Oops! Got carried away there....

I must have had words leftover, rambling like I did on the previous posting....I tried to remove some using cut and paste but it would not come, so get a cup of coffee and start reading. Sorry!

It is raining spam!

It is raining real rain, too, but I have noticed recently that my gmail account is being bombarded with spam messages. Fortunately my filter catches them but I always check to see what is in the spam file in case something which is not truly spam does not end up dumped. Crazy stuff in the filter, prescriptions available for body parts I do not even have! Ricky told me he gets those advertisements on his blackberry phone, too, and is horrified that they are even sent to him. What and who thinks people will actually open those misspelled and "taunting" e-mails in the first place? They even try using people's names to lure one into clicking it open. Do not do it! Delete, delete, delete!

This is my table, all dressed for the monthly dinner, Cinco de Mayo-themed, in May. Beautiful, if I do say so myself!

*

Joanne is finally back home in this nest and wondering why in the world is the house torn apart like this? Justin was going to come over yesterday to put it all back, hang up my tapestry again, move the furniture, etc. but with the continued threats of winds and rain, nope. We might even leave it like this the entire time I am gone, since Joanne will be going away part of the time as well. My neighbors will have authority to come in and check on things for me while I am away, and Justin will have access, too, if need be.

This is a shot taken this morning, May 19th, as Joanne and I watched the winds whip the trees and throw water around the breakwater. See how gloomy it is out there?

*

Joanne was ensconced in my bedroom desk chair and eating her supper while watching the finale of "Dancing with the Stars" when I came home last night. The TV in the family room was still unplugged and she was desperate to see this show. Wow, she has got it bad! Immediately I plugged the TV back in and turned the family room over to her to watch this show, while talking with her sister in Atlanta who is also a fan.

*

Many years ago when I was newlywed, some of my sisters and I were involved in watching a spinoff of "Dallas" with Joan Van Ark as the star, I simply cannot remember the name of it right now. One of the main lead actors died in a season finale and Jill called to tell me that Sid had died. I was all upset and talking about someone dying, and my spouse thought it was a real person. He got upset because here it was a TV show, and we had a brother-in-law named Sid....Guess he had a point, but still, that is how "real" it was for us, at the time. As a married couple, we were "hooked" on "Dallas", pre-VCR days, and scheduled our Friday nights around the TV show. After that series was over, we never really got attached to TV shows like that anymore, it was so empty and we were too busy working to have our lives revolve around TV. How did I get into this? Oh, yes, "Dancing with the Stars"!

*

Despite Monday's wretched weather, a nice group of us met at church for Bible study before we take a recess until July. We did not finish or even come close to it, our study of "Come, Worship Christ", because we got off on a tangent about the role of women in the church. The passages we started looking up were about keeping worship orderly, no speaking in foreign tongues unless there was someone to interpret, only one or two or at most three speakers in worship, and so on. One of the ladies proceeded to read further into the chapter, hence, taking us widely away from learning about organ music in the church! We did not even get to view the video segment planned for the class but Pastor said the conversation and questions confirmed the plans for an upcoming Bible study on this matter. We went to Longhorn (really?) for lunch, having seven of us in our group this time, and at the end of the meal, "our" waitress, Patty, treated us with a dessert which we all shared. Yummy! We will not be going as a group to eat there again until July but certainly individually or in twos or threes, we might!

*

Sunday I sent my heating pad home with Paul for use on his sore neck and now I am thinking it sure would be nice to have it to help warm me! It feels quite chilly in the house, no sun since Sunday afternoon---brisk winds and rainy skies make for good nap weather! This morning I got a call from my little boy, asking me if I could buy his birthday present early....okay, now what? It seems his tires are quite bald and he got freaked out yesterday when his car swayed into another lane when he went from stop and around the corner. At first I was skeptical about it, but when he informed me that he has 45000 miles on them, I ran to the store to buy him tires! Ever since he did a 360 spin out on I-95 last year, he is extremely cautious when driving, especially on wet pavement.

*

We met at the tire place near Wal*Mart, thinking I had to pay right away. He said not until it is complete and agreed to ride over to the store with me instead of sitting in the waiting room. He picked up a new pair of wipers for his car, too, saying he has originals on there yet. I replace mine fairly regularly because I have a low tolerance for poor wipers. Justin told me he had to be at a house in St. Johns county at 1:00 and hoped the tires would be on by then, but then he got a call that he needed to be at the house sooner. Oh, oh, now what? He was getting upset and I suggested he take me home and use my car to run his errands. Mom, the Problem Solver!!!! I checked out and away we went so he can do his work. He will just come back for me later and we will go together and pay for the tires. I told him that I really had not planned on tires for his birthday, and that I certainly would not have spent THAT much on him!!!! We are going to work out his paying me back for them as I have plenty around here that needs doing for him to work off much of the cost.

*

I finished the washing and drying of the rain-catching items yesterday afternoon, and laid them back in place "just in case". The maintenance lady, Connie, said the storms were not over and I would rather be safe and messy, than sorry! Part of the afternoon was spent helping my friend, Suzanne, write some paragraphs to use for her application process at a job she is interviewing for today. She lost her job last week and is hustling to find a new one. Of course, I was incredibly flattered that she asked me, saying, "I need a writer!" As we spoke on the phone, I was also typing on the paragraph she e-mailed me, plus Instant Messaging with Justin about him not needing to come help me with the furniture repositioning....true multi-tasking! I should have applied for the job! One thing about that----I am not qualified!!!! And Suzanne is perfect for the job, I know she is going to get it.

*

In the midst of our conversation, my doorbell rang, as I had cautioned Suzanne it would. I had an appointment with the ceramic tile cleaners who came to give an estimate for cleaning the tile for The Palace. Excusing myself from the conversation and typing with Suzanne, I put my jacket on and joined the cleaners as we visited each floor so Aaron could see what needed to be done. Each floor in the building has a different colored tile in the elevator alcove, some needed more care than others. He is even giving us a price on cleaning the lobby on the first floor in case the Board wants to go that far. As Hugh told me, the floor in the elevator is going to be replaced at some point, but in the meantime, it needs to be clean. With so many Units for sale right now, everything really should be looking its best. My opinion is it should look its best all the time for those of us already here, but I also understand the other thoughts.

*

After walking the floors and getting the measurements, the three of us came back here because Aaron wanted to make sure my floors and walls were not holding moisture from the mini-flood. He has a metal rod with prongs which is a moisture-meter, as well as a handheld device which does the same thing. He was pleased with the readings from the drywall, wood floors, and baseboards, no danger right now of mold or other rot from the leaks. I was not worried until he said something about it!

*

Being chilled to the bone after running around outside in the rain, I decided to climb under my covers to warm up. While there I thought about Sheila and her little grand daughter walking in the rain to get home that afternoon, and since I would be heading that direction later to have dinner with Kathy and attend some church meetings, I called Sheila to make arrangements for picking up Akeila. It was on my way, and if the day care would allow her to leave with me, that would be great! I got Sheila's answering machine and left her a message. Before long she called back to say she was in a job interview when I called but was glad I did.

*

At first Sheila said she would walk from the interview to the daycare to meet me there, but I told her to stay where she was, since I had to drive right past her to get Akeila. I had to fly around to get myself ready and off I went to get her. She looked very nice for her interview, and Sheila said she has to call back in a couple days for a 2nd interview. We picked up her granddaughter and I took them home. I really must get a booster seat for use in my car, especially if I make a habit of picking her up from daycare. I think I have the child-resistant handles in the back seat but don't know if I want to enable that for when grown ups sit back there......Anyway, I dropped them off, complete with a bag of food from my fridge, including the fore-mentioned fruit. Since I will be gone, there is no need for my food to go bad when Sheila can certainly make use of it. As my grandma used to say: "Every little bit helps", said the old lady as she peed in the sea..."

*

On my drive to meet Kathy B. for dinner, I called Kathy L. in Manitowoc to see how she was. Mom told me about the "performance" Gabe gave in church on Sunday. She laughingly said, "He can't just walk up to the front, he has to leap and dance all the way up the aisle!" This reminds me of Timmy, how he could not stand still either. She did not tell me about his song or any more info other than that his aisle dancing.

*

Kathy and I enjoyed a lovely meal together and did some necessary chatting, the kind best done face to face. Joanne had given me a gift card for the Olive Garden which I used toward my meal. Thanks, Jo! Mom was envious that I was eating there, as she misses the Olive Garden. Unfortunately, since I had back- to-back church meetings, I did not have an Italian margarita. Certainly I had to have my wits about me when we are making decisions regarding summer Sunday school and VBS! We did end up choosing the same program that Victory is using and I already made some contacts with members over there to see what we can "share', as their VBS is before ours. I know one man is making a backdrop of some sort, looking like "Tool Time" from the Tim Allen TV show of old.

*

During our phone conversation, Mom did tell about nearly missing a fabulous chorale concert by the Lutheran High choirs at First German. My sister, Jill, called Mom to make sure she was going and it is good she did! At first Lynn was not sure if she wanted to go out again that night but also was happy to see/hear the concert. The director, whose father-in-law had died that morning, was presenting this special concert as part of earning his advanced degree. The show must go on! Even his wife and mom-in-law were present and joined the choir for their final anthem, the benediction. No dry eyes in that house, the Lord's house. "Oh, for a faith that will not shrink though pressed by many a foe; that will not tremble on the brink of poverty or woe...", (used in Timmy's funeral service.) Mom said the memorial service for Dan Hennig is being held on the day prior to the trip to Lori's for Dusty's graduation party and I am sad to miss it. I will already be at Lori's, perhaps hanging out with Judy the day of the service. Again, the show must go on!

Oh, baby, it's cold outside.....

According to WOKV.com, the temperature here is "only" 62 degrees at 8:00 a.m. this morning. And I do not think it is going to be much more than this the rest of the day, which is predicted to be overcast and misty....As long as we do not have the wind-driven rains, we should be okay. My washer is busily handling the towels, blankets, and sheets used to soak up the dripping water, and I go on record as saying, "I hate folding sheets!"!!

*

Jill called me last night to report her computer has "worms" or what we would refer to as a virus! She recently had the computer repaired for the same type of illness and now it is acting up again, so the repairman is doing this fix gratis. Only, she has to physically take it to him for the fix since he does not have a car. I cannot even begin to imagine trying to disconnect, lift and carry, and then reconnect this monster "AlienWare" computer which gives me wings to tour the world. The last time I needed work done, on my previous "regular sized" CPU, Steve came here to disconnect and take it away, and then returned to hook it back up. I wonder if he is still in business....this economy has been rough on small business people.....and big business, too!

*

At this moment I am enjoying a nice bowlful of taco salad leftover from yesterday. Mmmm.....When it began to thunder, the Lawcock's and I came upstairs and Emily watched me as I threw the taco salad together. The final ingredient to add was the container of grape tomatoes, which made the salad look so pretty, lying on the cheese layer on top. As we sat around the table in the family room with our plates piled with salad, a meal in itself, all three adults sat there, pushing the grape tomatoes off to the side of our plates! I just had to laugh because if I had known none of us ate them....obviously, I could have omitted the tomatoes! Emily and Paul loved the rest of the salad, though, with Paul commenting that he even ate the diced tomatoes mixed in. Oh man! Emily said later that she is fussy about green peppers and onions, too, which were in this salad but did not mind them being in the famous salad! And you thought I was the fussy eater???? I also picked up a container of fresh fruit from which Sarah ate only the cantaloupe, digging deeply into the dish to garner. As I looked at it this a.m., I made a mental decision to eat some of that fruit so it won't go to waste, remembering I have another can of Cool Whip in the fridge leftover from Sandy's key lime pie......

*

Not long after eating, Sarah was asking for something to eat, and Paul kept saying, "No!". I asked if I could get something for her and Paul told me she only wants to eat junk food. Emily said Sarah does not generally eat beef (i.e. taco salad) and I said I had some chicken in the fridge that I picked up at Winn-Dixie, drumsticks and breasts, etc. Nope, Sarah will only eat nuggets, like from McDonald's. Emily asked if Sarah could have some potato chips which, of course, she could. I had the snack mix leftover from the Youth Group but from that mixture Sarah only wanted the M & M's, throwing the raisins and nuts back into the dish! Oh, it has been a long time since I have had interaction with little ones!!! I cannot wait to see the boys in Sheboygan!

*

I have been in communication with a young lady from church who is stressing about how and when to discipline her kids, etc., always second guessing herself. One of the remarks she made was about "picking your battles" and I had to tell her that I missed that in my era. Battles? Are you kidding me? Bottles, yes, picking battles, I do not know..... One thing I did comfort her with was that age and a fading memory allows me (and probably other moms, too) to recall primarily the good things the kids did, the type of things one captures on film or tape. Fortunately the temper tantrums and raised voices don't often make it to 'preservation format'! How I wish I had a recording of Justin telling us at bedtime, that he could not stop talking because "I have words left over..."

*

Oh, oh! I have gone into the "danger zone" of my time frame for being on the computer before leaving for Bible study so had better finish up. I might put on a long-sleeved top due to the cold, nasty weather, which will go right through me once I leave the building. Saturday I got an e-mail from one of the maintenance guys declaring the snake is dead, and he included a picture of it. Sadly, Miss Chardonnay reported to me that this is NOT the same snake which was intertwined in my kitchen door grille-work so the heat is not off as far as that fear is concerned. Oh, if only Eve had not eaten that forbidden fruit......

What a mess!

I am seated on the loveseat which is pulled out into the family room, watching a TV only recently plugged back in. The TV stand is also pulled away from the wall and once more towels and sheets and blankets are spread about to sop up the water drips. Yikes! It was Tropical Storm Faye all over again but with incredibly scary winds this time. Paul, Emily, Sarah and I were in the family room, with Paul and I watching a "Seinfeld" episode when it became apparent that the wind was bending the palm trees almost to the ground...Yeah, I think we are having a storm! Almost immediately we noticed the water running in around the window and the sliding glass doors....oh, no, not again!

*

Paul helped pull the furniture out and get the towels in place, unplugging the TV (nuts!) and Emily helped me remove the glass pieces from the window in case the windows didn't hold. We saw what might have been a lawn chair go floating by in the river, and I remembered the winds a few weeks ago that took the neighbors' gas grilled over onto its side. Oooh, that would be terrible if the wind blew it my direction this time! We did not lose electricity but the lights blinked many times. The rains were just torrential, lightning wild, and thunder booming, with Sarah half afraid and half excited about the whole thing. As soon as we said, "Stay away from the windows and doors!", she headed straight for them! Of course!

*

Emily thought they should stay to help put things back but I wanted to keep the water catchers in place at least until the storms ended. They left as soon as it seemed to let up a bit, but it was still raining and lightning. Paul has a bulging disc in his neck giving him a fit and I did not want him doing any more than he already had to help me. Justin is coming by tomorrow to give me a hand with the furniture and such, which I appreciate. He has school tomorrow night so will not be able to stay, and I can do much of the clean up before he arrives. I filed a "damage report" with the maintenance guys in my building, not because they can fix it but they at least need to know what is going on in the various units. Hopefully some of the leaks will be corrected when the building is caulked, sealed and painted this summer. What's another $100,000.00 capital improvement, especially when we are flying around moving furniture and laying out drip cloths for the leaks????

Boy, I am hungry this a.m.!

Normally I can go until 10 or later before rummaging for something to eat for breakfast, but do not think I will hold out that long today. I had a nice little supper last night, making Four Cheese cook-in-the-bag rice and adding cut up ham into it. No directions to follow other than "microwave for 90 seconds". The other instructions on the package were for where and how to grab it when the food is done cooking but fortunately I took a non-hot edge when removing it from the oven. "Sometimes," she said smugly, "I don't need directions!"

*

Part of my time Saturday, on a weather-threatening day, was used talking on the phone with Mona in Manty. Since they had to be on JR's campus at West Point bright and early the morning we arrive for graduation, we needed to find our own ride from the airport to the hotel. I checked on-line and saw our hotel offers "Complimentary airport transportation" ("My, you look nice today!" "New outfit? Great!). It suggested I call for availability so I did and talked to a young man in the metropolis of Newburgh, NY. It seems the hotel does not have a dedicated vehicle (shuttle or town car) but 'someone will be here that can come and get you'. Great! I asked him to please put a note on my reservation that our flight arrives at 10:23 a.m., and he told me the driver would be there at that time. Don't I need time to get my luggage, etc? Oh, yes, he said the driver would be there at 10:30!!!! It must be a tiny airport...

*

Mona said that it is quite small and really old, with blacktop runways and baggage claim is not going to be a problem. I will not tell Justin about this, let him find out himself, or he might murmur about our small plane, rugged airport, riding in the back of a truck to the hotel, being beastly tired because of our early morning flight. I sure would not want him to ruin JR's big day the next day! JR could twist Justin's head off because, according to press reports, JR is "the best powerlifter West Point has ever had"! I'll bet he could get us carried in chairs on people's shoulders from the airport to the hotel if we asked him to make the arrangements in person!

*

It is time to leave for church so will sign off for now. Presently I am sweating just a bit which means it might a good day to sit poolside, but guess I should check the weather first, before making too many plans for the afternoon. I cannot wait until the cabana opens again which will be Memorial weekend and not one moment before! I want a hot dog and an adult beverage poolside!

Saturday sittin' on the river

Well, I guess it is time for me to go to the h-o-m-e....In anticipation for friends coming over to go swimming today, I decided to make a pan of brownies for dessert. There were cans of whipping cream left here from the dinner on Thursday last week which would taste so good on brownies. Well, it has been awhile since I baked anything....already defending myself here....I goofed! Instead of putting a quarter cup of water into the mixture, I misread the amount and put in 1 1/4 cups of water. OOOPS! Now what? Well, I put it in the oven anyway and we will see what happens with it. Chocolate soup anyone? Nuts! It is heck to get old....

*

Since our plans were changed for tonight by the cancelled concert, some are thinking of coming over here to go swimming. I do not know how many to expect so might just order pizza for supper rather than try to cook something. It is not my day to be cooking, I am afraid! "Hello, Pizza Hut? It's me again....." It sure would be lovely to be sitting under the stars at Metro Park tonight and listening to the orchestra, but it is not to be!

*

The river is active with boats today, many pulled up to fish. Some were the noisy kind that certainly scared the fish away. The water level is higher now that the moon is no longer full, so I do not have to look at the nasty underbelly exposed during lower tides. Wednesday night was our condo BOD meeting and I arrived just in time for them to adjourn. It seems they began 30 minutes earlier than advertised (oops!) so finished before I could return after choir practice. One of the guys told me they assigned a job to me, to contact the ceramic tile cleaners to come and give us a price. See what happens when you miss a meeting??? The same folks who cleaned my rugs last week also clean the tile, and in fact, did clean the area around the elevator once before, when they cleaned and refinished the floor in my river room. Aaron was going to come Friday but they got too busy so plans are now to come on Monday afternoon. It will be nice to see the tile cleaned up again, after so many people have moved out and in, leaving black tire marks from the handcarts .

*

Because our concert plans were changed, Justin told me he was going to church tonight rather than Sunday morning. He likes to sleep late I guess. Even though worship does not start until 10:30, and he lives only blocks from church. As long as he gets there, this is what matters. I only hope the weather holds and those of us who are going to swim and sit poolside can actually do so. If the weather does not cooperate, we can be thankful to not be under the skies downtown when it begins to rain!

*

Last night was our Youth Group gathering here, complete with Pizza Hut and salad. I thought Kathy might like something other than pizza so I bought a bag of lettuce and some low calorie dressing which we all enjoyed. Kathy had the bright idea of adding olives to her salad so I did, too, making it more tolerable. Brian had the idea of ordering two Panormous pizzas and end up taking an entire one home with him. Evidently not everyone was as hungry as Brian was! Earlier in the day I had gotten the Youth Group newsletter via e-mail so I printed it off for Brian to use. Pastor Kuske wanted to show the kids the website just for young people the WELS has, so I set it up on my desktop and turned the monitor around for viewing in the river room. Sadly, only two kids came which can leave the leaders feeling quite defeated. Hopefully with some regular activities and promotion "we" can stimulate some more interest, like the kids used to have "back in the old days" at church.

*

The little newsletter mentioned some interesting topics such as the age group referred to as the Mosaic Generation. Nothing to do with Moses, I fear. This age group was born between 1984 and 2002, I do not know who made this decision, but that is what the article stated. General statements attributed to this Mosaic Generation: they are comfortable with contradiction, post-modern, exhibiting non-linear thinking, eclectic in lifestyle, fluid in their personal relationships, with cut-and-paste values, and a hybrid spiritual perspective. The discussion that followed, led by Brian, who teaches sociology and similar subjects to high school kids, was how people are so connected now days that we are disconnected. I have said this for a long time, beginning with the portable CD players with ear buds. Very isolating. He asked them about what it says when you take a phone call from one person while talking to another---what does it possibly say about the first caller? Or, how people seldom make eye contact, particularly not taking their eyes or fingers off their cell phones. Our conversations, especially this mosaic generation, have been reduced to short bits and pieces, often over the top of the other person's bits and pieces (I knew this too!!!), and I threw in the fact that we speak in sound bytes now. Not me, of course, I can just go on and on and on.....In fact, I do!Anyway, I just found this entire conversation incredibly interesting and more than a little frightening, with little hope of reversal.

*

My sister, Lori, called me a while ago and was rejoicing because she had tracked down an old folk song we used to sing together, called "Jamie". My nephew is named Jamie, so I think we should sing it at his wedding. Lori tried to play it over the phone but it didn't work, so I found it myself on youtube and we listened together----no eye contact but certainly our hearts were! She said she had been searching for it since I was there last year and was just so happy to finally scare it up. Lori is going to have David learn to play it for us, so I cannot wait to get out there. I believe I have the original album in my possession but will wait for Justin to come and pull it out of the closet for me. I also got a wonderful invitation via e-mail from my friend, Linda O., at Victory. She wanted to know if I was interested in going to a Pops concert on Memorial Day with her, but I will be in New York at that time. Nuts! But I was seriously tickled to be asked by her!!!

*

My toes are cold, I hope it is not chilly outside. The sun needs to be on me if I go into the pool so it had better break from of the clouds and warm things up. There is a little breeze and little sun. Perhaps I had better get out there now while it is still showing itself!

Scuttled Plans

Oh, hear the cry go up from Orange Park, the cry of scuttled concert plans! Kathy let me know this a.m. first thing that the Jacksonville Symphony concert featuring Leann Rimes has been cancelled. The disappointment took my breath away at first, but I has since collected myself and decided we can still get together here at my place and spend time poolside, picnic down there or up here, weather determining. It seems Leann has lost her voice but in my opinion, we could have enjoyed the Symphony all night long without hearing the country western music sung, right?

*

The breeze off the river is delightful today but is making my river room look like the a wedding is going to take place! Loose petals from my Mother's Day bouquet are being scattered about on the floor, catching my eye as the wind scoots them along. My first thoughts are usually, "mouse!!!!", but since there have been a couple snake encounters recently, I think for a moment, "Snake!!!" Oh, how I so wish Connie would have never told me about the snake wrapped in my door!

*

One of my "friends" on facebook, Carrie, is mourning the fact that her dad is going home to be attended by Hospice in his last days. He has lung cancer and there is nothing now for the doctors to do except keep him comfortable. Dan is a retired pastor and moved to Manitowoc to be close to family. The last time I was home in WI I got to hear him sing during the worship service, Morning Praise. Prayers for all involved are appreciated, the Unggemach's and Hennigs.

*

While I am sitting here at my desk, Linda J. is preparing to go to Stamp Camp this weekend, and I am soooo envious of her! One time I had a chance to go with her but for some reason or another, I think a family issue came up, I was unable to go with her. I blew my chance! Yesterday when reading Carrie's postings on facebook, I saw the name of someone Linda and I met at the Women's Leadership Conference in 2007. I sent Kelly as message through Carrie's site and sure enough, she wrote back and we are now officially "friends". It didn't "take" evidently when we met in person----nah, we had to wait a couple years and reconnect via the Internet!!!!

*

Speaking of things not "taking", Justin and I watched a couple episodes of "Seinfeld" on Mother's Day, and no, my mom does not approve. Many years ago my sister, Jill, was a fan of Bobby Sherman and would watch his TV show, much to the rest of the girls' chagrin (I have 5 sisters!). We wanted to watch "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." or something instead, back in the days of only one TV in the house. We would mock Jill about her love of Bobby Sherman until such a time as my mother announced, "NO MAKING FUN OF ANYBODY'S FAVORITES!!" So there! So, because of that declaration, I try to not be critical about TV shows people watch...I learned from my mother not to make fun of other people's favorites! Anyway, the "Seinfeld" episode that was on was one of my favorites, when Jerry and George come to the conclusion, while sitting in the diner, that they are NOT men, they are boys! They decide to change their ways, not break up with girlfriends just because they eat their peas one at a time, or shush them in the movies. George confesses to Jerry that he thinks about his former girlfriend, Susan, who, when they broke up, became a lesbian. George drives his girlfriends to lesbianism, but that is another story. Jerry asks him, "Susan, hmm, didn't she become a lesbian?" and George immediately came back with, "Nah, it didn't take...." which just made us roar with laughter. Jerry sits with his raised coffee cup and simply acknowledges the comment. "It didn't take...."

*

In a few minutes I am heading off to have lunch with Justin. He invited me to join him as he has office duty today and can take an hour for lunch. The restaurant choice was mine to make and while I would much rather eat at Koko's, I knew Justin's diet would like Ruby Tuesday better. Truly, I do not care where I eat, normally I can find something to order, but it is more the company that interests me. It is overcast again today, and I noticed something interesting here in my room----when I stand in a certain place in my bedroom/office and look out, the cross piece on the windows obliterates the trees on the horizon, so the sky and the river look exactly the same color! I know, I know, this girl needs a new hobby!