Let's talk about love

A long time ago (really???) my pastor friend, Pete, talked about the great overuse of the word "love". We just 'love' everything, from pizza to sunrises to new outfits. But do we actually love somethings in the same way as we do people? Or as much as God loves us? I'm going to say 'no' to that last question because I would guess giving my only Son into death for a pizza would never happen. Certainly there are different types of love, but I do so wish there was another word between 'like' and 'love'. 

I am incredibly fond of my friend, Rita, who has only recently been up on two feet after a terrible health situation this summer. It happened while I was gone to WI and she filled me in when I got back. Today, as we left Bible study, we said 'good-bye' across the parking lot. Then I thought better of it and called to her, "I need to hug on you..." and she said, "You better!" Aw, I needed to give her such big hugs after what she has been through, and I was so glad to see her.

As we talked by our cars, she described her illness as the "July I almost died...". She feared she would end up in Hospice and said she was going to ask me to do a ladies' Bible study with Marilyn, Judy, and Suzanne at her home, while she waited...I said, "Yes!" before she finished her statement. I would certainly have done that, and will do that, if she ever needs me. She warmed my heart with this request, and we both had wet cheeks..I love Rita.

My friend, Kathy, who lives in my building, the lady who gave me her tear collection bottle, came over last night when I got back from church. I chose our new format mid-week service over Happy Hour which left Kathy with 'words leftover', as Justin would say. She sent me a text message asking if she could come up when I got home and I said yes. Then I called Justin to let him know she was coming, in case Kathy arrived before I did. 

The other night Justin had the idea, after I got off the phone with someone, that I should put up a stand like Lucy in the Peanuts cartoon. He said I could charge 5 cents for advice...Nah, no charge for talking with me. Besides, I have unlimited talk time on my phone, and somewhat unlimited talk time at my table. 

This late afternoon at the pool, she was talking about this beautifully sentimental song titled "Cinderella" so she sent me the link for it. This singer lost his little daughter in an accident, when the older brother drove down the driveway and hit her. Oh my! 

I watched that link plus several others associated with this story. It blew me away, and touched my heart as I experienced many of those same feelings myself. Later, she sent me a message apologizing for sharing it with me, but I told her it was just fine, I didn't mind at all.  She said, "That is why I thank God for allowing you to come into my life!" Yes, I love Kathy, and told her so.

When at the Racetrack Gas Station this a.m. getting my soda, one of the workers greeted me at the register, but did not wait on me. He said, "I love your hair!" I thanked him for that, and he said, "Now, don't break anyone else's heart today..." as it seems I broke his, somehow or another. Made me chuckle a bit...

                 

Yesterday, out at the pool, I got a text message from Justin, encouraging me to host a dinner and movie night this weekend. He wants to make me a raspberry cream pie and knows I need someone to help me eat it. I love that kind of pie, and the boy who will make it for me! Two different kinds of love there, but you get what I mean.

A glorious Wednesday

Okay...does this need words or not? I think not!

This sight greeted me today as I got up to take several shots of the developing sunrise. Oh my, what a sight! Many of my friends also grabbed shots from their vantage point, but I am fond of mine.

Again I had awakened at 6:00 a.m. to ensure that my boy was up and about for work. I am thinking he is back on track, has his phone set at the proper volume to wake him. He seems to be recovering from his malady, and has been blessed with better sleep by having a bourbon drink with honey and lemon at bedtime. That, plus Vicks on his chest and throat helps as well.

Yesterday Justin sent me a text message while I was at the pool, suggesting I have dinner 'n a movie night this weekend. He has some recipes in mind. I am in, just have to make some calls to put it together, and plan the menu, of course. My desire is to show the documentary "Honor Flight" about the veterans being flown to the war monuments in DC, as a 'thank you' for their service. Have some people in mind for this first showing, and some tissues handy for the tear flow!

                        

This a.m. was my 2nd in a row of going out for water exercise class with my peeps. The water temp is tolerable, as I have mentioned in the past, when the sun shines on us. A group of us remained for lunch, with me being pleased that Chef added a beef sandwich to the menu for me. When Marlena told the staff how pleased I was to see beef on the menu, I guess Chef shook his head and said, "Oh, she is such a meat and potatoes girl!" But I ate with the salad eaters!!

Several of us ladies spent the rest of the afternoon bobbing about in the water, joined by our new neighbor, Nancy, for a while, and Bob. It was a glorious day in the water and around the tables. Love love love it!

No jog today

This morning I answered my alarm set on my phone, as a precaution to make sure Justin did not oversleep again for work. He had had his alarm set yesterday but the phone was set on silent, which does not help one little bit. When I told him I was setting my alarm last night, he asked me if I was using my mental alarm clock, like "Kramer" used. Ha ha! Justin was already up and about, wallet in custody, so no need for me to go out jogging.

Instead, I went out to water exercise class and was so glad to see the ladies again. I had not been out for class on Tuesday or Wednesday last week, and Thursday is Bible study day, so I had missed seeing them. Pat A. greeted me as her long, lost friend! I just love her!! 

Nancy W., who was in class last week, had not come to the pool on the long weekend at all, but had gone shopping to look for items and furnishings for her new home. Besides finding stuff for her townhouse, she must to go through things at her father's home so she doesn't move anything she does not want to keep. What a big job! (She and I had had dinner together on Thursday night at The Club, both of us enjoying our delicious steaks on Casual Grille Night. She came up for a few minutes to see my place, but did not stay to watch the football game with Justin and me.) 

When I came in again after class and chatting, I hung up my suit and cover, put on my lounging gown, and got busy at my desk. Before long, I was getting drowsy and did something I rarely do---took a rest during Rush! Not just a rest, but an actual nap, waking up almost three hours later. That NEVER happens and makes me wonder if I am going to come down with Justin's malady now, too. I do hope not!

He had a better day at work, his boss on the job with him today. William asked Justin to join his wife and him for trivia at a wing place in Lake Asbury but Justin was still feeling too punk to accept. There is your proof, ladies and gentlemen, otherwise, he'd be gone! His boss decided, too, that it was too long a ride for a deal on wings. 

Justin got new phone service on Sunday, signing on with T-Mobile. He thought he gave his new phone number to all his friends but somehow missed Michael. Michael was sending him text messages tonight too, asking him to dinner, but he missed them. That's two invites in one night he passed on. 

He made us a creation with pizza dough, brie, and raspberry jelly, of which I had one before going to the sundeck for a Board of Director's meeting. Oh my, so delicious! Last night he made it with crescent roll dough. It is a wonderful tasting treat but sort of expensive, as the cheese alone is $6.00. We are both appalled at the cost of the jelly, which is our favorite!

The lovely sky tonight before our meeting

Chairs were moved up to the 2nd floor sundeck for our meeting, and it was absolutely lovely out there. It did drag on and on, and before the meeting adjourned, I came upstairs. The BOD was sort of tabling lesser important matters for another meeting due to the onset of darkness so I doubt I missed too much. 

My friend, Judy C., called, wondering if I was going to church tomorrow night. A brand-new thing is to have a 30 minute Bible study recap of Sunday's service, for those who were unable to attend on Sunday. The second half hour would be hymns and Holy Communion offered to those who missed it. She has a tough time getting from her son's home to church by 7:00 pm, but it can be done. I am going to attend to see what it's all about, and then let her know if it is worth her efforts and schedule juggling to get there. We both feel as though we could use more Bible study but she is not sure if this is going to be what we are looking for, since she was there on Sunday, etc. 

Justin went to bed very early again tonight, and I am trying to be quiet. Good thing tonight's Seinfeld episode is not one which makes me laugh my head off. The re-runs of "Frasier" are those from the end of the series, and had lost much of their charm, which means they will soon be starting over again in a week or so. Good! I need some new material to laugh at!

Labor Day fun

Here is the giant-sized slide The Club put up for the Labor Day events. Folks with kids told me this was the best thing yet, and I shared that info with the folks who run things there. This slide scored a home run with the kids and their parents! I had a great time with my friends at the pool before the rains came.

*

My poor boy had a rough, rough start to his day today. For the first time since he's moved back home, I stuck my nose in his room at 6:35 to see if he'd left yet. Nope, he was wrapped in his sheet, fast asleep. Even on this holiday he had to work and was about 20 minutes late picking up his co-worker, who had no phone or other communication device. In 5 minutes he was out the door---amazing!

I went back to my room and was getting settled with my laptop when he called me. Justin asked me to go look in his room for his wallet, telling me it should be on the foot of his bed. Nope, no where to be found. He then asked me very nicely to go outside to see if it was lying on the ground near his car. I told him I would go and look after getting my caftan on.

Sure enough, I rode the elevator down with my neighbor (at this hour of the morning???) so explained my situation. He helped me look, as did my other neighbor who was leaving for work. No wallet. On the way back up, I called Justin to report my sorrow, being quite upset about this. He does not travel light in his wallet---besides cash, he has a debit card and ID. 

Justin's thought was he put it on top of his car and it toppled off when he was still on the property. I offered to go and look which gave him some relief. I took my purse, thinking I might drive it, but instead went up the battle-field driveway on foot. Wearing my Jamaican caftan, red shoes, and my purple purse, I hiked up the hill toward Astor Street. What a sight I must have been!!! Should have left the purse in the car, in hindsight.

As I neared the top of the hill, to the tennis courts, Justin called me to report he located the wallet in his work bag. He dropped it in a 'different' pocket on the bag when he put his cough drops into it. I was so very glad to hear that, and he was thankful to me for going on an early morning jog, carrying my full-pack, like a soldier would do!

He is suffering with a sore throat, itching ears, and other 'cold' ailments, like strangling on stuff in his throat. He stocked up on remedies at the store after getting home from work, to knock this thing down. 

I offered to make dinner for us, since I bought some chicken at Winn-Dixie the other day when we stopped to shop. He requested my 'Lazy Ass Chicken', which makes me roar with laughter whenever he calls it that. The actual name is Busy Day Chicken but he likes me to roar! I had all the ingredients I needed, only using brown rice instead of white.

It bakes for about an hour so I began the process of putting it together right away, before The Five came on. I measured out the rice and water in the steamer, plugged it in, and waited to hear the wailing it usually makes when at work. The red light did not turn on...hmmm....now what??? It was dead!! NOOOO! 

                           

This is only the 2nd steamer 'we' have had, this particular being one we replaced after the 1st one quit. Lynn, my sister, had given one to us many, many years ago, and when it quit, we immediately had to replace it. Now, this type of steamer is no longer available new, only used on e-bay. Shoot!

What is going on with my small appliances around here? First, Linda and I had to go to Wal*Mart for a new coffee maker. When I had gotten it out to clean it for her visit, the on/off button popped right out of the machine! I have never bought a coffee pot before, so that's how old this machine was...pre-dates my singleness. It only gets used when company is here so not like it's worn out or anything. Only $9 for a new maker and it worked just fine for Linda. And now the rice/veggie steamer quits. Are they trying to tell me something???

An awesome weekend

Without going back to check to see if I've said this before, Linda left too soon, or came here a week too early, this summer. Ever since she left here, the weather has been glorious with hot days and the pool water getting warmer day by day. Today was almost perfect temperature-wise for me, both in the water and out. 

As the day progressed, so did the shadows from the trees, leaving only the far corner of the pool in the sunlight. I got cold so came out to warm up, and I think I singed myself a bit before getting back in to cool off. No sooner did Dick and I get into the pool than did giant-sized cold rain drops start coming down. Fairly steady at that. Soon, everyone was gathering up their stuff and heading inside, Dick and Debbie right beside me as we made our way back to The Palace. 

When I had first come out to the pool, some of my newer neighbors were there, whom I had met the day before. Bill and Nancy bought a home just down the street from The Club property and are in the process of renovating it. A sizable challenge...They wonder how the older man and his daughter managed to live in there under those circumstances. Yeah, it was time for new owners, for sure! Bob, the man who calls me The Ambassador, introduced me to them, and now we are all old friends already. They hail originally from South Dakota, stopping in NC, before moving down here.

Before long we had a nice bunch of folks out there, pretty good for a Sunday afternoon. Just about every table had folks at it, not all swimming, but sitting around enjoying the great weather. 

I was later getting out there as Justin and I had gone to lunch at St. Johns Town Center after church. We worshiped at Victory today since our friend, Tarren, was going to be there and asked to see us. She was visiting her friend from high school who is ill, plus wanted to spend time with her goddaughter, Hanna. Her goddaughter's family now goes to Victory, so it all worked out. It was absolutely grand to see everyone again!

I saw Stephanie and Erica, Rita, Anne and her parents, Dolly 'n Jim (Dolly always asks me how my mom is!), the Koch's visiting from NC, plus many others. 

                   

The icing on the cake, besides Tarren, of course, was being there for the baptism of the daughter of Jeff, my former 'pool boy'. He used to clean my pool at the lake house, and is a co-worker of Anne's. Pastor H. has baptized both of Jeff's daughters now. I wish his wife and he would take the membership class which starts next week Tuesday....

Tarren was going off with Suzanne and family so Justin and I dined by ourselves at PF Chang, where he could have some nice 'hot' soup. He is having a tender throat, no, a sore throat, and needed hot stuff to comfort it. Hopefully he gets some relief by taking all the medicines and such he's stocked up on. Tonight he told me he couldn't help but sing in church today because the hymns were so good...Gaelic melody for the baptism hymn, etc. That's my boy!

Sent by my friend, Pat A.

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio.

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.  My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:"

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short – enjoy it.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it. (I am thinking this is not good advice-Kim)

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye, but don't worry, God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.  Don't save it for a special occasion. Today IS special.

22. Over-prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative of dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you need

42. The best is yet to come...

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

I highlighted those which were most significant in my mind, or my heart, and bolded ones which were extra important to me. I hope you find these to be as 'inspiring' as I did!

Where was this weather?

Where was this weather when Linda was here??? Today was a lovely mid-90's day (I guess it depends on just how lovely when you are a yard man....) The pool water did not reflect the heat of the day however; just a bit on the coolish side. When my friend, Fran, put her toes in, she winced at the temperature. I was okay as long as the sun shined on me, but once the clouds took over, I had to get out.

People came and went most of the afternoon, including Lee, Nancy, Cynthia, Fran and Rick. I had my lunch poolside, eating with Fran and Rick. Lee had eaten a bit ahead of me, having the shrimp special. I had my standard cheese burger and Fran had a big, fat hot dog. She just got good news from her blood work so it was time to celebrate!! 

This is a picture of Fran and I in the pool, but her hat hides her cute, little face...

Loved the politics talk, the book discussions, and other banter around and in the water. I sure do miss Maureen and those folks who are back in their classrooms because I enjoy the school discussions as well. The day before the topic was about real estate and best times to buy/sell. Nancy recently got an offer accepted to purchase a townhouse on our property, and she closes on it November 1st. She will be my neighbor soon!

*

Wednesday night I had gone to Happy Hour. I found Nancy sitting in the bar area with her Realtor, to whom I had directed her, having a celebratory margarita for the accepted offer. Nancy then came in to join us at the tables in the garden room. She left before I did, and I later walked home with my other neighbor, Kathy M. She and I both wanted to be home for O'Reilly. Betty and Kathy stayed a bit longer, with Kathy H. planning to watch O'Reilly later at 11:00 pm.

Well, I was settled in for the night, watching TV while under my covers. I am not able to recall what I was watching but likely it was "Frasier". All of a sudden, I heard something, like someone yelling. I leaped from my bed to hear better and sue enough, someone was yelling for help. I grabbed my phone and went outside. 

From all around me I heard footsteps, folks running to see who needed help. I went toward the voices and there, between 1st and 2nd floor, was a lady on the steps. I knew who it was...Miss Chardonnay had taken a tumble trying to get up to her unit. She had called for Kathy H. to help her, and when she could not get her upright, Kathy began yelling for help.

Justin, in the meanwhile, already sleeping, heard the sound of feet running, thought it was knocking at the door. He heard me open the door and then leave, not closing the door behind me. So, he had to come to see where his mama went, thinking a bad guy came to the door and I opened it up, and was taken!!! Oh yes, that's going to happen...He came around the corner and could see me standing at the rail, and figured out what happened. I assured him I was fine and he could go back to bed.

I asked Kathy if I should call for the rescue squad and she shook her head no, as Miss C. had already said not to. Since I was in my gown, I didn't go all the way down there, but plenty of other folks, including a cardiologist and his wife, had come to the rescue. About 7 men and ladies from as far up as the 5th floor had come down, but one lady was especially helpful in getting Miss Chardonnay scooted up the steps on her butt, and then to standing. Nothing broken and nothing bleeding, but boy, were our hearts pounding!!! Good thing we have a cardiologist in the building...

I am told Rosemary got her into the condo, and situated in the bed. When I got back to my own bed, it took me a while to settle down. Kathy was so shaken that she stayed awake until after 1:00 a.m. And Miss Chardonnay slept like a baby! But, boy, do we have wonderful neighbors here or what???