Look what followed me home!

Yesterday I was enticed to Great Hang Ups after Julia posted a photo of a recently added piece to the Gallery. Oh my! What else could I do???? Just look at it!

Having a “Cohen”-kind of day

Singing at my desk as I write might make for some interesting phrasing if I accidentally incorporate my song into this text. “Hey, that’s no way to say good-bye…” My brother-in-law, David, was e-mailing me the other night about some music, started by a status update I posted on Facebook about having an ear worm. My ear worm was actually from “The Phantom of the Opera” but my friend Suzanne said she was glad because it replaced the previous ear worm in HER head---“Seek Ye First”. David then jumped on board with his desire to add something more to his YouTube recordings and wanted Christian-themed tunes, deciding to use “Seek Ye First”. I try to influence him to use Sarah Brightman offerings but, of course, his voice is more Dylan than Brightman!

This moves me back to my youth, before doing my school work, I did my nails while listening to some bluesy tunes or folk music, or some other crossovers none of my friends really cared for. Lori, my older and smarter sister, would razz me for not taking care of homework first but I had priorities! In the evenings, she would braid my hair while it was wet so in the a.m. it would hang in long waves and coax me to do some homework. Oh, those were the days! Now she could braid my chin hairs but would have to take her glasses off in order to see what she was doing….time is our enemy!

A young man from high school, with whom I was friends, recently reconnected (within two years, anyway) via Facebook, and told me how thankful he is to me for introducing him to Joni Mitchell all those years ago. Steve is presently a musician in the Milwaukee area, first love, and works for a technical school to pay the bills. I have an 8-track recording he did, yes, I said 8-track, which shows how old it is, titled “The Beach”. Recorded in WI which is funny because when I think of a beach, I think in my backyard, you know? At some point since high school, Steve wrote a song for me. This was before we had reconnected which makes it all the more special. As I am typing, my nail polish is drying….

Off to meet my neighbors for lunch…this is a day which ends in ‘y’, right?

Blue with white dots

That is the color of the sky today, mostly blue with puffs of clouds scattered about. The temperature is nice and warm, mid-80’s, with the river being quite calm. No manatees to be seen at this moment but yesterday I did spot one on the north side of the ‘barrier’ of the basin, something not usually seen. At least by me!

I am not sure I mentioned that twice this past week I got up to stacks of Diet Coke outside my doors, purchased for me by my friend, Ellen, who was frequenting the area Target stores in search of a certain type of slipper. Not sure if she found the ones she was looking for or not. Justin got quite a chuckle at how people are doing this for me, and I told him Carol E. who lives in Mandarin will often send me a message about the good soda prices she has found somewhere. She has the same ‘problem’ that I do in this regard, and love it that she thinks of me when she finds a deal!

Justin was able to attend Bible study and have lunch with me today after all. He was going to work this afternoon at a house at the beach where he is pressure cleaning the concrete. At first I thought he would be unable to come to class but when I dialed him accidently last night, he told me he would be there after all. I was actually attempting to send him a text message since the hour was late but somehow managed to dial his number. Oops! My message to him was that I hoped he was safe at home and not on the Buckmann, because from my bed I could see a long line of blue lights….as I explained to Justin, “it’s a mom-thing….” which he understands.

Today’s class ended our discussion of the duel natures in our lives, the last two ‘chapters’ being penned by Martin Luther, for the most part. So very interesting, as one of the ladies, Dawn, mentioned during class. It is amazing the obstacles ML faced in his life and yet through him and the Holy Spirit, the eyes of many were opened. As one of our now-deceased members used to say: “Thank God for Luther”! We received our new booklets at the end of the class but I cannot even remember if I looked at the topic. Justin was looking at the lovely art work included in this new issue, many of them being ‘classics’, his great love after politics.

Justin and I went to PF Chang for lunch, always fast service and truly wonderful food there. I was so hungry for their honey chicken and ‘styrofoam’ noodles, and, of course, leftovers for another meal. Justin’s meal came to the table, only it was the wrong item, so the server, who caught the mistake himself, left it there, “on the house”, and got him the correct order. So now Justin has two more meals, or one big one, for another day. If it did not have shrimp in it, I could have taken it along with me!

This evening I am invited to a seminar at Edward Jones Investments where we will hear about Social Security and our futures, etc. It should prove extremely interesting to hear what is said. It is highly unlikely that when it’s my turn to collect, at whatever age this might be, there will be funds for SS. Not enough people working to feed the program, as of this date, unless Paul Ryan’s budget plan is adopted (whoo hoo!!!). I am at the age where I would be ‘grandfathered in’ to the 2012 proposed budget plan. Frank, the money manager, will hopefully be serving his home barbecued meats and home-baked bread, like he did at the last gathering. Oh, yummy!

Oops, I nearly forgot to mention going to lunch yesterday with my dear friend, Twila, and her granddaughter, Twila II, after she was sprung from the rehab center. We had a nice lunch at La Nopalera where the two Twilas shared a regular margarita and I had my strawberry drink. Just as we finished our meals, Twila Sr. said she wanted the check....she got so tired and was ready to go home. We will have to pace ourselves before she is up to snuff, but, of course, they HAD gone car shopping before meeting me for lunch. Those two rascals! It was great to have her back, sitting across the table from me once more! Thanks be to God!

I will let the photograph speak for me tonight

Wish I could make this photo larger but here it is---Lisa and Angelo this evening. It is almost like being there, I so appreciate her sending me these pictures. *sigh* I just thank the Lord that he is doing so well and even attempting now to roll over! Oh, that guy!

The heavens opened

This a.m. just before 7:00 I was awakened by the roll of thunder, not unexpected. What a good sleep I had last night! As I went to the kitchen for a fresh soda, I remembered that Ellen had gone on a soda run yesterday afternoon and checked outside my door. Sure enough! There was a stack of 12-packs plus the free mini-cans, just as though the milkman had been there. That's two days in a row I found this outside my door. She would not allow me to pay for the Sunday purchase but did allow me to give her money for this soda run. That rascal!

Oh my goodness! The air cleared enough with the storm passing, complete with high winds, thunder, lightning, and torrential rain, for me to see a small boat bobbing on the water heading up river. It just might be a crab fisherman pulling up his traps, but regardless of who it is, this is so not a good idea!

As soon as I woke up, I switched the channel to Fox and Friends, where the headline read "Triumph Over Tragedy". Hey, wait a second---that headline belongs to us!!! Or, rather, to Jesus! The theme for the funeral sermon when Timmy died a few days ago (oh, wait, it was 10 years ago!!) was "Jesus Triumphs Over Tragedy". The story on the news was about how a movie was made featuring the young female surfer who lost her arm to a shark bite a few years ago. She continues to be a champion surfer after the incident, remarkable in itself. Jesus truly does triumph over tragedy!

After Bible study and lunch yesterday, our class led by Mike C. this week, I came back home to print off Justin's signature page for his taxes. Since I was going to the Island to Wal*Mart, I offered to stop by where Justin was working so he could sign it. Instead, though, he said he would come by after work to take care of it. I had a prescription to pick up from Wal*Mart, as well as ink cartridges and photo paper. What an expensive outing THAT turned out to be! I also restocked my vitamins and some supplements, with the wretched fish oil gel pills that cost over $20 a bottle! This time I will leave the odor-eater in the bottle like the instructions indicate so the smell won't knock me over when I open the cabinet door. Phew! I wonder if it would bother me as badly if I were a fish eater....

Manny, my great-nephew, is having a birthday at the end of the month so I bought him a video, Yogi Bear, the newest remake. Justin suggested I let his parents know this so they do not get it for him beforehand. Probably a good idea...Manny's older brother, Gabe, sang in church on Sunday and his daddy posted a photo of him on Facebook. I can't get over how tall Gabe is getting, as Noah said, "I don't know where he gets that". Angelo is growing so nicely now, with Lisa trying to introduce some foods to him. Angelo takes after me, has no use for the bananas!

So, anyway, back to buying the movie at the store...As I was leaving, walking down the parking aisle to where my car was parked, I heard this 'clunk' sound and immediately turned around to see two cars had backed into each other at the end of the lot. Both backed out of the handicap stalls and did not notice the other car doing the same. When I mentioned it to Justin, he said, "Of course the handicapped stalls!" but I don't think either vehicle had the seriously handicapped in them, since I came out with the one elderly couple. All I could see about them was the man wore a hearing aid, and the lady was murmuring about getting in the wrong line because the person in front of them had a price question. Unpleasant personalities can be crippling! But, I assured Justin, and he knows it also, parking lot accidents can occur no matter the age, as his friends' brother had such an incident recently, and he is a kid! On the news was just a report about how a car with two teens in it drove through the front of a Quik Stop, nearly striking an employee, so see? It happens to young people, too, Justin!!!

I admire Paul Ryan, a representative from Wisconsin, who is presenting the GOP Budget proposal. He certainly seems to know what he is talking about and their proposal would reduce the deficit with no additional spending and no new taxes in about 4 years. I like it! The State of Florida has a new senator, Marco Rubio, whom I supported, and he is also working hard toward fiscal conservancy. Both fellows were on Fox News Sunday which I watched Sunday afternoon after getting home from lunch. I love that they show this program more than once during the day since I am at church for the first showing. Here is the link for anyone who has not seen the interviews with Chris Wallace: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday/transcript/rep-paul-ryan-previews-gop-budget-sen-marco-rubio-debt-crisis-libya.

(I had something else written here but deleted it. Suffice it to say that I am distressed terribly by those who are fueling the fires of class warfare. We have some good, strong US Constitution advocates out there in the battle but there is such an undercurrent of socialism and intent of continued government ruination that I fear what the outcome will be. The world is upside down....come quickly, Lord Jesus, come!)

Last night was Ladies' Group so once more I headed that direction. At lunch I had invited Betty, one of our newer members, to come to the meeting, and sure enough, there she was! Carol was not able to make it, nor was Cliff, so Pastor handled it all. One of the things we discussed, briefly in this meeting, was that some students from Rocky Mountain High School, CO, are coming in July, with their teacher, Kari,, who is a friend of Mike C.'s. They will help with our VBS as well as help at Christ, Keystone Heights, with some projects.

At lunch, Mike C. asked me, "Kim, do you want some company in July?" and immediately I said, "YES"! He asked if I didn't want to know who it was, and I told him I did not care....Then he told me about the young people coming who needed to be housed. Judy said, "You know there are three of them, can you take all three?" I assured them I had two bedrooms and could certainly house the two girls and one boy making the trip. The teacher/friend will stay at Judy's but I get the kids. I won't have to be their driver, which is good news since they will be here about 10 days, including one Sunday. I can certainly be their driver for church! They will have a good time here, I hope, since they will be kept somewhat busy, but hopefully will have time to enjoy the pool and some down time. Mike said that one day is planned to go to Universal Studios and invited me along but I respectfully declined. Just let the young people go.....

But, now, of course, I am terribly excited about their coming, already thinking about what foods I will need to have on hand and wondering if I will need to cook. I can offer my kitchen to Michael, since he likes to cook! Wish I had a grille, that would make such a big difference in how I could entertain them all. But first I have to think about Easter and its feast which I will be preparing for Justin and some of his friends. One young man, Ron, was with us last year as were his mom and grandma. This year the mom is out of town for working, but the grandma and Ron's girl friend, Sarah, will be joining us. I have a couple empty chairs remaining at the table so wonder who I should invite to take up a seat....

We've got company!

The maintenance lady for my building, Connie, excitedly called me this afternoon once I was home from lunch and Bible study to report manatee activity in the basin. Using my zoom lens, I was able to capture them more clearly from up here than could she on ground level. Looks like a smaller manatee off to the left, approaching Clarence and Clarice, as I like to call them. We did not expect to see the manatees this early in the season, usually, at least, not as far as we can recall. It never gets old, you know?

It was a glorious day

Only a short while ago I came home from having dinner with my friend, Betty. She is a student again after being away from a classroom a long time. Betty worked for our business for over a decade, but has been out of work now for over two years. She decided to go back to school and earn a degree in order to improve her chances in the job market. Hopefully she can find a position, although in this market....

She is nearing 60 years old so her prospects are fewer. She has to compete with younger folks entering the job market, with lesser salary demands. Anyway, it did her some good to get out of the house and away from her ‘books’ and be with people. Her classes are primarily on-line which limits her being out and about. After reading the news report of the man who grew tight to his chair in OH, we have to make every effort to get ourselves up and on our feet frequently!

Any time now I expect the doorbell to ring or my phone to summon me as my friend, Ellen, has gone on a mission to Target. She sent me a text message when I was at dinner asking me if she should pick up some Diet Coke for me from Target, a special deal she heard about where it is buy three 12 packs for $10.00. She is a dream for thinking of me and picking some up for me. Hope she won’t mess up her back loading and offloading, though Ellen assured me she will use her little grocery cart for transport. Last night I had visitors when Cindy and Paul brought the scrapbooking materials and tonight will be Ellen!

Since I had fish for lunch with Judy C., Terri T., and Gretchen at Sam’s St. Johns Seafood, I opted to have a chicken breast sandwich for my dinner with Betty. It was so large, however, that I could not eat all of it, especially since Betty and I shared an order of dill pickles first. We did not finish off the pickles but made a serious dent in them! The weather was so nice today, we just had to sit out and enjoy it!

Brenda called me a few minutes ago to report that her gentleman friend, Carey, will be able to take her to the appointment tomorrow. But she also told me that she had a dizzy spell episode while driving on Hwy. 17 and was forced to pull over to the side to wait for it to pass. For a brief time she could not see which totally freaked her out, and was thankful she hit no one and no one hit her. Now she refuses to drive at all but cannot live this way. She definitely wants an answer to the problem, and a cure. Can’t say I blame her, not one tiny bit! I hate this for her and just hope the neurologist can get to the bottom of it quickly.

Kerry, my sister in Oshkosh, told me that the Weather channel indicated severe weather coming our way at the beginning of the week which makes sense since it is supposed to get to the 80’s tomorrow. In checking the local weather on-line, I do not see the horrible storms Kerry mentioned, only a chance of rain on Tuesday. It will be so wonderful when we have day upon day of sunshine and heat in order to get the pool temperature up where it needs to be.

We had such a great service today, the hymns were well chosen, one with a wonderful intro played by Robbie, “My Song is Love Unknown”. It tells the story of Christ, how He came to earth as a man, rode triumphant into Jerusalem and then the same folks who yelled “Hosanna” were yelling “crucify”….We ladies at the lunch table remarked at how the service flowed along so nicely today, with a guest preacher, our pastor’s father, giving the sermon. As Gretchen remarked, “It was a regular service!” Life’s simple pleasures!