My bling 'n things

No lounging in bed for me today---bright and early I had to once more be in the dental chair. Somehow I was under the impression (ha, ha!) my crown was going in this visit but now I understand that only the gold post, the basis, for the crown was going in. From there, then, the final impression would be made. This makes sense, and I am sure it was explained to me when I was under the influence of the happy gas. 


Nearly two hours later, I was out the door. Oh, but before the temporary was re-installed, Peggy took out a mirror so I could see my shiny gold stub of a tooth. It was all polished up and really was pretty. She said she hated to have to grind or do any smoothing on the gold, because it's such a waste. The residue goes up the suction tool or down my throat, never to be seen again! As I wrote on Facebook, my million dollar smile is that plus a few thousand more! 


My friend, Julia, had a birthday yesterday, but I didn't go up to the shop until today. I went after the dental visit to extend my birthday wishes in person. She told me about her marvelous birthday dinner at a ritzy place called Orsay, which took three hours to consume. Thankfully they had some gift cards to help defray part of the costs of this fabulous birthday dinner. As my lovely parting gift, Julia gave me a stem from her floral arrangement from Hawaii. 

I was so ready to be at home, as the nitrous oxide usually leaves me a bit sleepy. For lunch (yes, it was nearly noon when I got home!) I had the leftover dinner from Tuesday night, Sonny's BBQ! I had the beans and franks, which came with fries, plus mac 'n cheese and garlic bread. The cost of my soda was included in the price I paid, which was less than the sandwich meal Justin ordered. He ate all of his food, sharing the corn nuggets appetizer, plus he ate my mac 'n cheese. When the waitress brought the box, it was hard for me to get the cover closed for my leftovers. Now that's what I call a meal, and a deal! And a good lunch the next day...


I got caught up on the e-mail before resting, and got an interesting one from Chris D., a former member of GS. He directed me to another person's FB page to read the postings. From what I could tell, a young man also named Chris had died unexpectedly in Australia, where he lived and worked. Chris D. and I worked with him in the early 90's at Sprint. No details of his death were offered but one comment after another on his page was that of regret for not keeping better in touch. 


In my exchanges with Chris D., we discussed this, how FB does allow us to find and then reconnect with people in our lives, past and present. Sadly, though, we say we are going to do better with staying in touch or actually getting together, but then miss the opportunity to do so. Chris and Chris had actually lived together for a bit in Orlando, with a third housemate. He was just blown away with this news. I told him about the lady who invited me to lunch last week, fulfilling her resolution to catch up people she has said she would. Do it, people, do it!
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I knew full well about the two hour choir rehearsal this evening, sent a reminder e-mail to Sterling since he was absent from choir last week, and discussed it with Justin that I might be gone before he got from work. Well, I got so involved in The Five, watching it to the end, and then suddenly realizing I was late for choir!


As I dashed out the door, I tried calling Robbie to let him know I was on my way, but it went to his voice mail. Rats! I called Carol's cell phone then and she answered after many rings. I explained that I was on the way, blah, blah, blah, and she said, "I'm at Subway. Robbie said choir was at 7:00." 


No, he did not---he said 6 to 8 with snacks in between. I called Kristi and she was there at church with Debbie and Sterling, plunking through one of the pieces as best she could. Yikes! Robbie had told Carol it was at 7:00 even though she knew he said 6:00 pm. 


Anyway, I came flying through the door about twenty minutes late, telling the group how I drove through people's yards to get there. Robbie apologized for the mix-up and the frenzy, and once his mom got there, we began. Our four pieces for the next three worship opportunities went together nicely, and my confidence is in his piano playing. The louder he plays, the better we sound!


I didn't get home until 9:30 which drew Justin from his room. Two late church nights this week already. He asked, "Three hours of practice?" and I explained the mix-up in times. Monday night he was concerned for my safety but tonight he was fine. Oh, and when we left choir, Sterling asked me to send an e-mail to everyone to confirm the times for our rehearsals prior to the services for uniformity. I can do that!


Justin was dragging himself around, bone weary and worn out from his days' work. Jesse and he were extremely late with getting started due to traffic tie-ups which had no cars moving on Blanding or the freeway between Blanding and Hwy. 17. Only one lane was open on the freeway during rush hour, which is not good. 


He told me they were going to try a short cut through the parking lot of the bank on Wells and Blanding, pulled onto Blanding. 25 minutes later, they pulled into a parking lot to find another route, the driveway being the next one from the bank they short-cutted through! No progress found in that attempt. It was all over the news, the traffic reporters trying to warn people away from this route. 


Because of their delayed start, they ended up working later, spending the entire day on a commercial job, gathering up leaves. The good news was that they got to use the Hardees coupons I gave Justin from the week's mail. Great deals, and it was right near where they were working. 


How about those tornadoes in Dallas??? I had read my friend's posting that she was trying to fly out of Dallas but couldn't because there were tornado warnings so I turned on the news. Sure enough, there was live footage of the tornadoes moving around in the Dallas metroplex, complete with Schneider Transport trucks flying through the air. Justin had gotten home already and we watched together. It was unreal! 
                                         
One of our members drives for them so I sent Richard an e-mail asking if he was okay. Kristi told me at choir that he was actually at the depot when it was hit, but his truck was in the repair bay and not damaged, and he was safe where he was. He would send very brief text messages to her at their dad's house to let them know he was alive.Yikes!!!


I know of many folks who live in that area so I kept up with a map on the Internet, looking for the communities the weather guys out of Dallas were issuing the warnings. Kelly finally did get a flight for tomorrow morning, after many cancellations since the tornadoes, so she can get home to her hubby and baby. I hope she makes it this time. What a nightmare scenario, but thankfully, no apparent loss of life. Thanks be to God!

What a lovely morning!

My morning was spent working on the newsletter for The Palace, which truly does not take all that long. Not like the church newsletter does, that's for sure! The Board has not met since our Annual meeting which makes for a slowness of news. Fortunately there is other stuff to write about, such as new plantings on the property and double rainbows in the river. 

Several of my neighbors do not have computers or cannot print the newsletter, so I do this for them, delivering it to their doors. If they are not home, I simply leave it in the door. At one unit, I rang the bell, and when no one came right away, I tucked it in the door and turned to leave. Just as I walked away, Betty opened her door and the newsletter dropped to the ground. She snapped it up and asked me to come in. I am so glad I did!

Betty asked me if she could play a song for me on the piano and I told her yes. The baby grand is quite elderly, belonging first to Betty's mom, and now to her. Some of the notes sound elderly too, which seemed almost fitting for its appearance. Not that it was decrepit or anything, more like the finish was not what I expected for a baby grand. Rather than being smooth and shiny, in black or white, this piano had the look of an upright from the old days, more of an oak finish, like furniture.

She played "I'm in the Mood For Love" from an old music book, and played beautifully. She told me how she played this song for her granddaughter, and her fiance, and they thought it was the most beautiful song ever heard. It was a first for her granddaughter, and now she wants it played at her wedding!

Betty is known affectionately by her grands and great-grands as "Moley" for some reason long forgotten, but the name is now hers. She is a widow of about four years, I believe, having lost her Navy Commander husband to Alzheimer's. When he got sick, she quit all her jobs to stay home to take care of him, and never looked back. She served on the Boards of many organizations in Clay County in the past, and was a Realtor besides. Now, she has no computer in her home and refuses to have one!

Her daughter, Cathy, spends most of her time staying with Betty, age now 84, as they keep each other company. Cathy's spouse works for the TSA on the western side of the state, which allows Cathy to hang out with her mom at The Palace! She is a gem and we have matching political beliefs which makes for good times when visiting on the sun deck or at the pool! Last year Martie, Cathy, and I plus Cathy's brother, Gary, enjoyed a lovely evening doing just that.

I have mentioned Betty before, I am sure, since she has the claim to fame in The Palace as having been a Rockette! This photo was taken in 1947, in silhouette. 

Betty had a birthday last week and she wanted to show me her gifts. One was a hand-made quilt, made by her other granddaughter. It was her grands first time making a quilt and it was fabulous! Betty had it displayed across a settee in the river room. 

The squares of the quilt, probably about 10 x 10" each, her granddaughter cut from her grandfather's favorite shirts, including those he wore in the Navy. Betty pointed out the ones he wore for church, his Friday-only red sweater for Patriot Fridays (he never wore red otherwise, because 'he was a Gator!' This sounds like  a legitimate reason to a Gator fan...), a sweatshirt they had made for a family cruise, his Navy reunion shirts---each significant in the life of Andy. And now again, back in Betty's home. I was moved, moved to tears!

Next, Betty showed me a tray table which was next to her wicker chair  in the same room. This was a wooden table, like a TV tray, which her daughter, Cindy, had carved and colored. These people are just unbelievable!!! The words around the edges are a take-off from the book and movie, "The Help", where the black nanny/housekeeper would tell her little white charge---"You is strong. You is smart. You is beautiful." Cindy added more text to it, expressing love and admiration for her mom.  As I neared the door, I asked to come back in, to snap a picture of it, but didn't photo graph the quilt. Gives me an excuse to go back again!

A long day today

Only moments ago I got home from Ladies' Group as a couple of us sat around and talked long after the meeting broke up. At one point my phone rang, with Justin calling to make sure I was 'safe'. He was getting concerned that I was not home from Ladies' Group yet which normally had me home before nine. I like to keep him guessing!


This was my second trip to the church today, and my third for the week thus far. Tuesday is the only day that I have no need to go there this week. Wednesday is choir rehearsal and we are having a two-hour session in order to better learn our Maundy Thursday piece as well as our 'standard' Easter anthem. With our 'tiny' in number choir, the practice will be much needed and much appreciated. On a good day, we might have six people, but normally, more like 5 of us. Folks say we sound like more, though, which is good to know.


The first part of the day was Bible study, conducted by Michael, as pastor is busy with getting things ready for Holy Week services. We wrapped up our study of "What Must I Do to Be Saved?" with seven ladies in attendance. Joseph was absent and was not at church yesterday either. Must be tied up with his own ministry or else something came up for him.


All us ladies went to lunch, without Mike, and had a different waiter take care of us. Actually, it's waitress, and she was prompted by Jason as to what to bring us to drink. I thought that was pretty good of her to remember what we drank, since it's been a long time since she took care of us! I opted for a hamburger for lunch and brought half of that home with me. Justin had it for a snack when he got home from work.


After lunch, I went up to the Publix on the same property to exchange a jar of mayo. Justin had gone shopping yesterday afternoon and bought two jars of it, from the buy one/get one bin, and found one of them to be already expired. I simply swapped it out, no problem, and then picked up a couple other items to buy while there. 


As I went through the check-out, I asked the lady if she could use the same bag that held my jar of 'may-o', which prompted her to ask, "Are you from up north?" As I laughed, "Yes...", she welcomed me to the South. I thanked her and said, "I have lived here since 1988!" and she said, "Before I was born!", but I still got it, the accent, that is. Apparently the way I said, "May-o" gave me away,  the dragged out or emphasized "o" at the end of the short word.


As I headed back to The Palace, I remembered needing to stop at the accountant's office to pick up my completed tax return. Thankfully I do not have to pay additional taxes but must make my first quarterly payment before the 15th. I always think of my niece, Lisa, in Sheboygan as she works towards the end of the tax season. Hang in there, kiddo!
                                             
When I got home, I posted on Facebook about the 'accent' encounter happening to me yet again in just a little more than a week's time. What a fire storm of comments this elicited! One Friend now in LA remarked about how expressions we used to use in our hometown have no meaning in the South, while their expressions or descriptions for things were so different for him as well. Mike mentioned something called a hosepipe, which I thought might be a spigot or tail pipe on a car. Nope, it's what those in his part of Louisiana call the garden hose! No kidding! Like the bubbler/water fountain discussion, most regional, as is soda/pop. What fun that was!

Tomorrow I must work on the newsletter for The Palace as I am a bit behind the times, here, for no apparent reason. I will be sure to include the photo of the double rainbow which smiled on the river outside our building on Saturday evening!

Palm Sunday

This was the sight which greeted me upon arriving at church. Carol got there at the same time and when I told her how nice it was, she remarked that they are smaller branches than other years. I assured her that they were fine, did the job of reminding the community and us all that it is Palm Sunday. The teens or older school kids were going to work with Paul on assembling the palm crosses to be pinned to our garments for the day. I did see two boys handing them out, one who came after the crosses were already made.


Paul's dad plus his two half-brothers have come down to FL for a vacation, which is their first time since Paul and Emily's wedding in 1999. Paul looks very much like his father, remarkably so. Tomorrow they are going to the beach and do some other fun touristy stuff in the area while Paul and Emily are at work. Not sure if Sarah is on break this week or not, but she was quite excited about having her uncles and grandpa come for a visit.


After church Justin and I went to Chili's with only the Chappell's, as no one else was available to join us.Terri T. couldn't come because she was going to the County Fair. Mike S. still had a few dollars left on his Chili's gift card but declined the offer to join us. Judy J. was not up to it, or something, so our small group went alone.                                          
                                    
I get the triple appetizer, switching it up to include chicken tenders added to my two portions of potato skins. The uneaten portion I normally bring home (about half) to have at a later time. The chips can be microwaved to make them fresh for eating at home, and neither of us care for the salsa they sent along. It comes in handy if I make something with a tomato base, like soup or chili.


The nacho chips are free, which Justin gets through his participation in FourSquare on his cell phone. He told me he is the "Mayor" of FourSquare because of the frequency of his visits to Chili. Nearly every Sunday now we go there after church, a practice which began during football season so I could see the game while we ate. Talk about being a needy friend!


As we were finishing up, I looked out the window to see our friend, Amber, and her granddaughter, getting into their car. She had told Judy they were going shopping so we didn't ask her along with us. Rats! It is wonderful that not only is Amber in church nearly every week but now her granddaughter wants to come to Sunday school and church. I watched in worship as Amber tried to show Reagan how to follow along in the hymnal, like she was shown about four months ago! 



Justin and I had a nice quiet afternoon, just doing our own thing. He had vacuumed the kitchen and my bedroom on Saturday. Taking some of the time to 'read' one of his books, "The Hunger Games II", he took a break from getting his room straightened away. After seeing the first movie a week or so ago, he has read (listened to) the first book while working and is now on the 2nd in the series, and loving it! I have learned so much about it simply listening to him recount the story line to me. Between this book series and "The Walking Dead" (yech!), I am getting quite an earful!

Weekend photos

Saturday morning, I was chatting on Facebook with Linda J. when I noticed the gorgeous sunrise. I excused myself from the conversation to snap this photo. A gift for Linda!

Later in the day, at the end of the heavy rain showers, almost audibly these double rainbows appeared over the river. Just as I pulled open my sliding doors to snap the photos, I could hear my neighbors also opening their doors, ooohing and aaahing over the dramatic, lovely sight.

                                             

Here is  the other end of the rainbow, although my friend, Rick, claimed he saw the other end in Middleburg!

 In the morning as Linda and I were chatting, Fox and Friends had a segment on about analyzing people's desk---what does their desk say about them and their work habits and their output. Mine was not horrible, not yet disturbing my piece of mind. Linda's idea was the better one---photograph the view instead! I look out, and see rainbows!

Remarkable proportions

Not mine and not anyone elses, just the day!


My friend, Carol, sent me an e-mail this morning indicating Randy and she would not be at Breakfast Club because they needed to attend a funeral (lots of funerals this week!). She didn't want me to sit there alone, although I am okay with it. Mary called me later on to report that she was laid up with some illness requiring antibiotics so it's good that I didn't go to The Club. That is two weeks in a row that I have missed it, and I am getting hungry for their fried baby red potatoes!


It was also fine to miss breakfast since I had lunch plans already in place. I was meeting a newly reconnected Facebook friend, Belinda, who is married to one of my former employees/coworkers. She is a published writer, mostly cookbooks, as well as being the editor of a local paper in the past. Presently she works for one of the State Colleges. We had met up a couple years back at a Writer's Conference at the Beach, and as I mentioned, once more via Facebook. Gotta love that Facebook!


We had a wonderful time chatting, even though the time was limited due to her being on a lunch hour (or two!) but we managed to cover many topics. Her daughter attends the same magnet school that my friend, Rita's, son attends, and they are the same age at that. She was telling me about self-publishing and how e-publishing is getting to be the rage. Not sure how that would work for cookbooks but for essays and briefer manuscripts, it might fly. I told her the story about my dentist visit where I had my book from Linda, "Killing Lincoln" in my hand at the desk. The receptionist told me she is reading the same book right now on her Kindle, and the dental assistant reported she is listening to it on a download. All reading the same book, at the same time, but on a different venue. Interesting and amazing!!


 Justin was borrowing my car for the evening and offered to run to the store for me, in case I needed something to serve for dinner. Betty, my dear friend with whom I also worked for years, was coming over for dinner. Our meal was made the night before by Justin, the pork chops with cinnamon apples on top. Oh, my, just as good as the first time they were cooked! I needed nothing but it was nice of him to ask. He was going to his friend, Ron's house and then out to Bahama Breeze for dinner with his pals. It was too bad he was gone by the time Betty arrived as she would like to have seen him again.


We just sat and talked, I so enjoy hearing about Betty's classes she is taking for her degree in business. Some of the classes are kicking her butt, so to speak, this semester but she is hanging in there. One of her gripes is that the professors who grade her papers for proper grammar and usage scarcely can write a complete sentence themselves. I had a teacher in high school who left there to teach "engineers how to write" at a school in the neighboring county. What does that mean, exactly? It means that just because a person can figure out how to build a road or erect a building does not necessarily mean they can write it down...

When I left home in  the morning to meet Belinda, Connie asked me if I had ticked off some birds or something. Not sure what she meant, she directed my attention toward my car. Oh my goodness! It was literally sprayed with whiteness. I believe the birds put out a contract on my car, which Connie offered to hose off before I left. I was simply roaring with laughter at the sight of my car, but had to get going to make my appointment. On the way home, I stopped at the car wash to get it cleaned off. That car is starting to cost me money---two car washes in one month, new tires, and a torn fender. Yikes!

"We help each other sing..."

Today we are saying 'good-bye' officially to one of our longest and oldest members of GS, Arlene. Last year around ThanksLiving she was expected to pass away. But, Arlene hung on, even managing to go home for a few weeks recently before having to return to the hospital where she then died. 


In between the hospital last year, and going home a few weeks ago, she had resided in a rehab center where she seemed to rally. Friday, the rally was over and she awakened in heaven. Now, only Joe remains as patriarch of the congregation, and as his grandson in NC declared, Joe might easily outlive us all! 


My friend, Rita, sent me a note indicating I would not see her at Bible study since she had an appointment, and told me all the other people who were not going to be there either. I had been toying with whether or not to go, wondering if the timing would work out for the funeral service and such. When I let Pastor H. know I was not coming, he sent me a text message indicating that class was cancelled for this week. And none next week either due to Holy Week. No worries---I get to see Rita for lunch on Saturday! We have had little face time recently and will make up for it dining al fresco at the Town Center!
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Judy J. had asked me bring a salad for the luncheon to be served following the service so when I left home, I was carrying a lovely glass bowl with me. Connie saw me with my bowl and asked what was up. I told her a good Lutheran always has a dish to pass, but usually there is something in it!!! Publix was providing me with their delicious macaroni salad which will present nicely in my Lutheran dish...


The congregation numbered about 45, just about equal numbers between members and the other mourners. Arlene liked to play bingo, several times a week when her health was good, so some of those folks came, as did a few of their neighbors. We got to visit with some former members, confirmands, of GS, including  the children of Rena, who passed away years ago. I had seen them last at the wedding of Tony, who is Arlene's grandson, 8 years ago. 


Debbie, Arlene's daughter, has poor health as well, took early retirement or is on disability at this time. Periodically over the years, Debbie's daughter and her family of five have lived with Arlene and Debbie in their cozy home but presently Debbie is alone in the house. Since she retired, she has been training alongside of the church secretary to help out in the office, which is great, having more than just Lynne and me. I used to enjoy the work but do no longer. Like working by myself at home instead!


I did work at home this a.m., before the service, putting the final touches on the newsletter and got it ready to be e-mailed. Also, I printed off color-copies for a few of my favorites who do not have Internet service, so they can see the pictures and graphics included in the e-mailed version. The one I send to Lynne for her to print at church has the graphics removed in order for it to fit on two sides of ledger-sized paper. The photos and graphics add much to the letter, do some of the talking many times. Someone donated a mess of ledger paper so that is what she uses for the hard-copied newsletter, as well as the jumbo sized service folders used once a month. Hard to fold those to shove in one's purse!


Arlene's service was very nice, starting with the hymn "I Know that My Redeemer Lives", which I struggled through. We sang the first two stanzas and the last two, not the 'where is thy sting, death?' ones. I sat with Carolynn H., one of our newer members, and I told her she would have to help out singing that one. She asked me how long ago it was since Timmy died, and I told her, "Yesterday...", and she nodded. Then, I told her it was 11 years, and she said, "It probably feels like yesterday..." and I said it does, especially when attending a funeral. It all comes back, with the same happy ending for our loved ones who die in faith. 


The other hymns were "Just As I Am" and "For All the Saints". "For All the Saints" is quite easy for me to sing, despite the text. For some reason, that one does not stop me in my tracks. And we sang "Alleluia" before Lent was over...I am sure it's okay when it's for a funeral.


The Fellowship Hall is under renovation so the middle room in the classroom building is used for meetings, some Bible studies, fellowship, and now, funeral luncheons. It was crowded, hard to move around between tables once people were seated. (It was since decided to not set up as many tables for Easter breakfast) The food was available in the hallway which worked out okay. And there was plenty of it! Besides the sandwiches which Judy C. and Betty put together, there were the donated salads and fruit, and the desserts! I took seconds on the creamy fruit salad that Fran brought, instead of having dessert. Judy J. sent home a container of her baked beans for Justin and I to have for dinner.


As we sat at the table talking during the luncheon, Ethel and Darwin were across from me, Carolynn and Bonnie on each side. Ethel said she would like a service like Gordy had, lots of hymns. I mentioned how Jennifer, a former member, and I helped each other sing at Gordy's funeral. I had promised Terri T. that I would sing out as Carol had told her to listen for my voice to help bear her up. (Yikes, Carol!!!) Jennifer and I decided we would help each other, as I knew I would falter on "In Christ Alone" and she needed help on another hymn. Ethel remarked how great it was that Jennifer and I were there for each other, and I said, "That's what Christian friends do---we help each other sing!"


Once I got home after the funeral and luncheon, I was bushed, so I took a nap. Less than 30 minutes in length but out like a light! I had to reset my computer to catch the portion of the program I had slept through. Whew! Not sure why I was so tired, unless it was from the fruit salad. Justin was working for his father today and called me before coming home, wondering what was for dinner. Baked beans, of course!
                              
Actually, he offered to make a dinner of pork chops and spiced apples, if I didn't mind waiting until after Bible study to eat. I was fine with that, since I was full yet from the late afternoon luncheon. He bought a container of the spiced apples when he went shopping on Tuesday night and it made a lovely dish for us. He browned the chops and simmered them with the cinnamon apples over the top. There was enough left for Betty G. and I to have for dinner tomorrow night when she comes. Nice!