Water aerobics wrap up

Caught Mary with her mouth open during the strenuous portion of the work out, with Sistie coming up behind her

Marlena had the group form a circle for their "Rockette" routine, using the noodles

Another Rockette routine, this time in a row. Far left is Maggie O., then , Marlena, Mary Lew, Randy, Mary, Olivann, Sloane, Ina, and Sistie

Off to the races! Mary won, and Marlena took 2nd place. Maggie O. and Marlena sat it out, and Olivann goes crossways in the pool during the races.

Marlena's mom, left, named Marjorie and our neighbor, Jo, came out to watch the big show for wrapping up water aerobics officially for the season. Later, we all went into the cabana to eat our lunch, which came from The Club, since it began to rain right after we ordered our meals!

We stink on ice!

Well, not entirely the whole game of Trivia tonight but at least the 2^nd half. We lost our footing on a couple answers. Since we had so many players tonight, we divided into two teams and were nearly tied for last place when the final question came up, with our ‘former’ team. Our usual team, "Nothing Tips Like a Cow" was dead last and our smaller team, a spin-off, "In One Ear and Out the Other", was second last. Rats!

Justin’s two friends, Sarah and Megan, who are roommates, joined us for Trivia, which made our numbers swell. You would think having these two future medical folks on our team would help us win but that didn’t work out. I blew on answer, the actor who did the one-armed push-up at the Academy Awards---I just could not come up with the name. It was Jack Palance, in case you were scratching your head, and he was 73 when he did that. And usually my food is quite delicious but I didn’t care at all for the mashed potatoes this evening. Oh well, the ice cream was good and the game fun!

Once again, I had water dripping into my house at the window in the river room. This time I called the condo president who said he’d come up to see the leak. In the meanwhile, Justin came and he helped me take the picture down that covers the top part of the window so we could determine the source of the leak. Tommy’s suggestion was to have someone rather dangle out the window and try to caulk it from outside. Well………

When he left, I told Justin that this was not the answer but at least someone on the Board knew of my problem. I called Jessica, my neighbor directly above me, and instead of saying ‘hello’ she immediately announced, “Yes, I have water pouring in my porch and it’s coming from above me!” That means the empty unit on 5 has a leak somehow or another causing the problem. I KNEW Tommy’s answer was not the right one! I called him back to tell him that Jessica had a leak, but got his voice mail. Also, I called Pat who is a Realtor and on the Board to let her know there was a problem upstairs. Hopefully someone has a key and can go in to check that unit for trouble. At least this is not a plumbing problem but just from the rain.Yikes!

It is nearly a year since The Great Flood, this week being the one when Lynn and Linda were here. Despite the horror of the event, it is good having the boxes dealt with and reduced greatly in number. My spare rooms are far more orderly and so far I don’t miss the items we donated to the yard sale at Christ, Keystone Heights, or to Quigley House, or simply trashed. I refer to that as clearing out at gun point! Decisions made willy-nilly but yet, decisions made!

This morning was a lengthy but extremely beneficial meeting with Pastor and Judy C. We met at Panera Bread where I enjoyed a pumpkin shaped frosted cookie and my Diet Coke. We went over the Worship Conference notes at some length, even though I managed to get the actual ‘notes’ down to two sides of a page---whew! The spoken word goes a long way, too, as we discussed what we saw and heard. He was most grateful for our efforts and we discussed other matters rather pressing, not totally unrelated to worship. Time sure flies when you’re having fun! And it was rewarding to complete, submit, and discuss, and hopefully, it will be taken to heart!

Today, after I got home, my door bell was ringing madly, which usually means it’s Connie. Sure enough, there she was with a package in her hand. When I opened the door, she said, “You sure have that mail man freaked out. He wanted me to make sure you got this…” It was the 2^nd order of books from Amazon, and the first order remains a mystery. As I exclaimed to her, I was not hard on the mailman at all, and she agreed, but he was still apprehensive about my getting the delivery this time. Connie said she is asking our Board to add a light over the mailboxes so the mailman can see better what he’s doing. Not sure if that is the problem or not but I rejoice for getting my books at last. And now, to read them!

I am stuck in reverse!

Over and over again this late afternoon I have had to reverse my podcast because for some reason or another I would lose my place or be distracted by something on the TV (muted) and not listen with even half an ear. During the first hour, I fell asleep so had to replay that portion again later. Sometimes I can hear better in my sleep than I can awake!

I heard some sad news yesterday morning in regard to the extended family. My niece in Palm Coast called me after 7:00 am to report that her mother had finally succumbed to her illnesses and died that morning. The staff at the nursing home tried to help Marian, and then the EMTs worked to get her heart started again, but to no avail. When she opened her eyes, she saw Jesus’ face. I wonder if she has seen Timmy yet….

Marian’s first heart attack and bypass surgery was when she was 44 years old, in 1992, right around the time that Hurricane Andrew tore through south Florida, as I remember we took a ride south of Ft. Lauderdale to survey the damage. Never really bouncing back from that problem, she struggled with her diabetes and ailments related to that, had knee replacement and over a year’s worth of bed sores from that, strokes resulting from the multiple heart ‘episodes’ that she’s had over the years, and so on.

I asked Tina if there was something I could do to help her and she asked me to call the Manitowoc family, so I did that. I also let my mom and Lynn know this news, plus Marian’s good friend, Marcia. Lynn is the same age within a month of Marian, and had been her classmate at MLHS for four years. All these years of expecting this phone call, and then when it comes, it is yet a shock…The good news is that the pastor serving in Palm Coast had been to see her within the last month and only this past Thursday or Friday, the vicar had been there and given Marian the Lord's Supper. I am so glad to know that!

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Lately my dreams have been the vivid type which leave me on edge after I wake up, often involving Timmy and my misplacing him. One time I was checking a jobsite and had ‘forgotten’ he was along with me. To my relief, he was in the car in this fancy seat belt/car seat rigging (I should market that!). But the franticness of wondering where he is, what did I do with my child, all the while still having to take care of business----oh, my heart goes pitty-pat. This mornings’ dream had me trying to drive a box truck without benefit of windows! Finally I stopped the truck and said, “I am not driving this truck without seeing where I am going!” What does that mean???? Some people claim they don’t have dreams, but of course they do, just not remembering them. Most of the time I like mine because I get to see Timmy’s face, and Justin’s as well, and love it so much better when I wake up smiling rather than shaking.

The Bible study was okay yesterday, as we are going through the Synod’s stewardship program. I am not a real fan of break-out groups and such to come up with collective answers, but it’s only a couple weeks’ worth of the sessions. I used to be all about the ‘spiritual gifts’ stuff....

The worship was quite nice, using the Divine Service with the entire service being included in the giant-sized service folders. Using ledger-sized paper, even the hymns, which were from the Supplement, were included in the folder. I am not sure what that’s all about, unless some folks were having troubles following along in the CWS or something. I can ask him tomorrow as Judy C. and I are meeting with Pastor to review our report.

After church Judy, Terri T., and I went to lunch at Chili’s. Judy and I in particular like the appetizer trio which is a meal in itself. Plus, half to go home! Chili’s has TVs in the dining room so I could keep one eye on the game as we chatted. After lunch I headed home to be tortured, watching the most wretched of football games EVER!!! Do I hear ‘blackouts’ come our way for the rest of the home games? I am so glad this did not happen last week on our own turf…

Tonight I was cleaning out the fridge a bit, removing unused leftovers and such. I don’t know if I ever mentioned that I made a cherry crunch torte over a week ago, using the last of my Door County cherries. The first piece was surprising sweet, and it was my opinion that normally the tartness of the fruit overrode the sweetness of the crust or sauce for the cherries. Well, it was extremely difficult to extricate future slices of bars from the pan, even though I sprayed it (seems I wrote this already…). Therefore, I have about ¾ of the torte left and it’s going into the trash, IF I can get it out of the pan!

Kim and Justin

Someone asked me how tall Justin is these days, and here is my proof that he is taller than me! The fellow, John, also asked me if Justin was done with college yet, and I had at admit that perhaps that might be the case---at least for now. He is enjoying helping his buddies with their classes but is not taking anything for himself right now.

John told me he is personally three credits away from his degree but just can't face that math class in front of him. That would shut me down immediately!

Bits 'n Pieces II

It seems I have used this title before as it defaulted when I began typing it in. It works today too!

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After the memorial service at church yesterday, I was worn out emotionally and went to bed much earlier than usual. Morning did not come soon enough for me as I was tormented with horrible dreams influenced in part by TV programs I had watched before sleeping or listened to during my sleep! One was on the news channel about the Anthony case in central Florida and featured largely in my dreams, rather, nightmares. Yikes! So glad to be awake but am left unsettled in heart….

*

Good news was received from Amazon in regard to my missing order. Make that GREAT news---they are reshipping my order at no expense to me. If my original order turns up, I can simply refuse the shipment and it will be returned to them. Also, a book on backorder has been bumped up to Next Day Air shipping when it becomes available at no additional charge to me, to make up for my inconvenience. I love great customer service!

*

Areas around me had received many inches of rain but I cannot say if we had that here in OP or not. Justin’s area at the beaches had the most rain at 10” with street flooding and even flash floods in places. Eagle Harbor also had heavy rain overnight. It was so dark out Saturday that it was just after 8:00 a.m. before I woke up, no sun in my face at all that day!

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My dinner was the food from the memorial service at church Saturday, eaten around 4:30 or so. More a late lunch than early dinner but I was not hungry until bedtime. Just love those single-serving sized Orville Reddenbacher popcorn bags, perfect for bedtime consumption.

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I worked on the newsletter sent every other month to our members away. It is also mailed to those I describe as ‘seldom seen’, and sadly, needed to print off a few more letters. Pretty soon mailings will be thing of the past unless the Pony Express takes over! One thing which I really strongly dislike is hearing the beep beep beep from the printer, warning that the ink is low----cha ching!

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Robbie (a.k.a. The Maestro) interviewed me for a class last week and has told me a couple times of different things I said to him which he has already pressed into service. He is going to print off the finished paper for me so I can see how my recorded words translated to text. Hopefully I don’t sound too foolish, but I will guess not if he is using some of things I talked about in his work.

*

Today in church, we heard a WELS Connection discussing the recent Synod convention. One of the ladies behind me asked if that was the one I was at with Judy. I told her this was the Synod convention, and I was at the Worship Conference. She was not aware a new translation of the NIV was coming out either. When I go next to the doctor, I am asking him or her for some patience pills please because I am being easily rattled these days!

Dee stole the show!

Dee's show at the Thrasher-Horne, titled "Beyond Words" is exactly that---I described it to Julia as being like a choir, with all of Dee's 'voices' coming together in harmony. She liked that description and it was so fitting. When I first met my dear friends, officially, at their shop on Kingsley Avenue, they were going to shrink wrap some of Timmy's school art work. Dee was not there when I had asked Julia if she knew of anyone who did portraits. Almost shyly she told me her mom was an artist and might be interested in doing the portrait. Dee later did agree to do it for me, but needed some photographs to work from. It was only a few months after Timmy's death so was still quite fresh for me, and the ladies would cry with and for Justin and me as we visited their shop. She did his wonderful portrait in pastels and then did a companion piece in oil, as a gift to me, 'because I have to paint it..." That is Dee!

And for ten years afterward, we can still cry together, only last night, for joy! Congratulations on a wonderful show, Dee! And good work on the framing, Julia! (At the 'old' store on Kingsley, Dee would mark Justin's height on the door frame, which was sadly left behind when they moved to Fleming Island. At first she did mark his height at the new shop but then he got too big to continue the practice. They still love it when he comes in to see them!)

I am so glad I did not move to Greece

This could have been my home!

While watching a program this a.m. about the mess in the European Union and the pressure building financially, once again I heave a great sigh of relief for my not moving to Greece or Italy. If I lived in Greece, the union rioters would surely disrupt my ability to move freely or have Internet service, as they set their own nation ablaze in order to have demands met. Never mind the nation has no money, the demands keep coming! And no Lutheran churches in Greece. Italy would have been more 'user-friendly' for me, the food more along the lines I am accustomed to, but also socialist in their governance. They are facing crisis with refugees leaving northern Africa to escape the lovely Arab Spring everyone is cheering about. Tell that to the refugees!

Therefore, I am good right here, simply waiting for the next pipe to break! This week I got a letter from my insurance guy, a copy of the letter he sent to the other insurance company, reiterating that it was not my fault that the pipe broke. Butch, the little guy who did the work for me that day and before, was working at someone’s home in the building the other day, and I greeted him as my ‘partner in crime’ since we are both listed on the law suit. But other than my life of crime, I am good.

Within the last week I have been part of a few EXTREMELY interesting conversations---some face to face, some over the phone, and some over the miles. Yesterday I got a call from someone with whom I recently spoke and was thanked for the insight and ideas and explanations (not excuses!) regarding what is going on around us. Some are things over which we have a bit of control (I prefer the word ‘manage’ to control, which can sometimes have a negative connotation), and can be corrected, or reversed, or at least neutralized.Other things are beyond our control or ability to manage. But we must keep in the forefront that the Lord is actually in charge of what is going on, and has done so from eternity. What a difficult concept that is to consider!!! And to keep in our minds and in our hearts....

In keeping my ears tuned to the current events around the world and closer to home, not all of it about finances, it seems so obvious to me what needs to be done. Because it is so simple, it is extremely complicated! And nearly impossible to achieve. Cost cutting, spending less, as one would do in their household, seems like a ‘foreign’ (ha, ha) concept to the governments, and to the governed, in some cases, as was evidenced in Madison earlier this year.

Folks often don’t realize the cause/effect of actions until it begins to affect them, and then the only answer is to react. Of course, one must spring to their feet, and some will, to help, and others to fight against the help. Now another stimulus bill is on the table while the legislative branch of our national government is struggling to cut spending (to reduce the amount of increases in spending---what????) and more ‘bills’ continue to be added to the stack.

Years ago, in our business, we had a slow period between houses, and some of the staff got a bit comfortable in their less-stressful mindset. Then, when new starts were coming in, the guy responsible for the purchasing of materials fell quickly behind and was being scolded regularly. He exasperatingly asked the boss, “Can’t we just stop everything and get caught up????” and the boss yelled back, “We were stopped!” What the purchasing agent should have been doing was preparing for the rush that was to come, get your affairs in order, the ducks in a row, and so on. But he failed to plan, which lead to failure. This young man was nice to work with for the most part, but my type of leadership, my encouragement, didn’t work with Jim nor did the other type of leadership he received. Stopping seemed to be the comfort zone in which he did his best work!

Where was I going with this? Oh, yes, stopping everything before disaster comes. It’s too late to stop moving forward but it is possible to stop the drain of funds, or the drain of spirit, as the case might be, from folks. Make the appropriate changes or cease the practices which are causing the problems. But, sometimes the problems are not shared by all, and then there is resistance from those not experiencing the discomfort to stop what is not seen as a problem. In Jim’s case, he left his position with our company and went to work elsewhere. Perhaps his work ethic would fly for another employer…For others, options are few or non-existent so staying the course or staying in the fight is the way to go, or complete surrender and resignation. Somehow, those last two options are not entirely appealing!