We've got company!

Tomorrow is the big day here in Florida, with those who have not already done so will hopefully be at the polls for the primary. I heard a reporter speaking from the campaign trails say he could not turn on a TV anywhere without being bombarded by ads for the two front runners. It is a battle of wallets over ideas right now, and because I do not watch much regular programming, I have been able to avoid much of that. The candidates have been making appearances in the area with Justin being able to press the flesh with Mitt Romney this morning. He was impressed that his hands were rough and that he did not wear “mom jeans”.

While I was talking to Mom on the phone Sunday evening, Justin came scooting into my room to report that Mitt was coming to Jax and would speak somewhere off of Phillips Hwy. I asked what he was going to do, and he said, “I think I have to text my dad and tell him I will be late!” The speech was scheduled for 8:15 am so he would not lose the entire morning if he went.

I had Bible study which I would not miss but he was willing to go by himself. It turned out that his father would go with him, leaving from the office and then visit a jobsite at the Beach. That works! When I heard him leaving, I hoped he was dressed warmly because it was pretty chilly outside. Usually, if he knows I’m up, he will come into my room to say ‘good-bye’ but when he leaves so early, he does not. Later, he reported his feet were absolutely frozen from standing on the cold concrete with thin-soled shoes!

At Bible study, the group was about half in number, still a group, though! One lady, Betty, is traveling in IL to see her son who is terminally ill with cancer. A couple ladies did not let anyone know that they would be absent and our hopes are that they are okay. Probably just doctor appointments or something. Twila had a house she was getting ready to rent so had to work when her helpers were available. Only four of us went to lunch which was kind of nice, allowing for us all to talk together at a round table.

Fred, the manager, stopped by our table before our server had gotten to us, asking me if I was going to have potato soup today. I had to chuckle that even he knows my likes and dislikes. Instead, though, I messed them all up by ordering a burger. I said, “I hope you didn’t dish up the soup already!” and he said they had not. Funny! Also, the waiter, Jason, our regular guy, asked me if I was having a blackberry tea with Fire Fly in it. I just had Diet Coke so he had to catch the Hostess to stop her from ordering my other usual. I probably threw off their entire day by changing it up! One good thing was the restaurant being quite busy, love to see a thriving business!

Undercover work

Yes, I am under the covers writing this wrap-up (ha, ha!) of the day’s events. We are having some cooler temperatures overnight, waking on Saturday to temps in the low 40’s. Layers are the plan for the next couple of days. But, after dinner tonight, under the covers I went!

This morning, I arrived late for Bible study and not by accident, just by dawdling. I had some stuff to do when I got there, with things being switched up due to the remodeling of the Fellowship Hall. The subject is “Prayer”, the hows and whys of doing it, and the what. It was Favorite Hymn Sunday and a couple I requested were used. Robbie also played “Behold a Host Arrayed…” for me during the offertory. When he called me Wednesday about choir, he asked me if I had a hymn that I would like to hear during the offertory and that is the one I chose.

After worship we had Fellowship Sunday, held in the classroom building where a few minutes later another event, Family Connects,  was taking place. I enjoyed a tuna sandwich, actually a quarter of a sandwich, and an oatmeal butter scotch cookie. Judy C. makes the best tuna salad sandwiches! She and I were going to the movies but not until 2:15 so we had lunch at TGIF, next to the theater. I had my usual there, Jack Sesame Chicken appetizer, which is just right for me. Judy had regular chicken tenders and it was a huge portion, besides having a large house salad.

We got into the theater while it was still in cleaning mode so had our choice of seats. It was fine to sit and visit before the previews came on, and people began to arrive. The movie of the day was “Red Tails”, the story adapted from the historic Tuskegee Airmen, all black flight teams. It showed how they rose in value from taking out supply lines to escorting bombers on missions, protecting the ‘heavies’ from German attackers. Quite some flying and bravery exhibited, and even a love story woven in for good measure. It was good, but I sure wish I had not seen/heard the review the other day which somewhat tainted my appreciation of the movie.

When I got to the Mall, I had to drive up and down the aisles to find a ‘close’ place to park, and finding none, had to walk a distance toward the theater. No Rock Star parking for me this time as I had last week! About four rows from the theater, I saw a car I recognized---Justin’s!!! He had left early this morning to attend Victory for the 9:00 a.m. service and then was meeting his friends on that side of town to go to the movies at Tinseltown. There he was, parked like a Rock Star! I sent him a message to let him know I was there, too, in case he was having lunch or something. Jesse and he ended up coming alone to this side of town for an 11:15 movie. They saw “Red Tails” also and enjoyed it, being Star Wars fans and all that.

When I got home after the movie, still in the light of day, his car was parked in the lot. He had gotten home early, did the vacuuming he did not do on Saturday, and seemed to be busy in his room. There is a video game attracting his attention which is causing some of the delays in progress. In between games, though, he made another batch of his stew, using the rest of the cabbage (“I can’t believe how much I like cooked cabbage!”) and, as I write, the house is filled the aroma of stew---again!

Making up for yesterday

It is a very pretty day today, entirely opposite of the weather yesterday. It was drizzling most of Friday, or at least felt wet in the air, overcast until midday. Eventually the clouds broke and some blue shone through but it certainly remained conducive to napping!

Click to enlarge the photo

As I write, shore birds are feasting along the edge of the river. This morning there was a giant flock of birds outside, more and more coming but none leaving. It was quite interesting to watch them enjoy their breakfast. I never did notice when they left, perhaps Tracy, who lives downstairs from me, did. Randy, upstairs, thinks they were dining on mosquitos as he had a wall full of bugs after his exterior door was open last night. My friends at breakfast Friday reported the red buds blooming along River Road, which usually marks the coming of spring. As Randy said, “It’s been a great winter!”

For the past couple of weeks, I have been experiencing some aches and pains and pulsing muscles periodically in my right arm. My thought is that I have strained something when carrying in several heavy bags of groceries. Not wishing to make two trips to the car, I carried all the cold items up at once. Where is Connie when I need her? She usually offers to help if she sees someone come home with bags in the car. I had milk, juice, plus other refrigerated items, leaving the other stuff in the car to tote when I picked up Justin from work. They were heavy, that is for sure. And since that day, it seems to me, my arm has been goofy. Not all the time, and not incapacitating. I have to chuckle a bit since my mom had troubles with her arm when I was in WI, and wondered if I caught something from her!

It occurred to me that I have many more aches and pains particularly since I stopped taking my arthritis medication. Ya think??? I knew I had more left on my prescription at Wal*Mart, which they confirmed and filled for me. Of course, my arm feels like its old self again before I even took the first one.  As I told Justin, I make myself use it rather than favor it. I wish I had a tennis ball or one a bit smaller to sit and squeeze in order to strengthen my hand and arm. I sure do hope I don’t have carpel tunnel syndrome. It’s been years since I’ve pressure washed anything so all I can do is ‘blame’ the groceries and my laziness!

My idea, besides taking my medication, is to just get back in the pool again, and I even went so far as to consider joining the fitness center on Wells Road for the pool/Jacuzzi privileges. Carol W. thinks they have a plan just for that now, instead of paying full dues, which I would dearly love to avoid. This might be something worth checking out, as it will take a long time to get the pool temperature here up to the way I tolerate it. Like the lady said to me last summer when Lynn and Linda J. were here: “Oh, waa waa waa!” I am a big baby when it comes to the water being warm enough!

A couple quiet days

Other than dashing from my bed for “Breakfast Club”, the rest of my weekend is somewhat quiet. Thursday was active with Bible study and lunch with Justin, picking up his new glasses, a trip to the bank, Winn Dixie, and then home. We had planned to get his new cable for repairing the hatch latch (love that!) on his car, but he had left it behind so we opted to get that part another time.

Thursday we had a Tea Party event at La Nopalera, going with my friend, Peggy. I thought parking would be an issue, as I have had ‘problems’ there in the past so we left home quite early. Peggy asked me to save two seats, as we expected a full house. It actually did turn out to be a good-sized group but at first, Justin and I were alone in the room. We had great service that way!

The conversation was lively, no speaker scheduled due to the debates taking place later. The ‘powers that be’ are yet deciding upon the changing of the boundary lines for the districts so the leader urged us to keep up with this. There is one man from Clay County government thinking of throwing his hat into the ring if and when the boundaries are re-laid. The woman in whose district Justin and I  reside, being on the ‘wrong’ side of Hwy.17, is fighting the redistricting tooth and nail. Hers is a gerrymandered district from Jacksonville to Orlando. This will hopefully change and we will have a new or different representative.

Justin and I listened to the beginning of the debate in the car as we drove home from La Nop, hearing the UNF Chorus singing the National Anthem. Imagine that---sung without any screeching! One of my friends who is in the music business wrote on Facebook about how well her students and fellow teacher did with the Anthem on national TV. I let her know how I told Justin, when the anthem was sung, “Now that was just beautiful!”. And it was! We sat together in the family room to watch the debates, both of us thinking all did well. I am rooting for my guy who is still in the race but Justin is leaning a different direction. UNF showed nicely on the TV but I only saw one person in the audience that I recognized.

Friday morning was my breakfast with friends as The Club for which I took my car rather than walking in the rain. Not that I was concerned about my hair, but rather, about sitting in wet clothes in a cold restaurant. We had four people around the table but no game playing, so my name for the gathering is catching on! I am cool with that, too, love the visiting!

Oh, I have to back-track a bit---I had gotten an invitation to partake of birthday cake for the owner of The Club, as a surprise, but it was Wednesday night. Since I have choir rehearsal at that time, I had to send regrets. About 6:00 pm, just before Justin and I were having dinner (I made scalloped potatoes and ham for us), Robbie called to cancel choir. Oh, an unexpected free evening! We ate our dinner early anyway, since everything was ready to go, and then later we watched Jeopardy! When it was over, it suddenly occurred to me that I could have gone to the birthday event. Since it was now 8:00 pm, I assumed the whole thing would be over as Happy Hour usually wraps up at 7:00 pm. Rats! But, at Breakfast Club, one of the ladies told me that they did not even serve the cake until just after 8:00 so I could have made it! Double rats!

Back to Friday: Justin went to work on Fleming Island, using his own car, with my driving to work days over for now. It turned out he spent about four hours in the car, making two trips to St. Johns County for getting a permit. He said,”Driving is exhausting!” and he is so right about that. At least for the eyes and the brain, and maybe even the butt.

Thursday we bought the ingredients needed for Justin to make a recipe he found on-line involving pork, apples, and cabbage. He wanted to make it for Friday’s Dinner and a Movie, but this is not going to happen until Saturday evening. Since he was not cooking on Friday, he made plans to go to Mandarin for Game Night with his pals. But, I did not go hungry as he brought home some leftover food that his step-mother had given him. He had four half-sandwiches and a partial Caesar salad. The chicken salad sandwich I ate was fantastic, and I would have eaten another but half was enough! I think there were grapes cut up in the chicken, and perhaps even chopped nuts. Man, that was good!

Saturday as I mentioned I have three ladies coming over to watch “Midnight in Paris” and have dinner. That’s all I have planned for the day unless something else happens…you never know! Sunday is church and Bible study, and in the afternoon, another movie, “Red Tails”, which I understand is poorly directed. The movie is a good enough story to hold its own, but the directing is shoddy. One critic asked, “Did Lucas have a stroke or something? What’s happened to him??” I will try to not notice the flaws and take in the great story!  

The biggest news is that today is Mom's birthday---she is 87! Her plans for the day include going to dinner with a bunch of people from church for their Dinner Club. I hope she has a perch dinner to celebrate. When Justin came home from work, we sang Happy Birthday into her answering machine which will have hopefully sung her to sleep! Happy birthday, Mom!

My friend, Patty!

This is one of my Facebook friends who is a relative of Carrie U., at FG. A small world! To make it smaller yet, she is from Morton Grove, IL where I have other 'family' connections. We had never met in person, only over the Internet, but we knew each other anyway. Last summer I had the privilege of hugging and officially meeting Patty, and her husband, Terry, when I crashed the graduation party of the Ungemach's. Linda had a boot on her foot so I was her driver to the party, and there I met Patty! How exciting it was!

More organizing going on here

Not closets today, or the drawers, or even the fridge, but my head. A few thoughts have rattled around, things I meant to report but forgot when the time came.

First, thanks to everyone who extended good wishes and warm thoughts during what I call “funeral week”. Several of my friends, whether they remembered it or not, came through for me with invitations and such, and got a lovely card from my sister, Lynn. Via Facebook many folks wrote their comforting messages, from all over the place. Some did not even know Timmy, but will, some day!

My friend, Julia, at Great Hang Ups, is celebrating 25 years in business and has asked clients to send in photos of work done in their shop, with a little story about the piece. She was looking for special memory pieces as well as photos which have been restored, and the like. I agreed to send in some of the special ones done for me and did so.

Click to make photo larger

This paper hug made by Timmy in pre-k was framed by Dee and Julia and hangs over my bedroom door to the river room. Besides framing the original one, they also had a copy made, and laminated, so that I actually can 'wrap it around you when you feel blue'....Yes, I would say this counts as being "special"

On a lighter note, I posted on Facebook yesterday that I might be ready to go the H-O-M-E soon. When getting my bottle of water from the fridge (yes, you read that correctly!), I reached into the shelf for the lemon to squirt into the bottle, and nearly used yellow mustard instead. Yikes! In my defense, both bottles had yellow caps, but to indict me, the bottles are shaped entirely different, and certainly smell different! Another time, I told Justin to get ready to pack me away when I nearly put in two different earrings. Either would have looked good with my outfit, though.

Many of my friends, then, reported going out with one black shoe and one brown shoe, even different styles of shoes without noticing. Another lady wrote to say the tell-tale sign is when you find the mail in the refrigerator. This made me laugh because Connie told me the mailman is afraid of me ever since my delivery was lost, so he delivers the packages to my door now. I am not mad at him nor did I give him any grief other than encouraging him to check his little truck from one end to the other. If he puts the mail in my fridge, sets me up to be sent away, well, that’s on him. (Is paranoia a tell-tale sign?)

Justin is so funny, and seems to be moreso since he’s come back home. His doing the laundry has brought up some interesting discussions, starting right off the bat with his washing HUGE loads at once. This discussion was short—NO! Not in my washer or dryer! His theory was as long as they are wet, they are clean. Well, this is simply not the case, as I explained the technical aspects of the machine. The agitator in the middle moves the clothes through the sudsy water, and then moves them again through the rinse cycle. The dirty water goes away, and the laundry is now considered clean.

My machines, though newer, are not the heavy-duty style he must be used to, more basic (i.e. cheap) than impressive. The same is true for the standard dryer I have. No sense loading it jammed full if the clothes cannot bounce around (hence the name of the dryer sheets!) and get dried (hence the name of the machine!) See? I get that. This has not happened again although sometimes I do look askance at how much he puts in, since his jeans weigh far more than do my pull-on denims.

Another time I used the washer after he was done and discovered dirt all around the top of the machine, and under the lid around the edges. When he helps his father, he does not usually come home filthy, but when he works his landscape job, he is a mess! Often Justin will step immediately into his room to change so he does not drag the grass clippings and other soil through the house. The schnibbles, then, end up in the washer for me to clean away, more easily done when they have dried. I asked Justin once why, oh why, is there enough lint in the trap to make a bail. His immediate come-back was, “…because my undies are cotton, not silk like yours…” Ha! That is likely the right answer, and a funny one, but I do not wear silk underwear! Nice that he thinks so, though!

What is this world coming to?

Does that make me sound old? Just because the world is upside down, that should not necessarily age me, but it has. I was reading an article about a student who wrote a pro-marriage column in a school paper near Green Bay. You would think that would be a favorable thing. But, oh no, it’s not! Because it was in favor of traditional families rather than the opposing article of same-sex couples adopting children (pretty deep stuff for high school kids!), the author, a boy, was considered guilty of ‘bullying’. Oh, for heaven’s sake!

How would our playing “King of the Hill” in grade school be looked at in this era? Maybe I would view it differently if I were not often King! When the plows cleared the parking lot/playground at FG, huge mounds of snow bordered the perimeter. The ‘big kids’ would play King of the Hill by getting to the top and throwing down anyone who could not stand their ground in getting up there with us. In those days, I could hold my own with the boys, battling my way to the top despite the best efforts of the older, bigger boys. Occasionally I would have a broken bow or nose piece on my glasses but I was King of the Hill. And evidently, a bully! We got no participation trophies for this activity, either, only the broken glasses to show for our efforts.

When talking with my mom earlier, she was convinced that it was primary day here in FL but I assured her it is next week Tuesday. We do have ‘early bird’ voting here, typical of Florida but I prefer to vote on the actual day. The precinct is right here on my property which is incredibly convenient. Thursday night there is a debate at UNF and one of my friends has applied to get a ticket for it. Rita said she had to fill out a short form and jot down a question she would like to ask if a seat is given to her. Having lived outside the USA on a couple occasions, including in China, her question was in regard to how the US is regarded by other nations, our role in the world. A good question to open to discussion in the debate. “You take this one, Dr. Paul”! As I mentioned, Justin and I will be having a margarita at a Tea Party gathering at La Nap instead of battling for position at UNF. The topic discussed is considering the remaining candidates, which should be interesting. The guy I like is still in the running but Justin’s first choice candidate dropped off several weeks ago.

When Justin came home from work Monday he thanked me for getting his car repaired because he actually used it to drive to St. Augustine that day. Wow! First, he was afraid to drive to Winn Dixie and now he goes cross country (well, almost!) with it. He was still apprehensive but did it anyway, having to get a permit in St. Johns County. Next on the list is to get his windshield replaced, as it has a long crack in it. This happened when toting some boards from one site to another and they didn’t quite clear the windshield when he closed the hatch on his car. The boards shoved forward, cracking the windshield from the inside. We have insurance for this type of thing but he was hesitant to report it due to the cause. Using his car like a truck was not a good thing for having things last more than 5 years, it seems. He’s had to haul lawn equipment, the pressure washer, building materials, and moving office stuff back and forth, which has really taken its toll.

Well, anyway, back to today---we play Trivia tonight with a guest player joining us. My friend, Stephanie, has her mom visiting from Janesville, WI for a month and will join us on team Nothing Tips Like a Cow. Last week we took 2^nd place but our most faithful contenders were absent. We can only hope to do better this week, or at least stay the same. It seems the more people we have playing on the team, the worse we do, but the food and company make up for the loss. 


Justin’s new glasses are ready for him to pick up so we will plan that for Thursday. He will have a fresh outlook on life from that point on! To improve his outlook in his room, he is picking up a different light kit for his ceiling fan in hopes of casting more light into the corners of his room. Because of the windows being high on the wall and under the walkway roof, the rooms on this side of the condo are extra dark, dramatically so compared to where I spend my time. That was why I moved the office into my room in the first place---it was too dark to be productive in the extra bedroom, but it is perfect for sleeping!

Later this evening is the State of the Union show, which I should not have a problem finding a channel for, opposite situation of the most recent debates. I should probably just wait to hear the radio programs revisit it tomorrow and read the text instead, but we shall see. Justin might want to watch and we can digest it together. Alka Seltzer at hand...