Maundy Thursday

One of the finest things we do at GS is this---the ceremonial stripping of the altar by the Altar Guild. 

At the close of the service, the acolyte approaches the altar and extinguishes the altar candles by blowing them out rather than snuffing. Then, carries the still lit Christ candle to the rear of the church. The lights have been dimmed at this point so the light of that sole candle shows more brightly.

                

                         Pastor, Ethel, Bonnie, Ellen, Terri, Donna, Twila

Once the acolyte is in back, the six ladies approach the chancel, walking in pairs, evenly spaced. Next, Pastor removes his shawl and lays it over the outstretched arms of Ethel, second from left in the photo. Her daughter, Terri, is carefully folding the communion linens and will lay them over her mom's arms piece by piece until the altar is bare. 

Ethel, Bonnie, Terri, and Ellen

The other ladies carry the candle holders, challice, paten, and the communion ware down the aisle, slowly, again in pairs. A hymn plays softly in the background, no singing, timed to conclude as Pastor carries the brass cross down the aisle. The congregation leaves the chapel in darkness and in silence.

Last year, Robbie sang "What Wondrous Love Is This" acapella during this ceremony. At the Pastor's Conference in January when the ladies did this for the service, an area pastor sang Psalm 116 acapella, again timed to conclude as Pastor carried the cross down the aisle. 

Now, on Easter Sunday, a procession will bring the Paschal candle in, with Pastor carrying the cross up the aisle. The choir will process as well, to a point, singing in jubilation. No more silent, but resounding with joy that He is risen!

Plenty of thinking going on here

Ooh, my hands are just freezing, can barely type. You'd think I was making snowballs or something, rather than sitting in my nice house in relative warmth. Speaking of warmth, it occurred to me that all these months of non-pool activity seems to be easier on my knees than being in the pool. What does that mean? Or is it my imagination?

                                         

                           This is the type I bought

At the store the other day I found a jar of olive bruchetta which I thought might take the place of the muffaletta I like from Basketique. It is a smaller jar in size but less than half the cost of the muffaletta. The sad thing is, the flavor is lacking, but I don't know what it is lacking. Can I fix it? I put it out on FB last night to see if any of the foodies in the crowd would know what to do. My friend, Jacquie, seemed to think it was a difference in the oils used, which means I cannot fix it. The bruchetta does not have a bad taste, but is more like no taste at all.

The other day I had a conversation with my mom, not interrupted by driving. I was actually at home, and so was she. Mom had big news to report, having gotten a phone call from a woman she used to babysit for in the early 1940's. To compress this story---the caller is the mom of the choir director who came with the LPS group last Tuesday. Through a conversation, Randy and I made the inevitable WELS connections, and voila!, Mom is reconnected with this lady. They talked for an hour, comparing notes and matching up information with the caller, Carol. It was a great trip for Mom to take down memory lane, and I love it for her. It seems Carol was at my cousin, Rochelle's, funeral a couple years ago but we never realized it. Cool!

***

I was listening to a program yesterday where the hosts were talking about some of the elected leaders, and men in general, being shaped in their adult lives by what their father was. Tiger Woods (not an elected official) was one example, a negative example, of following in his father's footsteps. His dad had a history of infidelity and had it overlooked, and Tiger expected it to be the same for himself. 

Some of the elected guys, those in the forefront of many discussions, are who they are as a result of their father's influence. Like it or not. Even the president has done it---what his father  said and did in life is how PresBO learned to think. His cultural influence, and the others cultural and familial influences, come into play in adulthood. 

"The purpose of a university should be to make a son as unlike his father as possible." Woodrow Wilson (How is that for a tragic goal?)

In the book I read about a mom's influence on their son's lives, Mom, as the nurturer, helps to influence the "style" of the son, how he is going to treat others and conduct himself. The same is true for the relationship between fathers and daughters, according to the author. 

I just love these type of conversations, or programs, as the case might be, especially when discussing the upcoming changes coming into popularity in education. They really get my brain busy! New standardized curriculums, data/information collection, based on states getting stimulus money. Dangerous! The education system will measure everything about a child from preschool through graduation, directing their path for them rather than the student doing so. Right now it is in the gov't. schools but we should not be surprised to see these problems getting into the private and parochial schools at some time. Talk about insidious influences!

A cold snap is upon us

Yes, once again, the Southeast is faced with record low temperatures overnight. I understand that there was frost inland but I think the low here was 37. None of the plants at The Club are dressed like ghosts which makes me believe we did not face freezing temps. 

Things around here are not covered with frost, but rather, with concrete dust. I just looked out toward my car from the balcony and saw it coated with the same dust. Perhaps when I get gas later, I should go to Shell on Fleming Island to get the car wash---as if that would help!

My downstairs neighbor just called me to ask if her housekeeper can park in my extra spot. Of course, she can, if Connie allows it. Apparently Connie told her she cannot park there but I say she can! Tracy told me earlier this a.m. that she has taped around some of her doors in an effort to keep the dust at bay. I feel badly for the poor cleaning lady, battling against the dust!

The guys just shut down the jackhammers for lunch and I realized how loud my radio is! There is also the work going on above me but that I barely notice because of the outside noise. Guess I can see why this repair was so long in coming---it is such a pain! My ears overheard a report the other day that the concrete leading up to the entrance courtyards by the doors is in good condition and will not need to be taken out. That is a cost/time savings right there, but they could not determine this until the tile and its barrier was removed. The guys seem to know how deeply to remove the layers.

                                              

After my shower,  I grabbed that battery-operated Swiffer Justin got for me, to just tidy up around my bed. No sooner did I begin the process, but the battery quit. It is now charging for another go at it. 

Justin had to launder the area rug I keep next to my bed after dropping his pizza slice on it the other night. Oops! After he had taken up the rug, I found a crumble of sausage under my bed, and the cord of my laptop had sauce on it. Ew! I put the sausage in the sink and washed my hands, and forgot about it. Well, yesterday when brushing my teeth, I had the water running, and there was this pinkish-hued item floating in the water. I thought, "Now what???" as I hastily swept through my mouth with my tongue. All was in place. I got up my nerve to pick it up and then remembered the errant sausage crumble from last night. Whew! I must be getting nervous about my upcoming dental procedure next week....

Just thought of something else to report---last night I was sitting here, perusing my receipt from Publix, from my Monday purchases. It seems the other lady and I did the right thing by taking the store-brand of ham, as it was on sale! I saved nearly $13 on my choice, and did not even know it. This showed up on the receipt. Nice! However, I was horrified to see that I paid $1.69 for that 20 oz. bottle of Sprite for baking said ham, when I could have gotten an entire 12 pack for $4. Easily I could have taken a case of Sprite Zero and enjoyed it. I went from smart shopper to foolish one in two seconds flat!

I came upon this poem...

Broken Chain

We little knew the day that God would call your name
In life we loved you dearly, in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you, You did not go alone.
For part of us went with you, The day God called you home.
You left us peaceful memories, Your love is still our guide.
And though we cannot see you, You are always at our side.
Our family chain is broken, And nothing seems to be the same.
But as God calls us one by one, The chain will link again.


Ron Tanmer

Such a racket!

I was sitting in the dining room helping Justin with his packing to move. My job? Sort and roll socks, and fold numerous t-shirts and polos. Roughly? Perhaps 50 of them, possibly more. My shoulder got sore, only one of them strangely enough, from all the folding. 

                            

Here is Sheldon, the obsessive/compulsive star of The Big Bang Theory, folding his weekday t-shirts with this device. He washes and dries his clothes on Saturday night at 8:15 pm. Once, to upset him, Penny went downstairs and used every washer, promptly at 8:14 pm! Justin is ordering this device for his use at his new home.

It reminded me of my married days, when I would refer to my spouse's closet as the "land of a thousand shirts". In Italian, the word is "millecamicia". Justin would prefer that to the English expression. Justin wanted his shirts folded into squares which I did my best to do. He meant folded, I later discovered, as compared to rolled, so he could pack them in his bins more readily. 

At this moment he has taken a load of packed plastic bins (only plastic used these days, after the Great Flood of 2010!) to the new house, using my car. His hatch doesn't open any longer in his car, and mine is much easier to load from the back. Thankfully, The Palace has a dolly! 

He reportedly got 10 such bins into my car for his ride to Mandarin. He is allowing 30 minutes to the house, 30 to unload, and another 30 to get back here. We will reload the cars, then, and go over together. Dinner is at Chili's on that side of the river, as he has a coupon for the pretzel sticks. Yum!

In this packing situation, his stuff has now taken over the living room and the dining room tables. It is easier to pack in wide open spaces and there is no extra space in his room to do so. All I hope for is the messes be cleared away for the Easter feast. 

Another fun job I got was sorting a gallon-sized resealable bag stuffed with writing implements. He said they were accumulated since high school, which is very likely so. Justin and I both appreciate writing tools, even though I type most of the time now. Anyway, he only wished to keep 'special' pens and pencils (i.e. one from the Waldorf-Astoria) so the rest, those I don't want, are going to church. There must have been more than a hundred in the collection, which I patiently wiped clean with a baby wiper before handling. I have a 'thing' about yukky stuff, you know? (see Sheldon above...) Besides, I love the smell of the wipers!

While I was sitting out in the dining room, doing the folding and socks, I tried to listen to my programs on the radio. Not possible! Without wishing to blast the radio, I decided to simply listen to the sound of the jack hammers busily breaking the tiles, and the silence, right below my unit. I feel badly for those who live on the 2nd floor, with this outside their doors and windows all day. They are working longer days this week in order to leave early on Good Friday. 

                              

This earlier morning, Justin was in my room, making his battle plans for the day. I was lamenting the accumulation of concrete/grout dust settling on my exterior doors and even on my floors from us walking about. Knowing how sensitive I am about dust, he said he has to move out of here because of it. Ha, he cracks me up!  I will dust, lightly, on Saturday, but that's it, with my apologies to the guests on Sunday for the rest!

I'm going to miss him!

My Justin is in the process of packing stuff up in his room right now, too busy to cook for us. Instead, we ordered Pizza Hut sliders, our first taste of them, for our dinner. They are the size of small personal pan pizzas, nine in the order, with three different types of toppings. My three had ground beef, black olives, and onions. The remainder of the order has pepperoni, bacon, and onions. Quite delicious! We ate 5 of the order with the four leftover for two more meals. Not bad for $10 plus delivery.

                     

Today after Bible study and lunch, I went to the Argyle Publix to do my Easter feast shopping. As long as I was out, I might as well get the shopping out of the way. A lady and I discussed the pros and cons of Smithfield Hams, with the cons winning. We both went for the store-brand, which was less expensive by half. I bought a single bottle of Sprite to pour over the ham while I bake it on Sunday. I am so excited!

                                        

My sister, Kerry, sent me a recipe yesterday for a dessert she tried successfully. The ingredient list was simple---angel food cake mix and a can of crushed pineapple packed in its one juice. I can't wait to try it for Sunday's dessert. Somehow or another, I thought that Cool Whip came in flavors but apparently fat-free and sugar-free are not flavors. My mistake! I was thinking there was chocolate and a strawberry flavor. I did find the new frosting, though, the Cool Whip frosting, which sure does look enticing and probably a bit too tempting! I walked away.....

While Justin was sitting at my desk this evening, I commented to him that something was wrong with my camera. The photos I took indoors at church Sunday were all blurry. Nuts! He picked up the camera and looked at it for one second and said, "It's set on manual focus..." and moved the switch over. Oh, I am going to miss him!!!

By the light of day

Thankfully the rain has taken a break at this moment because my building is now without power yet again. There is daylight! When I called in to JEA to report the outage, the recording told me I was the only one. Now that scared me! Why just me? My payment has been taken care of and it is not very likely only MY unit would shut down. 

From the kitchen I heard shoes outside my door and there was Herve, my neighbor, on his way up the steps to the 5^th floor. When I announced my power being out, he said yes, everyone’s was out. I told him what the recording told me, but he assured me everyone was out in our area. I could hear the elevator ‘alarm’ beeping downstairs which did show me all were included in this outage. Herve said he heard the transformer blow somewhere further south on the property which is somewhat a big deal, as we remember from last summer’s lengthy outage from our transformer.

               

This computer had the battery disconnected to extend its life so I managed to plug it in and make use of it. I will leave it on after the power comes back to charge it up to full. Right now I am on 1/3 strength so won’t be able to write too long here. At the same time, I am charging my cell phone using the battery from my computer (thank you, Justin!). Once this battery goes, I am sitting in quiet---not a good look for me! Guess I could wind up my music boxes for sound. OR, I can go down to the car to charge the little laptop and my phone, and listen to the radio at the same time. A trip down and then back up the stairs…hmmm….come on, JEA!

Back again---electricity restored after two and a half hours. I now have all my devices plugged in to charge up. I should always remember to keep their battries filled for just such experiences. The recorded voice from the electric company informed me a branch or vine took down the line. That is much better than a transformer being out, by about 9 1/2 hours, based on last year's outage of 12 hours!!!