Timmy's birthday

Well, here it is---the day which would be Timmy's 16th birthday. Yikes! What an incredible concept for me wrap my head around. In fact, I will not even try, because, as I told Beth B. this morning, he is always going to be 5 to me! Beth lost her daughter, Hannah, the age of 12 to brain cancer at  in 2010, and she considers her daughter as always being 12. We have become fast friends for some of the obvious reasons, and I was glad she was able to attend Bible study yesterday morning.

Justin pointed out to me that I attend two Bible studies on Thursdays now, since the Bible Information Class began last week. "Ask, and ye shall receive!" He had to work today and was going to have lunch at Sweet Tomatoes with his father, a custom since 2002, to celebrate Timmy's birthday at his favorite restaurant. He called it "Taste Tomatoes", with the strawberry on the sign. No, it was not a strawberry, but as far as Timmy was concerned, it was! 

So, without Justin, I went to Bible study at Victory, and then took my car in for an oil change. Instead of sitting in the waiting area in the shop, I had a small stromboli at Aron's Pizza, next door. I love it that the young waitress knew what I was going to order, and even brought the to-go box with extra sauce in anticipation of my taking half of it home with me! The guy at Sun Tire, who also rotated my tires for me, assured me all was well under the hood, news I love to hear, and I was on my way home again.

For awhile this afternoon I worked on the church newsletter, writing an article about the coming of the season of Lent. Imagine that! We no sooner finish Epiphany season and now Lent. I like doing the research or the reading about the seasons, hymns, liturgical colors, and so on. I need some info yet from the preschool staff and then the newsletter is good to go.

I also sent out a blanket e-mail to all our members inviting them to a Work Day at church this Saturday, to prep the fellowship hall for renovation. The building has to be emptied out (and put it where?) as the roof is being modified and the ceilings replaced. We understand the kitchen remains 'as is' but will still be affected by the overhead renovations. I hope lots of people with good, strong backs show up to do the heavy lifting. 

A couple people have asked me if I was having a Super Bowl party and I said I would have to wait to see if the Packers won. As we know, the Packers did NOT win but I have opted to have a party anyway. Why not? Without a team in the running, it might be even more fun, and I have not had a gathering here, of any size, since the Ladies' Group party in early December. I don't care how many people come, it's a party with two or three, or even only one!

In the late afternoon, I got a text message from Justin telling me he was ready to get picked up. Usually I have to get him when my favorite TV show is on but today I got to see the majority of "The Five". Soon we should have his car repaired and he can drive himself. Saturday is the day for the repairs, yay!

Since I had to be at BIC by 7:30 pm, Justin and I timed our visit to Sweet Tomatoes accordingly. While we were there, I mentioned to him that I saw several folks eating by themselves, so I could have done the same. He jumped on that quickly with "I would never let you come alone on Timmy's birthday!", even though he 'had' to eat there twice in one day. Good answer, Justin! He said he knows that now he gets two of everything, including CHRISTmas dinners, birthday parties, and other events, and is good with that, as long as he doesn't overeat. That guy!

We had enough time after dinner for me to bring him home again, instead of his plan to walk from Wells and Hwy. 17. He wanted to watch "American Idol", but when I walked in the house after class, I discovered more had taken place...He was cleaning another closet! After American Idol was over, he tackled the pantry closet near the foyer, having two card tables set up and using the glass table in the family room. Wow, I have alot of stuff! This closet had not been cleaned since we moved in and was loaded by Martie and Brenda T. in 2006. 

Again, many items will be donated to Quigley House or to anyone who wants them. Foods which had expired in 2007 were disposed of, just in the nick of time!, and other items relocated to the freed shelves in the front hall closet, cleaned out on Tuesday. Sometimes a person just has to organize and shift things around to make more room, and that happened tonight! The tables are still in place with the items to be donated waiting to be boxed up. Robin and Betty are coming tomorrow night for Dinner and a Movie so they can have first pick before we box them up. Nice!

Time to rest!

What a busy and fun day I had today! First order of business was to take Justin to work on Fleming Island, in the rain. Yech! At first I had the notion to go to McDonald's for a breakfast sandwich (had coupons!) but then considered the fact that I was meeting my two lady friends for an early lunch. Nah, no need to get a sandwich when I will be eating a more substantial meal in a few hours, needing to leave room in my tummy for beef brisket. 


Robin C. invited Betty and me to lunch to celebrate my birthday which I don't mind doing. Since I was the birthday girl, we got to eat where I wanted to go. Koko's is closed so I chose MoJo's BBQ instead. Betty had no idea where it was, her first visit. I do hope she liked it enough to go back another time. When we last ate together, we promised to not let so much time go between visits, and we were true to our words! Plans are made to meet again, here, on Friday night for Dinner and a Movie. I am making a kettle of bean soup since Justin won't have time to cook for us. He has offered more than once to cook for us when I have my ladies over but because he has to work late on Friday, I will make my soup and be done with it.


From the restaurant, I headed to the groomers to get my hair cut, but had to wait a little while as she was running behind schedule. No worries about that, because I enjoy reading the Neighbor to Neighbor newspaper when I go there. Barb was telling about her battle with the insurance company and the hospital in regard to an outstanding bill that was supposedly handled. Too many hands involved and none of them getting it done. I told her the guy who runs the hospital lives in my building and she said she might come over some day and knock on his door. Not really, but I understand her frustration. He, of course, has nothing to do with the billing mix-ups, but someone in his office had supposedly taken care of it. No one told billing, I guess. It's bad enough to battle cancer but then to battle bureaucracy, well, that's over the top!


After the beauty shop and shearing thereof, I went to the car parts place to get Justin's engine mounts. I had spoken with a lady named Dawn when checking if they had come in, but when I walked in, a lady named Beth met me at the counter. OH MY GOODNESS! It was none other than Betty's daughter! Years ago, when the preschool was still fairly new, Beth worked there, and her son, Marcus, red-haired cutie pie, attended. How funny to hug her and tell how I just got done eating with her mama! She was glad Betty went out, said she needs a change of scenery from school and homework. I told Beth not worry, I had it covered!!!


From Advanced Auto I went to the Edward Jones office to sign a piece of paper which took only a few minutes, since my friend, Debbie, was gone for the day. We can talk for an hour otherwise. I should ask her to come over some time....I made my way home in rush hour traffic and was glad to at last make it back here. My little heater was turned on, the baby blanket across my legs, and laptop fired up, so to speak, until it was time to leave for choir. Robbie has a sinus situation going on right now and I assured him I would not be one bit upset if he cancelled rehearsal but he felt good enough to put us through our paces.


...and now, to the roar of jet engines outside the windows, I am enjoying being under the blankets, snug and warm, as it continues to mist. 

This picture was taken this morning at sunrise when both the sky and the water were shaded in pink. After I snapped the photo, I realized it was raining. What a capture!

The gifts that keep on giving...

....or the mama who does that! Justin needed new glasses for some time, his lenses being all blotchy with the film or protective layer looking all spotted. I would not be able to tolerate that in front of my eyes all day long. When Living Social offered a deal last November, I snapped it up to give him 'new glasses' for Christmas. Before they were going to New York for the Packer/Giant game, he was lying on my bed lamenting not having new glasses for the trip. I gave him the certificate ahead of time but he did not get to the eye clinic to make it happen. Well, now we have and somehow it ended up costing more money, above what I paid for the 'deal'. Oh yes, it was a deal, make no mistake, but I didn't realize that the lenses are charged separately than the frames and the eye exam.I guess I should have but...We could have stopped with the eye exam, kept the prescription information and ordered the glasses from Zennia on-line at an extreme discount, and I would have been money ahead. But now he will have new glasses to wear for times other than when he's working. 


For Christmas, he also got a stock certificate showing he is an owner of the Packers. Instead of keeping the certificate in the folder it came in, I thought it needed framing. We took it to Great Hang Ups to have it properly matted, in green and gold, mind you, and framed. Not only did I have to buy (not really 'have to', I wanted to!) the stock, but also insisted it be framed. Good thing I am friends with the framers! 


Dee, by the way, is now retired but we did get a chance to see her. She had high high praise for the home inspector I sent her, my former co-worker, Jim. He is the guy who called Timmy "Hurricane Hank" in the office. Dee said he did a thorough job, could come in the time frame she needed, was personable, and helpful. All good things! Yay! The sad news is that our favorite restaurant, Koko's, next door to Great Hang Ups,is now closed, the owners having also retired. Something must be going around!


For a couple years, perhaps since the Great Flood, I have been wanting to go through the little closets and sort through the items stored there. Justin and I took care of the front hall closet, relocating leftover tile and grout to the cubby near the elevator, and disposing of old paint, etc. Connie would take care of the paint cans for us, all he had to do was take them downstairs. He vacuumed the shelves and the floor, and we put back what was being kept. A bunch of items were sorted out to take to the preschool at church or given to others. It gets easier and easier to let things go, it seems. He did find three cans of beer in the closet, from 2006 according to their dates, his graduation! He wanted to keep two of them, as collector's items, while I poured one into the plant at the front door. Nourishment for the greenery!


We played trivia tonight, with seven in our group, but only five teams in the competition. It was great fun, going into the final in 1st place. That did not last, though, as we blew the final question. We were supposed to put in order a series of four movies according the year they came out. Inevitably we mess up on these type of questions (not really a question...). The list was Poltergeist, Police Academy, Airplane!, and Jaws 2. We got every one wrong, but did not put any of our points at risk. We got 2nd place, again, and are not ungrateful. Besides the fun of the game, the company and the food are great!


Tomorrow, Stephanie's mom comes down from WI for a month, her first time visiting alone, since her husband died about two months ago. And on Saturday, Erica leaves to return to school in WI, at WLC, after her long 'winter break'. I asked her boyfriend, Justin, to come to trivia anyway, even if Erica is not there. Justin is the one who arranged for us to get Justin's car worked on this coming Saturday---we hope! The parts should be in, I will call tomorrow to check the status of them so we can get his car back on the road!

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?