Trying to find something to chuckle about

Today is a grumpy day weather-wise and post condo association annual meeting-wise. Ugh! After the remarkably contentious, and at times, dramatic meeting last night, I had trouble getting to sleep, and then staying asleep. In a little while I will lie down for a bit before going to Trivia tonight. Today I worked on the church newsletter, getting the finishing touches last night via e-mail after 10:30 pm. Good thing I was still up! Jim B. sent me some info to include in the newsletter regarding a Listening Sunday planned later this month.

When I said it is a grumpy weather day, it is only because of the winds and temperature drop. No fog or overcast skies today, but the winds are causing problems for the firefighters a county or two south of here, battling roadside fires that threaten closing I-95 again. The coolness of the air surprised me this a.m. when I went upstairs to Jessica’s house with scrapbooking supplies. She is having Beckham’s birthday party this weekend and her guests will each be making a page for his scrapbook. She was just about to leave on a walk with him in his stroller and I suggested she put some shoes on his feet because it was chillier by more than 10 degrees than yesterday. It was a fake out day on Monday, I guess!

Besides the drama and bad news in our country and around the world, it comes closer to home than I would like. Last night’s meeting erupted into arm waving and filthy language being spewed, primarily by a pillar of the community, a woman, mind you! I got up and left the room, refusing to be subjected to such vulgarity and animosity in such an unexpected environment. You know, really? A condo meeting? And what exactly generated this vitriol? Someone put in casement windows rather than sash-style windows required by our documents. One person started it, and as far as I know, only this one ‘lady’ used the foul words, but many got into the accusations and personal attacks. It definitely was personal. As I told Justin’s landlady last week, I have the most wonderful neighbors, and I wish my neighbors had wonderful neighbors! Justin told Jackie that I was the hub on the wheel that kept things together but I fear that is no longer the case. All I can do is remain a good neighbor and not flood anyone again, or break the rules of the association, bringing down wrath upon myself!

E-mails and such have gone forth and back this a.m. including an ‘apology’ from the arm-waving filth spewing woman, though it was hard to find the apology in the paragraph as she further pleads her case. Ugh! If I wanted to hear language like that, I would simply have to watch the news reports coming out of my home state, the protests and squatters at the Capital. And other states where the protests are going on, the reports include much of what I witnessed last night, only with signs bearing socialist or communist slogans. Love it, right? I wonder if the news reports in other countries report that “America is on fire” like we report about them…You know, in the big picture, this window issue is extremely minor and yet, horribly upsetting!

It seems one can go nowhere without being exposed to the language of the streets. Even when dressed in gorgeous evening gowns and draped in diamonds, on the world’s stage, lovely women find these words falling from their lips. That would not happen “by accident” if it was not already part of their vocabulary. Looking classy without having any. Even the cooking shows Justin is so fond of have to do the bleep bleep bleep thing…Now, I am not all that crazy about being in the kitchen and doing cooking, but it would not occur to me to call down the Lord or use filthy words to describe my situation! Only those on the receiving end of my meals would!!!!

Monday when we were gathered around the table at Longhorn, the groups separated by a space between the booths, Twila and I were talking about current events. I told Twila about my stocking up at Winn Dixie’s 10 for 10 sale the other day. We discussed the length of shelf-life of the food stuffs we are storing and Twila remarked that even cat food would serve as food for humans if push came to shove. Our poor friend sitting next to us asked, somewhat quiveringly, “What are you talking about? Is there something I don’t know?” This lady is all about saving animals and worries about polar bears, etc., but does not really follow the news the same way others do.

“What is going on???” she asks. Some of us began recounting the events around the world, primarily in the Mideast and the oil producing nations (only last week this same lady told me she was going to gas up before the price jumped!), I mentioned about the devaluing of our currency and the inflation already affecting food prices and supplies. Others in our group jumped in with evidence of the coming distress and this lady said, “Well, I guess the ***** have it right with their stock piling, if their food is not out of date already.” One of our former members began to stockpile a year or more ago, and one could barely walk through the house due to the cases of food stacked around, so I am told. I am not that bad, and consider it my hurricane supplies, if nothing else. If I see baby wipes on special, believe me, I am stocking up. As Cliff and I discussed at church on Sunday, we know the Lord is in charge and has these matters in His control, but as faithful stewards, we are obligated to also be active participants in the world around us. And to be prepared! The good news about stockpiling incandescent light bulbs which are going away is that they are not so heavy to carry upstairs!

That's it---no more annual Owner's meetings for me this year!!!! I affects my spirit badly....Perhaps tonight we will win again at Trivia and all will be right with the world once more. Smile!

Monday, Monday….

To make this easier for me, I will work backwards. As I am looking out my window, the wind is pushing across the water, making fan-like patterns with each gust. Thankfully, it is warm out today, highs in the mid-80’s----it’s getting there, it’s getting there!!!

Today is Joanne’s birthday. I sent her an e-mail extending good wishes on her special day but have not heard back from her. She lives on the Westside again and is working many hours in real estate, trying to make a living in this dead market, so we seldom get together these days. Besides the working many hours, she also tends to her father who is living on Fleming Island in a facility geared to his illness. He is irascible, and was so even before they moved him down here. Knowing him now, I cannot even imagine what those girls went through to get him to relocate. His respiratory problems worsen, but in his stubbornness, refuses to use the oxygen to help with his breathing. Anyway, I do hope Joanne has a great day today!

This morning was Bible study, and we are near the end of our study on the Kingdom of God. As Mike was wrapping up today, he went to get Pastor who wanted to speak with the class. It seems he is going to teach the class starting in two weeks, the last 5 books, I think, of Matthew. We will have a verse by verse study of the Passion, through Lent. We were surprised because most of us wanted Mike to continue being our leader, the give and take was fantastic, and it seemed we got so much more out of interactive vs. lecture learning. Oh well, I guess that is the way it is….Pastor has a video, sort of a movie called The Book of Matthew, which will accompany part of our study. I had seen parts of this video in Bible information class a few years ago, and it’s quite good!

We had lunch at Longhorn, of course, having to use two booths side by side today as they were so busy. Gretchen just tears me up!! We had to park behind the restaurant again, the 2^nd time this month, and as we walked back to our cars, Gretchen used a German expression for the trip to our cars, which sounds like “longa fart”, which means long distance, I guess. It is hysterical the way she comes out with that, so matter-of-fact.

Gretchen brought me a special present today, too. All wrapped in tissue paper, a wooden cutout of a woman with rope for hair, about 6” tall. Painted on her dress is the statement “Housework makes you ugly”. She had told me about this plaque at some point over the weekend and wanted me to have it. She made us all laugh, though, when she said it took her nearly an hour to get the dust off it!!! Twila said, “No wonder you’re so pretty!” which brought the house down.

Speaking of Twila, she is having a cardiac catheterization on Thursday, with the possibility of having a stent put in, if the cath. shows a need for it. She flunked her stress test from two weeks ago. I suggested we go this week to have our favorite lunch of loaded fries but she has too much work to do prior to the procedure, in case she is laid up. Supposedly the whole thing is ‘same-day’ surgery, and barring any problems, she will be free to leave at the end of the day. I pray this is true! Her granddaughter, Twila, is going with her though several of us offered. I just might go anyway to keep Twila Squared company!

Last night I was grumbling again about the lack of anything for me to watch on TV. Most people were watching the Academy Awards which I would flip to periodically to see how “The King’s Speech” was doing in the awards. Since I was reading blogs, it didn’t really matter much what was on TV. The reason I know folks were watching the Oscars was that they would post on Facebook, remarking about this dress or that dress, etc. as well as the musical numbers. On the pre-game show, I did not recognize even a quarter to the starlets, and I watch a fair share of movies. Guess they are not Oscar caliber, except for “The King’s Speech”!

When I came home from church yesterday, I was looking forward to resting my tired bones, feeling weary yet from the busyness of Saturday’s events. In the meanwhile, my upstairs neighbor had left me a phone message urgently requesting my assistance with her computer. Before I got too comfortable, I went upstairs to see if I actually could help her. She is secretary for the condo association and was busily readying things for the annual Owners’ Meeting, which is tonight. The printer was stuck in the “ON” position and would not budge. After trying several things, I asked her if she had shut down the machine and done a restart, and she had not. Upon doing this for her, the printer then was eager to print her 30 page document for reviewing before the meeting tonight. Kim to the rescue!! And now, to rest!

Bible study at church Sunday was yet following St. Paul’s missionary journeys, a Bible in a Year-type of study, but we are going to need more than a year to get through this. Some of the slides Pastor shows are actual photographs of the Mediterranean Sea, that gorgeous blue color that cannot be adequately described. It speaks for itself! Sadly, when it was time for church to begin, Paul was the acolyte as the young person whose turn it was did not come to church. He whispered to me, “This is sad…” as we surveyed the room. We had more folks at the dinner on Saturday night than were in church on Sunday morning. Granted, we had guests at the dinner, so it’s not a fair comparison, but still…it’s a fact! Our little choir sang the first two stanzas of a new hymn from the Supplement to introduce it, “When Jesus Came From Nazareth”.

Before worship began, Mike S., one of the chefs from the night before, came to get his hug. He said he nearly did not come to church, was so tired from the day before (and I think I am tired????) but then thought, “Get your butt out of bed and ready for church!” He said he so appreciates having the church there for him, telling me I would not have wanted to know him 8 years ago---he was scum---his words. He acknowledges that it is by the grace of God that he is here. Mike expressed that he so appreciates his friends, that they make him rich, which I jumped all over because I feel the same way. I told him we were singing a hymn about that today, where our treasure really is, not in our pockets, but what waits for us. Loved that brief exchange!!

Well, I guess I should ready myself for the ordeal, I mean, meeting tonight. My little job is to make sure folks sign in when they arrive because Nancy might get overwhelmed by the rush of folks when they come in. This, I can do! The Greeter!!!!!

Some photos from recent days

Click on photos to make them larger, if you wish!

On Thursday, Betty and Robin came over for a visit. Robin had not seen my new place, but had been at my lake house when I had the house warming in 2004. Betty has been laid off for some time, and is now attending college taking business courses. Robin, who was also laid off, had gotten a new job and when that one went away, opted to stay home, and is loving it. They looked at the Timmy memorial and then we retired to the river room where the two ladies poured over the scrapbooks. Betty chuckled, seeing Justin as a baby---so darn cute, if I do say so myself!

Friday evening I attend a bridal shower with no bride present! We brought our unwrapped gifts to the party at Victory, showed them around, and then wrapped them for Elizabeth and Nick. I believe the shower had more guests than the actual wedding will have, only family going to be invited to the ceremony and dinner, in St. Cloud, MN. Their colors are white and black so the decorations were the same colors. A great time and great fun!

My friend, Stephanie, is a crocheter extraordinaire, and her daughter, Erica, is showing the lovely afghan intended for the bridal couple.

Saturday night some of the Victory group came across the river to join the fun of our Tour of Italy dinner held at Good Shepherd. On the far end, at the beautifully decorated wall (my idea, Justin's doing) are the Victory folks with some Good Shepherd folks on the closer end.

Tamara came over to take a picture of me and some of the gang, as she said I am never in the photos. Seated is Stephanie, and behind me is Rita, and the three of us play Trivia on Tuesday nights on Southside. Across the table is Lucy H., barely visible is Jon, Rita's son, and against the wall is Ed, who is Judy's husband. She was the hostess for the wedding shower the night before. Busy church weekend, and good fellowship time!

Bravisimo!

What a wonderful dinner tonight! Mike 'n Mike 'n Lonnie prepared a lovely Italian feast complete with caprese salad, minestrone soup and brouchette. The menu was angel hair pasta with shrimp scampi (I picked out the shrimp and gave them to Lucy) and penne pasta with six cheeses and sausage. Oh, yummy! I sat with the Victory folks which included Harold and Lucy who used to be members at Good Shepherd, plus Ed and Judy, Stephanie, Rita and her son, Jon. Rita and her sister, Bonnie, were formerly members at GS but she does not remember me. It was a long time ago. Jon sat next to Ed who took great pleasure in teasing him, like a grandpa would, and Harold pitched in his two cents worth of teasing when Lucy allowed him to. The unfortunate thing was they ran out of dessert and some of our guests did not get any, even though Judy C. went to the store to get more. Just not enough. I felt badly for taking one, assuming more was coming from the kitchen...oops! Renee was also busy in the kitchen, I am sure she knows all about the Italian food since Lonnie and she lived in Italy for many years.

Justin met us at church this a.m. to help with the decorating, with his project being to put up the decorations hanging from the ceiling. We rigged up a system where we used giant paper clips to hold to the two-sided themed pieces. Judy was wishing we could put some of the decorations on the ugly blank wall where a grease board used to hang and I had the brain storm of putting some of the checkered plastic table cloths on the wall. It looked great! Judy took pictures of the room once decorated and I hope she will share her photos. I took some this evening which I will post tomorrow.

From church Justin and I went to Winn-Dixie so he could help me stock up on some stuff for posterity purposes, things with a long shelf life. When we got home with the purchases, he got busy shuffling things around in the cabinets and closets to make room. One project leads to another when we work on these things so he relocated a shelf-worth of mugs, glasses, and Christmas glasses. He straightened out the food cabinets, put things in the pantry (which he says is our next project!), and organized the kitchen food cabinet. Very nice!

I was able to sit and coach from a chair as I had to rest after all the setting up at church, for that project. When we moved to the next one of putting away the Timmy memorial, I pitched in. I remember what goes where and all that so it worked for us to do that together. When he was making room in the closet in the back closet, he pulled out a cardboard box, yes, I said cardboard, of old photographs. Yikes! At long last, my wedding album came back to me as did many other ancient photos and memories. Justin got a kick out of some of them, including one Lisa from when she was 6. Oh, my! Does she ever look like Manny...or would that be the other way around? I had him put the box aside or we'd never get anything done but not hidden away so I can look at them some more. Justin very nicely suggested putting the photos into scrapbooks, described how the pages should be set up, and such. He further suggested I work on THAT instead of newsletters. His heart is in the right place, this is for sure.

Justin had to leave for his friend Jesse's brother's Eagle Scout ceremony just down the street. Afterward he came back to get his grocery items his mother bought for him, and told me about the ceremony. It seemed a bit disorganized and Justin found it ironic that one of their pillars is to 'be prepared'. We always thought there was more pomp and circumstance to this process but apparently not. People are always mentioning how someone is an Eagle Scout so we had a preconceived notion about it.

He left and me not far behind him as I had to get over to church for the dinner. If I had left sooner, I could have stopped for gas but will do that in the morning instead. Hopefully the price won't go higher overnight. Certainly I pray the unrest in the Mid East subsides soon so that I will not have to break into my stockpile of food! I heard a guy state the other day that our currency could become toilet paper, and toilet paper become the currency.

The other day my friend Ruth V. called to uninvite me to her house for the LWMS rally. It seems she has out-of-state company coming for ten days which will overlap with the rally. She hated to do it but I assured her it is no problem at all, I will ride down there with Judy C. and whoever else goes to the rally. That would have been fun, though! Like Ruth suggested, we will do it another time!

The Ten Commandments of Life

Not the original but someone has written these beautiful words. One must read to understand the deep meanings in them. They are like the Ten Commandments to follow in life all the time.

1] Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble; it is a "steering wheel" that directs us in the right path throughout life.

2] Do you know why a car's WINDSHIELD is so large & the rear view mirror is so small? Because our PAST is not as important as our FUTURE. So, look ahead and move on.

3] Friendship is like a BOOK. It takes few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write.

4] All things in life are temporary. If going well enjoy it, they will not last forever. If going wrong don’t worry, they can't last long either.

5] Old friends are like Gold! New friends are Diamonds! If you get a Diamond, don't forget the Gold! Because to hold a Diamond, you always need a base of Gold!

6] Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, GOD smiles from above and says, "Relax, sweetheart, it's just a bend, not the end!

7] When GOD solves your problems, you have faith in HIS abilities; when GOD doesn't solve your problems HE has faith in your abilities.

8] A blind person asked St. Anthony: "Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?" He replied: "Yes, losing your vision."

9] When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them; and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.

10] WORRYING does not take away tomorrow's TROUBLES; it takes away today’s PEACE.

This was sent to me by my former classmate, Linda M. and was sort in keeping with the post recently about guidelines for 2011 sent by my sister, Jill.

We have lift-off!

The space shuttle, Discovery, had a successful launch today, a few minutes later than planned, but still, away it went. I watched from my balcony with Betty and Robin C., who came over for the afternoon. Robin had not been here before and enjoyed the view, commenting on all the color in my rooms. I think we have to get together more often, we had such a great visit. And then, shared the launch, as we watched with my neighbors outdoors for the 'show'.

For a little while this evening a group of us gathered on the sundeck as some enjoyed a glass or two of wine. Me? I had Diet Coke and was freezing. It was only 69 degrees out there and many of us were chilly, only I forgot my wrap. Justin gave me a black shawl that works well for nights like this but I neglected to grab it. It felt good to get back in the warm again. We long for the hot summer nights to enjoy the deck...soon, very soon!

I just came back to my room. Over the sound of the TV, I could hear the sound of-----you guessed it----water running! From room to room to room, flipping on lights and fully expecting to encounter a puddle, I found none. But I could still hear it from over head. Jessica and Travis did not answer their phones so I decided to go upstairs and check it out myself. Jessica's dad was babysitting Beckham, who was asleep, but he went back in the bedrooms to check it out. In the meantime, I heard the sound from their powder room and sure enough, he took off the lid to find the toilet running. Not onto the floor or onto my ceiling, just water continually running through the pipes, the drains. Do not mess with me and the water! He fixed it, adjusted the innards of the toilet and the flow stopped. I now have peace restored while I wait for my pulse to return to a normal pace.

The other night at Trivia, one of the questions was a True/False one----were all three of the Godfather movies nominated for Best Picture Oscars? I thought no, the third one was not that great, sort of a flub, in my opinion, but I was wrong. All three were nominated but GFIII did not win. As I watch it now, I can see why it did not win but I still enjoy watching the saga. The actress playing Michael's daughter is so wooden in her acting, and when I looked her up in the credits, discovered she is the director's daughter. Ah...the family!

This afternoon I so very much enjoyed my lady friends' visit and before that, I worked on the newsletter for church, which is due out this weekend. I like to have it out the last Sunday of the month but I am waiting for Bible study info and such. Guess it will be next week before it is available but I can still plug away. Yesterday I printed off the mail-away newsletter I do every couple months for the shut-ins, college kids, members away, and seldom seen members. Even though I replaced the color cartridge, my photos were still not printing nicely, so I had to keep taking out the cartridge, give it a shake, and then put it back in. Instead of getting the name brand, I bought store brand cartridges, seems not the best idea.

Oh, the Bible study today was again an amazing class, still on the subject of human reason vs. baptism, reformed theology vs. the Biblical/Lutheran view. We have lots of discussion and expression of thanks for baptism in our lives, how it is our foundation to help keep us firmly planted in the Word. When trouble surrounds us, and it will, we can always reflect on our baptisms and the promises made to us there.

Tomorrow night I again return to Victory for a wedding shower for Anne and Phil's daughter...have to make sure I take wrapping paper along and get a nice card. We will show the gifts first, then wrap them. A shower in reverse, since she lives in MN and won't be there. Fun!

Justin and I went to get his car after Bible study, where I paid the bill for him. I got so many hugs as he prayed under his breath, "Please be quiet, please be quiet...." as the fella went to get the car for him. No, he did not mean that I should be quiet but he hoped his car would be. And it was! Purred like a kitten and oh, the joy on his face, and great relief. Gotta love the hugs! As I told the lady at the desk, as I signed the credit card slip, "I am going to have the cleanest house in Orange Park..." as she smiled, knowingly. Justin told me today that he wished I was moving so that he could pack me up, to show his thanks. If he threw in unpacking again, we'd have a deal!

Listening to the winds again

No wonder everything is covered in yellow pollen, the way the wind is blowing out there. All day long and even some yesterday, breezy breezy breezy. The temps on Tuesday were great, in the 80's, but today, that was not the case. All the cars outside are wearing yellow layers of pollen, as do my kitchen counters. I noticed it when I moved something sitting on the counter and saw the ring left where the pollen was not. I seemed to recall wondering last year about my butter on the counter---if everything else is covered, is not the exposed butter? It's already sort of yellow...I made the mistake of having the kitchen door open for ventilation---ooops!

Last night was Trivia over on Southside and I invited Justin and Jesse to come with us. Between the 4 1/2 of us, since Erica came late, we managed to answer most of the questions and ended up winning the first place prize!!! We all brought something to the table and I did not embarrass myself too badly with wrong answers. So, next week, we have $25 to apply toward our total bills! Justin and Jesse were able to answer some questions I would have had no clue, like something from Back to the Future and Heisman trophy winners.

When we went outside, Justin started his car and the rattling noise began. I told Stephanie about his problem with the car and that he had asked me to help him get it repaired. We parted company and I headed down the road toward home. Just before Baymeadows Road, my phone rang and a very forlorn voice said, "Mom.....my car just died...." I had to circle back toward where he was, fortunately able to get off the road, one of the busiest roads in town, JTB Expressway. His electricity was gone, completely gone, and I am so glad it happened in the right hand lane so he could move out of the lanes. He called AAA in the meantime as I made my way toward them. He had asked me where he should have it towed. I suggested the dealership for lack of any other suggestion. I goofed going to get them, having exited on Hodges instead of staying on JTB, but I was nervous, so I had to do a go around and circle back.

That poor kid was frantic, very upset, and I know if Jesse wasn't with him, he would have been crying. He transferred his tools and such to my car before the wrecker arrived. Justin had been taking Jesse to work so I asked him if he needed Justin to take him today. Jesse said he would use his motorcycle for work, other wise Justin could have used my car but would have had to take me home. Justin was such a wreck, he was not interested in driving anymore last night. He had lots to do to get ready for a rummage sale at the office but was going to call in and explain the car situation.

When the wrecker guy came, he said that the dealership is gated and locked so we decided to just have him take the car to the garage from which the wrecker is dispatched. It was not too far from Justin's area of town and fine with me. The guy, Roscoe, figured the problem was the alternator and did something to the battery to allow him to readily pull the car up onto the back of the truck. I drove the two boys home and finally met Jesse's stepmother who allowed me to use the bathroom. Nerves, you know....Justin would not let me see his messy quarters so that's why I went in the main house. He was spending today getting everything cleaned up at his place since he had no wheels. At one point I sent him a text message and he reported that he was vacuuming his baseboards. Nice!

The garage person contacted him this a.m., and Justin was able to make it a conference call so I could talk to her, too. And get the bad news. It was the alternator making the problem and also the front brake pads were nearly shot. I authorized them to go ahead with the repairs for which my son is deeply thankful. *Sigh*. I teased him that I have to buy his love which he immediately argued with me...

Tomorrow morning I am picking him up for Bible study and then after class we will go get his car, and pay the bill. Gulp! His car gets lots of wear and tear since he has to use it like a pick-up truck when working for his father. The pick-up truck gotten only days before Timmy died was totaled by Justin's coworker, no personal injuries, thankfully. The truck was never replaced. Justin hauled mowers, weed whackers, wheel barrows, all sorts of tools and equipment in the back of his, which always smelled of gas from the tools. He has twice the miles I have on mine and they are the same age.

Tonight at choir rehearsal, Robbie handed out a choral piece sung many years ago, which brought back many memories for us. The pieces had names written on them, included Gerry and Evelyn, my former spouses' name, and one marked "Shirley", which Carol used. Talk about a sentimental journey. Carol noted the pencil markings and notes on the pages, and wondered aloud where she had gotten that habit...Shirley died in 1996 so that tells how old that music is, at least how long we've had it. Funny, but there was no music with my name written on it....hmmm.....

When I came home from choir, I came into my room and turned on the lamp on my nightstand. It made a spark and a sound, and the bulb burned out. Very startling in the dark! I unplugged the lamp, and as I unscrewed the bulb, my phone vibrated and I about left my skin!!! When I was going to replace the burned out bulb, I smelled something smoky and determined I had better not put a new bulb into the socket. I might have to take it somewhere to have it replaced. The place I would take it otherwise is going out of business so I am not sure what to do. A bedside lamp is necessary and this one matches my decor so perfectly. Rats!!!

Tomorrow afternoon my friends Betty and Robin C., whom worked for my former company, are coming over for a visit. Robin had been at my lake house but never came up here. It will be so great to see them again. The last time was in the fall, in November, when we went to Koko's for lunch. I am so 'cited about their visit, and besides that, the shuttle is going up at 4:50 pm---we hope!

My neighbor's son flew in from Chicago, with his buddy, to go down to the Cape to see the launch. Denny has lots of health problems and it means alot to him to see the launch before they are done. He came last time this shuttle was to launch but it was scuttled twice, which brings him back again this time. Hopefully I will get to see Denny on his short visit, as they are also spending time at the Daytona Speedway, on my recommendation. We had gone several years ago with Harv and Barb, really enjoying it, even though not fans. I hope they like it or I will feel badly. I will feel worse if the shuttle is scuttled!!