Hosanna in the highest!

Palm Sunday! It was a gorgeous day weather-wise here but up in WI, snow again! That just seems so very wrong and Mom told me this afternoon if the snow would have stayed, she was packing her bags for Florida. Rats! I should have prayed for a blizzard! The sky over Mandarin is pinkish blue and the full moon is about to rise. I pulled the patio doors shut because it was getting too cold in here. Since the sun began to set, it dropped to 63 above zero! But no snow…

Only a few minutes ago I confirmed the reservation for our Ladies’ Group outing to La Nopalera tomorrow night, with the fellow calling me back to tell me he arranged for us to have the private room. He had been concerned about us not getting good service if we have too many people for one waiter, but let me know he rearranged some things for us. Nice! One of the ladies offered to pick up Jackie but she declined, saying she is not a fan of Mexican food. Of course, I simply order the beef quesadilla which is just barely Mexican at all, so she could have found something to satisfy. Instead though, she accepted the offer for a ride to church on Maundy Thursday, which is great.

Last night Suzanne, Rachel C., and I went to dinner at Juliette’s before seeing/hearing the Jacksonville Symphony perform “The Planets”. Rachel had gotten a free ticket through some sort of mix-up so two seats were together and one separate. I insisted on sitting apart since I was the tag-along and chatted with some nice folks near me. At intermission, before the actual “The Planets” was performed, I moved down one row where two empty seats were available, and I took the one against the wall. This was preferred to sitting between two people and trying not to be fat on them. What a magnificent concert it was! Tears flowed as expected during the playing of “Jupiter” because of “Jerusalem the Golden” using part of its tune.

We hung around following the concert for the After Concert where we could go down front and listen in on a question/answer session with the conductor, the choral director, and a moderator. At one point, a young black man perched in the front row raised his hand with his comment: it was the first time he had ever been to the symphony and was basically blown away. “Transported” was the expression he used, especially since the theme was about the planets. He thought the women’s chorus at the end, singing off-stage for the last planet was “like angel’s voices”…It was like—wow!--- to hear this. The moderator thanked him for coming and encouraged him to come again, and the young man said, “I will be here for every concert from now on!” That was so inspiring, I teared up!

I was so wound up when Suzanne dropped me off that I had a tough time falling asleep. Eventually I did drop off but it was going on 1:00 a.m. which is late for me. Today was going to be a full day with church activity and such so really needed my beauty sleep…I was short a few hours! When I got to church a few folks were working out in front installing solar powered lights in a newly cut-in flower bed. Bill B. makes crosses which he gives away for free to people to put in their yards and planted three in that flower bed, besides the lights. Before I could attend Bible study, I had to practice with the choir and Sunday school kids for our hymn which we were singing today. We wore our robes since we were standing in the front so had to find one for our newest member, Sterling. Looked cute with his sneakers….he did not know about the robes being worn but regardless, rides his bike to church from Riverside so always comes in shorts and sneakers.

Many sweet things happened today, starting with Twila coming back to church for the first time since her heart surgery. When it was time for communion, Jean stood with Twila at the rail and had her arm around her to help make her strong. That moved me…Later, when the bake sale was going on in the Fellowship Hall, I saw a young man unwrapping a cupcake for his elderly grandpa. “Here you go, Grandpa….” Then, also after church, the Altar Guild ladies were rehearsing for stripping the altar Maundy Thursday, Jacob serving as acolyte. They ran through it twice, with sweet Jacob carrying the Christ candle down the aisle and then the brass cross. His grandma, Sue, who is now out of the hospital and using a walker, waited patiently with her granddaughter, the driver. When they were done, Caitlyn went to pull the car up as Jacob gently guided his grandma out of the church and toward the car. My heart was so happy to see that…I got to see the triplets and their brother, too, today, and got hugs from their parents. Judy C. and I went to lunch at Ruby Tuesday where we shared a Triple Prime Burger---just right!

From Ruby’s I headed to Great Hang Ups for the Art Guild show where my neighbor, Judee, won first place for her entry, and I also knew all the others who won awards. It was great to see my old friends from the Art Guild again, too. Julia looked so lovely and when I complimented her on her blouse, she said it came from Catherine’s and found it to be “Kim-inspired’! Gotta love that! From there I went to Publix for a few things before heading home to take a load off my feet. I managed to take a short snooze this afternoon and then watched a movie. So now, I may have sabotaged my sleep for tonight!