Monday morning musings

"Monday Monday, can't trust that day...' is the appropriate song for this sunless, overcast morning. In fact, the space shuttle was attempting to land this morning and NASA had to wave them off for another try around 10:00 something due to the layer of clouds. I am not sure why the shuttle has to have clear skies to land because airplanes do it all the time but they obviously know better than I do. It might be because of the tiles on the exterior of the shuttle or something. It's just that I will be in Bible study learning about the millennium when it lands, likely not hearing the sonic boom.

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There is much to talk about since I missed posting on Sunday, as if anyone noticed. Saturday morning Brenda N. and I went to have breakfast at IHOP on the Island, the first time she had been there since it opened. It would be rare for her to eat out unless she is with me, go figure! We enjoyed our breakfast, mine being a fried egg served with rye toast, and hers being a funky omelet with spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms. She grabbed the bill before I could so treated me, something which I do not approve of. Oh well, I will get even, as it were, later. While we were waiting for our meals and chatting, an obnoxious Pee Wee Herman-type balloon man came to our table to woo us with shaped balloons. He made what resembled a bouquet, all the while being giggly and annoying, certainly little children would be amused by his antics. We were not. People around us were snickering as Brenda and I would exchange looks, keeping our comments to ourselves, waiting for him to move on. He called us VIPs and sort of fussed over us, etc., while we were trying to talk. At last he was done, handing Brenda the flower. When we left the restaurant, I gave the waitress a dollar to tip the poor guy, as he was only trying to earn some extra money, right?

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From IHOP we headed to St. Margaret's for the Art Festival and were absolutely delighted at what we saw. The beautiful handmade jewelry, even handmade beads!, original designs, etc. But neither of us bought any jewelry, instead, buying books, of all things! The hosts of the event are members of St. Margaret's and dress in period clothing, even a rebel soldier or two walking around the grounds. It was a lovely day temperature-wise and I will bet those in costume were glad it was not warmer. I bought a book about the quaint churches in our area, and had the author sign it for me, as well as book written by a lady I'd heard speak at a Writer's Conference years ago. She is a local, from Green Cove Springs, and she signed the book for me as well. Later, Brenda and I both bought the book by Eugenia Price called "Margaret's Story" which is about this part of the world, historical in nature, featuring St. Margaret's church now on the cover. In a million years, I would never have expected to be buying books instead of jewelry at an art fair. Only a few artists from the Guild were there, sadly, not even Kris who must have decided against a booth this year.

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After a leisurely ride around Pine Avenue, we decided it was time for an adult beverage at Whitey's so we headed down there to sit on the deck. Besides our pina coladas, we shared a tray of fried dill pickles and the lovely weather on this porch, watching the boats coming and going. It was a great great first part of the day, and I got to grab this bill, so we were even!

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I spent the rest of the day nursing my wounded pointer finger, after I had stopped at Publix for a few items. My friends were coming over for Dinner and a Movie for which I got boneless ribs, golden mushroom soup, and green beans. I made some egg noodles and we dived into our quick supper. Our movie for the night was "Sherlock Holmes" which we really enjoyed, me even more than the others because I had neither read the books (really?) nor seen the previous movies or TV shows. Robert Downey Jr. pulled off a very interesting and amusing Holmes, with Jude Law his more level-headed reluctant partner in crime solving. Judy J. was sitting next to me and I kept jumping and reacting, which would startle her. I just get all involved and made Judy laugh, and somewhat fearful for her own safety!

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All the while we watched the movie, I was soaking my finger in epsom salts and warm water, which did not stay warm long. The microwave would reheat the water which would be too hot at first and make my finger hurt more. As the ladies were leaving, I told them I might try poking it with a needle and relieve some of the pressure and ooze but it did not seem to do much except hurt more! I soaked it in hydrogen peroxide for a bit before applying Neosporin and a lightly applied bandage. I did the same thing yesterday afternoon, except the needle thing, and today, thus far, it seems bulbous. Makes typing a challenge with the bandage in place so will beg your forgiveness if there are mess ups. I did have a mess to clean up though as the salt water leaves quit a lot of residue, including on the keyboard, mouse, and even cell phone. Clorox wipes to the rescue!

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Yesterday morning was Bible study and worship, our study wrapping up about Christians and Government. Our final session went too quickly as there was much we could have talked about, especially with the recent political events, but the clock was our enemy. Next week we begin again, "Come, Worship Christ" which I pray will be well attended given the 'controversy' going on in the congregation regarding worship styles and such. My guess is that it won't be well attended, that the regulars will be there, but it won't hurt for us to talk it up a bit. Part of the charm of this study with video is that our former pastor, Pete Prange, is shown as a student, singing in the choir.

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Our worship was wonderful as The Maestro was on the MIDI but primarily used the keyboard for our hymns. The first one we sang was "In Christ Alone" and I sang out without once shedding a tear. Yay!!! The readings were all New Testament including one from Revelation, from which our sermon text came, the first in a series from that book. We also sang a couple hymns from the Holy Communion section of the Supplement which are so lovely. It seemed like a fuller house yesterday, thankfully, as we had only 59 last week.

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Emily and Sarah have agreed to serve as models with me and the other ladies for the Mother/Daughter Spring Fling so next week after church we must go to Bealls in Oakleaf to try on our garments. I offered to model a shower curtain or a bedspread......I assured Emily they have clothes for people like us, and in fact, I used to shop there lots when Mom still wintered with us, as this was one of her favorites. We are responsible for our own footwear so I might have to get a new pair of summer shoes for this big event!

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Twila called me after she had left church and we agreed to meet at Chili's on the Island for lunch. We froze in there and cannot blame adult beverages for this problem since it was before 2:00 pm. As we were waiting for our meals, some customers of mine from the 'old days', a couple who have more than once told me that I built their house, not the company. Aw, shucks! Well, they came over and gave me hugs, and then said, "We were just talking about you!" I introduced them to Twila, of course, before they told me how they were talking with their neighbors, one of which is a church member with them, about who built their homes, etc. My name came up and they evidently shared my story with them although not saying that to me, I got the impression from things they said about the neighbor's home--"built after your time" by my former company. The husband said, "(Our house) is what it is because of who was there (my company)...." They just made me feel so good, and when Fonzie hugged me, he said, "We just love you, we just love you", as I got tears in my eyes. Wow, that was powerful! That warmed me up just fine!

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After lunch I came back home and began the finger soaking process. I sat in the family room so I could put the bowl on a hard table to minimize the mess from the saline. At one point I called my mom to see how her day was, as their church was holding a "Listening Sunday" after the worship. They had taken part in the now defunct Parish Assistance program to help rebuild their congregation and church from the inside out. Mom read to me some of the items they were to discuss in their focus groups, and she told me Tommy was in her group. How fun!

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My evening was spent with the neighbors again, first on Friday night and again, last night. The Club was holding a luau, as they do every year, and it would have been Caleb's favorite event of the year. He passed away the week after Easter, when I was in WI so I missed the funeral. I told the folks last night, who thought this was too soon for Caleb's sister for such a major event, that this could be Caleb's wake. He would have loved it, except the temperatures did not cooperate. When the party was being set up at 3:00, it was warm and still; this did not last! Our group from The Palace moved inside to the 'new room' out of the wind, while some faithful stayed outside. Later, after we had moved to our sun deck, one of the ladies reported how her plate of food blew into the face of her friend, fortunately the bottom of the plate hit her or it would been like a pie in the face! I had heard that a cold front was moving through but this was ridiculous! As we sat around the table in the dining room, Maureen's punch must have been talking because she leaned over and said to me, "You are the nicest person in the building..." and when I looked at her with wonder, she said, "Hugh says that all that time!" Wow, what an ego boosting day, and what a challenge to live up to those declarations I heard over my meals of the day! I sat on the deck with the group until about 8:30 before I just had to get warm and came inside. It was a fun night, good food with the pig roast and rum punch, and my neighbors!

Tis' a gorgeous morning!

I hope I can type okay today, playing hurt, as it were. My index finger, right hand, has a pulse in it and is red, in the area where I pulled a hangnail out a couple days ago. Infection, perhaps? There might be some espom salts in the vanity so I can soak the finger in hot water and salt for healing purposes, but not now. That would be a mess on the keyboard! My polish needs either removal or repair, not sure which I will do before heading off for breakfast and an outing with Miss Brenda today. It will be a late breakfast/early lunch as she needed a morning to sleep late, after a long day at work yesterday. Her Fridays were normally days off, not her idea, but she had a client who could only meet her on a Friday, so work she must! In the building business, one cannot say 'no' to much, not in this market.

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We are going to the Art Fest at St. Margaret's after our breakfast. This must mean that a year ago I had my cat, Lynx, put to sleep. It was the same day that I helped my friend, Kris, in her booth at St. Margaret's, the same day as Justin was celebrating his friends' birthday. He reminded me of that last week one day, that it is nearly a year since Lynx died. Justin asked me if I was mad at him for being 'short' on the text message (who can remember these things???) and I told him not really. He was busy with his friend until I told him what had happened with Lynx. His conscience must have bothered him, that he nearly blew me off. Let's not do THAT again---when your mom sends a text, you answer in full sentences! So anyway, it is a year that I no longer have anyone or anything throwing up on my carpets! I know, I know, I am a sentimental fool....

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The funeral services are taking place today in Poland for their dead president and other national leaders, and I am wondering how in the world our dignitaries managed to fly in despite the ash from the volcano. Many European airports are closed due to the limited visibility and mess from the ash, but yet people managed to reach Poland. Perhaps by flying in from the south rather than over the top like most USA to Europe flights take. It will be interesting to hear how the earth worshipers will spin this assault on the environment which humans did not cause----or did we?

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Last night was a lovely one, spent on the sundeck with my neighbors, enjoying Happy Hour. Several folks came and went, and we got the sad news some of our favorites (can we have favorites???) will be relocating to DE in June, where his job is taking him. In my time here in this building, this family has moved from the 4th floor to the 5th floor where they did much renovation, still on-going, and now they will be selling. Max's company will do a buy-out based on the original purchase price but this price will not take into account all the improvements made since they bought it. He wonders that they would realize any of the improvements anyway if they try to sell it instead of taking the buy-out, since they bought when the prices were high and would be selling when they are low. This is something all of us are faced with in this building, in every neighborhood. What a difference 5 years makes! Or even three years, in some cases. At any rate, we will be sad to have them leave us....Too bad the market is so crappy right now because I would DEARLY love to live on the 5th floor south penthouse unit. My family who was visiting during TS Faye were guests at this home for the "Insteada Dinner" event which had to be moved indoors. They got to see manatees in the basin, snuggling up to the rocks for protection from the wind and waves. This family also hosted house concerts on that lovely deck, which runs the width of the building, a perfect setting, and on the south, where the sun is the best...

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At long last the invitations for the Mother/Daughter Tea are ready to be cut and distributed tomorrow at church. My little goddaughter, Sarah, has been invited to model with me and I hope she will do it. Her mom, Emily, would be a great substitute for me if Sarah would work better with her, and I gladly yield. Bealls is giving us discounts on the attire we model if we wish to purchase it, and since Emily works outside the home, she should have first dibs. I hope Sarah does it, though, she is such a natural at this type of thing.

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Time to ready myself for the day. Tonight is Dinner and a Movie here at my house, watching "Sherlock Holmes" this evening. Not sure what I will make for dinner, though. It depends upon my time and shopping interests! Enjoy the lovely weather all, if it is lovely where you are!

Photos from the Tax Day Rally (click on photos to enlarge)

Here is my version of patriotic attire: blue jeans, red tie-dyed top, and white sneakers, and my flag! It was good to have long sleeves because after the sun went down, it got quite nippy along the river last night. My legs and hips were quite tired but a good tired, standing up for America!

Here is a crowd shot, in the center of which is the honor guard, wearing attire similar to that worn for the first Revolution, followed by a woman dressed as Lady Liberty. On the stage was a group of singers who performed patriotic songs, including one written by a man who had long been associated with communist groups. I found that amusing, figuring the organizers/musicians were not aware of the irony.

A new take on an old flag, listing the items needing the attention of the elected officials, those now in office as well as those who are going to be voted into office in November. The chant was "in November, we remember!" I am not a good chanter, left that to the others. Just like clapping in church, just can't get into it....no mantras for me.

The man in the center of this photo, holding a glass of soda (I'm sure....) is George from Victory. I saw a few other folks from Victory including a man who is in the printing business who was handing out bumper stickers, and a couple who are snow birds between Jacksonville and their cottage 'up north' in WI.

See how closely packed the folks were in the middle of this venue? The organizers had to encourage those already there to move toward the middle (this crowd wants nothing to do with the 'middle'!) to allow those arriving a place to stand. We saw two helicopters go over which we can assume were counting heads, so to speak, and I heard on the radio that our number was 'several thousand'.

My friend and driver, Peggy, and her husband, John, at the Tax Rally. They are going up to Washington for some other type of event in May, and their son is participating in an event in Washington, geared for young people, arranged through his school, which is Justin's alma mater. They will be attending the Freedom Concert in Orlando this summer, which raises money for the children of our soldiers lost in the war. Martie, Justin, and I went to one in New York/New Jersey in 2005. Orlando is a far closer a venture!

Here is another crowd shot, and from our vantage point, we could look into the plates of those sitting below us. How cruel they were to eat in front of us, or below us! When it was time to sing the National Anthem and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, these men dropped their forks and stood at their table, even singing along. I believe they were of Arab descent, and as you scan this photo, you will see many races represented. In fact, a cool thing happened on the step just up from ours: a man was coming around, asking if folks wanted a copy of the Bill of Rights. The Asian man, perhaps Japanese, refused it, saying, in broken English, "I got mine from Heritage...", which is the Heritage Foundation. It really gave me pause...

This little guy just caught my eye and made me think of how I used to dress Justin when he was a toddler. Somehow Timmy did not spend a whole lot of time in 'dress mode', all part of the experiment I guess. Justin would have been wearing his saddle shoes, though. I love this little guys' outfit and his face was so precious as he tried to chant along with the group. I think they might be Hispanic and I believe, a Navy family, as they applauded really hard when this branch of the military was announced.

A good tired

I am a bit hungry this morning, but I did have a bite to eat before going to bed. The people I was with last night were divided on whether to get something to eat after the Rally or just getting home. They had kids waiting for them to get home which was cool with me, but I think John would have liked to have had dinner. He had his own car so he easily could have stayed to eat. I was cool with however it worked out. I was very cool, in fact, after the sun went down, it was in the 60's! No tank tops for us, not those of us with the thinned blood. My hometown of Manitowoc was warmer than we were in north Florida. And only a week ago, exactly one week earlier, we woke to snow coming down in Manty! The world is upside down! One of my more recent reconnections on Facebook was spending time in the Orlando area at a timeshare. Rae Sue mentioned that this is the coolest its been in their years at the timeshare but managed to suntan her goosebumps!

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Justin was my first call of the day yesterday morning, asking me to go to the store and get him some poster board. He dictated to me what I should write on it, because my penmanship is better than his....My writing is also quite small so in that case, we could use a Post-It Note! Anyway, we made our arrangements for pick-up at UNF at a certain time in front of the library, where I used to pick him up before he had a car. Before I headed out, since I needed to pick up a scrip at Wal*Mart anyway, I began working on postcards to distribute on Sunday at church, inviting the ladies to the Mother/Daughter Tea event on May 2nd. My forte is the publicity thereof. After getting the layout and such worked out, I realized I had no white card stock paper to print them on, not even colored card stock that would work in my printer. Foiled again! Added that to my list for the store, plus ink for the desk printer, as I had enough for the auxiliary photo printer.

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Needing card stock meant I had to venture into the stationery department which can be dangerous for me but I managed to find the bulk papers in a display all their own. Whew! That was close....When I was checking out, the clerk had to remove one of those alarm attachments from the ink cartridge box so folks won't steal them. I said to her that it would be cheaper at this point to buy a new printer than to keep buying the ink! But likely not worth the hassle, plus the new printer would require ink refills at some point anyway, right?

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As I was driving out to Fleming Island, my phone went off. Once more it was Justin! I answered, "I was just thinking about you!!!", and I was. A year ago on this date, I had to meet him at the OP Hospital ER because he was having stomach pains, so we missed the noon Tax Rally downtown. Judy J. and I did attend the one in Orange Park from where I posted photos. Anyway, he started out by saying, sadly, "Mom?" Oh, oh, now what? It seems he checked his syllabus for the afternoon class he would be skipping out of for the Rally, and discovered he was being quizzed today, a grade which counts. I did not say anything one way or the other, leaving the decision entirely his, him knowing I would attend the Rally either way. Finally he decided to attend the class and not mess up his grade, and, at that point I confirmed his choice. He has a lifetime to do this type of thing but only one day to attend this class and pass the test. And I think he did pass the 'life' test in making his decision for school. No worries! I called Judy J. to see if she wanted to ride with me but she opted to sit it out, too, saying she was working in her yard, etc. I called my friend, Peggy, who was going to the Rally and she picked me up on her way through. Perfect! Only one car to park (parking is a problem downtown) and away we went!

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Although I had a step to sit down on, much of my time was spent standing up, too hard to stay seated with all this excitement and stirring speeches and the music. The honor guard was dressed in period clothing from the time of the first Revolution, followed in by a woman dressed as Lady Liberty. The band played regular music prior to the event beginning, and even played a local favorite, even in Florida it's a favorite, "Sweet Home, Alabama", written and originally performed by our own Lynyrd Skynyrd. John, Peggy's husband who had joined us, wondered why a Jacksonville band sang about Alabama and I said they were broadening their base! No one cares, you know, it's just a fun song and last night it brought the house down!

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At the Rally I was constantly on the look-out for people I knew, and did spot several people from Victory, four different folks. One guy who is in the printing business was distributing bumper stickers as he walked through the crowd and some people stuck them immediately to their hats or shirts. He is the man from whom I order the banners for church events and such, as he gives us a discount. His wife and her family were near charter members of Good Shepherd and I did get to see them at GS on Christmas Eve's candlelight service, complete with the grandpa in tow! I saw one couple who used to own a restaurant near Mequon, WI going up the stairs opposite of where we were stationed but they did not see me. Evidently they skipped bell and choir rehearsal last night!

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Our spot was directly above an Italian restaurant and we could see/smell the meals coming out for the el fresco diners. At a point before the Rally ended, a man dressed all in black came up from waiting tables to stand near us. He turned around and looked at me. I flashed him a smile and he left. Well!! I must have scared him....Nope, I did not. He came back a minute later and gave me a stack of discount cards for the restaurant to use on a future visit. I shared my booty with Peggy since it would not be likely I could use that many discounts, and since John works downtown, he might use them faster than me. I was most grateful, though, to Hector for giving those to me. No one else around us got them, only me. I must look like a pasta eater!

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I have made the appointment for my Well-Women check-up and that is what I am! My paperwork from Life Line Screening came at some point in the last two weeks and when I read the report yesterday, I did the happy dance. All systems are go, all reports are within 'normal' range, and even the one cholesterol test I thought indicated borderline is within the normal boundaries. Yippee! I AM the new normal--deal with it!

It's Tax Day today....

....and Tax Freedom Day was April 9th, I believe. Those who work outside the home and earn a paycheck with tax obligations withheld, the first 99 days of the calendar year were worked to pay your tax bill for 2010, on average. The days after April 9th are yours, enjoy!

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Well, I can now proudly show off my toes to the kids in the kindergarten classroom as I was able to get a pedicure yesterday afternoon, at long last. I had been meaning to go since before Arno's funeral at the end of February and now, finally, they are lovely. I describe them as brats with ketchup on them! Lisa had to work a bit harder on them than when I come in regularly as she had to shape the nails, do a bit of digging around, trimming of hunks of skin, etc. She was able to make the great toe on the left foot look decent despite the fact that it had broken about half-way down in early February before Lynn and Linda came, when I stubbed it against the trundle bed. Yikes!

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My tax deposit for the first quarter of 2010 is in the mail for a couple days now so it should certainly arrive, or at least be postmarked, prior to today's deadline. Last year I was able to go without making quarterly estimated deposits because I had a refund which my CPA rolled into 2009's obligation for me. Normally I do not have refunds but since my income was reduced so substantially in 2008 which my deposits did not reflect, I had paid ahead, so to speak. I would sooner write a check if my deposits are short than to have the gov't. hold my money interest free.

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Yesterday morning my first call of the morning came from Justin. He thought he woke me up but I just sounded all scratchy from not talking for a few hours. Justin wanted to know if I was listening to Neal but I was instead listening to the podcast of Glenn's program from the day before. He was telling me that Neal was talking about an illness that Justin thinks I have---Williams' Syndrome. Before you go look it up, let me tell you what Justin told me: the person with this disease has no social qualms, talks to anyone, described as a 'cocktail party personality'; makes little or no negative differentiation between races; takes people at face value; looks people in the eyes when talking with them...He said he was listening to this and thought, "That's my mom!!", and I am complimented by that. Of course, as we talked, I looked up the Syndrome and most of the other characteristics are not at all flattering, like the lower intelligence, sunken chest, wide spaced teeth, etc. But I loved it that Justin heard those other traits mentioned and thought of me. I am so glad Neal was not listing off 'short-tempered, foul-mouthed, rude, and insensitive' and then have Justin think, "That's my mom!" So, yes, I was tickled by this phone call!

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Another very bright spot of my day was catching up on some of the mail (I actually did decide to complete, somewhat, my Census form, begrudgingly) and found a lovely "Thank You" card from Ron's grammy. She had high praise for my home and all its colors and fun stuff to look at, how she felt right at home with us here and with my friends "around the table" for Easter, and, the icing on the cake, what a nice young man Justin is! He even checks in on her when he comes to visit "Ronnie". Moms like to hear favorable reports about their kids! Grammy S. also said she hopes we get to do something together again soon, and believe me, I'm in!!!

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The big news of the day is the search being resumed in Putnam County for the missing child, Hailey Cummings, missing a year at this point. It sort of sickens me as the police and investigators are searching a portion of the St. Johns near where she lived, based upon a 'tip' they received. Both the father of the child and his now ex-wife (yet in her teens) are already in jail for drug trafficking. He married the babysitter, then age 17, within a month of the child's disappearance. Just something else to give this part of the world a bad reputation, to say nothing of the sure death of this little child. If the investigators thought she was alive, would they be diving and searching the river? My heart...

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Last night I sat in the family room and watched TV all night! Of course, I had my laptop with me as I listened to the box but I absolutely did not want to go to bed too early, trying to regulate my resting, somewhat. Originally I had made plans with Ellen to go to Happy Hour at The Club where a prix fixe menu is also offered. Unfortunately, Ellen's dogs were not quite ready for pick-up from the groomer's in Avondale so she had to be standing at the ready for them to come home. No worries----I have foam boxes and a cardboard box in the fridge for my own prix fixe dinner. Normally I do not have Wednesdays at home but since there is no church service or choir rehearsal this week, I had off!

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My bed is sort of cleaned off, sort of, I say again, but my desk is piled full. Some filing needs to be done and shredding as well. Still my sliding doors are open and wind has been active all week. There was a brief rain storm on Tuesday but it did not warrant closing the doors. Nor did the rain wash away the yellow film from the concrete and tiles outside. Yesterday three more of the arms of my wind chime in the river room fell off. Two actually hit the floor and I heard a third one drop but could not find it at first. Then, I peeked into a lovely jug I have on the floor and there it was, right in the jug! I could not do that again if I tried. My Facebook friends suggest replacing the rotting strings with fish line or similar but some of the glass 'icicles' do not survive the fall to the floor so even if I did restring it, the balance would be thrown off. I have saved the ones which did not shatter and will offer them to someone with the skills to make something out of them. Linda M., that might be you! Linda J. and I got that particular sun catcher chime at Joann's Etc. at St. Johns Town Center Mall a couple years ago. Little did I realize the sun would take its toll on the strings!

Typing with one hand behind my back

Not really, but I am typing with one eye shut, because the sun is so brightly shining in the window, reflecting off the water. I cannot keep my right eye open, involuntarily it closes! No worries, I only need one for this 'job'. It took me forever to fall asleep last night for some unknown reason and truly, I was not overly tired at bedtime. It might be because I took my usual morning pills in the late afternoon, which includes a B12 vitamin, which might possibly be stimulating. I should take them by the handful, if that is the case! I doubt iron or calcium tablets would interfere with sleeping, I am merely speculating here. But I woke up at my usual time so it seems I am back on schedule again.

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One thing about the sun shining and my laptop balanced the way it is on my pillows in front of me----the screen rather serves as a mirror and that is not a good thing, especially when I am lying back. It makes me look fat! Ugh! I am glad the sun is out because yesterday early afternoon we had rain for a bit and the skies stayed sort of grey the rest of the day. In fact, when the kids were on the playground, we had to go running inside when the heavens opened.

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On the way to church/school yesterday, I stopped at Target to see what I could find for the kids to play with. I did find some squishy balls with tentacle things all around it, I do not know how else to describe it, except, when holding it in my hand, it felt icky and almost wet. The kids will love them and they were in the dollar aisle! In the toy dept. I found the Nerf football thing, looks more like a bowling pin than a football though, with "Packer" colors and insignia on it. The kids were a bit, shall we say, "restless", yesterday, only the 5 boys in class, so they needed to run and play to burn it off.

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Little did I realize how only one toy between 5 boys would be such a problem. Every time there was a tussle for the football, they would turn to look at me from the middle of the pile, thinking I would settle it. No way! Battle it out, guys, figure it out yourselves. It seemed to work better, the football whistles if it spends time in the air, when I threw it to them, but it would take a long while for them to come up with it from the bottom of their pile. And it makes a wonderful club, where I actually did step in and stop that game. No clubbing!

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Oh, and they were sooooo dirty when we got back in after rolling around in the dirt. All needed their hands and faces washed, their clothes brushed off, and Akin's head brushed off. Next week I am giving them the squishy balls instead of the football to see how that works out. When we were in the classroom, I said something to them about not looking at me to settle the battle, that the players have to come up with the ball themselves, to not stand and look at me to figure out who had it first. Little Mario said, "You are like the coach", thinking that would influence me, but I told him the coach knows better than to get into the pile with the players. Guess I would be more the ref than anything else. Am I getting old, or do kids no longer know how to play?

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While at Target, I also found their discounted DVD rack, $5.00! I got an oldie but a goodie, "Love Story" which is good for cleaning out ones eyes and washing of the cheeks. "Love means never having to say you're sorry". That is not true but it is such a sweet sentiment and a good movie, can't wait!

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Laurie is such a wonderful teacher, what can I say? Everything in her classroom is a learning tool, including the egg cartons with plastic filled eggs. After coming in from the rain, the kids went to the 'centers' and three of them played with the eggs, which told the Easter story. One egg had coins in it, signifying the money paid Judas' to betray Jesus; one had dice in it, for casting of lots for Jesus' clothing; another had a stone in it to indicate the stone in front of Jesus' grave. The boys were telling me the story as they opened each egg, and they put the eggs in the correct chronological order in the carton to retell the story. They were also studying weather and rainbows, which again tells the story of the first rainbow of promise, and so on. Love it!

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Before going into the classroom, I stopped to talk to the preschool teacher and some of the kids on the playground. A man had been there to take their class pictures complete with costumes and props. It is not about posing in your good clothes, not for the little ones anyway. I asked Ms. Deb about getting together with them at their monthly meeting next week, the date about which there is some question since the calendar and reality are different things. We finally settled on Monday night despite what the calendar showed so we can discuss the upcoming celebration of Precious Lamb's 10th anniversary. After finally get a set date from the Council/Elders, it is time to set the wheels in motion as time can often get away from us. Deb was telling me I was off by a year, though, that the school is actually 11 years old. This made me furrow my brow because I knew Timmy had been there in the first few weeks it was open, having to finish his month at ChildTime before transferring over and he stayed at Precious Lambs until starting pre-k at St. Johns, in 2000. Huh.....how did I mess this up?

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Later, Deb came up to me with a scrap of paper with dates and numbers on it, to tell me we were both right. Whew! The approval for the preschool came in 1999 and the first class and first director/teacher came in 2000. Whew!!! I knew it! I am not crazy after all....Deb did not come to our church/school until about 5 months after Timmy had died so I knew that was in 2001. Deb said, "I could have sworn I was here for ten years already....." Not quite, off by a year. The missing year! Next year, then, we should recognize her 10 years of service with a special event....shhhh!

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I took the paper from her, then folded it before tucking it away in the same place where I keep my phone and some cash. Deb chuckled, saying her daughter, also Kim, emulates me, tucks her phone in 'there', too. We laughed about that and then Deb said, "She really emulates you, wants to be like you...." Okay, THAT I did not see coming and was blown away. You just never know sometimes, you just never know.

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Back to church I went last night for our single session Bible study titled "Christian Unity", after sending out a reminder notice to the members yesterday afternoon. At first there were only two us who showed up but just as we were about to begin, Carol came in, which added much to our discussion. A couple weeks ago this same class was held in a member's home in Mandarin by invitation and a half dozen folks came for that one. I asked Pastor before we began if personal invitations might be the way to go for this type of church-held event. Of course, we can invite folks all the time, but I feel badly when people miss these opportunities. Especially when talking about unity, and how we can serve each other and Him.

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I had invited Kathy B. and she had considered coming to the study, but the previous night she had begun a new exercise regimen which left her feeling aching and sore. I shared with her the story of my sisters and my first time going to Jazzercises, how Kerry and I could barely move the next day. Of course, Lori and Lynn were hurting, too, but did not live with me. Even going potty was difficult because of the sitting and standing muscles that complained. We just wwaayy overdid it the first time, dancing can't hurt us, right? Wow! Kerry did live with us, in our split-level home, and my then-spouse amused himself by putting M & M's on the steps in order to get us up the stairs. Ha ha! It worked.

Is it really morning?

The sun is reflecting brightly on the river this a.m. and while it sounds and looks windy, according to the dancing palms, the water is remarkably still. No white caps, like we had yesterday. But, after I trundled out to the kitchen to get a soda, I saw the clock on the stove. What? 7:15??? Why am I up already?? Evidently I must be done sleeping! No wonder I only trundled out to the kitchen instead of skipping!

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So, how did you like the photos I posted? The ones posted to Facebook elicited responses and comments but none from this blog thus far. More were posted to FB simply because it is easier to do so. It was a busy start to the morning on Monday, which did not include an airport run. Judy called me after she got back home again to give me a report, said Pastor Deutschlander was a VERY nice man. I guess they covered a myriad of topics in their hour and a half drive to Keystone Heights so I am glad it worked out the way it did. She had Pastor autograph my book for me, "The Theology of the Cross". He wanted her to attend the session and hear him speak but she was not dressed for attending, only for driving. Judy got into a disagreement with her Garmin about which way to go, which really made me laugh. I can imagine the voice in the Garmin just sighing and saying, "All right, you win..."!

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I made my way down Kingsley Avenue toward the Aamco Transmission shop, fearing my trany would quit part way there. No need to fear, all went well. I got the car delivered and had a nice chat with the man running the shop, as I waited for Jen R. to pick me up. Another couple came in and the man sort of clunked his coffee cup on the counter, exclaiming he was NOT a happy camper. Oh, oh! Now I felt better about the whole thing.....He was complaining that their car, which had been in this shop for service Saturday, leaked transmission fluid all over their driveway, and they demanded it be fixed. The lady I had spoken with Saturday when making the appointment, Diane, was not there yet. When I was getting into Jen's car, Diane came walking up so I called to her and said I was a bit nervous now after hearing what I had. She assured me all would be well, she would take good care of me, etc. Okay then.

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Tony, the man to whom I had turned in my car, called me later on to give me a status update, saying their machinery and such found no problems. Huh, what do you know about that? He asked me more questions such as the frequency of the problem and so on. The guys were taking it on a test drive to see if it would act up and then they put it back on the machine again. Later, he called again, knowing I was apprehensive about getting a huge bill for a new transmission. No problems, they found nothing, but he did ask if the fluid had been changed when the tires were put on. Nope, only the oil was changed a month ago, which is good to know because Tony said my fluid is considered 'lifetime'. Like my tires??? Whose lifetime?

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About two or so, I called them back again to check the status, wanting my car back. Tony answered and he said, sadly, "Well, we took the transmission out..." and I exclaimed, "WHAT????" Then he laughed and said no, they had not taken it out, he just wanted to make me laugh, and he said, "See? It worked!", and I told him, "Yeah, but now I have to go change my pants!" He was sending my car back with a technician who I would then drive back to the shop. Louis came to get me and of course, the car behaved perfectly. Louis also assured me, saying the car would not leave me stranded, I would get a warning light on my dashboard and it would go into Safe Mode...Okay, sure, good. He also said my car was too young to have needed new tires already (I agree) or to have the transmission mess up. Using the cruise control has no adverse affect on the system, either. I was so glad that he was my driver because I could ask the horse's mouth all the questions I had, and trust his answers. There was no charge at all from the Aamco people since the diagnostics is free. By the way, the problem with the guy's car early in the day----the leak was not part of the work performed on Saturday on their collector car Mustang. The man apologized profusely, but privately, while his complaint was public. Always the way...

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Judy had mentioned that morning that if I wanted to have dinner I should call her so I did. After I offered to be her driver, she called back to say she had errands to run so would meet me at Koko's. Oh well, I tried! She did allow me to buy her meal in thanks for all the driving of me she has done including the airport on Tuesday morning. I had also brought her a stick of Chermak summer sausage which she went ga-ga over. Since I cannot bring her a perch sandwich, she was glad to have the hometown sausage!

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Since I was homebound most of the day, I got much accomplished including work on the newsletter for church and other communications. I brought up my mail which did not bring a check but did provide a giant stack of paper to be dealt with. Ugh! I used the information from the Hospice speaker at Ladies' Aid last Thursday in the newsletter, good advice for how to interact with a very ill friend or family member. Suggestions such as 'hold my hand', 'bring my favorite meal in a disposable container', 'cry with me', 'laugh with me', etc. Some of the things seem so very obvious to me but I guess some are just not that comfortable in situations.

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Speaking of friends, Judy J. and I have had some in depth conversations regarding this topic of late, with Judy telling me how glad her kids are that she has so many people she can call 'friends'. Her family is all in Michigan so then the friends step in and fill the empty spots. Linda J. and I had such a laugh on Sunday night about this same topic. I was reading Facebook and saw a posting of Linda's where I was just about to comment, when the phone rang. It was Linda!!!! My fingers were poised to type and she called me! We talked about the value of our friends and our friendships, etc., which make us truly wealthy. Better than jewels, better than gold, better than silver the friends in our fold!