Putting Christmas in our home

This morning I was greeted by this most lovely sunrise

Justin was off work today so together we got busy putting out our Christmas stuff. My job was to move the year-round pretties out of the way so the festive decor could be put in place. I just need to remember where I stuck everything so I can put it back again in January!

Following The Great Flood five years ago, Justin and I went through the Christmas decorations due to necessity as boxes had gotten wet. Every year I said the same thing---'we' must go through this stuff and get rid of what is no longer used. That proved to be the perfect opportunity and I was more willing than ever at that point to let things go. Michael took our items to the yard sale at our sister congregation in Keystone Heights so I didn't feel quite as badly letting them go. 

The point of that paragraph is to explain how less and less decorating gets done each year, limiting myself now to about three plastic bins of decorations to use. Last year we barely decorated at all since Justin and I were going to WI, so he was spared the tree wrestling in 2014! This year I helped him to spread the branches and together we decided that this is the last year for this tree. About half the lights no longer light and it's been through much in 10 years. 

My nice 12' tree got soaked in another flood (Hurricane Charlie which dumped rain on us at the lake house, coming in under the garage door before we had stuff moved out of the way). The Thrivent agent took it for use at his church. I was afraid to use it since it had gotten wet but he was fine with it. So in 2004 I got the tree we are using at present. Justin is a shopper/hunter so he'll find a good price on a replacement tree after Christmas for our home. 

This is the fireplace mantle featuring the Willow nativity set which was a gift from a church friend, Laurie, in 2004. I cherish it! Glad it wasn't damaged in the Great Flood.

Justin placed his hand-crafted ceramic Santa Klaus on the window sill in the living room. It weighs a ton! My friend, Carol, covets him. I gotta say, he is quite charming looking but I doubt she'd be able to snitch him easily because of Santa's weight!

 

Speaking of Santa---I failed to mention something that happened the Monday after I got back from WI. Nancy W. and I were meeting for lunch at Metro Diner but I got there ahead of her. I scanned the dining room for her, but found instead my neighbor, Gus, and his brother. I had a nice chat with Gus, again him telling me how nice 'Jason' looked in his tux, and telling me he needed help with his TV. I assured him that I would have Justin get in touch with him about it. 

Once Nancy arrived we were seated, my back to the door (gasp!). We had the same waiter we'd had the time before and he remembered that my mashed potatoes were to be packed to-go with no gravy. I love that about wait staff who remember those details about their customers. As we were finishing up, Mike came to our table and said, "You must have been very good this year..." and I assured him I was. At this point a waitress familiar to me came over and said, "I'm supposed to tell you that Santa paid for your meals today." Both Nancy's and my meals were paid for by an anonymous person (was it Gus??). We were thrilled! Now we will each look for an opportunity to do the same for someone else!

Back to our decorating---in no time, our decorations were out and most of them placed around. Gone are the days of doing each room, which my friend, Judy, still does, and insists she'd do even if she never entertained. I've gone minimalist in my old age! Or, maybe I just love the things I already have out? Certainly I don't entertain like we did in WI with family members coming and going, plus no more business entertaining. Now, the decor is mainly for Justin and me, and the occasional neighbor or friend who ventures over. 

The rest of the day was spent on the Christmas cards, which I truly enjoy doing. I should have my consummate shopper, Justin, look for cards for me for next year as the season winds down. Always good prices on Christmas cards in January or even before. Finding just the right ones, though, is tough, so I had better do that myself.

Something's on my mind....

..or more on my heart. Today as I drove to church, I noticed a young couple walking along Blanding Blvd. where there were no sidewalks. That stretch makes me nervous as a driver since folks could easily step off the grass or side of the road and into traffic which is swiftly moving. The man was carrying, almost juggling, an infant wearing what appeared to be a sleeper, besides having bags in his hands. The woman was a few steps behind them, carrying stuff in her arms as well. 

By the time I took this in, I was already going around the corner onto Argyle Forest. I am now wishing I'd gone around and come back, to see where they were going and if they needed some help. It's not as easy as it sounds, going around and coming back again, and I fear they may have disappeared into the woods along there before I got back again. It just bothers me, though, since they had a baby with them. It's one thing if it is adults living like this and quite another if there is a baby involved. I am comforted that it was warm out and not fear them freezing to death or anything like that. 

This past week I've had to say good-bye to some people, including my friend, Amber. After multiple set-backs in her life, including health problems and having nowhere to live, she has decided to move back to NJ where many of her family members live. I am thankful she let me know before she left but am disappointed I didn't get to physically hug her. Had to settle for a virtual hug good-bye over the Internet. She asked me to let Judy C. know and tell Pastor as well. I guess I can put away the Bible history book and workbook she and I used when we studied together. I hope and pray she has her Bible history book with her but am suspecting she basically left with what's on her back. I have heard from her since and she did arrive in NJ after a long car drive with her brother and his four kids! Not too much room, I'm sure, for books and such things.

Besides Amber, I have to sort of say good-bye to some other friends from church who will be dividing their living time between here and their home in the mountains. Unfortunately, where they stay in NC, there is no church in our affiliation so they have to change to another Lutheran denomination. This only makes sense to us Lutherans and I am terribly sad to not worship with them any longer. This couple is very dear to me and when they are gone for months at time, I will miss them terribly!!  

Today at the Voter's meeting, which I missed due to choir rehearsal, this couple was granted a membership release. My friends who were in the meeting said they were emotional listening to it being voted on. This couple will be greatly missed (did I say that already?). They will be leaving for the mountains immediately after Christmas so she and I are planning to have a get-together before they leave. Hopefully we can do it!

The best day!

The other day an artist friend of mine, Beth, contacted me about helping her sell a watercolor she'd done of The Palace a few years ago. She was wishing to reduce her inventory and I am quite glad to be of service. What better place to look for clients than in the featured object in her painting?  I e-mailed the picture of her piece to all my neighbors and the Owners, and almost immediately got a bite----my upstairs neighbor! She came down yesterday to look at the piece I gave Justin for Christmas last year that Beth painted of Whitey's Fish Camp, so she could see her work in person. I assured her the other piece would be just as lovely, so we made plans to see it this a.m. 

Debbie sent me a text message this a.m. telling me she was ready to go, but I had to ask for another minute before I was ready. I was still in bed!!!  Somehow I messed up on the planned time and got involved with something on the computer and in a "Law & Order" episode. I got myself ready to go as fast as a fireman, out the door in less than 5 minutes, with teeth brushed, lipstick on, earrings in my pocket, and yet, clothes on!!! Good thing I always shower the night before, because of just such situations!!! 

While at Beth's house in her studio, she showed us several pieces she was working on at present, mostly going into commissioned art rather than entering shows, etc. as much. In her basket of prints, I found one of the same original piece Debbie was buying, though I will have to frame mine. Debbie's came already framed which is quite a deal. We stopped for lunch at Chili's on the Island and had a marvelous time together, as we always do. 

While we were there, Debbie had to speak with the manager of the store as she is part of another fund raiser (besides helping with PACE) in Green Cove. A group of mainly veterans is raising funds to erect an inclusive war memorial in front of the Historic Court House, which is where Debra works. The manager, himself a veteran, increased the cause's 'take' to 15% of sales on a certain day after New Year. They have to coordinate on the date and I was excited to hear how accepting this fellow was to be a participant in the fund raising. 

While I was out with Debbie, Justin was off with his friends at DisneyWorld. There is a light display for Christmas which is out of this world (ha ha!) and the guys were meeting their other friends, from Tampa, to enjoy the lights and the parks. At one point, Justin sent me the above photo, knowing it is one of my favorites in EPCOT. I love it, just love it, that he thought enough to send it. He used the last of our World Passports for admission which we've had for some time. I am so glad he had these opportunities to go with Jesse and friends, using the Passports, and truly getting our money's worth. It is a best day for both of us! 

Fun with friends

It was so grand to see my 'pool friends' again tonight, as friends Bill and Nancy had a Christmas gathering at their home. Justin made cookies this afternoon so I had fresh baked oatmeal cookies with chocolate and 'scotch chips to take with me. Nancy had said to bring nothing so I took a tray of cookies! Tsk, tsk, tsk on me. Nancy W. picked me up because it was too far for me to walk even though it is just outside of our property. Nancy didn't want to walk it either, since it would be dark when we would be leaving. We got the best parking space because of being among the first to arrive, besides our friend, Bob. 

Nancy M. and Bill have done a marvelous job renovating their home which, when purchased, had 'lots of potential'. Oh, I know what that means!! We had one of those, too, and while we did turn it around, while living in it, we swore we'd never do it again. The renovations were pretty close to being done when they had a terrible flood from their main floor into their lower level, where Bill's office is located. Oh, my heart broke for them, once again having to deal with a terrible mess. When Nancy showed Nancy W. and me the repairs, I could not really tell that anything had happened. In fact, they'd done some extra work while in the process of putting things back to right. I'd say, from my perspective, the house and property is done! But homeowners know that is rarely the case. 

 Nancy has a collection of beautiful and interesting things. We didn't know where to look first as there was so much to take in. In her foyer stood a 7' tall St. Nicholas in rich colors of burgundy and gold. barely escaping the flood they had this late summer. I can't show you the picture because it won't post upright, no matter what I've tried. Nuts! I wanted you to see it!  

The food they put out was good, ole upper midwestern stuff including cheese, crackers, and sliced salami (instead of summer sausage). Also, hot cheese dip with scoops, and Nancy W.'s recipe for bacon wrapped smokies. Then, Nancy M. pulled hot ham and cheese sandwiches from the oven. All that plus the candies she had out, and my cookies! 

Earlier in the day I had a housekeeper here to clean my room. She had allowed about three hours and used every minute of it plus some more getting things cleaned up. She said the up and down the ladder business takes time as I can certainly attest. She did a wonderful, thorough job and I can now again enjoy my room and bathroom. When she was done, Justin took me to get my car from Mark, who only did a tune-up on it. Once I got that back again, we went to have a late lunch at Metro Diner. We both brought back half of our food for another time. While at Metro, we saw our old friend, Olivia, Justin's classmate who is expecting her 2nd child. We got to see her mom, aunt, and meet her first child, who was adorable. In the parking lot I got to see my big, red car, which she is still driving, with 300,000 miles on it! And, I complain about my little car...

Justin carried out the Christmas decorations from the back bedroom, with our original plan to decorate while Dawn was here. I decided to do it on Monday instead but all the stuff is out so I can work on it over the weekend, not the tree but the rest of the pretties. We shall see!

So far, so good today

My day started on a bright note as this story was shared on Facebook by my friend, Pat. She reported shopping at Festival last evening, getting stuff for the Christmas celebrations coming up. A man got in line behind her holding only a couple of items so she urged him to go ahead because of her full cart. He did go ahead of her and swiped his card in the reader for his items. After he checked out, he swiped the card again and said to Pat, "Merry Christmas", and walked out. She wept with joy, thanking him as he walked away. The man just told her to "pay it forward". He had just bought her over $125 worth of groceries. Their food will taste so much better this holiday season because of this wonderful experience. Pat is wondering what she can do to pay it forward herself. Awesome story from my hometown!

This morning I took my car to the repair shop, arranging for Nancy to pick me up. I drove around a little bit before finding the shop but she drove right up to it. She'd been to an upholsterer down this strip of shops so was familiar. I was anxious about my car, of course, fearing the worst news as to what ails it. Nancy nicely took me to Winn Dixie so I could get a 12 pack of soda, enough to hold me over until I get my car back again. Or, until Justin can go get some more!  She needed fruit and veggies so didn't mind the extra stop. 

When I had asked her for the ride, she invited me to join her friend and her for lunch at Pompeii. At first I declined, not wishing to barge into their time, but today she assured me I would not be, so I agreed to join them. So glad I did! Besides meeting her nice friend, Cheryl, a former neighbor, I had the most marvelous roast beef sandwich I've had in a long, long time. Oh my! The beef was served on foccacia bread and simply delicious. I cannot wait to go back and have another one! I had the 2nd half for my dinner tonight and it was yet wonderful. 

Giant urn I would just love to have!

After our lunch the three of us walked over to the consignment store, Linen and Rust, in the same plaza as Pompeii, where I saw some beautiful pieces. I am glad my home is sufficiently decorated because I could easily be tempted to buy some of the things I saw there today. 

I asked Nancy to pose with this statue head so I could capture the enormity of it. What possible use would I have for such a thing? Who had it first??

We ladies then went over to Nancy's house to see Hank, the cat. He is so well trained that he used to use the toilet but then developed some sort of kidney or urinary issue so now uses a box like other cats do. He is so amusing, giving Nancy high fives and high tens on command, sits when asked like a dog would do, and even goes and rings a bell when Nancy asks him to. Cheryl was entertained by Hank, her first meeting of him. When Cheryl left, Nancy drove me back over to my house. Later I was thinking I could have just walked back...but I took the ride.

By late afternoon I still hadn't heard from Mark, the car repair guy. I knew he had another car in front of mine so didn't expect to hear from him. Just before 5 pm he called to say he cleaned some junk off something (technical terms) and thinks the car would run more smoothly. We talked about him doing a basic tune-up and he gave me a price on it, a reasonable one which should help the engine not vibrate. He was going to take it out on the freeway and see if he could recreate the strange sound once there was less traffic. Good plan! Mark is going to call me in the morning and let me know what he heard, if he did hear it, so we can discuss that solution. I am glad to be having the tune up, was way past due, much to my shame. My oil change people usually let me know when it's time and I didn't keep track of it either. 

Justin went to Jesse's right after work as they are watching the Star War movies in preparation for the new movie coming out on the 18th. They already got their tickets and are counting the minutes to the next one. I sure do hope they are not disappointed by it. 

My tech guy

Today Justin had a day off from yard keeping but sleeping until noon was out of the question. He had two tech appointments scheduled for this a.m. plus one who couldn't keep her appointment because she let the battery get too low and wasn't able to charge it. Something tells me Justin would have been able to charge it for her, but wasn't all that excited about having a third appointment. 

His first call was for 9:00 to determine if our neighbor, Ron's, TV had actually died or what. At 9:06 Justin was back, with money in his hand. He came into my room and asked me, "What do I usually tell you to do when something is giving you trouble?"  I said, "Reset!" and he said, "Yup! I just reached behind his TV, unplugged it, and then plugged it back in...ta da!" Ron was embarrassed, I'm sure. Justin said when it came back on, Ron just said, "I'll be right back..." and returned with money in hand for Justin. Nothing to this game! 

His next appointment was also in the building and also a TV call. Gus got a new TV (he told me his previous one came across on the Mayflower!) and needed Justin to program his remote controls for him. Gus is one of Justin's biggest fans, has mentioned to me a dozen times how handsome Justin looked in his tuxedo (it was actually just a suit) for the wedding. Justin made some easy 'mad money' in a just a couple of hours before lunch!

This evening we had worship with Pastor Lemke as our guest preacher. It was getting to be time to begin and no sign of our pastor. Michael was getting nervous, thinking he'd have to wing it, but had no notes or helps. Traffic is always horrendous and especially so at Christmas. Often folks are later getting to church due to this. Pastor and his wife were coming from Ocala which is a nice long ride in itself. Later we found out he'd tried to call Michael but he'd put his phone away in the briefcase and didn't think about it. We began only a few minutes late, which our members are used to (rarely do we begin our service on time) and Pastor did a tremendous job for us. 

The sermonettes were riveting as we learned about 'the dayspring from on high', and 'the key of David'. He somewhat personalized the sermons by calling out to the boys (a family of four boys), drawing their particular attention to a point he was making. Their grandma told me how much she liked that, made them feel involved. More than a children's sermon would do, she said. 

After the service the choir met to rehearse for two opportunities we have coming up. On the last Sunday of Advent we are singing two pieces, one an anthem and one the verses of a hymn from the Supplement. And then two new pieces for Christmas Eve. We didn't have enough people really for a decent rehearsal but at least gave it a nice run through. We will rehearse again on Sunday, and possibly a Saturday if folks can make it. I feel much better with more practice time but Kristi has such great confidence in us! 

I was so happy to pull onto this property and park my car. Nothing feels better, hardly anything, than getting back home and up to my cozy digs here behind my doors. Justin and I had met for dinner before church at 5 Guys since he had shopping to do at the Mall. He left ahead of me and then we met up. We got over to church without too much trouble, leaving from the Mall. By eating earlier, we didn't have to rush around preparing something after getting home from church and choir rehearsal. Ah, time for bed! 

Life in the shadows

As I sorted stuff from my travel cosmetic bag, taking out the items which I use daily and putting the rest away, I pulled out all my make-up items including eye shadows. 

There is a story behind this:  Linda's sister is an Avon lady. Avon has discontinued the type of shadow I use, the three on the left, but I wondered if Georgia had any left in stock for me to buy. She did not, but did have Linda give me the double ended one from her sample kit to see if I liked it. The colors are somewhat glimmery and will do in a pinch. 

At the airport the day I departed for WI I saw an eye shadow that applied with an applicator like lip gloss so I bought that, in my color of blue. It, too, will do in a pinch. Then, Linda gave me a Mary Kay shadow she got at an open house event, called "In The Navy". I love it! 

Lynn, Kerry, Jill, and I were shopping downtown Manty on Small Business Saturday, and we came upon a Mary Kay booth belonging to a high school friend, Julaine, where she also had the crayon shadows. There I found "Purple Smoke". And the price was right, too. I do believe I am all set with eye shadow for a while!