So far no fire trucks

My house smells marvelous as I prepared a nice dinner for Justin and me to enjoy tonight. I attempted to caramelize some red onions and red peppers using olive oil and two strips of bacon, plus a dash of wine. Not sure how it will taste but it certainly does smell divine. In the oven on a low heat are four little steaks in a roasting pan, and when they are done cooking, I will spoon the mixture over them for a bit. Perhaps I should put a couple potatoes in the oven as well. We could have a salad,too, since we now have two bags of lettuce in the fridge, being BO/GO at Publix. He is a salad eater! Justin wanted salad to serve with his lasagna dinner tomorrow night when his friends are coming over for dinner and game night.

Originally he was going to make those steaks on his portable grille but he is missing a part or something that makes it go. I could have pan fried the steaks but thought about making them this way instead. While I was 'cooking', I also emptied the dishwasher, which Justin had loaded and run last night, plus wiped the poor, helpless counter-tops within an inch of their lives (even though they have no life!).


Besides three cases of Diet Coke on the counter is the Green Bay Packer flag. Justin got it out last night, and I will attach it to my railing on Sunday morning in celebration of the playoff game.

At 3:30 pm on Sunday I am invited to my newer neighbor's unit to celebrate King's Cake or something like that. They live next door to Randy, in the penthouse on the south end of the building. This celebration is something from their French heritage so it might be fun to check it out---for an hour! Kick-off for the game is at 4:30 and I already explained to my hosts that I would only be there an hour.

Monday night was our first Ladies' Group meeting of the year, with me at the helm and little on the agenda. Janet B. is the VP this year and wants to initiate some programs to help stir interest in the Group. Ideas bandied about including having ladies host the meeting for the month, using a particular theme such as Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day. I cannot think of a non-secular theme that would be inviting for folks to attend Ladies' Group except the beginning of Spring, and then Easter! Easter works for me, I should sign up for that month to hostess. I think I got rid of much of my 'spring stuff' after the Great Flood though. Thinking cap time...

The problem is, there aren't that many people to entice with the fun and business of our group. Older folks don't care to drive at night any longer and those who have joined us for the dinners out just want the dinner, not the 'obligation' of being in the Group. What to do, what to do??? Ideas, anyone?

Again?

This morning began with the sun beaming in the window which usually means it will be a good day. Quite a different sky than the one the day before which thankfully did not turn into the heavy storms that had been predicted. Justin and I were going to Bible study at Victory, our first time back since mid-December. Before he got up though, as the sun poured down the hall and across my bedroom floor, it was again evident that some vacuuming was needed. I took the broom, propped at the end of the hall outside his bedroom, and swept the cruddlies into a pile for him to vacuum later. I did the same in my room around the doorway, getting much more than I like from a small area. He will get that with the machine, later, too.

At Bible study, we were a bit surprised to find the class had not advanced much further than before I left for WI, still in the topic of The Keys. The 2 pages were in a question/answer type of format and we got through three of them. One of the ladies, a former grade school teacher from Milwaukee (not a Lutheran school) has many good questions and statements to make, which took us to a discussion on the newest Bible translation. Justin told me later that he does not care if we ever finish that page, he just loved having the give 'n take our group enjoyed today. Before this particular discussion, he had input to add plus looked up stuff for the class on his iPad in regard to the ancient calendar. A great great class!

Rita, with whom we had planned to dine, was not able to make it to class because her son was home from school due to illness. Justin and I went to PF Chang instead of the planned 5 Guys lunch, then, with us each bringing home leftovers. The honey chicken with brown rice is so delicious and I look forward to having them again maybe tomorrow for lunch! He had a goofy tofu creation with broccoli, but if he likes it, well, to each his own. 

On the ride home, he got busy on the iPhone looking up prices and parts shops for the things needed to get his car fixed. Advance Auto Parts had the best price for the engine mounts (we found out on Tuesday that we had to provide them). What we did not realize is the shop would not have them on hand and needed to order them. Yikes! There goes our opportunity to get it fixed on Saturday then, since the parts won't come in until the 17th. Rats! We ordered the parts, I paid for them, and now we wait.

As we sat near the intersection of Blanding to turn onto Kingsley, we felt a little clunk from behind. Justin said, "You just got bumped!" We had a few seconds to decide what to do and I chose to go around the corner and pull into the lot at the high school. The little white car followed me. We hopped out to look it over, and she got out of hers, apologizing. The small lady, Puerto Rican, as indicated by the flag hanging from her mirror, was apologetic as we examined the cars for any damage. There was none--no harm and no foul to either vehicle. As we parted I urged her to drive carefully. That would be all we needed, to have no vehicle between Justin and me!

Fast forwarding here....As I was talking on the phone to Linda J., someone was trying to call me over and over. I excused myself from Linda to take the other call. It was Randy, my neighbor, calling to let me know there was a water leak on the other end of the building and he needed my 'expertise' on how to handle the leak. I guess my method of running in circles with my hands in the air is considered 'expert'! He had fashioned a trough with aluminum foil, directing the water into a cake pan for Nancy, which prevented the water from running into Rose's unit below hers. What he was asking me for was a name of a plumber for Nancy to call. Since I had been told the one company, who installed my water heater, would not come back here, I tried to get the name of the one who recently 'helped' Jessica. It was that company that failed to put the washing machine hose back into the drain and water pumped onto her floors and into my ceilings in November. Yes, let's get them back here again!!! 

In the meanwhile, though, I went to Nancy's and she told me it was all arranged, a plumber was en route to make the repair to the same type of valve that caused the problem in my unit. Nancy asked me to have a cocktail with her but I refused, due to going to Bible study later on. Otherwise, I would have loved to had one with her. 

Rose told me by phone that her situation was under control and that she had called a handy man to come by tomorrow to look over her damage. Ugh, my heart! I let Randy know what I knew, but he had to leave for choir practice himself so had to run. He told me his 'bar' was open after 8:30 pm in case I wanted to come up. 

I went to the newly begun Bible Information Class tonight where we had four people, including Judy C.'s and my shared friend, Amber. One of the newly elected Elders also is taking the class as a refresher, which I think is just marvelous. Mike is one of the chefs who prepared our wonderful meal last Sunday, and works as a landscaper by day. In the winter he sells firewood to make extra money so we must, believe it or not, pray for cold weather!

The class went about an hour and a quarter, with me getting home just after 9:00 pm. I did go up to Randy's but Justin opted to stay home and 'work' in his room. He has such good intentions...Anyway, Randy made a rum and diet Coke for me as he filled me in on the history of the gulags in Russia, the number of people slaughtered between Germany, Russia, the Ukraine, and the other areas involved in WWII and prior. He was a Soviet studies major in college so has particular insight into this subject. This came up because of a TV program he was watching on the National Geographic Network, since there was no football to watch! We must adjust soon....

When I got back downstairs, Justin had finished the vacuuming but left the machine sitting in his doorway, as he needed to use it in his room. Perhaps tomorrow night? I think I made an impression upon him to encourage his getting things organized. I was going to have a dinner and movie night Friday but it seems folks were tied up or perhaps it is too soon after I got home. Justin is having a game night here on Saturday that will hold me until the next opportunity arises. Judy C. goes to her daughter's home in St. Johns County every other Friday so I have to allow for that. There is a pile of movies I wish to share and might have to widen the circle! 

Windy but clearing up

Earlier today I took this picture with my cell phone of the threatening sky to the west, this after having had some sprinkles earlier. It had been predicted that rain would last much of the day but it seems to have blown over. It looks ominous yet pretty at the same time!


Yesterday I made the heinous error of wandering down the hallway to the two extra rooms and was horrified to find such disarray. It seems Justin has, in fact, moved in, and over flowed into the other room as well. I am a bit particular about my rooms and their order, and it seems to be totally out of control. 


Of course, once he gets his own bed here and the book shelves, some order will be restored. I, however, could not wait that long and at my urging, he vacuumed his floor and put away a mess of his clothing, etc. Interestingly, he has more than once stated that he would like to live in such a way as to take his belongings in his car, and that's it. Um, not so much....


I will be more than glad to help him get organized in his room, and straighten up the other one as well. Who knows when my next house guests will come? We need to be ready within days once we find out. He has made good use of card tables for sorting purposes, since when he moved out of the bungalow, things got tossed into boxes to expedite things. Perhaps less TV viewing in the evenings and more sorting would be in order. Or we could do both?  Boy, do I sound like a mother these days!


Justin has discovered a humorous program that he has downloaded and he roars with laughter the same way I do when watching "Seinfeld" and "Frasier". The show stars Tim Allen in the role of dad to three daughters and  is married. He is trying to maintain his 'manliness' under these circumstances. Justin finds it most amusing, and I laugh when he laughs, even though I am not watching it! He has a contagious laugh, like Hawkeye Pierce and I sure do love to laugh as well. 


This Saturday we are taking his car in to be repaired by a friend of a friend, whose primary job is being a diesel mechanic. Supposedly it should be an inexpensive fix, comparatively speaking, with us providing the parts needed. I hope this is true and we are not disappointed. It will be grand to have his own wheels again so I will not need to drive him to work, etc. 


It is time to get him from work and then we are meeting Judy J. and Linda H. at Cracker Barrel for dinner. Justin wishes to walk home from there for the exercise while I go on to choir rehearsal. Afterward, I am stopping at the new BW3 near the Mall, to see my friend, Dan, who is in town for business. That is the appointed meeting place for his friends in order to see him, so I may have to take a number!

Some more photos

On CHRISTmas Eve morning, Justin was busily making breakfast for the family, frying bacon at the moment. The smoke was so dense in that area---I am surprised we can even see him!

Because of the smoke, I opened the patio door a crack, Mom's window a crack, and the door to the hallway. BIG MISTAKE! While that would work here in the condo, it did not work the way I expected at Mom's apartment building. The smoke alarms and sensors in the hallway detected the smoke and activated. Since there was no number for me to call to have it turned off, someone suggested I call 9-1-1 to let them know it was a false alarm. The nice lady told me she would make the call and the alarm stopped. It turned out the maintenance man was outside spreading salt  on the ice, and he shut them off. A fire truck was dispatched anyway but with two guys and clipboard. Guess it is protocol to investigate anyway. They asked, "DId you set a place for us?"

The bacon was done to perfection, once we sat down to eat. Before they left, one of the firemen went down the hall and opened Mom's window wider and I moved the Christmas tree away from the door to open it wider. When the firemen left, they said to leave the door and windows open for a while to air it out. No sooner were they down the hall, Mom said to close the door, as she was cold. It was funny because the fire truck was still in the driveway below her apartment and they could see if it was open or not. For days the apartment smelled like bacon, not like smoke, which is a good thing!

 Here is a rather good photo of Alayna and Justin, on the sofa in the community room at Mom and Jill's apartment building. We had to wait a couple hours after the celebration and gift exchange to watch the Packer game, but we are good waiters!

Kerry is geared up in her Packer attire, awaiting the start of the game. Angelo can clap his hands, with encouragement, to cheer for the Packers! When he was at Grandma K's house on Friday, we had to laugh at him because every time someone called his name, he would shake his head. Evidently he gets told "No!" alot!

Angelo got a nice big box of diapers with his picture on it! Lisa showed us how Angelo will come and lie down after she tosses a fresh diaper on the floor in anticipation of his being changed. He crawls to the spot, picks up the diaper and assumes position, waiting for his fresh one! He is trained, but in a different way!

 Who can resist a face like this one???

That's my boy! He has taken quite a liking to this soda can, a boy after my own heart (and his auntie Kerry!). We had to wait quite a while to open that particular can once he was done playing with it!  Jill is sitting there watching him, almost like he's going to open it and drink the soda!

A recap of the earlier part of the trip

On the day we left for WI, Justin and I were taken to the airport by our friend, Judy J., which saved us parking fees. The only question remaining was how to get Justin home from the airport the night he returned to FL, but his father agreed to get him.

An aside: Justin's flight home was not as uneventful as mine---he was delayed leaving MKE, after being dropped off there by my sister and family as they went home to Holmen. It seems the air traffic was messed up from ATL, delaying the arrival of his inbound flight.
     Then, once loaded on the plane and taxiing out, the plane sat another 20 minutes before taking off. This would give him much much less time between flights once in ATL and he was extremely frustrated, and quite angry at Delta Airlines. It turned out his next gate was only steps away but he had hoped to get something to eat between flights. This did not turn out as he had to hustle, only minutes before the next one would depart. He said he would never see his family again unless they came down here if I booked our air flight on Delta! Yes, he was mad! Since then, he has cooled off and even mentioned another visit some day, but not on Delta! (My trip home went without incident, and attribute his problems to the rush of holiday traffic/travel, only days after CHRISTmas.)

My sister, Lynn, picked us up in MKE, and we drove in the dark to Manitowoc, even though it was not even 5:00 pm yet.  We stopped at the Green Street Tavern for perch (Justin had the broasted chicken). Some members of my family joined us there for our first visit together. They have the best perch and the best fried cheese curds, and Justin was just so happy. 

We went to Mom's house where we got unpacked and settled in. Before Lynn left, Mom asked her to help make the bed but Justin and I jumped on it, the job, I mean, and pulled her bed together for her. Mom's arm has an ache and pain in it, and an appointment was set for just days after CHRISTmas to get it checked out. (At the appt. it seems the pain was not directly related to her Parkinson's Disease which was a great relief to her). 

On Friday, we did some shopping, getting the things we needed for our CHRISTmas snacks and such. We met Lisa and her family at the Pizza Hut only a block or two from Mom's house. This was Justin's first time seeing Angelo in the flesh and fell in love with him. He, we, love the other two guys very much, but there is something about Angelo's eyes that suck us in! Babies trump 6 and 7 year-olds any day!

When we walked up to the table, Manny showed us how he colored his placemat, using blue to show a phart coming from one of the characters in the picture. Oh yeah, a true 'blue' little boy! This made Justin laugh, and even Grandma thought it was funny!

Friday late afternoon we went to the Capital Civic Center for a sacred concert performance by Manitowoc Lutheran High School. Besides being well-done, I like going because I can see so many people there that I know, in one fell swoop. In fact, I actually met one of my Facebook friends who knew I was coming and sought me out. Judy S. asked me to be her Friend through a mutual friend on-line and now we have met, just as I met Tammy last summer at the WELS Worship Conference! 

From the concert, Justin and I went to Linda's to see her, since we weren't sure Justin would see her at church due to her knew knee (te he he!). We drove in a heavy snow (heavy for us!) and I could hardly make out the lines on the road. Good thing I knew the way to her house! Justin described the riding into the snow as being like a space ride with stars flying by us. It was a short snowfall, only an inch-worth. Their son and his family were at Linda's, as was her sister, Georgia. Justin was so glad to see Linda again, even though he had seen her in August when she was here with Lynn. As it turned out, she managed to make it to church for the special services, thankfully. Linda was able to continue working from home using a sharing program between church and her home computer, which will be great when the weather turns bad.

My sister, Kerry, parked her car at a Park 'n Ride lot about a half hour from her workplace, and Jill drove the 45 minutes to pick her up the morning of the 24th. In the meanwhile, Justin made breakfast for us at Mom's, causing Mom and Lynn's routine to be disrupted since they 'usually' go for coffee and a pastry Saturday mornings. I already shared the story of the firemen coming to check out the reason for the fire alarms going off. I should have not opened the door to the hallway, not thinking about the smoke detectors out there. Strangely the one in the house did not go off...I have a photo of the fire truck and of the crispy bacon, which was delicious, and I will post it later. 

Right now I cannot recall where or what Justin and I ate the rest of his visit, perhaps someone else will help me fill in the blanks. I do know that Justin got to eat at the Green Street, Culver's, Late's BBQ, Pizza Hut, Perkin's, and the Charcoal Grille. There might have been more, but we hit our favorites. On the night the tree was decorated at Good Shepherd, the pastor's wife asked me about the plans for when we got to WI. I rattled off the places to go eat first, and she laughed, understanding fully what I was talking about. I did have people to see and other things to do, make no mistake, but many of the events involve food and dining! I think Justin's needs were met, especially since he won't be seeing his family again (His angry text message during the airport delay stated, "Say 'good-bye' to the family from me...") 

Here come the photos!

 My friend, Dolly, and I enjoyed a late breakfast together at Fork 'n Knife, getting caught up in person with each other's lives. We communicate via the Internet primarily, given the miles between us but it's the face to face meetings that are the most fun. We have been friends since she came to First German in the 4th grade and then again at MLHS. Such fun we had as young teens at her family's home in Mishicot, and at their cottage in Door County. We had children one day apart from each other, at different hospitals but still together!

Since Justin's visit was going to be shorter than mine, we made efforts to see and do as much as possible before he left for FL. On the Monday after CHRISTmas, Boxing Day, we went to see my mom's sister, Marie, who turned 90 last year. Her daughter, Barbie, came over as well, and made sure we had sodas to drink. Auntie lamented not having one single cookie this season, so at Justin's urging, we baked her some and delivered them the next day. We had such a fine visit with Auntie Marie when she came to FL for Justin's confirmation in 2002. She loved everything, especially the noisy frogs!

My sister, Lori, is holding that darling Angelo on CHRISTmas Day as we gathered for our celebration and gift opening. Angelo stole the show, and those with cell phone video features got footage of Angelo learning how to play catch. Oh, how we laughed!! Mom got the Scooby Doo ball in our white elephant gift exchange and he adopted it. David sat down in front of Angelo and began rolling the ball to him. He caught on and rolled it back to David. The game grew to three or four people, with video cameras capturing the whole thing. How cool it was to be witness to one of Angelo's "firsts" in his life!!! Justin fell in love with him, too, which I expected would happen.

Angelo has become quite a crawler and when the pathway is blocked by people's legs, he gets to a wall or table to pull himself up. He is going to get around the barricade if it's the last thing he does! Alayna is trying to keep up with him in this photo...a good job for the young among us!

 Here his mama, Lisa, is helping Angelo open the book set Justin and I gave him for CHRISTmas. She told me that he really enjoys the books, thinking they taste awfully good! In the foreground is a nutcracker that Grandma K gave to Angelo, which he was charmed by.

Later on CHRISTmas Day, the fun continued in the Community Room in Mom's building, with the family gathering to watch the Packer game together. It was so much better for us to watch down there than in Mom's apartment so that she could watch what she wanted and not have to worry about us being jammed in her living room and cheering. What a great game it was, and needless to say, the Packers won!!! I am sporting a Packer stocking hat in an effort to encourage the team, but sadly, it makes me look fat!

I have some catching up to do!

I thought when I got home from WI and had full access to my computers that the blog would get caught up again. Guess I will start that today. Unfortunately my phone does everything except make it convenient to write my blog...not impossible but quite a job if I tried it. No less than 25 words coming from me, which is why Justin said I would never manage tweeting!


In a few moments I must get up and dressed to take Justin to work, this time to Fleming Island. Between us we put together a grocery list which I might take care of while already near Publix. He will carry in the non-refrigerated items after I pick him up from work but I will have the cold items to tote to the condo. He likes to cook and he informed me that he "ate me out of house and home" when I was gone. This really would not take much, as long as he didn't get into the food storage. In fact, he said he added a few items to the storage from his own supplies brought from his apartment. I have a couple packages of pancake mix and wonder if he would make us those some time!


Last night we watched some football, once he got home from his friend's house where he watched the first game of the day. We were rooting for the Denver Broncos in the second game, which they won in a spectacular fashion in overtime. Wow! It was fantastic to witness...by the time it got that far, he had come into my room to watch together and we were jumping around. You would think we were major Bronco fans instead of Packer fans. The quarterback, for those who do not know, is a former Gator player and Justin is a fan of the Gators. (He does not like it when I refer to the college teams as 'amateur'...) And then we ate our dinner!


I made us some pork ribs with bbq sauce, roasted in the oven with tiny red potatoes. Mmmm...the creamed corn finished it off. Justin complimented me on the delicious meal. I can take it! And no firemen at the door---how about that???