Taking a break

I am unapologetic about my deep interest in current affairs, most especially the politics of the day. Not only the presidential race and the survival of our nation as we know it, (no, that is not being overly dramatic) but, also the tumult in the Middle East and everywhere else the world is on fire. In all this, one can wonder what the Lord has in mind with all the disruption and potential for disaster. Is it because the world has turned its back on Him? One cannot help but suppose this to be true. 

BUT, this afternoon, I am taking a break from pondering the terrors in our future, the uncertainty of our financial state, and that of our children. Instead, my attention is directed to a Facebook page dedicated to a young woman named Ruth. Ruth---what a lovely name!

Several months ago I read about this young woman, watched a video recording of her infant son being baptized while yet in the NICU bassinet, using a wet cotton ball to wash John with the saving water and Word. If memory serves, he was baptized by his grandfather.

The mom, Ruth, was diagnosed with stomach cancer during her pregnancy. Rather than risk the health of the baby with surgery or other treatment, Ruth chose to go untreated until such time it was safe to deliver the baby. Her cancer was advanced and the prognosis not good....at least for her earthly existence.

Now, Ruth is in her final stages, as folks expect at any moment to be told she breathed her last breath. Her baby lies alongside of her on occasion, as family and friends take turns helping to care for her husband and the baby. Both the parents are students, or were, at Bethany Lutheran College, MN, with Ruth being extremely gifted musically.

The postings on Facebook come in fast and furious, with today being no exception. Her father-in-law reports in every so often, telling how she responded when the Hospice nurse was there, about the prayers he says with her, and so on. 

Her friends, and those who have never met her but are FB friends, send in their comments, wishing Ruth a speedy arrival in heaven so her suffering on earth will come to an end. Many, many, many are people who know them from school (MN and WI) report how they will remember Ruth. Her musical abilities, her kindness and sweet nature, the strength of her faith in God, her love, oh my goodness---the outpouring!!

What strikes me most (I have meant to write about this all week) are the hymn stanzas folks are putting in their postings. Our rich, rich treasure in the hymnals, the great bounty of comfort and assurance. Last week one woman wrote about the hymns selected for weddings. I somehow failed to notice, or was too distracted to notice, how many hymns end with the same thoughts---that of heaven. Ruth would play the organ and sing for weddings, which is even more moving about all this.

Nearly every posting remarks about Ruth's fine example of Christian love she is for others, that this will be her legacy for her son. I personally hope that someone with such a skill will be able to scoop the postings into a book for her son and husband to cherish. But more than anything, it's the hymn stanzas being posted that stir me, as many of them are favorites of mine. 

My heart aches for this young woman I do not know, and for the husband and infant son, and for the parents on each side of the family. Perhaps a smidge more for her parents as they are not 'supposed' to be burying their children. Hopefully they will soon so Ruth can begin her time at the heavenly banquet, singing with the choir around the throne with the other saints and angels.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150540626434492

P.S. (from Facebook) At 12:38 am on Sept. 30th, Ruth passed from this life to the arms of her Lord in heaven.

Oh, this is getting good....and scary!

Taken verbatim from a news website: 

In case you did not hear that clearly, we will transcribe it as best we can. 

“Everybody in Cleveland, low minorities, got Obama phone. Keep Obama in president, you know. He gave us a phone, he gonna do more.”

The person shooting the video asks, "How did he give you a phone?" to which the woman replies: “You sign up! If you on food stamps, you on social security, you got low income, you disability…”

The video includes a cut at that point and picks up with the filmer asking “What’s wrong with Romney?” Without blinking, the passionate Obama supporter says:

“Romney, he sucks! Bad.” (End of posting on website)

The woman in the video is nearly screeching/hollering during this rant...oh my!

This needs to appear in all the ads, ending with the words: "...and I endorse this message!"

It must be fall...

...because the silver is gone from my hair! Less and less of my day spent outside in the sun means less play with the colors on my head. It was just time for me to put the silver to rest until next summer. Last week at Trivia Anne commented about how good it looked on me, but then said she has to keep hers at bay because of work. She said the darker hair is her 'edge' among the younger folks with whom she works. My friend, Rita, said her hair is normally the color of the one section of my bangs which goes almost white, and has been that way since she was a teenager. She washes it away, too, and is ten years my junior.

                                        

Today is going to be a good day besides the silver being gone. Judy C. called me last night to see if I wanted to go to the movies today. Yes, I do! The movie, "Won't Back Down" is starting today and we are excited to see it. It is a fictional story based on real life events (what???) about the mess in the gov't. school system. Judy has enjoyed "Freedom Writers" and "Waiting for Superman" with me, and now this one will be enjoyed today!

                                               

Monday, after the committal service, Mike drove Judy and me to Joann Fabrics to select material for Judy to make valances for the Fellowship Hall windows. We chose a patterned accent fabric with burgundy, beige, and some other colors, plus a wine-colored main fabric. Judy is going to use the accent piece for along the rod pocket. She was very excited to get going on this project. 

                                             

After we were done shopping, Judy asked if we were interested in getting some lunch and I answered "Yes!" She laughed, because she was really asking Michael. If he was not interested, then he could drop himself off at his truck and we ladies would basically ditch him. But, nope, he was in, so we went back over to TGIF. Judy loved the soup and salad we had when we saw "Last Ounce of Courage" and wanted another go at it. Wonder if we will go there again today....She did love the clam chowder they had two weeks ago, when Linda was here.

Speaking of Linda---we were chatting this morning, and she mentioned how it was nearly time for her to leave for work, in the dark! In a month or more, we will 'fall back' and it will be darker yet when she leaves at the 'butt crack of dawn'. It surely does seem to stay dark longer but this might be my imagination.

The weatherman reported last night (local guy) that we would think it's summer again this weekend. Some would think that temps in the mid-80's are summer like, and I bet I will again next spring, but find the 90's more to my liking. My friend, Yvonne, is back in the pool, having had to take 5 weeks off due to a hand injury. This is the lady that had the candy buffet for her daughter's graduation party. She likes to swim in the colder weather, not quite doing so all year 'round, but very near. The Palace gang can sit outside for a long time provided the temps stay high enough.

                                             

This weekend is the end of the cabana season. Jokingly I told the gang at The Club Wednesday that I was going to stock my freezer with burgers from the cabana, like a bear getting ready for winter. Saturday folks will gather to watch the Gator game and Sunday would have been the Jaguar game but it's on at 4:00 pm, an hour before the cabana closes. Shoot! My throat is still sore from last week's screaming!

Pie, anyone?

Justin made us a pie for our dessert tonight. He had me pick up frozen crusts when at Wal*Mart and away he went! The apples were a thank you gift from my neighbor, Nancy, for Justin's help with her computer last week Wednesday. They were apples from the mountains of NC, brought back by Nancy who spent the summer up there. Not ones to eat fruit in its original form, a pie is born!

My poor boy!

I am feeling badly for Justin, who went to the dentist today. At first he was excited because she (Peggy, our dentist) has DISH TV in her office, shown on the ceiling, so he could watch the radio show of which we are fans while getting his work done. He is not happy now....

Since I had not heard from him, I finally sent him a text message asking if he was okay. His brief answer was "lots of pain". He is with his father today and probably is limited on the ability to communicate with me so was not too wordy in his answers. What he did say was "No" to my question if he is okay, and "No" to my question of "Should I call the dentist?" I wish I knew more of what he was feeling and why. I hope he is not putting on a brave face for his father. 

He did have to drive to Ponte Vedra to meet his father after getting done at the dentist which likely adds to his misery. Justin hates to use his car any more than necessary and that is quite a trip to PV from here. I had so wished he would not inherit my goofy teeth!

****

I made up for the lost sleep of the night before, finally waking up for good around 8:00 a.m. I had awakened once, before 6:00, and heard some of the 'before' news prior to "Fox and Friends", and then was gone again to la la land for a couple more hours. Wow! I did nap a couple times yesterday afternoon which seemingly did not affect my night's rest. The bad news is that I did not get to chat with Linda before she left her home for the day. 

Justin left for the dentist as I was waking up but he did get a chance to say 'good-bye' before going out the door. He was surprised to find me yet asleep. The next hour or so was used to catch up on the missed computer time, getting my daily Bible passage posted, and checking on what happened overnight. All caught up!

*****

Over at The Club, machinery has been at work, as men remove the huge A/C units and air cleaners from the roof, in order to access the roofing material. A replacement roof is being installed, about 5 years after it was originally built (the garden room). Patching and temporary fixes were insufficient so the whole works had to come off and started over. I walked over there to take some pictures, and, of course, offer my assistance to the project. Thankfully, my offer was declined!

Mitch, the maintenance man, was busily mixing up concrete to fill in the hole where the water main was ruptured (in two places, I am told). I assumed wrongly that the big crane did something to the main as the rupture occurred in the courtyard entrance to The Club, far from the crane. Mitch was just dripping in sweat as he worked, so I did not offer him any help, fearing he might take it!

Speaking of The Club, during one of my relaxation moments yesterday, I got a phone call from Chef Sheldon. He wanted to ask if I had any suggestions to improve the Happy Hour night prix fixe menu. They are thinking of adjusting the fare as some are growing weary of it or something. These meals are offered once or twice a month at a reasonable charge.

The manatees enjoying the weather September 25

Normally I am not there for HH on Wednesdays during the year because of choir, but now, with no choir, I can attend! I asked for sirloin sliders like we used to get at the cabana, being a meat 'n potatoes girl. Also, I told Chef that I am not a fish lover but many people with whom I associate are fish lovers. Hopefully I was helpful and supportive of the effort to please the masses! I told him I was about the people and the food mattered little, unless I really like it!

Eight years ago at this time, my part of the world here in North Florida was bracing for Hurricane Jeanne. Without it being a direct hit, the First Coast was slammed pretty good, wreaking all sorts of damage. It was also during this storm that our pastor and his wife (Pete and Tarren) were having their first baby, Lucas. It is hard to believe he is 8 years old already, and harder yet to think it was that long ago I bought the house on the lake!

My nephew, Gabe, and Lucas playing on the floor at The Palace, June 2006, after Justin's graduation. They are eating donut holes. Not sure where Manny was for all this....

My church family

Saturday at church, for Andy's funeral, I was quite impressed with the morticians who were handling the care and such for the family. Afterward, when everyone else had moved into the Fellowship Hall, I spoke to the man who seemed to be in charge and thanked him for taking such good care of "my family". The lady with him and he thanked me for the compliment and reminded me it was their job, but it seemed like so much more than only a job to them. 

Later on, when talking with Fran and her son, Dennis, about the art work, I mentioned to them how wonderful the funeral director seemed to be. They were impressed with the care they provided, and told them what I said to the guy. 

Monday the available members joined the family at the National Cemetery for the committal service. What a nice crowd there was! We gathered first at welcome center where we could visit until the caravan left for the site. I had a chance to  chat some more with Dennis and his wife. He was wondering how the service was going to be, as he was already weeping a bit. I told him it would be extremely significant as well as emotional, and important for us all. Then, he hugged me and said, "Thank you for calling us your family...." Of course, I meant it, but it was nice to have that acknowledgement.

Six men served again as pall bearers, and the funeral director presented them all with a boutonniere. Very nice touch, I thought. Brad came and stepped in as pall bearer in Frank's place. Frank was able to attend, as he works next door at the prison as an electrician, but was in work clothes. 

The military Honor Guard were already in place, immediately playing Taps and doing the flag folding ceremony. Mikey was quite moved starting with the taps, taking the whole thing quite hard. Saturday he had held up nicely but the committal was harder. Might have been the playing of Taps, the flag folding, or Kristi singing "America, the Beautiful" which put him away. And me, as well!

                     

It was a glorious day weather-wise. I had ridden out with Judy and Michael C., at their invitation. Love that! I stood with Terri, who was also extremely moved since her dad's committal service was held here as well. The tears were flowing all around, hearing others sniffling or seeing them blow their noses. It might have been in sympathy for Mikey, too, since he was struggling so with the passing of his grandpa.

Pastor had a couple readings and then we were dismissed. The hostess for the cemetery urged us to move along as another committal was coming right behind ours, but we did linger a bit, saying good-bye to the family as they headed back to their homes. Andy's cousin hugged me and said, "You just make it all so nice, with that smile of yours..." He was a sweetheart. His wife had taken our picture earlier at the Center. 

As I said good-bye to Dennis and his family, he hugged me and thanked me for being so welcoming to them when they come down to visit. As we parted he said, "Take care of her..." and I promised I would take good care of Fran. I love my family!

                      

Judy, Michael, and I joined Terri in visiting her dad's grave-site. We had to walk a distance as the road was busy with trucks taking care of another burial. Pastor joined us for this. Terri had a bouquet of artificial flowers to place at his marker and I had a small flag along in my purse. I stuck it in the vase with the flowers and Terri took a picture of it. 

How remarkable this place has grown in the two years since Gordy's committal. I said we should have asked Kristi to come with us to sing something there and Pastor said, "You could sing something, you're a soprano...". I said, "No, I don't think I could do it." Terri said I could sing something cheerful and we all decided that even Happy Birthday would put me away that day! 

Up from my nap

Yawn and stretch! Took a bit of a nap, the real kind of nap with eyes closed and probably my mouth hanging open. I was dog-tired! For a number of reasons, my sleep last night was disturbed and I hate it!

First of all, Monday morning I noticed that when I exhaled, I could hear and perhaps feel a wheeze. No congestion or other cold type symptoms, but a whistling/wheezing sound which seemed to worsen as the day went on. Where did that come from? Well, I did get quite excited watching the Jaguar game (the 2nd half) in the cabana Sunday and some screaming ensued. Did that do it?

In an attempt to be rid of the whistle sound, I would make myself cough, hoping to break loose whatever was caught. Later in the afternoon, I went to Publix at Loch Rane and asked the pharmacist what to take for it. She suggested Mucinex or Robitussin, which comes in liquid form. I knew Justin has Mucinex on hand so bought a nice bottle of the Robit. stuff. When I got home, I realized it was the kid's formula. Ugh! Time for me to go the HOME!

I took a swig of the liquid stuff and was resting when Justin came home. The whistle was still there so Justin gave me two of his tablets, of which I took one. I don't know when it stopped, but the noise did stop and thus far today---I am whistleless!

And so is my toilet! When I got home yesterday, I was cleaning my bathroom sink, having sprayed it with Lime Away before leaving in the a.m. As I rinsed the cloth, the water slowed to a dribble and then stopped. Now what? 

Connie was called and knew nothing about it so was getting busy making calls, and I got on the computer. You can count on me! Once logged in, I read my e-mails and sure enough, there was a note from Kerrie at The Club, announcing a broken water main. The water was shut off to the entire property. I let Connie know of this development and waited for it to come back on. Later Connie asked me to send a memo to our Owners letting them know it might be off until 5 or 6 pm. Wow! Good thing I have four potties!

When the water came on around 4:30 pm, I started the washer again to finish my load before Justin got home. The washer spit and sputtered as always happens when water has been shut off. I ran water in the sink to finish the cleaning job, and then flushed my toilet. It began to fill and then made a clunking sound, jiggling the ceramic top. My heart went to my throat!

                                        

I flushed it again, after removing the top of the toilet, and I could hear a whistling sound. (What is this with the whistling today???????) I jiggled the handle, lifted the float, and monkeyed carefully with the equipment, but it persisted. Now what? I put the cover back on and tried to NOT hear it. You know how that worked, I bet!

All night long I was listening, twice throwing off my blankets thinking I could hear water. It was not running, no water was moving in the bowl, but I was vigilant anyway. 

This morning I was messaging with Linda before she left for work, telling her about the toilet whistling. I had already told her  my chest whistling had gone away. At the same time we both wrote that I should put a Mucinex in the toilet tank!!!! 

My downstairs neighbor, Jeff, came up a few minutes ago, could hear the whistling/hissing sound, bent around on the rod supporting the float, and the sound stopped. 

                                                

Yay for Jeff!!! It's in his best interest to have my plumbing in good working order, as we just passed the two year anniversary of The Great Flood. He is my hero, and tonight I will welcome sleep. Not only was sleep bothered by water concerns but I think the medicine might have helped with my restlessness. Add to that the NFL refs blowing the call on the last play of the Packer game and I was shot for the night!!!