At the end of the day.......

.........we have a dramatic electrical storm! And yes, I am on my computer during the best of it! The storm came as quickly as it is leaving, at least, it appears to be moving south quite rapidly. The waves are white, crashing against the breakwater, and a lone osprey is soaring, riding the wind, as it were. Impressive! Lightning is striking on the opposite side of the river, and since it is not night time yet, looks creepier than if it were.

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Joanne got home only moments before the storm, which thus far has not brought rain, because on Monday nights she watches The Bachelor on TV. I vacated the family room so she can enjoy her program. I know of some others who also watch this show plus various programs of the same ilk, and then they wonder "Why?"...She reported that the north end of the building has already been painted, which I never would have known unless I walked down there. I saw some white on the face of the one portion but assumed it was primer/sealant. I wish we could have gone somewhat more daring with the color choice, but as Donna, one of my neighbors, told me, "Kim, you are our accessory!" I was wearing a particularly outspoken shirt that day with many of the colors I would have preferred instead of the blah yellow that was chosen. It really does not matter, in the big picture, because the mildew will be gone with the building looking fresh again when they are done.

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This afternoon I spent some time poolside, enjoying the lovely hot weather. I was not alone, others were there for the same reason. While I was sitting at the table, I gave Mom a call just to chat, and in the course of the conversation, she observed her parking lot full of police cars. Four of them, this time! Enough!!!! Mom said she made some phone calls this morning to get prices on apartments, including the nice place we toured with Clara Petska. Yesterday she heard someone pounding on the neighbors' door, begging to be let in because he had just gotten out of jail.........Okay, so when can we start packing the boxes????

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My late morning/early afternoon was spent at the funeral, and what an interesting service it was! Steve was buried from his church, which I am sure was a blessing for his parents and family, and had planned his service months ago with his son. The hymns he chose were all CHRISTmas ones, even "Silent Night", because, according to the service folder, Steve felt that this day was when all people feel "peace". It was nice to see his former spouse, Margo, again and their daughter, whom I had not seen since she was an infant. Margo is not working right now, having been laid off from her brokerage job. I felt so terrible for her, having to deal with all this right now, but she was holding up.

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When Timmy died, my sister, Lori, remarked that she had never before seen so many grown men openly crying. One of those men was serving as an usher today and I reintroduced myself to him as Timmy Day's mom. Immediately his arms were around me, as yes, he did certainly remember me. When I answered that I am doing just fine, he was so glad to hear it. He knew Timmy well because his son was in the same classroom. This man's wife did not remember who Timmy was, and I can safely say here in this venue that she not as "hands on" as the dad was with the kids. Sort of a role reversal. We had been at their home for Steve's parents' 50th wedding anniversary party years ago, but I cannot remember exactly when that was....

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My neighbor, Pat, was also at the funeral so we sat together. She was familiar with the order of service plus knew many more people than I did, because she is also a Realtor. Isabel was holding up quite well, but Steve's dad was not.There were many photos and momentos on the table in the narthex, including his wedding photos and pictures of his youngest daughter, Rebecca. His older son is married and has a child of his own, and his older daughter appears to be in her late 20's, at least. Steve's family who remembered me asked about Justin, which pleased me greatly. After all these years and all these events, they still remembered Justin!

Waiting for the washer

I have a load of laundry to throw in the machine at the start of this day, but, behold, Joanne had a couple pieces, formerly wet, now stinky, in the washer for the past couple days. I set the dial to rinse and spin to see if that takes care of it. She had forgotten it was in there when she ran out to work on Saturday but now, it should be okay after being splashed about in clean water. I will make sure to add a dryer sheet to help it smell nice and fresh. That is what she gets for sorting!

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My day today includes a funeral service at the church nearby, Grace Episcopal. Only last Tuesday when Kathy and I were swimming in my pool did I mention this man's name, laughing about the snow storm that took place here in 1989. Steve was our Realtor, our first solid contact in business when we moved down here in 1988-----I often claim, "He taught us the language" since we did not speak "Southern". Oh, he did, that is for sure. He dripped with it. Steve would refer to us (my former spouse, our partner, Curt, and me) as being "Yankees" but I would quickly correct him, reminding that we were from the upper Midwest, far from being Yankees! His reply would be, "Anyone who comes from where it snows is a Yankee!" Well, at Christmas in 1989, Steve and all other North Floridians quickly became Yankees!! And now, he is gone. At the age of 51, Steve has died after his life and its style had taken some rather dramatic swings and turns, shall we say, and I will not say more out of respect for his family, his former wife and young daughter.

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The last time I saw Steve and his wife together, I think, was at Timmy's funeral service in January, 2001. His mom, Isabel, was quite attentive to us at this time, she came more than once to my home bearing fruit for our guests to enjoy. About three months ago, I saw Steve's brother and sister-in-law at Cracker Barrel and I think Isabel, but do not remember talking with her. Clare loved my hair and was just so excited to see me again after all these years, which seems odd in a such a "small" town. Our paths just quit crossing, I guess, after the famous Christmas parties, usually the first one of the season, were no longer being held at their real estate company.

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Sunday, Justin spent time with his father, I think, and I spent the day at church and then at the beach with Judy J. and her house guest, Louie. Well, at least part of the day! We ended up eating outside at Joe's because we would have had a 35 minute wait to eat inside. Judy and I left it up to Louie because he was the father being feted, and he decided he did not want to wait that long for a table. That poor guy had sweat dripping from his goatee and was forced to endure three frothy drinks to hold heat prostration a bay! Louie ate crab legs and really had to work hard to eat them. I had chicken fingers and onion strings, of course! And only one adult beverage, thank you very much!

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At first we toyed with coming back here to splash around in the pool but Judy was so tired at the end of our long drive, most likely from the heat, so opted to go home. I thought about going down to the pool, but it did feel good to be home and settled in for the rest of the late afternoon/evening. My neighbors were not on the sundeck in the evening so I just decided to stay put. Joanne came in later and made some pasta for supper, which I shared with her. Not often do I ever eat what she cooks but the pasta was "normal", not made with veggies or tofu or anything like that. We both mentioned being tired and figured it was because of the heat. I finally surrendered to my bed about 10:00 pm and had a good night's sleep. The temps are supposed to be coming down this week, 'only' in the mid-90's for the highs. Even Manty had decent temps this past weekend, which just figures!

The sky was pink!

Here it is, just before the dark, and the sky is soooo pink! It is absolutely gorgeous!! Wow!

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Today Justin came over to take care of my plants and wall hanging stuff, as we must prepare for the pressure washing of the building. I washed the ceramic items and must find a place to store them, as it is doubtful that the BOD will allow them to go back up again after the building is sealed and painted. I get that, but now must figure out another place to display them. Justin moved the plants away from the building and against the railing, removing one empty one to the dumpster. Connie, the maintenance lady, happened to be emptying the garbage bin into the big dumpster and asked me if she could have the recently disposed of planter. She is going to find a new home for it, perhaps even leaving it here some where. Connie does not normally work weekends so it was just perfect that she was here to rescue the plastic planter.

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Here is a photo of my entryway, showing my ceramics and planters. It won't look the same without my pretties, but I will have to get used to it being bare naked!

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Off we went to the movies after that, and had little trouble finding a parking place. Normally it is three times around the parking lot before getting a space but today, in no time at all, we parked. He bought the tickets and me the treats, and we found our seats in time for the previews. What a great movie it was! My tears were flowing almost immediately because the opening scene is in Athens, looking over the ancient ruins from the balcony. It was a great movie, in spite of some of the content, because of the lovely scenery. I recommend "My Life in Ruins" to anyone who wants to see the mainland of Greece!

Ugh, the news today!

Okay, never mind....I had an entire diatribe going on here about the gov't. programs in place already and those coming up the pike, but deleted the whole thing. I can only pray, "Come, Lord Jesus, Come"!!

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This is the first weekend after Jamie's wedding and I cannot comprehend where the time went! I am looking back in my mind over who I missed seeing or contacting, at least, and did fairly well. All the time I was up in WI and still ran short of time, or did not make good use of it.

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We had such cool temperatures and some rainy weather in WI but here, today, we are expected to top 100 degrees. Good day to go to the movies! I have two dates this weekend with different men-----today with Justin and tomorrow with Louie and Judy J.! First, today Justin is taking me to see "My Life in Ruins" which I blogged about many months ago when seeing the trailers in the theater. Nia Vardalas, from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", is now in this movie about being a tour guide in Greece, so we are burning rubber to get to the theater. He wanted to go last week Thursday, the night he arrived in Manty, but JR did not think it was in their theaters yet, not getting the first run movies on the day they come out. There was no time for that anyway, and I told him we could wait. We might appreciate the freezing theater today, being so warm outside!

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Judy J. called and asked if I had plans for Sunday after church. She had wanted to do something nice for her daughter-in-law's brother, Louie, who is staying with Judy while working at the Navy base. He said it was not necessary but since he is away from his wife and kids on Father's Day, she wanted to show him some fun. He asked her, "Is Kim back in town yet?" and when she said I was, he suggested we go out to Joe's Crab Shack Sunday. A great idea!!!!!! I like that he wanted me to tag along, since Justin and I ran into Louie and his nephew (Judy's grandson) out there last summer! It is supposed to reach over 100 tomorrow so being at the beach will be peach-y!

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Today is a painting work day at church and I pray that many painters showed up to finish the job. Painting, that type of painting anyway, is outside my realm these days with my poor, tired back. Only a moment ago Justin let me know when our movie was, although yesterday he told me to be ready by 11:00. I guess I could have gone over there to at least supervise the painting if I wanted to, right? Tuesday I went to the carpet place and made the selection, hopefully the last time, for the classrooms. The carpet can go in after the painting is done and then we can have our final inspection. "Final" being the working word here! I do have to finish my class prep for Sunday School in the a.m. yet today before I recreate. Last evening I finished the VBS postcards except for the stamps. Busy busy busy!

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Justin was going to be housesitting, rather dog sitting, at his father's house this weekend but there was a change in plans. I suppose later Justin and I will go shopping today as it is Father's Day tomorrow and he should have a present for his father. On the Forbe's TV show, they are suggesting buying Dad some stocks, so perhaps I can steer Justin that direction!

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Joanne and I spent the day together yesterday, rather by default at first, because she was having some stomach problems. The day before she had been on the SAM Tram and said she ate so much food, much of it fruit, and then went for Japanese for dinner, and it did not all agree with each other. So, take a day off! I told her I was going out to the pool so she got her suit on and away we went. Not feeling like carrying the cooler downstairs, I simply put soda into a zip-lock bag with ice and Joanne took water with her. My ice did not last, and in fact, nearly came to a boil in the hot sun! Guess I need the lunch box sized cooler for when the cabana is not open----HEY!!!! It is open now! Gotta go!

The actual wedding now....

Justin, Alayna, and Dustin pose with their Grandma K after the wedding ceremony. Dustin only recently had his braces removed and he is learning to smile without them.

Gabe is patiently waiting for the events to get underway.....might as well take a nap in the meantime.....

Manny is also patiently waiting, but felt no need to lie down.

The wedding party is posing for pictures but they had a dilly of a time trying to get the kids to do their thing. Justin is in this picture, but you just cannot see him standing behind the groomsmen. Hunter is Jamie's step-son and the little girl is a family friend, born within days of Hunter. I had troubles shooting against the bright windows, and for this, I apologize.

Alayna, Justin, and Dustin are standing together, waiting for their turn to pose for the professional pictures. My mom is so fortunately have great looking grandkids!

Mom specifically requested a photo of the grandchildren, so here they are! Alayna is Kerry's daughter; Jamie, the groom, is Jill's son; Lisa is Lynn's daughter; Danny is Jill's son and served as best man for his brother; Justin is my son and served as an usher; and Dustin is Lori's son, who also ushered for the wedding. Lisa was the only grandchild in our family for 12 years, and was incredibly spoiled, as you might imagine. She stomped her foot and insisted on having cousins, and her wish was granted!

Hannah, the bride, was escorted down the aisle by her brother. This is her second marriage and her dress, while still being white, was highlighted with a lovely blue bodice and train. Just gorgeous and quite tasteful.

The bride's mom is trying to round up the children, two of which are Hannah's, in the first row after the bridal party had all entered. One of the bridesmaids is trying to arrange Hannah's train behind her so no one steps on it.

"May I introduce Mr. and Mrs. Jamie Schrimpf!" Mom and Jill were seated in the front pew, along with Lynn, who is Jamies' Godmother.

Jamie and Hannah share their first kiss as a married couple.....

Here is Justin and his mom (me!) posing in front of the fireplace in the church parlor. He can deny being my son all he wants but his face gives him away!

More pictures....reception yet

After the church events, we all headed toward the reception hall. Before dinner, the boys had a chance to color at a party bar upstairs and enjoy some nice orange soda. Lori is in the background in the blue dress.

Kerry is sitting up so nice behaving herself while Lisa makes faces at the camera. Gabe looks askance at his mom's antics. Behind them the bridal couple are getting situated for dinner.

One of the groomsman, a friend since early childhood, Troy, gives the toast for the bridal couple since Danny, the best man for his brother, was a bit shy about doing so. Lisa and Gabe are listening to stories about Jamie's behavior in school as shared by Troy.

Jamie and his mom share a dance but obviously they are not alone on the floor. By the look on Jamie's face, one or both of his children might be up to something. The DJ was excellent, playing a nice variety of tunes, getting folks up on their feet with some of them!

Kerry and Justin have a nice visit at the table. Kerry is nuts about him!

The boys had a great time playing with the balloon decorations as the evening wore on, and even Uncle Dave got in on the act. Sadly, I have no blackmail photos to post of him!

Flamenco? Looks like it! Lori and David seem to be dancing circles around the others.

Lisa found a couple cute guys to cut a rug with, both of them wishing to lead, of course! They were so well behaved the whole weekend, I am proud of them! Don't you love all the color in this picture?