Waiting for the doorbell to ring

This morning began so splendidly: first writing a letter to Judy R. BEFORE writing the posting for today; going to Bible study and then lunch; and arriving home to find a little note from the Clay County Sheriff's Dept. Yuk! My day was going down hill rapidly. I knew I wasn't going to be arrested for anything, much to my dismay, because I imagine I do know what he was here for...........family court documents! Here I'd been hoping to have dodged this bullet, having to go back to Court over the financial "adjustment" my former spouse called me about, but it seems, not so. The nice deputy left a number for me to call and reschedule his visit, which is set for mid-afternoon. I wait with bated breath for him to come. His words to me were, "Sometimes these things take a while to get settled" and I said, "I thought we were settled four years ago!", saying this with a bit of chuckle, of course. Of course.....

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On a more cheerful note, the Ladies' Advent by Candlelight Service went off without a hitch last night, unless having fewer people than last year is a hitch. I am trying to retain proper perspective about this, as one lady (sorry, can't remember for sure who it was) commented that those who were there needed to be, knew this was where they should be, and the ones who missed out, missed out!

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On the other hand, I rejoice for those who did come, who decorated tables, who brought luscious desserts, who played the keyboard and flute, who sang with their hearts and voices, and those who helped to clean up the mess afterward. I rejoice! One lady even came after the service was over and we were sitting around enjoying our refreshments! Most of the year she lives in WV, so I was absolutely blown away that she did come. Garnett can't make it tonight for the Ladies' Group party because her dogs race on Mondays, but we'll take her whenever we can!

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Justin is going to stop by on his way through after work to carry up my wash basket full of decorations and such from last night because I was simply too exhausted to lug it up in the pouring rain. He'll be sad to see/hear that I am getting "served" because we just talked about it this a.m., him thinking that nothing was going to happen because the company just got a few contracts. I knew he was wishful thinking, but we both were wishfully thinking and praying it wouldn't happen. This has a true trickle down effect, that is for sure.

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His carpets in the condo are being professionally cleaned today and I, of course, am responsible to settle up the debt on that, too. Shouldn't really be that way, one of the other guys on the lease could pay for it, but in order for it to be handled properly, it has to go through me. I'll simply have to collect from the other two moms for their share of the shampooing. As Justin likes to remind me, never again. It won't be like that in his new place, no more me being in between on anything.

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He was a bit upset about his two roomies not devoting themselves to getting stuff moved out, not recognizing the urgency of the situation apparently. One went to the movies and was hanging out with some girl, another one was going out to eat with his mom and brother........."Hey, it's the last day of our lease and the Realtor is coming in the morning----excuse me?" As I reminded Justin, if "we" don't get all our deposit back, hey, it's no sweat off their backs because the parents paid the deposit, not the kids. Justin seems to think the condo lessors will have it professionally cleaned but I don't want to take that chance, or if they do have it cleaned, the cost will come off the deposit, again, which the moms paid, not the kids themselves. Justin tried to tell me that the guys wouldn't deliberately leave it messy, but I have seen no evidence to the contrary. But, as Justin says, never again!

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Some of my loved ones in Manitowoc have heavy hearts because they got sad news yesterday after church. Pastor Hahm has accepted a Call to serve a congregation in Baton Rouge. Mom was quite upset, not being able to believe that he's leaving "her"! Her intellect, and the rest up there, too, realizes there is much that goes into a pastor's considering the two Calls they are under, the one from the existing congregation and the one making the Call, and that the Holy Spirit leads the man toward the decision. Knowing this, however, does not take away the sting of the loss and separation from this man and his family, their family. I know EXACTLY how they feel today, as I had to say good-bye to my dear friends who moved to Morton Grove (Tarren, excuse me for talking about this.....). The attachment was great, is great, to not only the pastor but his wife and infant son. I was especially fond of Pete because he'd seen me through so much in his ministry, as well as being at our home the night Timmy died, a closeness not many folks had with him, fortunately for them. But, Pete asked me one day, as I wept about his leaving, "Well, do you go and visit your family? Do they visit you?", to which I replied, "Yes", and he said, "Then what makes you think we wouldn't visit you?", with the unspoken sentence, me visiting them! Does that mean Pastor Hahm will make trips to Manty? Maybe, I hope so anyway for Mom's sake. Linda and Lynn can travel yet at their age to go see this family, but probably not so for my mom. Yes, I do know how you feel, guys, I really do!

A few quick thoughts before Bible study

Well, the ThanksLiving weekend is over and the games have begun! Almost with a starter's pistol, the store doors swing open and folks launch into shopping mode. I hope no one underestimates the value of recognizing Advent at this time of year, pausing midweek to reflect on the coming of the Savior King. A time to sit back and sigh, "Come, Come, Emmanuel".

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Some of my non-church friends question my desire, longing for Jesus to come again to take us home, thinking that they couldn't go yet because they want to see their grand kids grow up (or not!), don't want to leave their spouses (or will!), have unfinished business (why not?)...and so on. Short of bursting into song, singing "Jerusalem, the Golden" to them, and all the while trying not to weep, these folks have to be told what glory awaits them, the bliss, the face of God. Does this really, truly hold no meaning for folks, or are they being shortsighted? Or, am I? Commenters, help me out here, please......

One more thing........

On Fox and Friends this early a.m. the hosts were all a'twitter, horrified that someone was actually trampled and killed at a Wal-Mart in New York somewhere. Excuse me, but why do you think the retailers advertise these huge sales as being "doorbusters"??? They are baiting people, throwing raw meat out to crazed shoppers, tempting them to come charging, in more ways than one, into their stores. Tell me, what did you think would happen? Was it only a matter of time? And just what is that is causing folks to kill one another in the stores? Anything with a screen and/or a cord! Indeed!

Another fine day!

It's dark out there, totally black, which should be great for the boat parade and fireworks display downtown. Lawcocks invited me to come to their hotel room on the river to watch the parade and such from the balcony. Since I didn't get to go downtown last night for the tree lighting, candle holding and caroling event which we generally go to every year we're in town, I considered joining them for this fun. Emily's sister and her parents also had rooms with river frontage which would have added to the enjoyment but I opted to decline.

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Justin and I went to Palm Coast today for the baby shower of my niece, Tina, and got to see Marian as well as Tina's mother-in-law, Joan. We went down ahead of time so we could chat a while and even got to see Biff, who looks awful! My brother-in-law has emphysema, is terribly thin, all greyed out in his hair, whiskers, and even skin tone. When he breathed, it sounded as though he was humming, and I mistakenly asked him if he had a song in his heart. He said no, it was his breathing and then I felt badly for mentioning it. The good news is that he's finally quit smoking after all these years of struggling to breathe, the terrible coughing spells he'd have, and all that. I wish the ladies at the baby shower could have spent some time in the presence of Biff, perhaps they'd think twice about lighting up!

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Maya was quite amusing at the baby shower, the grande finale being eating her cake with bare hands and getting the frosting in between her fingers, quite the hoot! Tina got so many nice things for the baby, some utilitarian and some for dressing or bathing. Our gift, Justin's and mine, was a musical ceramic piece, with an angel watching over a small child. It plays "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and written on the base of the piece was ".....before me", ....beside me", "....behind me", etc. I knew she didn't need much as far as baby stuff went since Maya is only two years old but felt an important thing was for both little girls to know about Jesus. Always workin'! Plus it makes the baby's room look pretty at the same time.

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After getting upstairs, Justin called me right back to say he located his service folder from Victory and brought it upstairs for me. He just loved the worship and even the service folder was special. On it, different things for which to be thankful are written in a variety of text fonts, such as teachers that make learning fun, the color red, finding just the right words, breathing crisp mountain air, brats and saurerkraut.....Gotta love it! Even a mention of learning a new Bach piece!

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The first order of business this a.m. though was to decorate the huge (i.e. scrawny!) CHRISTmas tree in the lobby of The Palace. In the parking lot last night as I waited for Lawcocks to pick me up for dinner, Chardonnay and her mom were walking through on the way to next building. Chardonnay asked me if I would be available to help decorate the CHRISTmas tree in the lobby today since the lady who usually "runs" that project has her nose out of joint and refuses to play along. I had a couple hours before heading to Palm Coast and brought down my apples to use on the tree, since she asked if I had anything gold to add. Rose, another neighbor, joined us as did Chardonnay's mom and her caregiver. It was not THAT large a tree and I wasn't really needed except to sing as we put ornaments and bows on our scrawny tree. Justin arrived and we went upstairs to get ourselves ready for the shower. It was fun to do the decorating but sure didn't need all of us doing it. When I came home this afternoon the lobby looked just beautiful, my apples adding just the right touch to our decor!

Capturing the moments

Pastor greeting folks after ThanksLiving Day worship, It was a lovely day!
Worship was also as lovely as the weather, wish more could have been there to share it, but for those of us who were, the Lord blessed our time together!

Here's a nice shot of Kathy and Brian, mentioned occasionally in the blog, two of the strong suits in our choir. Kathy is an excellent alto, and Brian, a great tenor, both greatly beneficial to the choir and for heartwarming purposes! Kathy called me Wednesday to report she's mixing me a CD of her favorite Christian music, since I shocked her by saying I didn't listen to Christian radio or CDs!

ThanksLiving Day con't.

All the meal prep was completed, except for microwaving the veggies, which is what I was doing when Pastor Kuske arrived. He brought with him a gift that he'd received that day, and I asked him, jokingly, if he was a "re-gifter". He laughed and said he brought it along for me to see, because he knew I'd like it. Jayne and Brett had given him a plaque made by someone near Frankenmuth, MI, using clay "forms" afixed to a horizontal board. He asked if I could tell what it was and in a second I could see it was the Lord's Prayer, expressed in symbols vs. words. It was amazing, I'd love to have such a thing! I'm going to ask Jayne how to get one because it is important for me. Lovely! He said it would be a valuable tool to use in confirmation class, to help kids get the visual from the Petitions of the Lord's Prayer. What a great gift!

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Justin and Pastor chatted in the family room as we waited for our friends to arrive. Previously I'd removed the turkey from its baking bag and cut it up, placing it on the pre-heated steel tray to keep it warm. Just before serving I poured a bit of chicken broth over the top of it which sizzled like on a fajita pan. Yummy! My baked mashed potatoes and the stuffing were ready to go to the table as soon as the elevator dinged. Here come my friends, Owen and Olivia!!! I had the hot food on the table since Sandy called from the corner to tell us she was nearly there. All we needed then was Sandy who was parking the car, something Owen was not allowed to do evidently. He said he wanted to do it but was sent upstairs instead. Oh, it was wonderful to see them again!

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I'd poured the real wine and fake wine, telling folks they could mix and match the glasses accordingly, rather than leave the wine pouring until all were seated. Most took the fake wine but a few liked the fake stuff better. As do I! Justin was concerned that the turkey breast I baked wouldn't be enough for us, but we even ended up with leftovers, just like the feeding of the 5000! My mashed potatoes, which were runny but good, and the stuffing, which was made with chopped celery and slivered almonds added, received rave reviews. I love nothing better than having people at my table and not gagging!!!!

"No Crying Over Spilled Milk"

ThanksLiving Day was wonderful, aside from being awakened by screams for help when it was still dark....Robbie played much of the service on the organ, when his usual instrument of choice is the piano. We used the Morning Praise Liturgy, one of my favorites, which I wished we'd use more often. After I took attendance, finding myself somewhat dismayed at the empty seats, I joined Justin in the pew. A few moments into the service. on Florida time, several more people arrived, including one family of six. Justin and I had to scoot in for one woman who came without her family. The lady that was going to join us for our feast later on, however, was nowhere to be seen, nor did I ever hear from her on ThanksLiving Day. Hmmm......I'd estimate we had just over 50 people there for worship, a bit shy of Sunday numbers. Someone commented that having church on a holiday was not such a good idea because it conflicted with meal preparations...........I'll just pretend I didn't hear that!

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Wednesday, when I was out and about running my errands and cleaning at church, I'd decided to run in at ABC Liquor for a fresh bottle of Fire Fly, the tea flavored vodka I love so much. The last of my other bottle was used up the night I had dinner with Chardonnay when I simply poured the remainder into a jug of lemonade to take with me. One less thing to carry, you see. All I purchased in that shop was the bottle of Fire Fly and I felt a bit conspicuous as others were leaving with boxes of wine and other beverages. Never apologize for having simple needs! I placed my purchase in the backseat with my Creative Memories bag (remind me to go get that from my car later on.....) and went to Wal-Mart.

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I couldn't carry all my groceries upstairs in one trip, but then Dave the Doorman met me in the parking lot and helped me get things to my condo. I could have grabbed the vodka, then, if I'd known I'd have help.

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After worship yesterday, I was back here before Justin as he was stopping at Walgreens to get soda for us, a deal at 5 for $10. The trick however, was the cases were only 8-packs and not 12 for that price. Whatever, just get me the soda! I grabbed my purse and camera from the front seat and then pulled open the backseat door, when BAMM! CRASH!!, out rolled the bottle of Fire Fly onto the blacktop parking lot. Audibly I said, "Aw, no!" as I bent over to start picking up the shards of glass, but my head instantly went to "Don't cry over spilled vodka!"

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Of course, shards of glass leads one immediately to imagine the damage one can do to a finger as she tries to scoop it into the bag........'twas merely a flesh wound, but I did manage to get much of the glass collected and put into the paper bag. There is a very good reason to use plastic vs. paper bags, let me tell you this right now! I figured to come back down with a bucket to swish the glass and vodka away from the two cars, mine and my neighbors, but Justin used the garden hose on the building to wash the black top and picked up the remaining pieces he could see.

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As we sat at the table with Hilchey's and Pastor Kuske, whose plans had changed and could join us, I told the story of broken vodka bottle. Justin piped up about crying over spilled vodka and I just had to laugh as I told how that was the first thing that popped into my mind as I was cleaning it up! Are we related or what??? Pastor wondered if I'd be able to replace it before CHRISTmas and I assured him that I'd certainly get some again, if not from ABC Liquor then from my next-door neighbor, Ed, with the grille. Don't cry over spilled vodka!