Tuesday's child

Tonight was Art Guild and I am sad to report that neither Martie nor Chris came. The first part of the meeting was a 'thank you' to the two companies who sponsored our show at the Thrasher-Horne Center. It was the largest reception the Art Guild or the Thrasher has ever had, with over 400 people in attendance. I've not even seen my own piece on display yet! This event took place when I was in WI so that's how I missed it. Each of the business owners was given a plaque and certificate from the Guild, plus heavy doses of applause for their support. The part that made me saddest was Martie and I didn't get to go have our strawberry margarita afterward!

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Anyway, our guest speaker was a rep from Golden Paints who was doing a presentation about their products, distributing a folder of material for us to take home. One of the first things we did was look at the color sample sheet which is hand-painted in their factory, each and every sheet, each and every tube, and each and every bottle hand-painted to show the actual, true color of the paint inside. Very neat, very customer-service oriented.

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What I like personally about the paints are the names, makes me wonder who gets the jobs of naming paint colors or ice cream flavors. Jill might know the second one...

Cadmium, quinacradone, anthraquinone, aureoline, pyrrol---I'll bet my spell checker will fly into a tizzy trying to figure out these paint colors or characteristics. While the things he was telling us about the products was fine, his delivery was, at best, mechanical, almost militant, so I got up an opportune time and left. I'll have to apologize to Dee about leaving because she's in charge of programs. Of course, she has no way of knowing what the rep from a company will be like. Two years ago when Golden spoke with us, it was a very nice, personable young lady who had some vim, vigor, and vitality, quite unlike this guy!

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I did a quick soda run to Winn Dixie and got a few other things before heading home to watch the debate. Since Twila and Caroline will be over tomorrow for cropping, I want to have some snacks and such on hand for them. Twila is going to the beauty shop first and then will be over. Caroline has not been here before but knows basically where I am located. She lives out by the 'old' Smokey's Restaurant so has quite the ride into town just for cropping. She's got a lot of fun toys for scrapbooking and her hubby reports that she 'plays with it every day!'

My kinda girl!

I should be outside right now!

It's so beautiful outside today, cloudy with a warm breeze. I did a lot of reading poolside last week and should do the same today. I am working on a document for the BOD president for use at a big meeting on the 20th but am taking a break now to jot a few lines.

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I am halfway through The Shack, a book which seems to be the rage these days. Not normally a rage reader, or a reader at all, Judy R. said I should read this, with filters, of course, and hang on for dear life. The premise is a man, in mid-life, revisits, at invitation, the shack where his young daughter lost her life several years ago. The invite, we are lead to believe, is from God, to help this man deal with his "Great Sadness" which he wears on his heart and spirit. The Trinity is working with Mack to see clearly how all things work within God's control and to see the meaning, the value, if you will, of the sorrow and joy in our lives. Like Judy suggested, I hang on for dear, dear life as I read. Filters in place, of course.

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On a much lighter note, one of my favorite TV commercials was just on, where a plumber is installing all these funky things in a shower: heat control, numerous heads, and gorgeous opera music playing. Once adjusted, he comes into the room, still tucking in, to report the shower is ready to go. I just love the idea of the plumber showering and listening to opera. Go Kohler!

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I had to go close the patio doors a bit because the wind was whipping my hanging lanterns into a frenzy, causing them to smack against the frame or the ceiling or each other! They look so good there but it's not the best situation when the wind is actually blowing like it is today. It appears to be raining in Mandarin which might account for the crazy wind switch. I meant to report on Sunday that the dredging barge was back in place, arriving Saturday night at dark. But, today, it has pulled up and left the basin again. Wish I knew what was going on with that business out there. I know once the marina is built, people will buy a slip and bring their boats in, and I'll rejoice listening to the clink, clink, clink of sail hardware. Al, the man who told me last week that I lift his spirits, used to have his sailboat anchored at my house on the lake and I'd awaken to happy boat noises every morning. I never got a ride on his sailboat, it just didn't work out, probably since I loved my jet boat so much more!

The day after the game

Oh well, so much for staying up late to watch the game. It was close enough at the end, not an edge-of-your-seat ending like we've had the past couple games but, unfortunately, "we" still lost by three points.

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Speaking of points, once again the TV held me captive this afternoon as I watched FNC, complete with hourglass indicating our time was running out. Perhaps not all that dramatic, but the effect was the same. Normally, I am listening to the radio until 3:00 or so but since my Internet is not available (more on that later) went to TV to watch rather than listen.

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Its horrible fall recovered, in case you didn't know, getting up beyond 10000 before closing at just under this "magic" number. The financial news abroad is supposedly dragging ours down despite our so-called bail out plan. So much for Justin's wishful suggestion about going to live in Florence. The dollar is getting a bit stronger against the euro but will need to get a get moreso before it would make sense financially to relocate. I'd love to give Justin time overseas with me as his side-kick, but the taxes are much higher in Italy than in Greece. The worst part about staying overseas would be not having a Lutheran church to attend, at least not handily. Could be a great outreach opportunity!?!?!

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Back again, on Tuesday. Oh this Internet stuff is making me nutso! At this moment I have wireless service in the family room which proves fleeting as well. Thursday I am supposed to get my new Internet stuff delivered and I've been assured by the nice ATT lady that it's simple to install. I will no longer have home phone service since the line will be only for the computer so when folks call me on the land line, all they'll hear is ring ring ring. No machine, no recording, nothing, with no other solution to this if I wish to keep the number as mine. I've had it so long that it is my desire to keep it if I ever need a land line again. Call me sentimental or call me silly---just don't call my home number!

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I have the patio doors and house doors open with a warm breeze blowing through, wind chimes singing, and things blowing around my river room. Something just made a falling sound but I'm not about to go look. No matter how I strain my ears, I cannot pick out the tune Pachelbel's Canon in D from my wind chimes. Was I sold a bill of goods on that one?

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Monday was my niece, Lisa's, birthday, being now a 35 year old mama of two boys. This coming weekend Noah and she are heading to Las Vegas where they are planning to have, for some reason, a tacky wedding. Often it's the other way around--tacky JP wedding first, lovely wedding service second. Not Lisa! She had the lovely church marriage back in 2000 and just for fun, the tacky one in Las Vegas. Tommy's trip to LV nearly coincided with theirs and she was hoping he'd be available to walk her down the aisle this time, but he arrives later than they do. Wouldn't that have been sweet? Kenny Rogers look-alike instead of Elvis!!! Lisa is looking forward to seeing some of her favorite poker players while she's there---she'll have the Gambler in one way or another!!!!

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Being a horrible lazy bones this a.m. because of not sleeping well last night, I didn't go downtown to hear/see Sarah Palin and the other pols at The Landing. One of the active volunteers at headquarters on 103rd Street said they were looking for a larger venue for her speech but evidently didn't find it, or the notice was too short. It sounded like the crowd was enthusiastic, as expected, especially since McCain used to live here in Orange Park and served at NAS JAX, just down the road from me.

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Justin had asked me to have dinner tomorrow night because he wasn't car pooling but I have a meeting with pastor before choir rehearsal. I was going to try to reschedule but haven't done so yet. Now he says if it's okay with me, he'd go to his roomie's brother's football instead. That is really quite fine with me because it's hard to readjust schedules the way it is, even though supper with my Justin would have been great! We will be together Thursday for breakfast and Bible study again so it's not like we aren't spending good time with each other.

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Dave, the doorman, had to use a razor knife to open my mailbox for me yesterday because someone had tried to glue my condo number back onto the face of the box, but it ran down and sealed the box! The letter carrier (Newman!) opens the entire front of the boxes so didn't know it was glued shut. I half expected it to be bricked up, those jack-booted thugs, but instead it was absolutely packed with mail! Dave had to use two hands to pull the mail out, 23 of which were catalogs!!! Once upstairs and sorted, I had only three pieces worth keeping including a package from Lynn in Manty, sending my left behind scrapbook paper and a sweet thank you note for the surprise party. You are most welcome, Lynn! Thanks for sending the Europe themed paper that Linda gave me, and the stamp! I also got a hand-written letter from a lady Kerry and I know as Mama K, someone we worked with at Shady Lane many moons ago. Her daughter is the keeper of the sugar cookies at Copps and she kept me informed about Mama K's health problems. I never did get to see "Arlene" when I was up there so now look forward to sending her a letter back. She thanked me for a book about surviving cancer, inspirational in nature, when I was up there in April.

I saw soooooo many of my former co-workers this visit, from Northern Lab and Shady Lane, not on purpose, either! Love it!

Let the game begin!

It's quite breazy outside tonight, as I can hear the palms rustling against the wind. I just love that sound, it's so calming. It's totally dark already at this hour, as I wait for the Jaguar game to begin. This will be a late night in my household if they stay in the game against the Steelers. If it goes badly for the Jags, well, then, good night!

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Worship was excellent today, many visitors and guests. There was holy communion with additional music plus Robbie sang the cantor part of Psalm 23 for us. Suzanne played the viola before, during and after worship which adds so much to our worship. When Carol was going up for communion and was standing next to me in the aisle, she leaned over as I was singing and said, "Thank you". Choked me up for a bit because I'd been recently remembering the lovely card she wrote me after her mom died, thanking me for carrying the hymn singing during the funeral service. And now, she did it again.

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Since I was going to Palm Coast, I didn't stick around after church (Justin would have been so proud of me!) but went almost immediately to my car to head out. When I'd left home, I noticed my gas gauge was closer to a quarter tank than I'd like but figured I'd make it to the restaurant just fine. Well, sure enough, about three miles from my exit I heard the little "ding" sound indicating it was time to get gas. This absolutely freaks me out, any bells, whistles or lights on my dash that don't belong there throws me into a fit. I made it safely to the gas station at my exit and the tank took about the entire amount of gallons that it held. Taught me a lesson, because that was wwaayy too close for my comfort.

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Even with stopping to fill up my tank, I arrived around the corner at Ruby Tuesday where I was meeting Tina, Keith, and Maya in plenty of time. I hadn't seen Keith in ages since usually he's working when we go down there. It's very hard on Tina to travel with Maya, just turning two, because she has no rest in her bones, always wanting to climb on or touch things. She asked my opinion on baby names and, of course, I like 'Hannah' but Tina is concerned the name is too popular right now with the Montana thing. She doesn't want her child to be one of six Hannah's in her class. Tina knows both my kids were supposed to be Hannah's, but that name never caught on for boys!

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Once back at their home, I gave Maya her belated birthday presents from Justin and me. I'd found this great soft, soft throw with one corner shaped into a crown and has a light up heart shape on it. Two other corners have little pouches sewed in to put her hands in for warmth. It's all princesses all the time for Maya so it was perfect. Keith took great pictures of her wearing her royal robes and coloring with the triangular shaped crayons I found. We also gave her two coloring books, one good for restaurants and one good for driveway. It's huge! Almost didn't fit in the largest gift bag they sold!

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I was not able to stay very long, though, because I had to turn myself around and head back to Jax to meet the 'family' at Clark's Fish Camp. Justin was planning to meet me at Lowe's so we could ride in together, as parking is difficult once at the camp. However, he said he didn't feel well again so opted to stay home. Thursday he said he wished we could go to Clark's and now, having a chance, decided to stay home. I think he was having more fun watching football at home with his buds and it felt good to not have to go somewhere. All were sad he wasn't there so I let him know he was missed at the table. There were 17 of us so were not short of people!

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Bruce's sister, Julie, commented that she liked the color of my telephone and I showed her how it went with my earings. She said Sandy had told her about my house, all the glass and bright colors. Bruce piped up, "She's got a lot of color in her life!" which was a nice thing to say, but Rick and Jen's son paid me a terrific compliment, totally out of nowhere. Chris said, "if you were in a pitch dark room and Miss Kim walked in, the room would be bright, she has so much color!" This caused me to tear up a bit and I thanked him for saying such a nice thing. I reached in my purse and gave him a dollar as a token of my affection. Sandy was also telling Julie, who lives in Boston, that as far as I'm concerned, neither Rick nor Bruce can do any wrong in my book! And that's the truth! Julie said their mom feels the same way about Bruce!

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I am halfway through the book, The Shack, and wow!, Judy R. was right! I do need to hang on for dear life. It's so good! Jami, of Cat's Meow, just finished reading it again and is writing about it on her blog as well. Paul and Emily are ready to play "Seinfeld" with me but Paul assures me that this will be HIS game, mop the floor with me. I can take it, Paul, I can take it!

Go Jaguars!

Oh my goodness! The FNC just announced there was snow fall in some part of the United States last night--evidently not outside my windows or doors. Whew! Must be a slow news day, which is good.

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Yesterday was Kristen's wedding and it was quite lovely. My disappointment was that Bruce didn't wear his fancy Navy uniform to walk her down the aisle but he says he can't afford to keep going to buy new ones each time his girls get married! For some reason, since he wore it four years ago at Kristen's first walk down the aisle, it won't button!

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It was a small but beautiful service, less than 12 minutes in length but the photos took nearly three times that long. Rick was the photographer but I stepped in for the family shots so he'd be in them this time. When he took pictures for a couple previous family weddings, he is missing from the family shots. Rick had asked Justin to do it, but he was afraid to be "blamed" if they didn't turn out, so I did it. I told Rick his camera must be loaded with testosterone because it was twice the weight of my camera! He's got lots of bells and whistles for taking wedding photos which makes mine look like a point and shoot!

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The reception started sort of backward with the bride/groom dance and father/daughter/son/mom dances at the very beginning. Evidently the food wasn't ready or something. I know the mom of the bride was not a happy girl as regards the way the show was run---wrong colored table cloths (didn't match the chair covers and sashes which Sandy had rented for the wedding). Her contract showed how the tables were to be set, dressed, decorated, etc., and none of that was done. You don't mess with Sandy and she won't take it sitting down. The food and beverage lady made all sorts of promises and then wasn't even on-site to see them through. I'm so glad that when my turn comes, I'll be the mother of the groom and not have to manage the minutiae that troubles brides and their moms! Oh, the menu they chose also called for key lime pie for dessert but there was no dessert at all!

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Justin came here to watch the football game before the wedding (Gators) but then got a phone call from his friend in need. It seems Josh was asked to leave his mom's home for some reason, of course, it was the mom's fault (I'd love to hear the entire story). Not being old enough to secure a hotel room on his own, he asked Justin to come to HoJO to get him a room. I don't like this idea one little bit, afraid Justin put himself at some financial risk, but what can I do, besides not bail him out of trouble if he gets into any. He offered Josh space at their condo but he refused and I asked him not to offer my spare rooms, either. Normally I throw my doors open for folks but Josh is different, and Justin assured me he never even thought to do that. Good!

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While Justin was getting Josh checked-in, here comes Travis and his entourage through the halls of the HoJo. They were ordering wings from Harry's, the hotel restaurant, and watching the game before Travis' wedding. For some reason or another, there was a continous stream of photos of Travis and Jessica's courtship and such running on the flat screens at the Holiday Inn where Kristen's wedding was held, but Travis' wedding reception was down the road a bit. Hmmm...odd! So Justin got to extend good wishes to Travis once more before the wedding after all, even though he'd done so Wednesday when Travis brought me the envelopes and labels.

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Just prior to my leaving for the wedding, Jennifer called. She had a favor to ask, for Kristen. Okay, I'm listening. It seems that when Kristen had gotten her hair and face done at the Mall, she'd left her cell phone lay, and they asked me to run to get it. Run indeed! I said I'd do it but they had to hold the wedding until I got there. Jen told me to go to Customer Service at Dillard's, upstairs, to get the phone but they didn't have it. Jen had mentioned she'd gotten her face done at Clinique so they called from CS to that counter and sure enough, that's where it was. Back downstairs I went, grabbed the phone, and out to the parking lot to work my way on Wells Road toward the hotel. The traffic wasn't too bad, even though the construction slows things a bit. I got there with minutes to spare and delivered the errant telephone. Justin beat me back to the hotel since he was coming from HoJo. Whew!

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Justin had a bit of a disappointment, though, when talking with Trisha about renting a room in her house. Actually, she'd not discussed it with her newlywed hubby at all, and had to tell Justin that it just wasn't going to work out. He was sad, but also expected that answer since he knew she hadn't asked Randy about it first. He had looked forward to it, considered it being with "family" because we are close with the family but, I agree, it might not be so good to have another person to work around when starting your marriage. They were married at the end of February this year. Two weddings in one year for Sandy and Bruce!

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Now, he'll look into a couple options, like finding a new roomie or another place to live. By the end of the month he's got to give notice so something will need to happen and keep happening before then. I made it clear I don't want to sign another lease for him, keeps me on the hook, as it were, so hopefully he'll have enough credit history to allow him to sign alone. Just between us, if I have to, I have to, but I sure don't want to put myself out there for anything. On one hand, we want to be all independent and do our own thing, but on the other, we still have our hand out to mom, asking for support (a.k.a. $$$) in order to sustain this alleged independence......."Mom, can you please get my glasses prescription for me, I don't have time?" "We went to Dave and Busters last night so I'm tired today." No time, eh?

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More later as I must get ready for church. Going to Palm Coast right from church to meet my niece and family for lunch and then coming back to go to Clark's with the Taylor family at 5:00. Justin is coming for that, too, but not going to Palm Coast. Later!!!!

Kindly note the date of this posting

Many of the readers can remember where they were when they heard President Kennedy was shot. Where they were when the OJ verdict came down 13 years ago (they got him this time though!!!!). Some might even remember the speech by FDR, (on the radio and not the TV!), about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Even I remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard Elvis Presley had died. Baby-boomers might recall the news of the day the music died, Buddy Holly, etal. Some in my very own building remember the plane crash which took their fellow band members lives, barely surviving themselves, Lynyrd Skynyrd.

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Of course, for most recent memories, the terror attacks on our nation on 9-11-01. We know where we were and what we were doing when we heard about the first plane, and then the second, and the third, and the fourth going down in the fields of PA.

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I remember something else, which, at the time, was earth-shattering and momentous to me. And, silly me, thought it was the worse possible news one could ever get............we are so simple-minded as teenagers, aren't we? Anyway, I remember exactly where I was and what I was wearing and who told me the tragic news that one of my "idols" had died. Janis was dead, at the age of 27, October 4, 1970.

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As I search my memory banks, a little Star Trek lingo there, I cannot think of any of my friends at the time who were also Janis Joplin fans. They might have gone along, endured, but don't believe they were so caught up in the idea of Janis as I was. This didn't bother me in the least, not being one to be mainstream, as it were. I love that raspy bluesy jazzy Bessy Smith delivery. Present tense. I'm listening to Janis as I write, as is my custom ever since she died. Used to make my spouse crazy having to listen to it the entire month of October---well, that might be an exaggeration about the entire month...........

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For years I'd contact my sister, Lori, or she'd call me, and remind each other of what day it was, like I'd forget........

"Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy...."

Plus sunshine on my face, arms, and reflecting off the water makes me happy. Oh, what simple times we used to live in! When Dolly and I graduated from high school, we had Senior Class Night at MLHS, where we performed “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, another John Denver song. We harmonized as Dolly accompanied on guitar. When we were younger, Dolly and I would spend hours on the roof of their storage building in the back yard reading magazines and dreaming about moving to San Francisco to be rock stars and run a craft shop. Lori, my sister, dissuaded that kinda talk by spelling out just what sort of inventory is necessary to sell in a shop and I just couldn't needlepoint THAT fast!!! This little trip down memory lane was brought to you by “Sunshine on my shoulders….” You know, I don’t think it ever got cold in the summers spent with the Meineke family in Mishicot or at their cottage in Little Sturgeon. Is that selective memory or is the earth not really heating????

Dolly in 2008

Speaking of global warming (ahem, ahem) our low temperature overnight was 59 degrees above zero. Gulp! The high is expected to be 81 which is perfect for a wedding, even though the one we are attending is indoors at a Holiday Inn Express. I wonder if it still counts as a marriage if its performed at a Holiday Inn Express?!?
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Justin will be coming over here before the wedding and I might have a little job for him to do before we go. My upstairs neighbor, Nancy, is having troubles hooking up her ATT Internet and wonders if Justin can help her. I’ll ask him but can’t imagine he’d be overjoyed at doing it. Might involve some climbing under the desk, etc., and he’ll be dressed for the wedding. It can’t hurt to ask him, though. He might need the practice for when I get mine!

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I’d resigned myself to staying home last night after Brenda cancelled and just hanging out, but then I chatted with my friend who is in town. She was going to take care of some business up the road from me and if she got done in time, would come by for a bit. In the meantime, my neighbor, Pat, called and asked me to come down to her place to enjoy her porch and have a drink. Great! One of my newer pool friends, Kathy, was there, as well, and we did enjoy the breeze off the river until it got too chilly. They asked me to stay for dinner so I did, as did Nancy, who showed up later. Kathy had made a tomato pie and we had salad plus corn on the cob. I’ll go on record saying that was the most delicious ear of corn I’ve ever eaten (not being a big fan of tomatoes or salad!). I sensed a conspiracy in place!

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It was past 9:30 and, not hearing from my friend, I opted to go upstairs to watch a movie I’d recorded. For some reason the movie recorded in a digitized fashion, so was unwatchable, and in my frustration, I shut it off and came into my room. Once ready for bed, I watched “International House Hunters” before dropping off to sleep. I love that program, often people looking for homes in France, Italy, or Greece. Not too crazy for the French ones, but Italy and Greece have quite the transporting effect.

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When Justin was here the other day, I had him take down a picture from up high in the river room for disposal. Evidently when the water leaked from above my unit, it got behind that picture without our noticing. Or, it could have happened when I was in WI and they had so much rain here. One day I was sitting here and happened to glance up at the picture, and saw it had what looked like moths all over the heads of the boys. What?! I got up to look and sure enough, it was mold or mildew coming through, right in the center of the painting.

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The good news is the painting was not one of my original creations, although I do have one of those hanging below it. Instead, it was a lovely mass-produced watercolor-looking picture of two boys, different ages, sitting on a beach, backs to the viewer. Many years ago, after Timmy had died, my niece, Lisa, and a couple of her friends came to stay at our house in The Preserve. Two of the girls came from WI and one, Gloria, came from CA, all staying with us. Loved it! Gloria saw this picture at Kirklands and thought it reminded her of my two boys, and bought it for me as a “thank you” gift. I loved it, of course, not only because it was beautiful but also for the sentiment attached. I’d put a small nail in the frame and suspended a plaster sea gull to the frame which added to the dimensional look of the piece. But now, it’s in the dumpster. All that remains is a black stain on the wall, about the size of a pie. Nuts!

The top picture on the wall partially out of shot is the one which was damaged. You can't see the sea gull on the frame, but it hung on the top left hand side.