Oh, goodie! The debates are on!

Yes, I am a watcher of the debates---whether I see them live or replayed in the night or in snippets on the news the next day. We are minus one who dropped out today, narrowing the field yet again, now down to five participants.

Looking around my room, I see several areas needing attention, perhaps tomorrow for that. One thing is the plastic bag holding the Ladies’ Group documents and folders. A trip to Office Max is in order as I would prefer to have one or two larger ring binders for organizational purposes instead of the paper-covered folders like were used in school. I am all about being concise and orderly with my stuff like that, so I can grab it and run!

When I did my sheets the other day, I had to empty the bed of the reading materials which are stacked elsewhere. One of my “Breakfast Club” friends, Carol, mentioned that she has a bookcase next to her bed and I thought, “hmmm….” but would not wish to eliminate the night stand already in place (and piled with books!) Perhaps, though, a small bookcase on the other side of the bed would work, although I have a lovely glass-topped table with my special Engleton lamp displayed upon it. There is room on the existing shelves if I moved some stuff around which might be the more economical way to go.

Once the end-of-year and beginning of the New takes place, I might be able to secret my rolling file cart into the closet and do the filing in there. Justin is going to relocate the modem and router from the built–in bookcase shelf to the other shelf closer to the river room. This will, hopefully, allow him enough speed to make use of his Netflix subscription from the family room, and then I should be able to access it as well in my room. So he claims. Right now I cannot imagine having a use for the Netflix but guess it would not take me long to get caught up in the fervor of it. However, I won’t mind one little bit having less wires showing, although he does not seem to consider my accumulation of wires to be all that much. At least, not compared to his mass of wiring---wow!

What a great debate this is! The moderator has his hands full keeping the candidates and questioners on track. Newt is talking about young entrepreneurs in the doughnut business which reminded me about Judy C. making doughnuts at home. She got a machine, similar to a waffle-maker, she described it, for making ball-shaped doughnuts in the comfort of her home. She had her two grandkids today because of the school holiday and this would be their afternoon activity. Sounds good to me! Not only can she make those, she can also make her own soda at home, and likes it!

On the way to work this a.m., Justin asked me how to make a bad dream stop. Other than waking up, I am not sure. It seems we both had that type of dream (I had two this a.m.), my first one involving him as a young child. In my dream, it seemed my extended family and ours was shopping at a mall with a major toy store in it. Justin, about age 6 or so, was begging for something inappropriate for him. When I refused to buy it,he took off on me. Originally his father had been shopping with us but then was no longer in the picture. Everyone was looking for him, scared that he would get out in the street or something. I called his father to report Justin missing and he told me to keep looking but then had some business stuff to talk to me about. Why does it always come back to the business?? I am hoping we found him and I am also hoping I did NOT buy him what he was begging for! I don’t remember what Justin said his dream was about (shame on me!) but it might come back to me later and I will add a post script to this.

Right now, though, I want to focus on the debate. At this moment, Ron Paul is speaking, whom Justin refers to as “Walter” from the Jeff Dunham comedy routine. I get that!!! How funny!!!

Not too worn down this a.m.

I woke up this morning, composing the following in my head:

“This morning I awoke with one less child

But heaven more beautifully adorned.”

This was more true 11 years ago, as one might imagine the horror of waking up to realize it was not a dream, but that it actually happened.

My friend and co-worker, Betty, was slated to take me to the surgeon’s office to have my sutures checked out while my spouse was going to our place of business to get things arranged over there. As far as the surgeon could tell, there was no outward damage, which was what the nurse told me at the ER the night before. The pain killers I had been on made me droopy and fuzzy, and I needed to be at the top of my game in the coming days. The surgeon prescribed something less powerful.

The wife of one of our employees came to our house to basically hold down the fort (Amber) as we had to take care of funeral arrangements. Besides supervising the kitchen and the influx of food, Amber played games with Justin to keep him occupied. The guidance counselor from St. Johns had brought Justin home that morning, as he spent the night with our former neighbors (we had moved only about 6 weeks ago). Caroljo spent some time with us, and at some point Twila and Jackie came over, which was helpful for my mom.

Okay, that’s enough of that for today!

Yesterday morning, Justin came in my room and was talking to me about his plans for the day and so on. A commercial or news segment came on featuring hash browns and we both went “mmmmm!” I asked if he knew how to make hash browns and he said he did not know how to operate my machinery for making them. I have an attachment for the mixer which would shred potatoes plus I have a Pampered Chef gizmo somewhere for grating. At this I made a sad face and he asked, “Wanna go to Grumpy’s for breakfast?” My blankets flew off and my feet hit the ground as I scampered to get ready. He was laughing about this as he threw himself together as well. In minutes we were out the door on the way to Grumpy’s. It was just before 10:00 am I think and I feared we would be barricaded into our complex due to a Florida Strider’s race that morning. It seems the race was already underway so we were able to escape.

After a short wait for a table, we enjoyed a nice breakfast and even more talking. He asked if we could stop at Winn Dixie for the ingredients to make a pineapple upside down cake to serve for dessert that night. Of course we could do that and ended up buying a couple cake mixes and matching cans of frosting, as a sale was going on. A nice lady in the aisle who heard us talking suggested a sure fire way to make an upside down cake. We got the needed items and some not entirely necessary, then went home.

Justin had some vacuuming to finish but he told me he was taking a few minutes ‘for himself’ to play some video games and then would get busy. I had to chuckle about that, it hit me funny. Every little while he came in my room to show me something he found of interest in a “Geek” catalog I get since ordering on-line for CHRISTmas. He is all about the geeky stuff. Soon I heard him in the kitchen, making his desserts for the dinner and game night events.

At one point I went into the kitchen to hear him say, “Oh, oh…” as he stuck a tooth pick into the center of his cake. It was very runny yet, but the edges were done…this might be because he used a 9 x 9 cake pan instead of a 9 x 13, making the cake VERY thick. He overlooked the note on the box saying to use 2 of the smaller pans or one of the larger ones. His idea was to remove the top layer of baked cake and reinsert the remainder in the oven, alongside his already baking lasagna. Okay…..When it came out, it was blackened around the edges due to the oven being set on 400 degrees for the lasagna. Not his day for baking! Oh, wait, he successfully made confetti cupcakes which were a good substitute for the pineapple upside down cake. What he did salvage from that cake looks good, but he is hesitant to try it himself.

When I sat down at my desk upon getting home from breakfast and WD, my phone rang. It was my friend, Judy C., asking if I wanted to meet for lunch. Rats! I explained that I had just walked in from a rather good breakfast but was available for dinner. That was fine with her so those plans were made. Justin had to laugh, as such is my life! Other years people have stepped up, knowing or unknowing, to keep me somewhat busy this ‘funeral week’, and it was happening!

Judy and I met at Manny’s Bistro, the replacement restaurant for Sarnelli’s, now closed. The family is still together at this place, and I got hugs from all of them. They asked about Justin so I must must must get him in there one of these days so they can see him. Tina, the owner’s daughter and our waitress, said she had not seen him in a couple years, which may be true. It was good to see so many people coming in, even though it was ‘early’ for dinner standards. This restaurant is located on the same site from where Judy and I had our cars towed in 2010, so we parked very carefully last night!

When I got home after dinner, Justin’s friends were all here, but had not eaten yet. Perhaps they were waiting for halftime in the football game. There were two girls and four guys, planning to eat and play games while watching football. They did two of the three, with football trumping the board game. Not a good idea to plan game night on a game night! The ladies sort of tidied up the kitchen afterward since they were not drawn into the game. I stayed pretty much out of the way to give everyone their space but later ventured to the kitchen to empty the dishwasher and refill it.

As the later game came on, after the first quarter, Justin came to my door and announced, “Well, it’s all over…” They went home!! I guess the girls were good for one football game but not two so the guys (Josh had already left a bit earlier) took the girls home. One is in sports medicine but not a football fan, and the other a medical student.The ladies are roommates and live in Mandarin. The med student, Sarah, is expecting to be engaged to Ron, with whom Justin plans to live when he buys a house. The other young man is Jesse, Justin’s former roommate, and is helping Ron find a house to buy. The fellows are all St. Johns kids, which I think is kinda fun. I felt badly that the evening didn’t work out the way Justin expected it to and neither did the Bronco game, which I watched for a while with him. We both decided to go to bed when it looked like a hopeless case for Denver.

Today, it’s Packers!!!!!!

A Poem from Jill, for Timmy's anniversary

I’ll Lend For You

“I’ll lend you, for a little while, a child of mine,”He said

“For you to love while he lives and mourn when he is dead.

It may be six or seven years, or twenty-two or three, 

but will you till I call him back, take care of him for me?

He’ll bring his charms to gladden you and shall his stay be brief, 

you’ll have his lovely memories as solace for your grief.

I cannot promise he will stay, as all from earth return

but there are lessons taught down there I want this child to learn.

I’ve looked the wide world over in search of teachers true,

and from the throngs that crown life’s lanes, I have selected YOU.

Now will you give him all your love not think the labor vain 

nor hate me when I come to call to take him back again.”

I fancied that I heard them say “Dear Lord, Thy will be done.

For all the joys thy child will bring the risk of grief we’ll run.

We will shelter him with tenderness, love him while we may—

And for the happiness we’ve known forever grateful stay.

But should the angels call for him sooner than we’ve planned,

We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes And try to understand.”

Written By: Edgar A. Guest

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!