"You're so busy!"

As I listen to the radio, the weather 'sound' comes on, warning about a pending storm. It looked grey/blue to the south when I came home from lunch, but the storm seems to be coming from the north. That is where Justin is working today so I hope he is doing okay. He is making every effort to keeping things moving along quickly as we have plans tonight. 

At long last Brenda N. and I were able to get together on her lunch break, meeting at Steak 'n Shake next door to her office. I had not seen her since she took custody, with her son, of her granddaughters. This happened only weeks before school started here, so they had to hustle to get the 2 girls enrolled in school. She filled me in on what it was like trying to do this without any help from the mother of these kids. Yikes!

When we met at the table, where I was already seated, Brenda commented about hard it was to get together, her saying to me, "You're always so busy!" Hmmm....As we were talking and eating, a call came from my friend, Carol, who asked me, "Where are you now???" and when I told her, she said, "You're always doing something..." I think, but cannot perfectly remember, that my mom said something similar to me on the phone the other day. Why do I not feel so busy? 

                                               

Our congregation lost a member yesterday and, that day, actually WAS busy! I was notified of Andy's passing before his wife did, when I got a call on behalf of the family for the Prayer Chain. I delayed making my calls until I was sure Pastor and rest of the family were with the widow, to tell her the news. She was exhausted and had stayed in bed to rest, but two of Andy's sons were with him when he left this life. 

The phone and I were busy much of the day, then, as well as sending e-mails and such on behalf of this family. At one point their daughter-in-law, LuAnn, told me, "This is the most we have talked all year!" and I said, "Shame on us!", and we laughed. We will have to change that, won't we??? Carol and I talked several times before today's call in order to get the ball rolling for the reception following the funeral service. 

Andy's funeral will be on Saturday with the committal service at the Nat'l. Cemetery Monday. Carol's call today was to ask me to bring a salad of some sort for the luncheon. She said, "Normally I don't ask you to bring food....." and trailed off. It was funny! I can most certainly bring food, and will gladly do so. I love my friends for making me laugh! And I love Publix!

                                               

This is an awesome week, aside from the fact that Linda went home (I need a moment here, please....okay!). Today was Bible study, a fabulous discussion continuing regarding infant baptism and that of adults. Then my lunch with Brenda. 

This evening Justin and I are going to see a live-streamed comedy tour from Texas, with dinner prior to the show. I might get another taste of the pretzel sticks with beer cheese dip (TGIF) or go to 5 Guys, depending upon how much time we have. 

Friday afternoon Amber will come for Bible history class and that evening I am back at Victory for Trivia Night. That is so exciting for me! Saturday I am going back for a wedding shower for the son and daughter-in-law of Marilyn. Terri T. is also going so I might see about sharing a ride. 

                          

Since I saw the service folder for Sunday I am considering going to Victory for worship but we shall see about that. They are using the Morning Praise order of service. Decisions, decisions, decisions....I will have to check the football schedules to see how the day might play out. Get it? Play out???

KimFest

Sitting here in my window with the sun on me, and I am hot! Perhaps my outfit helps me to be so warm---jeans and a long sleeved knit top. It was only 74 this morning when I got dressed but it has heated up nicely to the high 80's. Guess I could change my clothes....or turn on my ceiling fan!

                                                  

We could have used the sun yesterday but it stayed pretty much overcast the majority of the time. Intermittent showers or a mist in the air made for a sleepy day, with Linda finding herself sort of foggy the balance of her stay. She thinks she slept too long but I wonder if the weather influenced the grogginess. Breakfast at Grumpy's was enjoyable and quite delicious---both of us having fresh strawberries on pancakes. Oh my!

Linda wanted to take a peek in the Tuesday Morning store where I had never been. Years ago my mom went with Louise B. and she told me I was never to go there. Mom knew I would find many things to buy, and we certainly can't have that! For all these years I obeyed except yesterday, when I did not. 

Fortunately I came away with only a few items, none of them decorator pieces for myself. Got, of all things, my CHRISTmas cards, which are just gorgeous, at half price. They were so new to the shelf that they did not yet appear in the computer for the lady to charge me for them! No worries, she managed...How odd to be buying CHRISTmas cards at this time of the year!

                                                  

Linda bought pink earbuds to use with her iPad on the plane, plus picked up a gift for her friend. She used the bubble wrap which protected the hand-painted glasses to pack up her purchase for the trip home.

*****

The other night when sitting around the pool, Linda and I were discussing how to go about getting us together with Judy R. sometime. Judy had sent me a message saying she wished she was with us, and was waiting for an invitation. Somehow, Linda and Judy have not met in person, save for a glancing introduction at the Women's Leadership Conference in 2007. We sure dropped the ball on this one! 

Anyway, as we pondered aloud how to make this happen, whether in WI, MN, or in FL, Lee piped up with a brilliant idea---KimFest! She suggested I invite all my friends to come here, and those who are not local could stay in the hotel on the property....and have a KimFest!!! We could have t-shirts made up (or not!) and just have everyone get to know each other at one big event. Great idea, Lee! Now that I think about it, I could probably rent the pool and cabana area like the big wedding event a couple weekends ago! Or not! I really like this idea....my gears are turning!

Lee at the pool (excuse my cell phone camera)

Justin had a short day yesterday due to the rain so he was here to say 'good-bye' to Linda as well as help load her suitcase in my car. Now he will have an extra long day on Friday to make up for the missed yards. Usually they can work in the rain but some areas were under water which won't allow for the mowers to move through easily. 

A couple weeks ago, I made an appointment to have Justin's teeth cleaned, since it had been three years between visits. Yikes! He and I joked about the TV show where the genius men still have their mothers go to the dentist with them....and I went with my genius this morning! 

                   

Primarily I went along because of having to pay the bill. There is some insurance available to him which certainly helps with this, as he has 9 cavities!!! Two of them are sizable ones, with one of those two a possible root canal. Oh, for goodness' sake! Next week he has an appointment to tackle the two major ones and hope to avoid the root canal. I had not bargained for that much expense! But he has such a lovely smile....

The day has arrived....

Later today I must take my friend to the airport, but for now, we will simply enjoy this sunrise. Not much sunshine at all today, which is entirely fitting for my mood!

The fun draws to a close

Please don't tell Justin this but my camera phone stinks! My pictures are never as good as those from other cell phone cameras. Terri T.'s pictures are usually so nice and clear, but mine are less than that. Oh, well---these will simply have to do!

As I may have mentioned, Saturday we enjoyed the evening poolside. We had a steak 'n shrimp dinner served from the cabana. What a glorious night it was, too! Lee was part of our group, joined later by Andy, whom Linda and I had encountered Friday night during the poolside Happy Hour. During the winter, I had breakfast with Andy in The Club when no one else showed up for the Breakfast Club. We became FB friends and had not seen each other in the flesh since then. 

*****

This afternoon when Linda and I got back from Bible study and lunch, Connie greeted us with some deliveries. One we had been expecting, and another was something Justin ordered. Tommy had sent the box via UPS, containing an ornately decorated cheese head Linda made up for Justin. There is a banner on it which states "Owner" plus other embellishments. As she told Justin, it is decorative and fragile, no jumping around with it on! I will post a photograph of it later.

Besides the cheesehead, the box contained a couple things for me!!! Linda had commissioned two cobalt blue goblets, painted with white daisies. Her sister's friend does the painting and I LOVE LOVE LOVE these glasses!!! Besides the color being perfect, it's so cool how Linda knows so well what I would like!

The air temp was great today so we two ladies decided to 'suit up' and head to the pool. Because the teens' pool is more shallow, it stays warmer and has full sun most afternoons. Linda and I eased our way into the water and managed to kick around for an hour or so without freezing. She has to be careful with her skin, and had not applied sun screen so we got out for a while. We moved up to the adult area to sit for a bit and chatted there until we heard thunder in the distance. It was a false alarm but neither of us were wearing our running shoes.

Since nothing else was planned for the day, we both got into our comfortable attire (i.e. nighties) and settled in to watch GBTV on the Roku. And took a snooze! Linda teased me about how I could simply turn over and immediately begin to snore! Out like a light! She sat in the wing back chair which Justin carried in here for her use. I was refreshed in no time at all!

During The Five, I had to excuse myself to go up to Travis' condo to see if the water was leaking. Herve seems to have found the spot where the water was getting in around his sliding glass door. On Sunday we'd done a pre-test without Travis being there, which was successful. This time Travis was there, and witnessed for himself the water coming up under the tile, water from the hose Herve used to test the upstairs doors. 

I told Herve I was optimistic about the repair and he said something like "that's standard with you"...I gave him a big hug in celebration of this part of the problem apparently being solved. Now, the floor leaking in 404 needs to be addressed, and I will be just fine!

For dinner we ate a prepared meatloaf Justin had purchased at Publix a couple weeks ago. I made two giant baked potatoes plus reheated some leftover potato skins from Chili's. We ended up with a chunk of the meat left plus the equivalent of one baked potato. They were huge! Linda and I should have shared one.

Tomorrow our plans are simple but include breakfast at Grumpy's! We would have the option of the water exercise class, if it's warm enough. Or, we could just stop by after our nice breakfast to visit with the folks....

Sunday is a wrap

Linda and I are sitting here watching TV and unwinding from a thrill-packed evening of sitting around the pool. We just love it! Friday night as everyone was breaking up, we decided to meet again on Sunday night. It was BYOB plus I made a batch a popcorn. It was a mixed batch of some scorched and some not scorched. Fortunately, a few people actually like the blackened kernels!

We had fewer folks around the table tonight than we had on Friday evening, a more intimate setting. The temperature was comfortable enough for sitting around but certainly not warm enough for those brave souls who were swimming. One little girl told us she screamed when she stuck her toe in the water. I believe her!

Our day began like a usual Sunday with Bible study and worship. Linda was welcomed warmly, and it made me chuckle when Twila was surprised to see her. She said, "Nothing was said about you coming!" Really? Nothing? Are you kidding me???

After 35 minutes of classtime, we recessed to the church to run through a 'song'. This particular song had been on the hymn board a few weeks ago, with Sterling playing the piano for the first time in worship. Pastor was gone and Mike C. was our worship leader. No one knew when to come in when he played through it, so after a few stanzas (we think....), he simply quit playing. Very odd and quite upsetting all the way around.

So today we practiced  in order to be able to sing it. Took some doing, but we did it. Pastor wanted a few of us to stand near the piano or in the back to lead but no one wished to do that. I was already in the back at the podium so managed to sing out when the time came. 

Sterling had asked me to give the signal when he had played enough stanzas of the hymns, because he had troubles keeping count. I asked Kristi to do that because eventually I do sit down in the pew. She is in the back row and can signal him better from her vantage point. Only once did he play more stanza than the actual hymn had but tapered it off very nicely. 

At the close of the service, Pastor announced that there was a Congregational/Voters meeting after church. Sterling played one hymn for the recessional and then stopped abruptly. He came running over to me and asked me how he could log into the church computer to print off the Minutes. I told him Mike S. could help him do that, as he was already at the computer printing his reports. A busy day for Sterling!

After the rather swiftly handled meeting, a group of us were off to Chili's to have lunch. The other Mike S. treated the entire table, claiming he had a 'really good week'. I love it when that happens! I do feel badly about having the pretzel bread sticks, though, since that added to the bill, but I didn't know!

Linda and I went from the restaurant to Great Hang Ups for the opening of the show, to see my photograph hanging on the wall. I didn't win a prize but was Juried into the show. "It's an honor to be nominated...." This makes me now four for four---no rejections so far! I don't take rejection well....

Speaking of such, Linda and I watched the end of the Jaguar game, me with a pillow over my face at their horrible playing. They had rain during part of the game, and we had rain at my house during the second half. But Justin came home with sunburned knees, from after the rain! I asked him if he had a good time with the tailgating and all that and he said, "Yeah, until the game started...." Next week, it's ours, I just know it!