Poor Justin is an only child!

My friend shared a funny poem on FB this a.m. which about what a lady will do when she is old. The gist of the poem is that she will go live with each of her kids and do all the fun things they did when they were young. Among the items on her list was writing on the walls with markers, jumping on the furniture with her shoes on, hating what they give her to eat for dinner, drink from the milk carton and then leave it on the counter to sour, stuff the toilets to overflowing, make noise when they are on the phone, and you get the picture. It is humorous for sure because anyone who's had kids knows exactly what the poem is talking about. I found it funny as well but then feeling badly for Justin---because he'll get to experience all my shenanigans by himself since he's my only. Gulp! 

Justin at Show Biz Pizza

Justin has the privilege now of putting up with me, he doesn't even have to wait until I am elderly (or more elderly!) Thankfully he is a good sport about it---does our night driving when available and the heavy lifting. And when he has time, the vacuuming which just kills my back. I allow him to jump on the furniture now and again just to stay in practice. 

Today was a lovely one spent poolside. My happy place especially when my friends come out to play. Marlena has a CD of music for us to enjoy but it gets a bit too much to have it repeat over and over the way it does. Sometimes the guys hook their phones to the system and music from their Pandora or similar entertains us, a nice mix of 'oldies' and island music. One couple prefers Country Western music but Marlena has none of that. I am really okay with what the two Marks play for us, to break the monotony. Marlena is trying to get an iPod loaded with a variety of music but is not techy at all. The one she bought online was meant to be worn with headphones only so had to send it back, and is awaiting the arrival of a different one. By the time summer is over, we should be up and running!

All stacked up!

Today was water exercise class for me, with my house guests sleeping right through it. Michael picked them up for a day in St. Augustine. It was a gorgeous day to walk the streets of the Oldest City. 

Justin and I ate at home tonight, polishing off some leftovers accumulated in the fridge. After we finished eating he encouraged me to pose with the stack of soda cases in the foyer, the result of our shrewd shopping when it was 4/$10 at Target. Can't pass up a good deal like this! Connie so very kindly hauled it upstairs for us using the hand truck. She is a gem!

I hope the CO kids have had a good day at VBS. They are averaging around 23 kids a night. Many are returns from previous years, or were students from the preschool. It's always fun to have them back again to their old stomping ground. Every evening a different person makes dinner for the volunteers. Betty made homemade pizza for them Monday night, but had far more than was needed. The kids brought home so much we had to pack it into two gallon sized bags. I popped one right into the freezer knowing there is no way it would get eaten before going bad. Thanks, Betty!  Oh, her crust is to die for, she is quite the cook and baker. Also, she made homemade cinnamon rolls, Michael's favorite. Everybody's happy!

Shall we play a game Part Two?

Today my houseguests enjoyed an 'at home' day, which included sleeping until noon. They have been going nearly non-stop, as has Michael, so they opted to take a day off in the middle of their long week. After they got up, Noelle came out to the pool to swim some laps, and Caleb joined us later. The last one out was Chris but unfortunately, the thunder prevented him from jumping in. Instead we had an ice cream treat before coming back upstairs to wait for Michael. 

The young people enjoy playing with board games when here. In searching for another Monopoly game for them to play I came upon a Lord of the Rings chess set. They loved it! Also have they played a long game of Lord of the Rings Monopoly. 

Justin nicely shared his game system with them and Chris got it all hooked up. While waiting for Michael to arrive they got in a game of Mario Smash Bros. 

This is the TV screen with the game being played. Noelle is observing. 

The Rules of Civility

Years ago I gave Justin a book copied by George Washington titled "Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior", originally written by Jesuits in the late 1500's. Justin liked it so much that this year he tackled the same project as Washington's of copying sections of it into a composition notebook, a resolution of sorts. Many of those rules are quite unusual such as 'a gentleman does not sit in mixed company with his feet crossed.' What possible difference would that make? Or, shift around in your seat or 'gnaw on one's nails'. Good advice for the ages. 

This sound advice about civility and practicing decent behavior came to mind after a few events recently. My friends, Bill and Nancy, told me about an incident which occurred later on July 4th while they were waiting for the fireworks. A rowdy group of folks, adults and kids, plus a dog were carrying on at the teen's pool. Obviously had been drinking as they were consuming beer from glass bottles. These are a lot of no no's for the pool area (no pets, no glass around the pool). 

Pretty soon they headed toward the adult pool and were making quite a commotion in so doing. The adults told the kids to get into the pool but Bill said it was for adults only. Apparently there was poop in the teen pool so that is why they moved up to the adult's end. One of the inebriated guys used filthy language at Bill and Nancy about minding their own business. Bill stood up to go to The Club to get a manager and the guy sort of charged at him as if to fight. Bill motioned that he was not fighting and went up to get help. It was pretty upsetting for Bill and Nancy as this is certainly not typical behavior around our beloved pool. It turned out one of the group was a member while the rest were guests. There was no need for it to get ugly and for the filthy language or threats to take place. Unacceptable!

Yesterday the CO kids were out at the pool with me. They challenged each other to a swim race from one end to the other. As they finished their race, a woman who was seated in the smoking area off of the pool started making cat calls at them, critical of their swimming skills. I had no idea who this woman was nor did she know me or the kids. She came charging over and challenged them to a race, and dropped the F bomb on them. Just out of the blue, as if normal conversation. I looked at Nancy and she looked at me, wondering if we heard that correctly. Why would this woman do such things?

The four of them raced to our end of the pool, with Chris the victor. I cheered for him, of course. Some of my other neighbors were out in the pool with us, they being on the shady side during the race. This woman asked how old they were and Chris said he was 17. She said, "Well, I'm 43 so F you!" Okay, that's enough of that! I yelled out, "Hey, I am responsible for these kids!" and to them I said, "I'm sorry, guys..."  She turned to look at me and gave me a look, turned back to them as if to say, "Whatever..."  In a few minutes the kids went down to the other end to the teen's pool and sure enough, she went down there, too. Her son was down there swimming so she should have been where he was anyway. 

After she left the adult pool, the others out there was asking, "What was that all about?" and "How rude!", stuff like that. Another older lady witnessed this as well and just shook her head. Appalling, simply appalling behavior from this total stranger. Later the kids said she continued using rough language on the other end but they basically ignored her. I explained to them how I didn't know this person and hoped to never encounter her again. Ugh!

Today, as I was driving to Fleming Island, I was waiting at the light near Pace Island, a few cars from the front. The light changed but we didn't move. I realized then the first car was stalled. I felt so badly for them, knowing how awful this situation could be. We had to wait for traffic around us to clear in order to go around and I thought I might pull up next to them to see if they needed to call someone or AAA. But as I waited for my turn, the other cars were going around, and sure enough, the driver reached out her finger and flipped them off. Not sure what brought that on but I had had enough of this type of behavior to last me. I did not stop to ask if they needed help, seeming to have things well 'in hand'!

There is a line in one of the "Seinfeld" episodes where an exasperated George exclaims, "You know, we live in a society!!"  The Rules of Civility should still apply and or better yet, the Golden Rule of loving the Lord and others, and conducting ourselves in a God-pleasing fashion. 

Signed,

Exasperated Kim

Working under cover

This morning I loaded my young friends into the car and off we went to church. We attended Bible study first and then to worship. They sat in the pew with Mike and Justin, saving a place for me on the end. After church we went to La Nopalera which has become a tradition for us when the CO kids are here. 

In this photo see Michael's hands, Caleb, Mike S., Justin, Noelle, and Chris. On the other side of Noelle are seated Betty and Judy, out of the shot.

We had a wonderful time and swift service on this busy day for the restaurant. Noelle ordered the regular sized taco salad and found it to be twice what she was able to eat. For a pretty good eater, it was a challenge for her and she took plenty of ribbing for it! Caleb also brought food home for another time. 

They transferred their stuff into Michael's car and they headed back to church to continue their setting up. They have to build a 'set' basically and add some details to it to make it look like palm trees, camping scenes, rustic touches. Using toilet paper rolls and those from paper towels as well to fashion some of their set. Glad they have some 'how to' videos to help them with their projects. 

While they were busy at church, I was busy at the pool. Having been rained out yesterday The Club kept the water slide another day so the kids (and some adults) could enjoy it longer. I have to laugh about something---I mentioned to Judy and the group about my friends urging me to try going down the slide and she asked, innocently, "Don't those things have a weight limit on them?"  She sure didn't mean it the way it sounds...or did she?

Here I am with Chris and Noelle, taken last year, where I am sporting my beach cover.

We stayed out at the pool the better part of the afternoon until the thunder came and broke up our little party yet again. I came inside and tried my best to treat some yellowing stains which are making by beach cover look terrible. My guess is that the stains have formed because of the way I 'dried' it when coming in, all the water settling into one portion of the cover. I've tried various things in the past including soaking in stain removing products. 

Today, I thought, "What the heck? I'll spray it with my bathroom cleaner!" Which is what I did, only to have the stains on the cover become fluorescent yellow. What have I done??  Many FB friends have offered suggestions but my concern is that I will wear down the fabric and make it worse. This cover has served me well, about 10 years, as best I can figure. I guess I can just use it the way it is which is out to the pool and back in again. It's presently in the washer, and we shall see what the cover looks like when it comes out. If there is a yellowish glow coming from the laundry room, we will know what happened....

America's birthday

As I lie here writing, I can hear the sound of fireworks being exploded all along the river. It doesn't bother me one bit. After all, it's America's birthday, Independence Day!  There is cause for celebration.

Mike's smoker drew the attention of passing firefighters as they saw plumes of smoke billowing over the playground fence as he cooked. They had just come from a fire elsewhere, after the thunderstorm, and came to check out where the smoke was coming from. The firemen startled Mike but also made us happy to know that they were keeping an eye on things. 

My young folks are in the house with me, playing board games in the living room. They worked hard today getting their props and set ready for VBS. I got see some of their efforts as I was invited to join the group for dinner at church. Mike n Mike were making dinner for them, plus Judy and me. I hated to leave home for fear of losing my parking place, but I had nothing to worry about. No interlopers for viewing the fireworks had parked in my stall. Mike S. smoked two Boston butts, one of which we had for dinner, and the second one he portioned between me and some others. We are going to use the pork for sandwiches during the week. With the meat we had French bread, mac 'n cheese balls, baked beans, watermelon, and brownies. 

I brought the kids home with me, having to battle somewhat the traffic which congested the streets around my area due to the fireworks. We had to creep down Mcintosh and Astor Street to avoid pedestrians already working their way toward Moosehaven and the river. After getting towels for the kids and my fold up chair, we got ourselves situated on the north lawn to await the fireworks. We had rain much of the afternoon (totally ruined the daytime celebrations at The Club!) so the towels were necessary. 

We had the viewing area to ourselves at first. The young folks took a walk around check things out. Here they are all three on their phones.

Dinner wrapped up on the patio of The Club and diners were made their way toward the grass along the river. My friends, Nancy and Bill, were planning to watch with us, but instead they went to view the fireworks from the hotel where our other friends had taken a room for the night. That was an even better spot than my yard. Eventually more and more of my neighbors came out to join us and meet the CO kids. Prior to the fireworks show, my friend, Ellen, who was having a party, had her friends sing "Hello, Miss Kim", harmonizing as they did so. Loved that and so did those sitting out there. My neighbor, Hugh, played patriotic music while the show went on. 

This picture was a happy accident, Chris in silhouette in the rocket's red glare.

Part of the fun of this annual fireworks show is watching the boats gather for it. The police vessels keep the boaters from getting too close to the barge anchored in the river.  Because the weather had been so bad today, complete with a thunderstorm and wind, I didn't expect as many boaters. I was way off on that prediction. It was completely dark, of course, after the fireworks display ended, so it was more interesting watching all the boats leave. How they avoid each other out there is beyond me, and I am just glad that they do!  

All excited about the kids being here!!!

This is a recap of the past few day's events: 

I've been making an attempt to not refer to these fine young people from Rocky Mountain Lutheran High School as kids, but it just slips out. A couple years ago when Justin was leaving his bungalow (shack) at the Beach and moving back home, he told me he would have come home sooner except, "Those kids that you love..." were still here. Now that's a line I like to use about these young folks, "those kids that I love".

Caleb (the brother of Jacob who has served us for two years prior), Chris and Noelle, both serving Good Shepherd last year have returned for another go at it. They arrived in JAX on Wednesday night on a late but direct flight from Denver, having no adult escort this time. Michael picked them up and stored the group overnight at their house (Judy's and his) due to the hour. They all slept late and after having a breakfast/lunch Michael brought them over to my house. I had already come up after exercise class and had changed into clothing, rather than wearing my night gown. There is plenty of time for that!

Michael came back for them around 5:00 pm after having decided to not have dinner before arriving at church as they were still full from their late breakfast/early lunch. After they were done with the canvassing of the neighborhoods, Michael took them to eat. Justin and I were already in bed before they came home and got themselves off to bed for their big day today.

They left here this morning around 6:00 am for a day at SeaWorld. The weather should be good, likely getting some rain at some point during the day as is expected in the summer in FL. I didn't think to advise application of sunscreen for them so hope it's not a problem for their fair CO skin. We have had young people here who have had some sunburns and it is not a pleasant experience for them, or for anyone.

The group had to seek shelter for a bit at Sea World due to a thunder storm rolling through. Michael sent me this picture showing their unexpected 'rest' during the day.

Before I headed to the pool for the afternoon, I got busy cleaning out my purse. It was filled to overflowing with papers and receipts and church bulletins. AND, my ticket stubs from my flights to and from WI from over a month ago, plus crumbs from the Pop Tart I had purchased in the airport in MKE for my trip back to Florida. I ate only half of it and the rest made for sticky crumbs in the bottom of my purse. Yech!  

Also, I broke down and ordered two new swimsuits from Sears, on the advice of my pool friend, Pat G. She gets her suits from there and I like how they look on her. They were on sale already at 60% off which is why I took two instead of only one. Prices on suits are simply ridiculous and I refuse to pay full retail for one, much less two!

I haven't actually eyeballed the young folks since they left for church yesterday afternoon and likely won't see them again until Saturday morning. Justin and I will be quiet as we normally are, allowing them to sleep until they wake up, or until Michael is ready to come get them for setting up VBS stuff at church. My plans are to enjoy the Independence Day celebrations at the pool and then join the group at church for dinner as Mike S. is smoking some Boston butts and making other good stuff for us. 

We will get back here in time to enjoy the fireworks from my property. Hoping for great weather for those events as well. My greatest concern is that some interloper will park in my spot while I am gone to church, but hopefully we'll be back in plenty of time to prevent that. Looking forward to having fun with these nice young folks for the time they are here and that our VBS will be blessed having them here!