Watching the fallout and cleaning it up

Talk about multi-tasking, something women excel at, it is said. Linda J. and I spent part of the day 'watching' our shared radio program together from our homes, and chatting at the same time. Once in a while, I lost my train of thought and we had to back it up. Gotta love the technology! The previous day we were on-line for several hours, watching-listening-chatting until it was time for me to leave for dinner with Judy C. We are good at this!

****

Judy and I had coupons for Steak 'n Shake to use on Thursday night, before BIC. We are so close to being done and yet, Amber was absent. Now she has a couple lessons to catch up on, as these last two are rather 'difficult' to grasp, even for long time Lutherans. 

The subject of fellowship can be delicate and not readily understood, especially for someone with no church background. There just has to be a better way of covering this. Next week we have no class because of VBS canvassing, nor do we have it the following week. Some might meet this coming Tuesday to help get caught up, but I have a different BIC that night to attend. 

From last year's pyrotechnic display on the river

Justin is busily, sort of, working on getting his overflow items organized and placed into bins to make room for our four house guests coming next week. He will be bunking with me while the teen boy uses Justin's room. The three girls will be in the guest room so we need every inch of available space for them. 

The first plan was to store his extra items in my friend, Ellen's, home but she wanted to place them in her dining room,  part of her living space. Since she is entertaining at this condo for the 4th of July fireworks, I decided we would keep his stuff here. He has the bins neatly stacked in the foyer and I will learn to be fine with that. I did the bathroom cleaning already---yes, I did it myself! 

Justin is also removing collected cardboard boxes from purchases to the dumpster which frees up some space.The two of us have boxes from my bedroom TV, his new computer monitor, and such to be rid of. He will consolidate the remaining items stored in this room to make ample space.

One set of boxes is from last week when I took delivery of a table top grille for use in the house. Justin tried it out on Tuesday. Though I was stressing from the leaking, I managed to eat half a burger, some of his new recipe for baked beans, and some cole slaw. To keep the food from spitting, one puts water in an aluminum tray beneath the grille portion and no mess. The heat is thermostatically controlled so the food doesn't get away from you. It works! That means we keep the grille, and the boxes it came in can go to the trash!

Justin had long work days the last two, trying to catch up for the rain days. Thursday, they could not get to their truck on 'the farm' where they park it. Machinery was borrowed from his boss's cousin and they worked with that. 

See the cow peeking out around Justin's car?

Then, later, Justin told me his boss and he walked in from the dry road through the knee-deep water, about a half mile, to the truck. It apparently has a snorkel which allows it to be driven through standing water (okay....) so William drove the truck out, with Justin walking in front of him, along what he could see was the edge of the road, to dry land. Man, were his legs tired!!!! 

I thought that was a good idea, and Justin said, "I came up with it!" That's my boy, the problem solver. Although, it is not advised to walk through standing water....oh, just go for it! Justin had to solve a problem last week with some duct tape. It seems one of those cows that wanders around the farm where they park knocked his side view mirror lose, on the passenger side. He used duct tape to put it back on. The cow must have had an itchy shoulder or something. I can't help but laugh about that!

"What The (bleep) Just Happened?"

"Before this morning's Supreme Court decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act and calling the individual mandate a "tax", President Obama strenuously insisted it 'absolutely' was not a tax---now that 'tax' takes effect 2012, and the battle over ObamaCare enters a new chapter." FoxNews.com headline

The title of this posting is also the title of a new book out by a commentator I enjoy on the radio. She also appears regularly on various panels on Fox News, often up against her brother-in-law, Alan Colmes (ewww!). Monica Crowley, PhD. can certainly hold her own when it comes to such topics as that opening paragraph in this posting, and am anxious to hear what she has to say about all this. I am glued to the radio and TV the rest of the day to see/hear what all the pundits and reporters have to say. 

Does Costa Rico get hit with hurricanes very often???

Regrouping...

...and a bit ashamed of myself. How can I be so very upset about drips from my ceilings and down my walls when others have no access to their homes or have lost them altogether?? 

My living room is put back together, pans and pots removed, towels folded and put away for pool use only now. I hope. Sadly, the repair made on Tuesday, a temporary fix, did not work so Misty and I continued with the soaking towels and such. Justin and I dried some of her towels, and took them up at Jessica's request to place them appropriately. We brought the soaked ones down to rinse and dry for the next round, but thankfully, we did not need them. Whew!

I feel very badly for the couple who own the penthouse and are having to deal being the 'source' of the leak. It is certainly not their fault and they were desperately trying to find a solution in the midst of the storm. Of course, I give them a break but others in the building are more adamant about getting this solved. I know how badly I felt, and still feel, about leaking on my downstairs neighbors almost two years ago. Not good!

My neighbors are the greatest, offering wet vacs (not needed), dry sleeping if needed, offers to come help dump the pans or dry the towels, etc. "Day or night, just call..." Love that! What we, Justin and I, are borrowing is a dehumidifier from one neighbor which is pulling huge quantities of water from the air. We have dumped probably the equivalent of four gallons thus far, and have gotten the humidity level to 60% already. That is set up in the living room at the moment, and startles me when it turns off and back on again. I am so jumpy!

Justin and I moved the furniture back, he put up the wall hanging again over the loveseat, and plugged the TV back in. I didn't turn it on yet, just letting it do it's thing of drying out. He still has his bedroom fan blowing behind the TV to help dry that faster, as well as Rose's machine for drying the air. Repairs will need to be made, but not until the leak is arrested above me. 

                          

Justin is also in process of moving some of his plastic bins to the foyer, readying them to be relocated to Ellen's unit for safe keeping for when the VBS kids are here. Tomorrow he is taking a bunch of empty cardboard boxes to the dumpster when he gets home from work. He works a long day on Thursday due to catching up from the rain days. In the morning he has to be at the Farm by 6:40 a.m. Yikes!

I hate Debby!

While I might be good at some things, decorating is one thing in which I find joy and pride. THIS, however, is not an example of my abilities. Unless, of course, collecting leaking water from door frames, ceilings and floors is decorating! The kids' towels add much to the decor...TS Debby can just get the heck out of here!!!

 The center one I had to dump twice during the night on Sunday, with over 6" accumulated in the bucket under the blue pendant light. 

The placemats serve the dual role of absorbing the sound of water dripping and reducing the splashing after the water hits the bottom of the receptacle.

This area is behind and above my loveseat. It has not leaked since 2008 with TS Faye and I was not happy to see it return. Justin was roused from his bed to help me move the loveseat out and roll up the carpet. We laid towels behind it and set two collection devices to catch the drips.

Here is the ceiling above my TV. You might recall last fall when this area flooded and shorted out my power strip, singeing the floor. The crown moulding is bubbled up from the water behind it as is the paint along the wall. Very similar to the photos from TS Beryl!

So much water came through this door frame that I could have washed my hair in the flow! Well, this might be an exaggeration....but it did fill those containers nicely.

As if my upstairs neighbor, Misty, didn't have enough trouble keeping up with the water from above her, she came home to smoke. It seems that somehow the electronic dishwasher turned on or at least part of it did, and burned up. The racks and any thing else plastic melted and filled their home with smoke. Another neighbor passing by heard the commotion and came to the rescue, shutting off the power to the appliances. What caused this to happen? No one knows yet but Misty cannot wait to move out this weekend!! I can't say I blame her!

A funeral and a baptism

This morning at Bible study we continued looking at the book of Job. The study is coming along in starts and stops, with next week Monday's class being another STOP due to Independence Day being celebrated on Wednesday. Okay.....

Anyway, the portion of Job read was from Chapter 38, a very special portion of Scripture for me. For us all, of course, but particularly for me. You see, I had asked Pastor Prange to include this as one of the readings for Timmy's funeral.

A church filled to overflowing, many of those attending being associated directly or indirectly with the housing industry, how much more apropos a reading could there be? I had remembered Pete (Pastor Prange) reading this or using the chapter at some point in the past, and it struck me then. When it came 'our' time to need an answer to those questions weak human beings ask of the Lord, this portion of the Word came to mind. And now, again, to heart. 

                                            

The gist of the chapter is God challenging Job, in the midst of his suffering and loss, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Who marked out the dimensions? "On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?" I am all about those angels shouting for joy!

The representative from WELS Planned Giving sat next to me in class and he seemed to be aware of 'my situation'. No wonder he was so glad to seek me out and shake my hand a couple weeks ago. It turned out we know some people in Manitowoc together (strange how that happens!!!) In fact, his good friend, Greg, had been here a few years ago with the Lutheran Elem. School team. Small world of the WELS!

Rachel at the font, with Jackie standing as her witness

We had another adult baptism today, a lady who lives in the neighboring apartments. Rachel attends the BIC on Thursday nights with Judy, Amber, and me. She had been "baptized" in sorts with oil at some point in her life, having dabbled with various denominations and such. Today she received the real deal through water and the Word, a promise from the Lord, assuring Rachel she is His own dear child.

Gretchen was absent today, having had the horrors of a water leak yesterday. Oh, heavenly days! She and I should start a club for those suffering from water leaks! Darwin had gone over there Saturday to check on the A/C unit which leaked, but did not have the electrical knowledge needed for the dampened wiring in the wall leading to her 1st floor bathroom. I sent a message to Suzanne C. to see if her hubby would be available to help Gretchen out. Or she'll have to use the potty in the dark!

Terri T. and I went to lunch by ourselves today as Justin left early to see a movie with Jesse. (If they go in the a.m., the seats are only $5.00.) As Terri remarked, "No one is the boss of us today so we can eat where we want!" That is a joke between us, as I once said that to Gordy when he scolded me for singing at the table. I told him, "You're not the boss of me!", with a smile on my face, of course, and she about flipped! How she sometimes wished she could have said the same thing and gotten away with it....Gordy was so much like my own father in this regard---wanting so badly for us to behave at the table!

Terri and I chose Chili's (surprise, surprise!!!) and enjoyed a lovely lunch together. Yesterday we'd had breakfast at Grumpy's but with her grandson along, it was not as easy for us ladies to just talk. He is darling, and oh so smart for a three-year old! When he was done coloring, he pushed it aside. Terri asked if he didn't want to color some more and Caiden said, "I'm out of ideas...." Talk about funny stuff coming from a little kid!!! 

Today, she and I simply got caught up, a much needed time for such a thing. Next week, we will be back to normal, after Judy gets back from the LWMS Convention. I am supposed to go to Palm Coast but might see if I can go on Saturday instead. We shall see!

A worthwhile morning

Sometimes the sunrises summon me from my bed to grab the camera, and some do not. This one today did!

This evening's sunset presented less dramatically but lovely nonetheless...

I like being Pampered!

What a lovely evening I had tonight at a Pampered Chef party! Normally not a 'kitchen person', these parties never cease to amaze and almost entice me. Our hostess was Kerri H., a friend from GS and then Victory. Part of the 'getting to know you' game we played was telling which product was our favorite from Pampered Chef (PC). When it was my turn, I reported liking the jar of cherry almond topping the best. I think she was actually looking for a piece of equipment or a gadget but that's what I came to buy!
                                            

I knew where Kerri lived but used the GPS on my phone to help me anyway. When I pulled up, the street looked nearly deserted, no extra cars parked anywhere. Hmmm.....The house had a For Sale sign in front of it, a Realtors' lock-box on the knob, and a Private Property sign in the window. My guess is, they don't live here any more! I called Anne who was riding over with Stephanie to find out where to go.

It seems they had moved last year but only a block or two from this home. Stephanie pulled up in front of the old house and then led me to the new house. What a sweetheart! 

Besides Anne, she also brought Susanne, a newer member at Victory. Susanne is the mom of my friend, Judy H., who now lives in Knoxville, TN. Her husband, Wayne, was in Bible study yesterday but not Susanne as she was not feeling well. Nice nice lady. Her hubby and she bring much to the table when they are in class. They are transplants from Green Bay where Susanne had the privilege of caring for some of the Packer players teeth! "Official Dental Assistant of the Green Bay Packers"!

The consultant and Kerri made a bbq chicken pizza which was then cooked on the grille. The sauce used a sweet flavor with beer in it and the pizza was just delicious. Never thought I would like chicken on a pizza! Kerri also made various tart treats including one that tasted like a S'mores. Yummy!

I ended up ordering a jar of the cherry almond topping, a muffin pan designed for making individual brownies (with Justin in mind), and some pinch bowls. I think those teeny bowls will come in very handy, not necessarily for meal prep but for ketchup or other dips when just a dab will do ya'!!