Storms on Flag Day

This late morning I got myself all suited up, sprayed, and had my shoes on ready to go to the pool. When I stepped from the elevator lobby to the parking lot, it started to rain. Turning right back around, I went upstairs to wait it out. In an hour I tried again, successfully this time, and got myself out there for a while. At least there was a couple of hours with no storm until these clouds rolled in:

Looking straight out my windows

A bit more southerly view of the same layer of clouds 

And, then, after the storm, the skies cleared up and looked like this. The picture does not capture the pinkness of the sky. It was gorgeous!

Full moon and all that

Yes, the moon is full and yes, it's the 13th and yes, it's a Friday. I heard it mentioned several times especially this week, that this won't happen again until the year 2049. I will be in heaven by then, I pray. There is an 'old wives' tale' about not having anything done to your hair during the full moon which is why I get my hair cut then. Speaking of my hair, Sunday when Twila was greeting at the door, she asked me what I had done to my hair. I told her nothing, other than my monthly cutting. She had sat behind me during the service and noticed the salt 'n pepper going on, plus now the sun is having fun with it. I told her it was "au natural" and both Jean and she really liked it. I appreciate their compliments.

The moon tonight is partially hidden by clouds, playing a bit of peek-a-boo. With our goofy weather here, we are pleased to catch a glimpse of the sun (that might be an exaggeration) much less the full moon. My friend/neighbor did capture a lovely shot though a couple nights ago. 

This picture sure does live up the hype about having a full moon on Friday, the 13th!, except this was actually taken on June 11th. 

Today I went out to the pool late morning to take advantage of the sunshine, knowing that Bill and Nancy were coming out after lunch. Nancy works half days on Friday and Bill works from home, it is a good plan to meet on Fridays. Bill has been swamped with work, having a major project to complete and was successful in accomplishing this task. He told me this afternoon that he saved the account for his company and is officially 'the man'!!  Whoo hoo! He is relieved to have that behind him and looked forward to having some down time at the pool, and in it. Sadly, the clouds moved in and thunder was heard. At least we had some time together before the weather interrupted the fun. We scurried off to our homes, but not before the winds started to whip things up. 

My downstairs neighbor has gotten a dog, a Greyhound. Yesterday for much of the day and part of this a.m. I could hear the two dogs (one already lived there) serenading each other, and me. Cass told me that she just got her and the two dogs are getting used to each other. We have so many dogs in the building now, as though one comes with each unit! Glad there is none in this unit, I am good without that added burden or responsibility. Not an animal lover here, unless it's between bread with bbq sauce! That joke doesn't go over well with some people, but I like it. In fact, I enjoyed a burger at the cabana today, discounted by a buck a burger since folks 'complained' about the cost of it. I told the chef my hamburgers don't need a first name (Angus), I can settle for the kind of meat they used last year. My needs are simple. 

A printing fool!

All these stormy afternoons free me up from my labors around the pool to actually take care of business up here. Yes, poor me!  I truly did have some stuff to take care of including designing and printing 50 invitations to the baby shower, getting them done just before my yellow cartridge went empty. Whew!  Also, I printed the VBS logo on envelopes to put out for monetary donations for that upcoming event. Must say, they are so cute, who can resist using them?

My lunch today was some leftovers from Koko's, from our dinner last night. Justin was still feeling funky, having some bad days at work and suffering from a cold, so I treated him to Koko's. The staff was most kind to us, with the hostess coming by to thank me for coming in the evening. She had sent me a message via Facebook, explaining their reason for not being open at lunch time during the summer, and asked for my understanding. Huong, the owner, sent out extra rice with the chef for Miss Kim. I ordered two side orders of the clear soup for my friend, Nancy W., who is ailing. 

We stopped at CVS after dinner to get some soda and some more cold treatment supplies for my poor sick boy. The lady checking us out told us if we spent a certain dollar amount more we could qualify for a free gas card. Justin went back and got a couple packs of toilet paper so we are all set for a few months! It's good to have extra around for when the kids are here from CO next month. All that for a few gallons of gas at the Shell Station! 

Sunday night Justin made some brocolli beer cheese soup, embellishing a packaged soup mix we had in the cupboard. My, it was good! Tonight we enjoyed the leftover burgers he made, my baked beans, his soup, plus the Koko's---a real international feast! Next time he wants to use the same recipe for the burgers to make mini-meatloaves, which sounds good to me. I can eat them on a bun if I wish to, but they sure are dense and quite filling. I sure do hope he feels better quickly, the coughing is wearing him out and the sniffling, too. You know he's sick when the leftover Koko's has no flavor to him. Poor guy....

I had a good laugh with my brother-in-law, David, last night. My phone gave me a notice that my voice mail was nearly full so I had to go through and erase unneeded messages. Many of them were marked as being 'Face Time' calls which I have never done. Hmmm...obviously I have butt dialed or otherwise dialed this list of people and not even known about it. 

I pressed the button thinking I was erasing it and accidentally dialed David via Face Time. Immediately I hung up, but not soon enough, because he called me back via Face Time. I explained how it happened and we had a good laugh over it, but as long as he had me, I got a tour of their newly remodeled bathroom!! How cool is that? I think I am the first family member to see it finished and I like it. They used a vintage dresser/console with a square bowl on top as the vanity/sink, new faucets, of course, and painted the room. I liked their previous room but they were ready for a change. They have excellent decorating taste, and I am glad I pressed the wrong button and got the tour!

This is getting old!

Here I am at the desk, yet again in my night gown, in the middle of the day. Usually the afternoon storms commence around rush hour but this week they've been showing up closer to noon than I like. We at least get to do our water exercises before the skies darken. Today's water was colder than we liked but we sucked it up and carried on!  One of our original participants, in the group from back in the day when we worked out in the teen pool at 8:15 in the morning, returned to class. Randy, in his late 70s, had been out all of last season after suffering a fall in his home and then undergoing surgeries and other procedures to get him whole again. Welcome back, Randy!!  

Sadly, he's lost more than just time in the water as he had to be reintroduced to each and every routine we did, as though he'd never done them before. His wife dropped him off for class and then came back to pick him up afterward. She was going to join in this fun but she had overslept and only been able to get him ready to go. At least Randy remembered the names of most of the "old-timers" and I am sure the routines will become just that as he gets back into it.

I was thinking about something today, some "Justinisms" from long ago. He is excited right now about the filming taking place of the next "Star Wars" movie. Many of the original actors are coming back, the props are the same, including the little motorcycle-looking jet bikes he used to imagine seeing in the woods as we drove to school. He confessed one day being obsessed with Star Wars. You think? I made a rule for him at one point, telling him that he could talk to me about Star Wars until we got to the Doctors Lake bridge and then he had to talk about something else until we got to school. The car was very quiet after the bridge, strangely enough, which might back his claim about being obsessed! This was before Timmy was born which would make him less than 9 years old at the time. 

When he was younger yet, he would talk about what business he was going to be in when he grew up. At one time he had a whole litany about the hotel and restaurant he was going to have. That would be an entire blog of its own if I told that story. But, one particular dream of his was to have a stand on the side of the road by "Place Island", as he called it, where he would sell flowers to passersby. His first order of business would be to go to Sam's Club and buy a briefcase to carry the money home in, and, of course, a cash register!! 

He was going to sell sunflowers, and charge people $1 for each one. His father told him that no one would pay that much for sunflowers, and Justin nobly informed him that at the end of the day, he'd bring any unsold ones home for his mama! I love that!!  On Easter weekend, I bought a bouquet of sunflowers at Publix for the Easter tree in front of the church. Guess how much each of those flowers cost---yes, they were $1 each!   Don't you just love it!? Those kind of memories NEVER get old!

Exercise and errands

Today was a busy one for me, starting off with water exercise class this a.m. It was a bright, sunshiny morning but the water was a bit chillier than I like. My neighbor, Nancy L., came out to the class, too. Together we climbed under the CAUTION tape on the sidewalk leading up toward the adult pool (it was removed on the one end or I'd have gone around). Friday evening, hardly a branch stirring, this enormous portion of the water oak tree along the pool fence came down. Miss Chardonay was walking her dog when it happened and was missed by the tree, but her teeny tiny dog got tangled up on the branches. The story goes that she had to get down on her knees to free the little puppy. That was close! 

This is the shot I took from the 3rd floor on Sunday morning as I was leaving for church. You can see the long reach of the branches and limbs.

The tree trimming folks were already at work on another portion of the property so they must have come over to clear the branches away from the sidewalk on Monday. As you can see, part of the fence is smashed where the heavy limbs came down. Ruts are in the ground from where it hit. 

After the class and drying off, I came back up here to change clothes and get ready to run some errands. Nancy had asked me to come by to look at her e-mail for her, as she was having a problem putting names in her contact list. She called me when she was ready for me to come, asking if I'd had lunch. I said I had, though it wasn't much, but I didn't want her to feed me. It turned out Nancy had made herself an avocado salad with something else I certainly would not have enjoyed. I was able to show her a few things but she, too, was leaving for errands. 

I made a good plan for my outing so as not to back track too much or have the car sit with groceries in it too long. First to Walgreens for soda (best price right now), then to Great Hang Ups to pick up my framed pieces. They matched the frame from Timmy's sunflower picture onto the photo given me by his classmates, so they can hang together. Got to see both Julia and Dee this visit, and heard about their quick trip to NYC and Martha's Vineyard recently, for Dee's birthday and wedding anniversary (married 55 years!).

From there I went to Publix to get hamburger and buns, as requested by Justin, as he wanted to try a new recipe for our dinner tonight. I had used the hamburger this a.m. to make some baked beans so fresh burger was needed. I did forget one of the ingredients he needed but was able to come up with Plan B and make it work. Of course, I got many other things from Publix as long as I was there, several from the BO/GO bins. I got us some Johnsonville Brats to make sausage, peppers, 'n onions one of these days. We'll have to come up with a night for them, and soon, before the peppers get wrinkly!

Just as I got home from the stores and bank, and was unloading my car, it started to thunder. Got back just in time. Justin has told me I don't need to check on him when storms are rolling through as he has several weather apps on the phone and know when to come in from the rain. It's not the rain that concerns me, most days, but the lightning. They find the rain to be refreshing until such time that the machines struggle or they can't see anymore. I just wait for him to let me know his status and try to not be too concerned.

Justin made his embellished hamburgers and we enjoyed them on the wonderful buns from Publix (they are just the best buns!) along with the baked beans I'd mixed up this a.m. He is coming down with a cold and feeling somewhat miserable so an early night was his, after mixing up some honey and lemon to soothe his throat. Poor guy! We had so much dinner that neither of us cut into the mini-pies I picked up for dessert. BO/GO pies can't be beat!

Calzones as big as your head!

It was a crazy mixed up day again today with no Monday Bible study or lunch with the ladies. Pastor and his family, plus Michael C., are off to Tampa for our church's district convention. Somehow I managed to find something else to do. Because of going to dinner tonight, I was reluctant to go out to the pool and get all caught up out there. Instead I worked on some church stuff which has been ignored for too long, like making up name tags for the Greeters.

The Ladies' Group 'picnic' was held at The Pasta Market yet again this year. It was hard to find a suitable restaurant for us ladies open on a Monday evening, that accomodate a group of our number, and not too expensive. We had three other places in mind which did not work out so I made an executive decision and booked us at Pasta Market. I think everyone was okay with that. Not too far to drive and the food was great! Half of my calzone, the small one, came home with me for another time.

Thinking of the Italian food, Justin and I were talking about the sequel being made of "My Big, Fat Greek Wedding" the other day. He declared that one of the best movies he's ever seen and I can't help but agree. We had such laughs, going back through the familiar dialog and the comical scenes from the movie. "Ma, I'm going to the K-Mart for pantyhose. Want some?" "Just don't get me the queen-size, they make me look fat..." Oh, how we laughed as we recounted the funny lines to each other. I am not sure just how humorous a sequel can be and wonder if I will actually wish to see it. Why ruin a good thing?

It seems the other two ladies from church and I are all set to have a baby shower for a young woman who has been attending GS since last fall. She is from my home county and both her husband and she are stationed at NASJAX. That means they will be around here for a couple of years anyway. Angel and Chad are in the Bible Information Class, she already being confirmed. Her brother is a student at my alma mater high school. It seems that Sue and Kelsi had been talking about having a surprise shower, and Sue was surprised to hear me talking about having one, too. Angel and I had already come up with a date and such, so we are merging our two parties into one, held at church instead of at my house. It will be nice, and an easy place for people to find, lots of room, etc. My job is the invitations and the paper goods, Sue is getting the cake, and Kelsi---well, we can fill in those blanks as we get closer!  A baby at Good Shepherd, how exciting!

Formal protest!!

Today I issued a formal protest because, once again, my Sunday afternoon at the pool was not to be. NUTS! No pool time this entire weekend makes me quite grumpy. Well, at least, momentarily so. The good part of the day, the examination and confirmation rite, went well, with lots of visitors in church for this important occasion. This year the examination was set up in the Fellowship Hall for some reason with rows of chairs set up facing the confirmands and then another two rows somewhat behind them. I got there early enough to have a good visibility seat. 

Not a good day for the organist to call in sick, though. The ushers were hustling to change the hymn boards as different hymns were being loaded into the MIDI at the last minute. Instead of using the hymnal supplement for the order of service, it was printed out in the giant-sized folder, a source of great contention among the congregation. That's what I get for just telling Mom the other day that they were a thing of the past. Not only is it expensive to print but it's large to handle (my friend said it makes a good umbrella, though!) during the service and noisy when folks try to turn the pages. Oh, what I am fussing about? People are always trying to re-invent the wheel some way or another.

Gretchen and Michael after church

After the service was a reception, the cake being picked up by Terri T. I guess she got a couple phone calls expecting the Ladies' Group was getting the cake for confirmation, but 'we' were not, so she just went and got one. She almost didn't make it to church due to recovering from bronchitis and went straight home afterward to go back to bed. She is a trouper! and today, saved the day by getting a cake. Thanks to Terri and her best friend, Publix! Judy and Betty took care of serving it and a bunch of us cleaned up afterward, before heading to Chili's for our regular scheduled lunch!

We had far better service this week than we did last week at Chili's, a smaller group this week, as well.  Judy allowed me to treat her today, because the previous two times we ate together someone else grabbed her bill, as it was her birthday on the 4th. She said she liked having people fighting over her like this. By the time we got out of the restaurant, it had begun raining and I wore my sad face all the way home. Jacquie and I had planned on spending time together this weekend, poolside, and because I was gone to Arlington all day Saturday, she stayed home and re-did her closets! She'll show me! That is a good project for Mark and her, though I missed seeing her. Glad we had lunch on Thursday and spent time in the pool that day!

Justin and I had a nice, quiet balance of the day at home, after he had busy Friday and Saturday evenings already this weekend. (It's so sweet that he worries about me finding something to eat when he is going away.) All in all we had a very nice day of Pentecost and made the most of missing out on pool time. Sunday nights stink on ice most times as far as TV viewing goes, so, you'll never believe what is on while I write this---Matlock! Yes, I could get a video out to listen to as I write but it's cozy under my covers so Andy Griffith it is!, at least for a while. Trust me, I will NOT make a habit of this!