Did anyone notice?

Saturday there was no posting from me and so far, no one has mentioned it. My blogging friend, Jami, who has found herself posting on a weekly basis, reported yesterday that she is taking a Facebook sabbatical because she was neglecting her blog too much. Jami also mentioned that she did not like some of the "rules" about Facebook etiquette that were being directed her way, and feels that people can comment and update their status as much or as little as they want to! So there! A sabbatical from Facebook---good luck with that!

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It became obvious to me as well that there was competition between Facebook and the blog, some would choose one or the other, not usually both. Because I sit here in front of the machine most of the day and have no boss looking over my shoulder, I can do as little or as much as I wish. One of my favorite things is to look at the photos posted which really helps to get caught up on people's lives, if you've been separated or out of contact for a while. We like our "news" to be immediate and for our information to be regular, which is why I like my blog!

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Last night as I laid on my bed watching a movie, I heard my phone make that pathetic "chirp" like it did the day I was looking at real estate in extremely warm houses. Only one puny chirp and it was dead. At least the buttons were dead, I could not "dial" out or send text messages or retrieve anything. Yikes! Good thing I did not have to call the rescue squad or anything with no home phone to use anymore. Immediately following worship I dashed out to the Island to buy a new cell phone. After the mail-in rebate, the new phone, complete with a keyboard for typing text messages, will cost the same as my "old" phone would have. Because my phone model is discontinued, I had to upgrade for an additional $18 fee, which I objected. I also extended my contract, which is no big deal. They can save all my phone numbers stored in the phone, but not the photos. Good idea to e-mail the photos in case this happens to others.

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Is it just me or is it darker longer in the mornings? It seems as though it is taking longer for the sun to come up or I am finding myself awake before the sun usually comes up! Two days in a row I found myself awake prior to the sun peeking out so then I am unsure as to what time it is, since I have no clock in my room except on the computer, which also sleeps at night. If I wish to open my eyes all the way and check my cell phone, I can do that or change the TV station to the preview channel to see what time it is. Usually I can tell by the program on the TV when I wake up but weekends offer different shows which REALLY mess me up!

This is the sunrise as it progressed this morning. I told Linda about it via Facebook chat (no sabbatical for me!) and she wanted to see the pictures. The photo hardly does it justice, though. Come on down and see for yourselves!

The moon is barely there

But I can see it, hiding behind a thin veil of grey clouds. One lone sailboat is working its way down the river, barely visible against the trees. In my mind, it is far too dark to be out on the water like they are, but hopefully the captain knows what he or she is doing. For supper I had some of my leftover sloppy joes, the same thing I had for breakfast. The balance will have to go down the garbage disposal as it has reached the end of freshness. When I made the batch last Saturday, I froze half for another time, so when the mood for sloppy joes strikes again, the container will be within reach.

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What an incredible morning I had! Early on, I stripped the bed, an enormous task given the fact that I must first unload the books and papers, plus now a box which brought my NPH shipment Thursday. The washer was loaded with the bedclothes and I headed over to church. Ugh! I go on record as NOT being a fan of the Yard Sale, making no bones about my misery being there to help mark and sort the sale items. A good work crew arrived ahead of me, and I sort of roamed about, looking for a place to put down my one donated plaque. The church secretary came in search and rescued me, in fact, from working on the sale. Lynne asked me a favor----since she is leaving tomorrow for two weeks, could I help out in the church office? Um, talk about short notice!! Wow, well, of course I will, but certainly need some re-training on the programs and such.

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She had stuff all ready to show me, to fill in the blanks on various worship items, passwords, codes to get the messages, etc. Whew! I even have to count the stamps to make sure all are present and accounted for. I am a bit intimidated by the prospect of producing these service folders and inserts, etc. but Lynne assures me she will be available via telephone at all times. Let me do the math here----Hawaii is about 5 hours behind us so if I need help at 10:00 a.m., she promises to grab her phone at 5:00 a.m. to help me. Claims she is a light sleeper after being in the service all those years. Let us hope I do not have to have her prove it!

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As I had walked back to the church office to be re-trained, the preschool teacher nabbed me to ask a favor. It was my day for favors, my favorite day! She asked if I would have time before the preschool and kindergarten Open House to put together a booklet and/or a poster about the other "opportunities" of which the parents could avail themselves at Good Shepherd. Oh, yes, I like this idea! We already have an "Opportunities" booklet printed up but it is a couple years old. It will be useful to copy from and I look forward to doing this. Whew again!

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As I sat next to Lynne for instruction, people kept coming and going from the office. Julaine came in to fold and staple the service folders; Fausto was working on the hymn board set-up; Mike C. came in to do some work; Pastor came in to try to work in the midst of the chaos. Jackie saw my car out front so she in search of me to say "hi"; Ethel came in to tell Pastor something and chat a bit; and finally, Lonnie and Renee came in with my purse, which they reported as being emptied for the sale. Oh great! It was nice of them to bring it to me as I never expected to be gone so long or for them to finish the job of marking/sorting so quickly. I told them I will be sitting in their hot tub tomorrow night after the sale to rest my tired bones, and they said it was fired up and ready to go!

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Martie and I met for lunch at Longhorn today after she finished running errands with Ernie. We were able to sit in Patty's section where we got her usual first-class service. We would have liked to do dinner and movie night tonight but her little grandson, Mark, wants to come to his MeeMaw's house. Even if he has to go to work with her Saturday, he would rather be with her than at home all weekend. He loves his MeeMaw! I had arrived first at the restaurant and told Martie on the phone that I would get our table. Once inside, I told the hostess, who knows me from my near weekly visits, that a friend was joining me but first I had to use the restroom, having consumed a Route 44 Diet Coke, or most of it, before coming inside. When I came out, Martie was sitting there already. After our greetings, I asked how she knew which table was ours, since I left no evidence of myself at the seat. She told me that when she came in, she told the hostess she was meeting a friend, and the hostess asked her, "A lady with red spiky hair and an accent?" Martie said yes, and that is how I am identified at Longhorn. For the record, I do not have red hair!

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My friend, the classmate from high school who wrote a song about me, sent an e-mail to me this afternoon. He had a couple tragic events in his life recently and has been feeling out of sorts, "blue", as he put it. He said my letters "brightened his day" which is good to hear. He also said my letters are like having a conversation. What a nice thing to say! Thanks, Steve!

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Still no bright moon beams on the river, hiding yet behind the clouds. Time to make the bed for a good sleep on clean sheets. Life's simple pleasures......

An awesome day thus far

This morning I moved right along getting ready to go to Bible study at Victory as I did not wish to repeat last week's tardiness. After I had showered and dressed for the day, I sat at the computer to check my e-mail and Facebook. My friend, Cindy, asked for a rain check for our dinner tonight as she had some family obligations to take care of. Rats! I was looking forward to it but can readjust accordingly. As I was writing her a note, Justin sent me a text message to make sure I remembered about Bible study and made our plans to meet at church. Before I left the property, I made certain that Connie saw me up and about!

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We had fewer in class today as some were traveling or at work. Our study was about End Times, my favorite but highly emotional subject. (Afterward, Justin asked me if it is almost time to sing "Jerusalem, the Golden", and said he could not wait to hear Rachel play it at church. That will be in November when the church year recognizes the End Times.) As it was my turn to read today, as hard as I tried not to, the tears ran and I choked momentarily, reading about how Jesus assured His disciples about "my house has many mansion.....I go to prepare a place for you....." Gets me every time!! We went around the table, upon reading the 23rd Psalm, emphasizing first the pronoun of God, and then again emphasizing the pronoun of "me or I" as it is read aloud. This is something good to memorize and repeat each morning, remembering the things "God" does for "me", for us.

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We also took turns explaining about the spiritual things in life we enjoy or have. Some mentioned general blessings, Justin mentioned hope in the original sense of the word, and then it was my turn. I started out saying that Justin had taken my word, but Pastor said I had to come up with my own. As if I wasn't!?!? Anyway, I talked about the comfort and assurance we have, the inner joy.....and before I could finish, Pastor said, "THAT was the word I was waiting to hear from you!" Justin muttered, "I knew you were going to say 'joy'..." At the very start of the class, we had a list of five things from which we were to choose how we felt about the future, ours as well as the world's. It began with optimistic, excited, uncertain, I don't care, or frightened. The first two people chose "uncertain" but when it got to me, I picked "excited" and Pastor said, "That's what I expected you to say!" Not that any of the answers were wrong, but the lesson goes on to show the "reasons for the hope that we have." So, between the "excitement" and the "inner joy", tears were shed. Not only me, either, as the two other ladies, in considering our future in heaven, got a bit choked up, as well. The men did their fair share of "throat clearing" as well, but we know what that's all about, don't we?

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After class Justin and I dropped his car off in the student parking lot and then went to have lunch at the Town Center Mall. I chose Mimi's Cafe where we dined el fresco. Justin mentioned that he wanted jambalaya, which brought us to the "Soup Nazi" episode of "Seinfeld", which he has now fallen in love with. A later bloomer than I am!!! He was not thrilled that this is attributed to Newman, though. Justin asked me to help him find the Old Navy store in the Mall because it did show up on his iPhone map. Sure, why not? He had an idea where it was and we both spotted it at the same time. He needed some new flip flops, he goes through them quickly, and then he had to look at few more things. Since he has lost now 75 pounds, Justin is all about clothes and style, but fortunately his tastes are yet simple, like Old Navy and American Eagle, the lower end of fashionable! What comes after these stores? I hate to think about it!

I managed to make myself sick

I had something entirely different written here but since deleted it. My heart was sickened after reading some of the reports from the trial of two men, a father and son, who killed little Christopher Burrios two years ago. They sexually molested him, strangled him, and stuffed his body into a garbage bag. He was missing for a week before someone found the bag. I remember writing about it, how losing a child is NOT a parent's worst nightmare, but actually not knowing where your child is and what is happening to the child is much worse. The report tells how he loved Batman and Spider-Man, and how his Star Wars lightsaber was found on the side of the road....

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On the other hand, the man who kidnapped and raped Jessica Lunsford here in Florida, died of "natural causes" after being taken from prison to an area hospital.

It is time for a break

How come I am perspiring while sitting in my window when it was so chilly overnight? Well, I guess you could say the weather got over it! According to the radio website the temp at the moment is 70 above zero and is expected to stop when it gets to 80. Normally 73 or there about is the low temperatures here so having that be the near high is a bit startling to some, especially me! I knew this was coming so it was no big surprise to me, as over a week ago I checked the 15-day forecast and saw the low temps. Up north, where my people live, they are experiencing near freezing temps, praying for mittens. My one sister has been pleading with her apartment building manager to turn the heat on, as it was around 62 degrees in her apartment when she got home from work yesterday. The "rule" for the building is evidently the middle of October for turning the heat on, which seems a bit arbitrary to me.

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Once again I made the serious mistake of stopping at my mail box and found just over 20 pieces of mail, of which only three were keepers. The rest went into the trash, including catalogs and the endless mailings from the financial people. My friend, Diane, who recently changed companies, told me that Prudential and the others are obligated by law to mail investors the reports and prospectus, but we are NOT obligated by law to read them!! Fair enough! A couple nice pieces I got were greeting cards, one for a baby shower and one a thank you note from one of the church ladies. So thoughtful!

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Monday night, in case I did not mention it, Twila came over to watch a movie. At lunch that day she reminded me that we had planned to watch "Ghost Town" and decided, since our Monday plans were all goofed up, we would watch that night. Pizza was ordered and delivered just as she arrived, which worked out perfectly. Wally, the computer guy, was supposed to be coming by with my laptop at 5:00 pm or so but did not come until well after 6:00 pm. Since Twila and I were just finishing up, we sent the balance of the pizza with Wally. "Ghost Town" was just a hoot, save for a few filthy words which the move could have survived without. The best part for me was the scenery because it is filmed and takes place in NYC. I got to see many familiar sights, including the Metropolitan Museum, where the female star worked. Twila did not know that the Egyptian display really existed, thought it was just part of the movie and I got very excited to tell her about it. We were just there in May, Justin and I, on Memorial Day. Man, it was great to see it all again in this movie!

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Yesterday I had lunch with Brenda and dinner with Joanne. My fridge holds the remainder of my meatloaf meal from Cracker Barrel, which is where we would have gone if Bible study would have been held. Seth, our "usual" waiter, already knew what I was having but it messed him up having someone different at the table with me than the usual Tuesday night crew. He knew to bring me the take-home box even before I had made a dent in the dinner, and kept my soda glass nicely filled at all times.

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Joanne is busier than ever in real estate, most of her struggles are with the short-sales she is handling. These transactions are the ones where the seller simply cannot continue in the home and are selling it for less than what is owed, in agreement with their lender. This is different than foreclosure, where the bank has taken back the property from the owners (as the bank actually owns the home) because of their failure to make the payments. She said she has never worked so hard in real estate in all her career, taking sometimes months to get to a settlement agreement for the buyers. The lenders certainly would rather have "some" money for the property vs. getting the entire piece back in foreclosure, but they, too, are just buried under the number of properties being sold in "short sale". It has become a bureaucratic nightmare. One of her seller packages includes 98 e-mails between her office and the lender simply to end up NOT closing!!!

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I have been working on the newsletter for The Palace this a.m. but since there was no BOD meeting, there is little to add to the letter. Much tap-dancing is going on here as I glean pieces of information from various other sources to fill the letter. At least I have two new residents to write about, not new Owners, but tenants. We need some people to come and buy our "For Sale" units because we also need to fill most of the seats on the BOD and I don't want to do it!!!! I would not like having people hate me and say nasty things about me....which is not to say that does not happen already! Just not to my face, like happens to the current BOD members. Yikes!

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My doors are in the open position, the temps are so nice, and no longer am I perspiring as the sun has moved around the building some. Tonight is a birthday dinner for our friend, Brian, at Ted Turner's restaurant, and I have to suck it up and eat there, for Brian! I can do it! Justin said he ate there once when his friend's mom treated. I hear the food is good and the company certainly will be, and then we go to choir. 'Twill be a great night, I can see that already!

A crazy, mixed up week

Only a few moments ago our Staff Minister, Mike, called to cancel Bible study tonight. It seems he needs to attend the Sunday school teacher's meeting instead because he is heading it up this year and cannot be both places at the same time. I guess Pastor must still be at the Conference. Now what do I do?? Two cancelled studies in one week, in two days, actually, and it is throwing me out of whack!

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Joanne had called me earlier today to have lunch with her but I was already out with Brenda N. at the time. As I write I am waiting to hear back from Joanne about going to dinner---oh, we are going---we just do not know the time, as she is busy working on real estate. I see meatloaf in my future....For lunch I had a butter burger at Steak 'n Shake with Brenda, and while it was simply yummy, it was not a Culver's Butter Burger, ya' know? This place is next door to her office which made for a good lunch within her time constraints. When we walked back over, I saw Jimmie W.'s truck in the lot so I went upstairs with her to say "hi" to him. Oh, it was soooo wonderful to see him again, as we sat and chatted in the lobby! Gosh, I miss those people! Brenda introduced me to their receptionist as being her former boss, although I hardly feel that way about these people, my "co-workers". We really do love each other, both then and yet!

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At lunch, Brenda told me about the goofy TV situation at home, having only analog reception, no cable service. She can pick up one local channel somehow or another which brought us to the subject of movies. She was unaware about taking movies out at the library (the bibliophiles in the reading audience will have a fit about this!!!) plus I offered to share my collection with her.

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As we talked a bit, the subject turned toward the things she has on her "Bucket List", which really got me started! It has been a Bucket List couple of weeks for me. She has only seen the movie once but it really stuck with her. Before she dies, she wants to see Greece. This was the year that three of us---Martie, Brenda, and I---had planned on taking a Mediterranean Cruise, saving money for just this event. A year ago at this time, things really changed dramatically in our nation, in our community, and in our homes, making those plans somewhat disappear. When she mentioned it again today, I was so happy, because I sort of felt like it was too difficult a goal for my friends to reach. Perhaps not! Now I am excited again! Add to that the statement Brenda made about "going over and not coming back...."

Don't you love this: Dream Houses between sky and earth......

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I did tell her about the RE/MAX office in Mykonos but she would need to get her international sales designation, which Joanne has already earned. She could be a bartender or lead the donkeys up and down the side of the cliff in Santorini! There is no shortage of restaurants and bistros in either of these two places and certainly someone who spoke English for the tourists would be most welcome! Oh, dreams, bucket lists, are what keep us going. Justin says I would be too distracted in these tourist towns to get much writing accomplished which defeats only a small part of the reason for going there.....Last night I watched "Under the Tuscan Sun" yet again, on broadcast TV, and longed to see Positano once more. When I talked with my mom last week one day, I had come upon Rick Steve's Europe on (gulp!) PBS, and he was touring the Amalfi Coast. That is what started this whole thing over again for me! Thursday at dinner Justin told me he found the entire series of Europe on hulu.com and said he got water eyes, too, just previewing it. Oh, man...................

Something to chew on today

A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked:

'How heavy is this glass of water?' Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.

He continued, 'And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on.

As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.'

So, my friend, put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue.

* Always keep your words soft and sweet, 'cause some of them you'll have to eat..

* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.

* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

* Nobody cares if you can't dance well----just get up and dance.

* When everything's coming your way, you're probably in the wrong lane.

* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.