Okay, this is enough already!

No, I am done lamenting about the abominable adoration of a child-molester---I am lamenting there is no sunshine again today! When there is nothing else to talk about, we can always discuss the weather, right? Weather matters here in Florida, at least for me it does, but I am not a farmer, or a fisherman, or a landscaper, or a framer, or a roofer. Let me think: who would consider three days of rain and gloomy skies to be a blessing? Fire fighters perhaps, since some areas are in high fire danger? Umbrella salesmen? Boots and rainwear purveyors? Certainly not the fellows attempting to seal and paint my building!

*

On the "bright" side, my house smells awesome because Joanne is busy in the kitchen, frying bacon for her special baked bean recipe. Tomorrow is our monthly dinner, postponed from last week due to many having previous commitments. Our theme is "Picnic" for which I am making German potato salad with hot bacon dressing. As long as she is cooking bacon, she is going to make enough for me, too! Only one mess to clean up that way, and ooohhh, my---does it smell good in here! When Noah was here last August, he made bacon and it was the first time, I think, that smell was in my house! I told Mona I wanted a candle that smelled like bacon frying and she said that smell all the time would make her gag. Her claim was that it smells good at first but if it lingers, it just smells like hot fat! I am familiar with THAT smell!!!

*

Years ago when I attended a Writer's Conference, one of the speakers in a class was an editor for one of the houses in New York. She reported that the worst invention ever was the "tool" on a computer called "Spell Check"! For an editor, it is a nightmare because writers will rely on hitting Spell Check for catching spelling errors, which it will, but it does not catch usage errors (as an example: knot, not) that will totally change the piece. (Piece, peace). It makes writers lazy and editors crazy! The reason this came to mind was it seems that my Spell Check is on the fritz, marking as "misspelled" words which are not. On this computer, the error is highlighted in yellow, and as one moves the cursor over the error, the correct word choices drop down for the writer to pick from. Lately, when it highlights something and I go to look at it, the word is actually correct the way it is. Hmmm, what is up with that? I hate to be argued with in the first place, and mostly, when I am NOT wrong. Really, who does?

*

My sister, Kerry, gave me my laugh of the morning, writing me very early from Oshkosh. It seems she had enjoyed a lovely, quiet evening at home last night and was sleeping peacefully when someone in her apartment building saw fit to pull the fire alarm! She had to stand in the parking lot while firemen and police searched the building for a problem, fortunately having the presence of mind to grab a blanket on the way out the door. It is quite a bit colder in Oshkosh than in O. P., you know, about 20 degrees cooler there than where I live, and especially at 1:30 a.m.! I would have been upset, too! Less than 30 minutes later she was allowed back inside but then it was not possible for her to find sleep again. The thing which made me laugh is when she reported being very crabby this a.m., even her feet were crabby! Must be hard to get shoes on "crabby" feet!!!!

Another day with little sun

Yet, it hardly mattered since my time was used for other things than being at the pool. For one thing, I was attending a funeral service for my friend, Kathy's, mother late morning. Another thing, our water aerobics instructor sent an e-mail cancelling our class because she has a bad back. Not like I would have been at class anyway since the sun was not shining, nor would it, today.

*

There was no hard "news" to be had today so I kept the channel set on USA for the morning hours. Joanne had to leave early to meet a concrete man or other repair guy in one of her homes she has listed so I have not seen her yet. Yes, another 12 hour day for her this week! Oh wait, last night she was home earlier because she likes to watch a TV show on Monday nights, a "reality" show about bachelors. The dancing one is over, I guess. Otherwise, this is typical for her, all in a day's work. She was up after midnight last night which I discovered when going to the kitchen for a refill. I guess she was downloading baby pictures of her newest granddaughter, Lucinda.

*

The fellows painting our building have been hampered by the rainy weather these past couple days so they are going to Plan B, which is to pressure wash the garages and other areas when they cannot be applying color. Last night I got an e-mail from the guy who is supervising their work, announcing the change in plans, encouraging us to remove our things from the garage so they can work in there. Joanne uses my garage parking and had a couple yard signs in there so I told her about the memo before I went to bed. I wonder how it looks in there now that the pressure washing has been completed. I also wonder if Ellen got their little car out of the garage before she left for NYC....

*

I called her this a.m. to let her know there was no class and she was with Maggie O., on the road to the airport! I was so happy to hear that because last week she was feeling a bit low and toyed with not going up to NYC. She is feeling peppy enough to go and have a great time, with plans to see several shows off and on Broadway. Maggie O. is a retired drama teacher and is excited to see one particular show which is at the end of its run in NYC. Hope they do!

*

The sound of "home" fireworks is echoing from below, perhaps purchased off the half-price table somewhere. End of season fireworks. Someone made the remark yesterday that Jacksonville sure does love its fireworks! There are pyrotechnic displays for every event, even the occasional wedding at The Club gets a fireworks send off! There is something about the layout of the buildings 'round here that makes the echo and it sounds pretty cool, really.

*

My downstairs' neighbor, Cassidy, home from college where she is a music major, is playing the grand piano as I write. Oh, it such a glorious sound, quite in contrast to the blasting sounds from outside. Hey, if she played the "1812 Overture" while they fire off the rockets.........She also plays the cello but that music has a more difficult time finding its way into my home.

*

Today I had the distinct pleasure of attending the funeral service for Kathy's mom. Judy C. and Janet met me at our church first to caravan to the funeral home, with Judy taking her own car as she had to leave for errands afterward. Carol D. and Suzanne came, too, as did our pastor and his family, a nice contingent from Good Shepherd. At the close of the service, attendees were invited to leave through the front in order to greet the family in the front row. As we sat there waiting our turn, I saw Chris N., my painting friend, going up to express her sympathies. I was so glad to see her there, glad she had been notified because I had not contacted her myself. Only two weeks ago Chris, Kathy, and I had lunch together at Cracker Barrel, and now we are together again. Only I was able to join in the luncheon, as Judy gave Janet a ride back to church for her car. Janet was watching her grands this afternoon or she would have come for the luncheon. There were only about 20 or so people there so I am glad I went. Kathy spent the rest of the afternoon with her daughter and son-in-law, plus other family and was doing just fine when I called her this evening. "It is well, it is well with my soul!"

My head is a bit foggy this a.m.

My eyes felt like pokers when I went to bed last night, after spending the late afternoon in tears at the movies. As Joanne and I sat last night, I gave her the rundown of my Sunday:

*

Joanne and I were both lazy bones Sunday morning but had to hustle to get out the door for church on time. We are having our summer Sunday school at 9:30 and then worship at 10:30. I rolled in a few minutes late, or so I thought, when I saw only two cars in the parking lot, including the pastor's. Oh oh.....I forgot that we had no Sunday school or Bible study this week, due to the holiday weekend. Publix, here I come! While I was there I met up with Jackie, who also accidentally went to church too early! She was finished shopping already and I went on with my purchases. I told the nice man in the bakery that I was "exercising", and went on to explain that I was exercising restraint in not buying the chocolate long john! He laughed and said he exercises all day, every day then!

*

I had to put some of my purchases into the fridge at church and made a note mentally to take it along later. Suzanne edified our pre-service time with her lovely viola playing including hymns for our nation in keeping with the holiday weekend. Judy J. was able to attend worship even though she is recovering from shingles and asked me to lunch after church. I did hesitate a moment because I was planning to meet Maggie O. and Ellen at the pool, but chose Judy instead! Twila and Jean caught me, too, but did not want to have lunch, they wanted me to go to the movies in the afternoon. I told them about the pool plans but said I would let them know, as the movie was not starting until 4:20 pm.

*

Mike C. asked me if I could stop by the church office to make a shingle selection as the roof on the parsonage needs to be replaced. It was built by my former company back in 1991, when I started working at Sprint. So, if those were 20-year shingles, they lived a long time! For the life of me, I could not remember exactly what the parsonage looks like so it was hard to pick without seeing the body color. Mike showed me a sample of what was on the roof now, a similar color at least, so I gave two options in case one was better than the other. I am tempted to go out there and take a look myself before the final decision is made. Second-guessing myself here...

*

Once done with that type of shingles, off Judy (with HER shingles) and I went to Grumpie's for our lunch and it was soooo good! I had a patty melt and brought half of that home with me, and Judy took half her club sandwich home with her. Once home again, I immediately changed from my church clothes into my swimsuit and got downstairs. My friends were not there yet, but other friends from last year were, and asked me to join them at their table. By the way, the other two ladies never did show up so good thing I did not turn down alternative offers for them!

*

Because of having lunch with Judy, I did not get my standard hot dog from the cabana, only a soda. I had a very nice time catching up with my friends from last season, Frank and Gigi, and their friends who came as guests. The weather was lovely and pools nearly empty as I imagine that everyone was "pooled" out from the 4th of July daylong celebrations at The Club. I let Twila know that I would be coming for the movie, "My Sister's Keeper", which is what Justin had wanted to see with me, and we met at the theater. At the concession stand, I used the option of having the cheese popcorn which was sooo far from Gourmet, as it stated on the cup. Talk about tough!! I could have sat and spit the hard kernels all through the movie but I gave up even trying to eat it. Guess I could have gotten my money back but.....

*

For dinner the four of us went to O'Charleys and enjoyed their steak special. Clark Howard, a well-known consumer advocate, was reporting the other night that family restaurants are struggling in this market to compete with the fast food places who are the only business NOT struggling. Meals packages are priced just right to entice families out to eat, with kids eating free at O'Charleys every day, and this steak special. We had a great meal, great conversation, and a great time for relatively cheap! And yet another to-go box added to my fridge!

*

It is getting very dark in my house AND outside, as rain pours from the sky. Good thing I opted to not get into my swimsuit and put regular clothes on for indoors. It feels cold to me but that may be only my imagination because of the gloomy skies and pouring rain. Good napping weather....but I did sleep sort of late, waking and falling back to sleep a couple times early morning.

*

Possibly from yesterday's movie content or whatever, I had a bothersome dream with Timmy in it. Disjointed as dreams usually are, I had an air mattress on my bed that had sort of popped as I slept. It gradually deflated and I was telling Justin all about it as he sorted through his shirts which needed ironing. I went into the laundry room to get the ironing board and there was Timmy, looking guilty, or not guilty enough. He had poured a 2-liter bottle of soda on the floor of a much larger laundry room than I actually have here, and was sitting in the middle of a mess of toys with small pieces. Waayy too small for a child to be playing with, and I was trying like crazy to sweep the pieces of plastic out of his mouth, with him popping more in as fast I frantically pulled them out.....And then he moved onto putting tiny jacks in his mouth, which would really have been impossible to play with in the real world. No matter how I tried, I could not prevent him from eating the toys, as I stood in a puddle of spilled soda----------please let me wake up, please!

Some of the pyrotechnic displays......

Ellen called this one, and the others like it, "Tinkerbell"

Somehow the grand colors just don't transfer to the photos, guess they happen in the moment....

To this I say, Monkey-Moo!!!!!

Last night, as we gathered in Ellen's fourth floor north-facing river room, watching the pre-fireworks TV shows from around the nation, I shared with those gathered the story of when Justin was a little boy and saw a fireworks display in the summer months. He made the comment, "Wow, they have fireworks when it isn't even Christmas!" Annually we would made the trek downtown to The Landing to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree and the fireworks display which followed, and it must have just occurred to him that this was NOT Christmas!

A variety of sounds AND sights on the river.....

The river looks like a parking lot with all the boats lining up to watch the fireworks. The show is expected to begin in around an hour but the boats have been trailing in, or floating in, as it were, the better part of the evening. At one point, a man at the pool remarked there was not a boat to be seen on the river, mid afternoon, and that must mean they were hiding in the thickets, waiting for just the right time to venture out. The police boat is circling to keep order, which might be likened to herding cats!

*

And, it is so noisy out there, and that is without the fireworks going off! My neighbors all around me are having gatherings, of course, being right in the heart of the fun as the fireworks barge launches right near our building. Music is playing from below me as Tommy is having a party and from across the lawn at The Club which is featuring a live band for our listening and dancing pleasure. The noise is not bothersome, just varied. At the same time, I was printing newsletters for mailing so there was that clickity-click going on, too.

*

Earlier at the pool, we had the game organizer, Skipper, blowing his whistle as the children played various pool games such as diving for rings, racing, picking up coins which he had tossed into the water, and the ever-popular greased watermelon contest. They did a do-over on one game, because a guy who was so much bigger than the rest of the kids sort of had an advantage over the little ones, ever in the name of fairness. It was nice when the games were over, so the kids were out of the adult's pool and the whistle blowing stopped. Men sure love their whistles!

*

There was a nice man who picked me to talk to this afternoon, as people came and went from our table. He told me all about the history of Orange Park, the old stores, how neighborhoods were developed, and so on. Some of the names he dropped were familiar while others not so much. But the stories were incredibly interesting, the history, who is who, and so on. Finally his daughter came to my rescue which was good because I wanted to get into the water and I did not want to be rude. He was even telling me about his now deceased wife, gone a couple years, but his eyes still teared up talking about her. That was lovely.....

*

Speaking of tearing up, my friend, Kathy B. lost her mom last night, as she peacefully slept away after several days of dangling on the edge. Kathy is deeply grieved but also a bit relieved that her mom's suffering on earth has ended. I have other friends who have had to watch their parents suffer before dying and experience the same conflicting emotions Kathy has right now. Catherine was 'only' 74 years old but had a myriad of ailments which made living miserable for her. Please, when you go to bed tonight, remember Kathy and her family in your prayers, ask the Lord to be with them through this most difficult of times.

*

Happy Independence Day, America!!!!

Happy Birthday, America!

And what better way to start the holiday weekend than to watch "National Lampoon's Vacation" with Chevy Chase. I am busting out laughing as though I have never seen it before, even though it is an old movie. So funny to see Clark's big glasses, which I know were the style "in those days"!

*

As long as we are talking about glasses, Justin called me with a very sad request yesterday afternoon---"Mom, I broke my glasses...." Okay, I figured he broke them on the job, working hard with lawn mowing and weed pulling. He said he was picking them up off the counter after showering at his dad's house, and the lens fell out. Wait! He was at his dad's house when they broke, but he called Mom for the new glasses? Why was he showering in the middle of the day? Oh, I see, first we had a nice father/son trip to buy fireworks. My eyes get tired from rolling them in disbelief so frequently, but, well, whatever, go get the glasses and I will pay for them. But cheap ones, mister!!!

*

No, really, I was very nice about the whole thing, felt badly that he had super glue holding them together. Once that was arranged, I could get back to my phone conversation with Mona. As we were talking, I could hear little beeps in my ear which meant a text message was coming in. I put Mona on speaker and read the text message from Justin about where he was and so on. As I got back to Mona, I told her it sounded from his message that he was expecting me at the eye place, and here I was, on the phone and wearing a caftan, not rushing to the vision center. I told Mona I had better go and see if needs me so we hung up. Just glad I had charged my phone or our call would have been shorter yet! I use up an entire battery when Mona and I are talking!

*

As I was dressing, I called Justin to see what was what, and he said he would really appreciate my "fashion advice"....of course, I will come and offer my advice. It didn't take me long to get there and he was out of the exam room already by the time I arrived. He did find a nice frame, on the sale rack, got the featherweight plastic lenses, plus a discount from his health insurance. Still, waayy too much money for glasses, if you ask me! AAA offers a 30% discount at Pearle Vision, in case you are interested.

*

We came back here afterwards, Justin wearing his cool black sunglasses over his new glasses because his pupils were dilated. My stomach was growling and grinding, wanting some food but Justin claimed he did not feel well, not even having any lunch. I had some nacho chips and cheese when I came up from the pool but that was it for food since my limp Fruit Loops at 8:00 a.m. Since he did not want to go have dinner, Joanne did! We met at Carrabba's and enjoyed a lovely dinner together, which rarely do we get to do. She had spent the day in her office, cleaning, sorting, and organizing, being sooo ready to sit down and relax.

*

My pool time was interrupted by thunderstorms so I had come upstairs and changed into the caftan after peeling my wet swimsuit off. Crash, bang, crash and flash, and rain. But no rain here, only on the river! Weird! While at the vision place, I kept giving Justin the business because I said he dragged me from poolside to come pick out glasses with him! By this time, the sun had come out for a bit and was taunting me, but, no, I was stuck inside with him! The lady helping us looked up, like, "Oh, oh" but saw the smiles on our faces. Whew! Justin and I chuckled and he said to her, "My mom is giving a hard time because I took her away from the pool." The lady said, "Only a mom can get away with that!" Justin had me trying on all sort of foxy frames while we waited, and then, one time he took my chin and said, "You have been smiling at the pool too much! You have sunbursts on the edge of your eyes!" Is that not the sweetest thing? No crow's feet here, I have sunbursts!!!!

Morning has broken...

...and I am all mixed up on what day it is! Normally when I wake up, I changed the station from USA to Fox without looking, to Fox and Friends. What? Isn't it Friday today? Let's see, last night was choir, so yes, this should be Friday......The weekend crew was working today which really threw me off for a second. The weekday anchors all had off so the second string team was on deck. Love that baseball lingo! Like I know what I am talking about.......

*

Already mentioning choir, we are having a couple rehearsals thrown into our summer off because Pastor wants to introduce one of the new liturgies from the Supplement on the 12th. Kathy B., whose mom was gravely ill, still came to lead us in our practice, holding up nicely. She would love for her mom's suffering to end and may I be so brave when the time comes that we have to say " 'til we meet again" to my mom. Anyway, there are some complicated melodies for the liturgy so we went through them this week, and will once more next week so we are ready to go on the 12th.

*

Finally I managed to get my toes done, and they look just like brats with ketchup on the tips again. Lisa trims and files them so nicely and as long as I do not chip and scrape the polish off in the pool, they should last at least 6 weeks before my next visit. Of course, I WILL chip and scrape them, particularly in water aerobics, but I cannot see wearing shoes in the pool, although I do own water shoes. Even the mesh inside the shoes is hard on my polish, and on my toes themselves. The instructor suggested wearing socks with the shoes and I draw the line right there!!!!

*

We are expecting temperatures around 97 today so guess what I will be doing....poolside! I have a newsletter to finish up and print off for our members away from the congregation plus some finishing touches on The Palace Press, which gets e-mailed. I was waiting on information on our newest resident, who has moved into the apartment where the builder who killed himself used to live. This man is a doctor which is a nice addition to our building. We like to make all our Owners and tenants feel welcome, that is my job!

*

Our family has great news on the home front: Mom has decided that she definitely will be moving! Lynn and she went to see a 55+ apartment building about four blocks from church and both of them fell in love with the place. Nice and neat and clean, well-maintained, and not a police car in sight! No one getting hauled out in shackles. In fact, the literature touts that the building is sound-proofed, which really was a problem in Mom's present building. She is looking at moving around Labor Day and I have already alerted the Holmen people to this so they can be there. The complication might be that it is Labor Day weekend and it might be difficult to find movers. We would need to pack her up on Friday, move on Saturday, unpack Saturday and Sunday, and then have a picnic on Monday! The place she is looking at has a picnic area with charcoal grille built in right on the property!!!

*

Mom says she has time now to start going through things, deciding what needs to go to Repeat Performance and what can go in the dumpster, etc. I do not want her stressing about this stuff and overdoing it. I hope she has the gift of patience (you see this, Mom??!!) and waits for help to arrive. Send in the cavalry! When I moved into this place, this was my 27th move, so I think I have it down pat!! There is a storage room, probably, in the new apartment (she cannot quite remember all the details of the four units she looked at Wednesday) but Lynn might remember some of it. The only thing I wish was different was the shower situation, all in a bathtub vs. a walk-in shower so she will still have climb in for her showers. It surprises me that more places like this do not have the walk-in showers particularly since they are catering to the older generations.

*

My Fruit Loops are all wilted, and I believe they were prior to the milk being added. It tends to be a bit humid in my house, since I do not use the A/C all day long, so much so that I have troubles shutting my kitchen door due to the swelling of the wood. My neighbors said I should call Butch, the little handyman, to come and adjust it for me, but he is so booked right now. That is good news, that he is so busy that he cannot come immediately when summoned.

*

After water aerobics yesterday, I rushed upstairs, as much as I can rush, changed my clothes and trundled off to meet Janet for lunch on the Island. Kathy B. had to cancel due to her mom's situation so it was only the two of us. Just as lovely with my friend, Janet, who treated me to a junior taco salad and a strawberry margarita! I cautioned her ahead of time that I eat my salad upside down, from the bottom up, so she would not jump when I flipped it over. Some people were leaving the restaurant, and they stopped at our table, asking what it was I ordered, because it looked like a pot pie to them. They laughed when I told them what it was, just upside down! The meat and good stuff is at the bottom of those salad bowls and that is what I am after, not all that green stuff and the lettuce.....

*

The painters are really going to town on the building, rolling layers of paint onto the stucco and putting primer on the railings on the 3rd floor. I bet they will get as far as my unit today. When I went down for class yesterday, I exchanged greetings with nice guys doing the work, and as we chatted, the one guy remarked that his co-worker talks too much. It was so funny because I was talking their arms off, which makes it really hard to work! We are expecting the painters on the river side of the building, too, as they raise and lower themselves in their movable scaffolding. It looks like the window washer equipment you see in New York City on the skyscrapers. The first morning Ellen was back in the building, her dogs woke her, barking in the river room, and that was when Ellen found men looking back at her!!! Surprise!!! Talk about paparazzi! After that event, she decided to buy a nightie and robe to wear for just such occasions!

*

This begins a full weekend of outdoor activities around these parts, including a major celebration at The Club. The Town of Orange Park has a wonderful firework show from a barge in the river, just down from our building. Ellen is having a little get-together so I might watch from on high, or simply lean over my railing to watch. In the past, Brenda N. and her friend, Carey, would take their boat over but it is a really long ride to go right outside my house, you know? The Club is having extra food available from the cabana as well as a dinner buffet with outdoor seating on Saturday, when normally they have weddings. Fireworks would be too distracting during a wedding reception, I guess.

*

Joanne has plans to move to the condo at the beaches which was offered to her, but her moving date is not yet set. She said she has to get her 'rear in gear' first. Funny girl! First order of business for her is to make sure her parents' home in MI goes to closing without any hang ups and then she can take care of her own business. She will be gone before Christmas so the Day's Inn in The Palace will have rooms when the family comes down in December!!!!