brought it home for Justin with the rest of my leftovers. I'll have a dandy meal or two from them this weekend!

Trying my best to not be....

....a single-issue friend! I have been noticing on the media sights and FB how folks are posting their wishes for a swift end to the political season so they can preserve their friendships. Yes, this sort of thing tends to separate the men from the boys, or the friends from acquaintances. There are people with whom I am friends and can discuss just about anything under the sun, except religion. With others, we can talk about religion and church, but some other things are better left not talked about at all. One could think everything is hunky dory and you enjoy the time spent together or the connections made via the Internet, until it comes to politics. Then, all bets are off! 

My home state went through some tempestuous political contests (in the truest form of the word!) a few years ago regarding their governor and other elected officials. The state capitol was overtaken and occupied and things were quite ugly, and embarrassing to me, since I like to brag on my home state from time to time. During the recalls and other electoral stuff, I had to literally shut my eyes when reading others postings. When normally I enjoyed the things they had to say, this situation brought out a side of them which was not pleasant. Lack of information or getting bad information, not checking the facts, getting 'news' from around the water cooler or in the factory lunch room wasn't making for quality postings. Yikes! 

Some of those people were unfriended by me, I didn't really need their names padding my number of 'friends', and I never looked back. Others I miss hearing about and from, while others I am okay not having around or hearing from. I wonder if anyone has blocked or unfriended me for cause...Normally I don't post much about politics on my own FB page and am careful about what I say on other's. I sure would not wish to come off as being dumb or foolish, considering myself fairly well up to speed on what's going on the realm of politics and current events. And mostly I try to not be angry, which seems to be a popular theme this political season. 

What other topic would I expect to unfriend people, stop communicating with them? Fashion? Finance? Restaurant choices? Likely not, as none of those affect the survival of our nation (except for finance, I suppose) and the preservation of our Constitution and form of governance. People simply must do their homework, study the information available about the candidates, evaluate and compare their positions, and make an educated choice. Using anger as the basis for voting for a person regardless of their stance on issues is just foolishness and is downright dangerous for our nation. People who think that politics is ugly now need to simply look back in the history of our nation's politics to see how ugly things were even back then, minus the TV cameras and Internet! This ain't nothing yet!

Friends at the tables

This morning we had Bible study and worship, as usual. Our study is of the minor prophets but it is a bit slow getting going. I'm sure it will pick up as we get into it. We have a family joining us now from the church in Keystone Heights, with two of their kids attending our Sunday school. That is so nice, great to have more kids!

As usual, following worship, our little group headed to Chili's to have lunch together. Today again we welcomed Judy's granddaughter, Victoria, who also worshiped with us. She is not a fan of Chili's but comes along anyway. When her parents are in town, we eat elsewhere to comply with Victoria's preference. I personally don't care where we dine, just so we're together. Another special treat was having Gretchen join us, thanks to Terri's persuasion. Terri promised to take her home after lunch and Gretchen agreed. Yay for us! Because she was with us, we were all on our best behavior---yeah, right!  She is the champion straw wrapper blower, she started that whole thing with us!

After lunch I had to hustle on home to get to work on my dinner making, since we were having guests join us tonight. I got started with cutting up the potatoes and without too much ado got two casseroles of escalloped potatoes with ham ready for the oven. I made one smaller portion without onions since Stephanie is vehemently opposed to them. The larger casserole included the onions which I also sliced. I can't believe how quickly I was able to assemble our dinner and get it into the fridge. Had enough time to rest for a bit, which I needed after standing in the kitchen.

The reason a rest was helpful was because I had to attend a Board meeting at 4:00 pm to decide the course of action as regards hiring a management company for the building. The BOD had interviewed a couple of agencies and today were choosing which one to hire. We need this since we have not enough people on the BOD and no one to serve as the secretary or treasurer. Both are required, obviously, and needed to remain in compliance with State condo laws. What a pain! In order for it to be cost effective and not cause an increase in our monthly fees, some compromising of services has to be made. I can't say too much about this because I was unwilling to step in and take a seat on the Board, though I have been asked and asked. It would just not be good for my spirit, but then again, neither is paying increased fees!

Justin took care to put our dinner in the oven at the appointed hour, allowing some extra cooking time due to having two casseroles going at once. Besides our potatoes and ham I made green beans in the steamer, to which Justin added garlic butter. Our guests, Stephanie, Jean, and Erica, arrived and we got everyone seated, and watered. My sweet neighbor, Kay, had delivered a bag of ice cubes to me after the Board meeting. She is my supplier! I know the ladies are water drinkers so I made sure my Brita was ready to go and put ice in the glasses for us all. 

Stephanie's casserole cooked through but the larger dish didn't fare as well, with some of the potatoes a bit raw yet. Nuts! Even with baking it a bit longer than usual, there was rawness! Jean didn't say anything about it, but I did. Erica was not feeling well and we knew that before she arrived. Tonight she did eat a teeny bit of Jell-O (I got up early to make it this a.m.!) and some ham with a taste of potato. Her grandma said that is the most she's eaten in days so I am glad she did try at least. She is seeing the doctor this coming week to see what's going with her, and hope she gets answers. 

Jean and Erica made our dessert, a raisin custard pie, one of my favorites. Oh, yum! The pie was amazing! 

Stephanie knows how I feel about raisin pie. The crust was homemade, too, with Jean walking Erica through how to make it. After we ate our dessert, we sat at the table and talked for a bit before the ladies, having had a long day already, decided to head for home. Before coming to my house, they attended the Victory Lutheran softball game. It ended up being a scrimmage, with the other team borrowing people from the Victory team in order to play. It was such a nice day, didn't hurt a bit to be out watching a ball game. And then they came to my house! I loved our time together, and am glad we did this before Jean has to head back home to WI. Her visit this time has been much more fun since Stephanie retired last year. Those ladies and their yarn creations, love to shop for yarn and love to make things from the yarn. It's great for them, and others!