What day is it today?

That was the second thing I thought as I got up this a.m. The first thing was, "Who is this on the phone and why don't I know their name?" Someone really named their daughter Miley. It was a call about something ordered yesterday and there was a question on it. Obviously they are not into time, or are not into time zones but it was about time I got up anyway. I am pleased they were hard at it on a Saturday morning!

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My people up north are all traveling today. Yes, another birthday! My great-nephew, Bryson, is celebrating his second birthday so Mom, Lynn, Jill, and Danny are in the southern part of the state for his party. Lisa and her family had to go up north (for those of us in Florida, WI is already up north, but in WI, there is really an "up north"!) for a funeral on Noah's side of the family. Her boys will get to meet another great-grandma while up there. I am not sure what Alayna is doing today, the day after her big birthday, perhaps working at the library---shhhh!

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Last night, instead of Brenda N. coming over for dinner and a movie, Joanne came instead. She is incredibly swamped in her real estate office, can scarcely see over the stacks of work she has. As part of a nation-wide group she is part of, Joanne has a personal coach who commanded her to take Saturday off or she would fly from San Diego just to beat up Joanne! I told Jo to tell Grace, "bring it on!". Grace likely needs a vacation, too! Today she is going to pamper herself a bit, get some grooming done and spend the day on the beach. She lives on the beach, but can not really enjoy it like she should. Today is a perfect day for beach enjoyment!

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Joanne also asked me to help her out with some stuff that is bearing down on her. She does monthly mailings, and as part of the national group she works with, must not do mass-produced address labels. Handwritten ones, only. That is where I come in! I can just sit and address these envelopes for her all day long and into the night without leaving my home. At my leisure, until crunch time comes, of course. It was sooo very hot yesterday, with the heat indexes over 100 degrees, and we discussed CHRISTmas cards! I have helped Joanne in the past when I lived on the lake, did mailings, wrote ads for TV and print, that type of thing. This work-from-home-scheme is legit! Oh, and Brenda could not make it because she got worn out setting things up for a yard sale at her church which is today. Know that feeling!

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The weather for those of us who appreciate it is perfectly lovely today, high of 91 above zero (Linda J. said it was chilly and might see snow flurries today where she lives....) so after Martie is done working, we are heading to the beach! The thunder storms are not expected until evening so we will just head out and see what happens. Maybe find a place on the beach to enjoy some lunch/dinner and take it easy. It will be about 3:30 or so by the time we get down to the beach anyway, just in time to grab a bite and a margarita! Our original plans for this weekend were to attend an LWMS Rally in Orlando but Martie could not get anyone to take her place in the office. I did not want to drive down to Orlando and back by myself, so no representatives from Jacksonville this time---my fault!

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Instead of putting on my swimsuit this a.m., I got dressed. As I sit here, I am just dripping in perspiration as the sun beams in on my face. Earlier I complained on Facebook that my tan was fading already but today might take care of that! When I was taking the antibiotic for the kidney infection, I disregarded the warnings about sun sitting and went out to the pool. Joanne felt it would be okay since I was already so tanned, but sure enough, I did peel a bit from my face. Mainly my forehead and around my nose, nowhere else. This I consider no big deal and was well worth it, although I probably added to dustiness of my house by shedding yet more skin!

What? Two nieces with birthdays in the same week?

Today, my niece, Alayna, became a legal adult. She can now vote! This young lady is a senior at the local public high school, serves as an officer for her class, is in the church choir and attends Bible study with her Aunt Lynn, Grandma K, and friend, Linda J, whom we share. Alayna also works at the public library. How does she do it? She is fired up by Starbucks! Happy birthday, Sweetheart!

Justin is brushing his cousins' gorgeous hair. She has the best head of hair I have ever seen although I have never styled it like Justin did!

Here is Alayna as a little girl, sitting on Justin's lap. Because I did not live in Manitowoc when she was born or growing up, I have fewer pictures of her than I have of Lisa. Sorry, sweetheart! But the ones I have do show my Justin in them, too, so that might make up for it. This was taken at Grandma K's house, when she lived in the duplex, so at least 12 years ago.

Now that her hair is all brushed, it is time to make some toast.

You cannot sit around eating and watching TV all day! There are chores to attend to.....teamwork, people, teamwork!

Alayna is flanked by her two cousins, Justin and Dustin, and her by her dear friend, Grandma K!

Kerry and Alayna share a chuckle at Lori's house this summer at Dusty's graduation party.
Alayna and Justin are wallflowers at Lynn's surprise birthday party last year in September.
Here is Alayna in her prom dress from last spring. She is a vision of beauty in yellow, her favorite color! Justin did not fix her hair for this event....
Alayna and her mama, Kerry, taken at Time Out at one of our family gatherings. Look at that child's, excuse me, now adult, gorgeous hair. How much you want to bet she will never spike her hair when she is old like me!

Friday's observations

My friend, Jami, wrote her blog last night declaring that she was exceptionally grumpy but writing anyway. While I am not normally grumpy, I do have my moments, you know? (I am the only one allowed to use the "you know" at the end of a sentence!) So, today while at home and later while taking care of errands I made some observations of my own----

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The obvious report which boggled my brain was the announcement out of Oslo. Later on, Fox News showed the entire footage of a car chase, actually a truck chase, taking place in Dallas, TX. Why? What was so interesting about that? It was not even all high-speed, more like a Sunday afternoon ride in the country with a trail of squad cars trying to keep up. Finally, a police truck got positioned in front of the run away truck and caused it to run off the road. What did this driver do? Left a gas station after filling up with out paying for the gas. All these police cars and the helicopter used a good deal of fuel themselves. Really, ten police cars?

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I was annoyed by the sound of the A/C turning on when it is set up to 81 degrees. That just is not right to have it turn on when I am not even hot, it should be matter of personal comfort and not numbers. Of course, it was quite hot today with the heat indexes reaching about 105 degrees. Further, the painters are trying everything to get the paint splashes and such cleaned up, today using a huge pressure washer. I was so jealous of him, getting to use a P/W all afternoon, but the racket was awful.

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I went off on a quest for the best price for Diet Coke and found it at CVS drug store. Also secured some Junior Mints for my movie watching tonight, as I am expecting Brenda N. to come over. Seinfeld reference: "Who's gonna turn down a Junior Mint? It's chocolate, it's peppermint, it's delicious. It's very refreshing." "My Life In Ruins" came out on DVD this week so off I went to secure that. Justin and I had gone to see that when it first came out in the theaters and he has been counting the days until it was released for home use. I so 'cited!

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Before I headed for home, I stopped at the bank, rather, the credit union, to deposit my check. Being Friday and having Monday a bank holiday, the lines were considerable. No sweat for me, I am a good waiter, but sadly I had to watch those others around me who were also waiting. Along side of me was a slim lady with long blond hair, her arm draped out the window with a cigarette hanging from her fingers. In the backseat of her car were two car seats, thankfully empty. As I pulled forward, the lady in the car next to me was in a PT Cruiser, a grizzled grey haired lady, complete with a cigarette hanging off her lips! Ew! The car next to her also had a woman smoking a long cigarette. Where do the people get the money for such expenditures?

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At the Blockbuster store a poor mama was in there with a group of kids, possibly not all her own, hopefully not all her own. As the cashier was ringing me up, we heard this rather pronounced crash from the back of the store. She spoke to her co-worker about a table being knocked over and he said, "I heard it...." From under a display toward the front of the store came a little boy crawling, peeking from beneath the black tablecloth. That would have been a huge mess to clean up if it went over! Oh, he was such a cutie pie! I could have just scooped him up and kissed his little cheeks!!!!

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Huh, what do you know? I am out of things to be grumpy about!

What a busy week it has been!

Such a sense of accomplishment I am enjoying today! Earlier in the church office I made Mike C. laugh as I did a little victory dance upon the successful photocopying of the service folder for this Sunday. One down, one to go! When I arrived at the office this a.m. I was faced with making corrections (rats!) to the work I did on Wednesday after I thought I might have had been error free. Nope, there were boo boos but mostly because of the "adjusting" being done to a synod template, to incorporate it into our service. We are having three weeks of stewardship focus, this first week about how we are God's children, His heirs. One of the readings is the Prodigal Son, a story I find to be poignant. The closing hymn is "Children of the Heavenly Father", and when I read that I said aloud, "Oh, oh...." Pastor then remembered that this hymn is a trigger one for me but I told him it was fine, in fact, perfect for the message it delivers. We cannot worry about the tears being shed, as long as the message is delivered. Here is some history of the hymn: "Shortly before writing this hymn, Katharina Sandell and her fa­ther were on a boat trip, when he fell over board and drowned before her eyes. It is thought this tragedy gave birth to the lyrics."

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Here is a stanza of the hymn she wrote:

Though He giveth or He taketh,

God His children ne’er forsaketh;

His the loving purpose solely

To preserve them pure and holy.

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Okay, let us move on----I made the changes to the service folder and got it printed off. Mike C. had to help me figure out how to make the two-sided copies as it has been over two years since I have done this and I just plain forgot how to do it. Once he showed me, it came back, at least a bit anyway. You would think one never forget how to do the things we once did with our eyes closed, like memorizing the nation's area codes or making copies. But somehow, we do!

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Upon finishing my task, I headed toward home, stopping first at the cemetery to check on the bouquet I had put there two Sundays ago. It had pretty much been toasted in the sun and blown apart by the wind, so I carried it to the trash bin on the corner. As I strolled back, along came Corey, one of the guys who works there. He was feeling poorly and was considering going home at noon, where his son was already home with the same malady. He still had time to chat, asking about Justin and how things are going. We also discussed the football game from the other night and he is a Viking fan, so the conversation was a bit........'nuff said! Corey told me that the guys were going to be laying some pipe underground to try and dry the ground around Timmy's spot, and I told him there seemed to be rust on the markers in that area. He said it was from water sitting there. He is going to have the guys lift the marble bench as it is settling into the ground and also pull the marker up a bit, too, as it was sinking again. Draining the area will certainly help with the softness of the ground.

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I had some leftovers from Longhorn for lunch, leftovers from Monday, not Wednesday, when I met Martie there for lunch before working at church. The manager told me he was going to give me an apron because I am there so often. Martie took my leftover chix home with her for Ernie, since I already had a mess of leftovers to use up. Last night Justin and I had dinner together as he was hungry for some Koko's. He played some with my phone, downloading my perfect "Phantom of the Opera" ring tone, which he assured me was a one-time charge. He had better be correct about that! Now that I think about it, he ate all his dinner, or at least, did not have a to-go box when he left. I had to get going to make it to choir on time so off we went our separate ways. It was great to have dinner with him, but it had only been a week or so since we last ate together.

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Oh, and I totally freaked him that morning! When I was at Art Guild Tuesday night, I set my phone to quiet so it would not ring during the meeting, but did not set it for loud again the next morning. It seems my boy was trying and trying and trying to reach me, and I was not answering. Finally I happened to look at my e-mail and saw a message from him. "R u ok". Text lingo from him wondering if I was okay. Why shouldn't I be? Here he had been trying to reach me for nearly three hours via phone, text messages, finally resorting to sending an e-mail and google chat. He was freaked that something was wrong. When I finally answered his call, he said, "There you are!" like I was a naughty child. I told him now he knows what it feels like to be a mama...and he agreed. Justin said he knew I was not at aquarobics for three hours.....and if he had not been in Aberdeen he was thinking of coming over to check on me. Wow! And all he was wanting to ask me was if I had seen the beautiful way the sun was breaking through the clouds onto the river! Yes, I had and mentioned it on Facebook earlier, probably about the time he started calling me! I love that kid!

Here are some of God's children, having their lunch in the kindergarten classroom. Mario is looking at something on the bulletin board while Wesley drinks his juice. He loves to eat!

Grief in a different point of view

As most of my readers know, I am not an animal nut. While I miss having my cat around sometimes, I do not miss the hassle of cleaning or maintaining the litter box, buying the cat food, or the dust bunnies of lost hair she left behind. Even yet, when the door in the kitchen opens, I turn to watch her make her legs one inch long and scoot under the bed to hide from Justin, her tormentor. But Lynx is no more and that is that. And there is absolutely no need to replace her! I am animal-free and love it this way. Here is my disclaimer: I am not without heart, and realize some people really really love their pets.

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Yesterday I went to get my hairs cut, as I usually do on the full moon. Normally the TV hung on the wall is blaring with some insipid daytime TV program---did you guys know that "The Price is Right" is still on TV? I was so surprised to see the new host. Guess that college-aged people are huge fans of this program. Well, anyway, it was pretty subdued but I did not realize at first, thinking they must have been too busy to turn it on. When it was my turn to sit in the chair, Barb got me settled in with the cape and began to groom me. On her counter was a beautiful plant, a greeting card with her name and her husbands' on the envelope, and bag of Dove heart-shaped chocolates. I asked Barb if it was her anniversary or something, to which she replied, "No, we lost our pug this weekend." How does one answer that? What in the world is a pug?

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Of course, her dog! She even has a framed photo of the dog on her work center. Her husband, a retired man, was walking the dog on Friday morning through their neighborhood, when the man down the street backed out of his driveway too fast and without looking, nearly hitting her hubby but did get the dog. She said he grabbed the dog up in his arms and was screaming as he ran back home with her in his arms. Barb got out of bed and without changing from her pj's, they took the dog to the vet. The vet could not help so they had to go to the ER for pets on Wells Road. She had to call in to tell the boss she was not coming in on Friday and told me she does not even remember what she told Susan.

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By Saturday morning, the decision had to be made to have the dog put out of its misery, having a broken back was not something that could be fixed. So, their beloved pet was gone. She told me that the pug went everywhere with her hubby, they did walks together, he took the dog for a ride in the car so she could let her ears blow in the breeze, all that fun stuff. She said he is just despondent and one of their close neighbors took the day off on Tuesday so he could stay with her hubby to keep him company. Her hubby does not know the reason his friend stayed home from work, only that he wanted someone to run errands with him. About three times Barb said "It was just a terrible weekend..." Wow!

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I resisted the temptation to ask if they would get a new dog because it is too soon to even consider this, although it is natural to fill the void as quickly as possible. She told me it was like losing a child, and then put her hand on my shoulder, and said, "Sorry..." She knew better than that, but I guess it helped me to see her sorrow, to a point. At least next week they will get a break somewhat as they are going to Miami to babysit their grandson while their daughter takes a much needed vacation. Their grandson has a sensory disorder, along the lines of autism, so they have their work cut out for them. She says he usually behaves better for them than he does for his parents, which I think is significant. How much is behavioral and how much is disorder?

A special day in our family

Today marks the 36th anniversary of the birth of my niece, Lisa. Growing up in a family with six girls plus my mom and having my grandma integrated into my life, I knew nothing of what it was like to not have females. When my older sister, Lynn, told us she was going to have a baby, my sister, Lori, and I were in the sewing room of our family's home, jumping up and down with glee. I was a senior in high school at this time. It quickly became a "we" situation because in our family, sharing was important! My memory about exact dates and times is vague but I do know that Lynn could not be at my cousin's wedding because she was in labor. BUT I do remember being among the very first people to hold that little monkey baby when she was born!

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Lisa was quite dark in color when she was born, hairy as could be, and the most beautiful thing I ever laid my eyes on! My former spouse was my boyfriend at this time and we just could not get enough of her. We went to Copp's the day she was born, when Copp's was still a department store, and bought her outfits and necessary baby items. We bought her a little sweater outfit which is what she wore home from the hospital. I think it was mint in color and with her coloring---gorgeous!

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Our lives would never be the same, the sun rose and set on that child. When Lynn's husband rejoined the service, going into the Navy, it tore our hearts from our chests to say good-bye to them as they left for Norfolk. They had stopped at my house in Milwaukee, as I was married at this time, on their way to Norfolk, and after they left, I threw myself across the bed and sobbed my heart out.

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Lori, my former spouse, and I drove out to see them at Easter, enjoying our time spent on the East Coast, seeing them and the sites around Williamsburg, VA, etc. That year at ThanksLiving we girls and Mom chipped together to fly Lynn and Lisa home, and surprised my dad. He was asleep in the chair and we put Lisa on his lap. He opened his eyes, and ta da!, there is our little dolly, Lisa. We had an airport in Manitowoc at the time, prop planes, but sadly, no more. The next January, Roger and Lori borrowed my brother-in-law's truck and drove out to pick up Lynn and Lisa, to bring them home for good. The husband did a Dear John thing, so the family to the rescue!

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We rallied to help Lynn out with Lisa, by this time I had moved back to Manty from MKE, and could pitch in where I could. Lynn got a job through a temporary service at the area technical school, working in the mail room. She did so well that she was hired permanently and is presently there at LTC about 33 years! Lynn is an administrative assistant and works in public safety training, etc. Lisa was cared for between her aunts and eventually went to day care. Still the most adorable child you would ever want to meet. My brother-in-law, David, asked Lisa once, "What is it like to have people hang on your every word?" I really don't think she had a problem with it!

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During the summers when Lisa was not in school, she would often spend her days with us where she was trained on office etiquette. Lisa loved to play with the typewriter, the big clunky type we used back in those days. Since our building business was run from our home, she had to learn the proper way to answer the phone, take messages, and so on, and did a good job at it. Later should thank me for the training as she would be complimented on her skills, both phone and people ones!

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Where I went, Lisa went and we spent good time together. Memorable for me, if not for her. And memorable for my sisters and Mom who also spent a good deal of time with Lisa. When we would go to the Mall, I would meet and chat with people, much to Lisa's chagrin. After years of enduring this, she asked me, in exasperation, "Do you have to talk to everyone????" Yes, I do! She would cringe when I sang along to the music in the grocery store and would duck down in the seat when I used the windshield cleaner when driving down the street. Yes, Lisa was quirky! And loved every minute of it!

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Fast forward through her dance recitals, Christmas programs, confirmation and the party (at our house), her cleaning and eventually babysitting for me...She visited us often when we moved to Florida and, then, she was getting married. Oh my! Here it gets tricky (sorry, sweetheart.....) because the same year she was getting married was the same year problems came to light in my marriage. She had always wanted my former spouse, who had been like a daddy to her, to walk her down the aisle, and it was touch and go there for a while whether he would be in the picture or not. He did "give the bride away" at her wedding while I had the privilege of singing for the service.

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Now Lisa is the mama of two darling boys and the wife of Noah, a wonderful husband and daddy to his boys. She was the only granddaughter/niece for a full twelve years, spoiled beyond measure and loved beyond measure. And today, we celebrate her birthday!!!

Tripping down memory lane.....

This is the reason why is it a bad idea to use the photo albums with the sticky pages, like were used in the "old days". Many of my photos have started to turn colors due to the acid in the pages and in the paper used for developing them. Take my advice and get your photos off those self-adhesive pages and into a scrapbook or pocket-style album. Preserve your memories! They are depending on you!

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Here is an action shot of Lisa, thinking she is going to get out of the sink during her bath at Mom's house. You can see the water swishing as she gets up, her hair still full of shampoo. She very closely resembles her son Manny, who is now four. No worries, someone was standing just out of camera shot to grab her....

Red is a good color for me but not for the entire photograph! This was taken in Williamsburg, VA when Lisa was about 18 months old. I am holding Lisa while Lori and my former spouse sit on the well. Lynn is the photographer.

Here is Lisa coming across the lawn at their home on the base in Norfolk. My favorite little picture of her, looking so cheerful and cute in her engineer bibs!

When my ancient grandmother, age 87 here, cradled Lisa in her arms, she made the yet-famous statement, "She looks like Aunt Martha Cornelius", which simply brought down the house! I do not know if any of us knew Aunt Martha, perhaps Mom did, but there was no way my sainted grandmother could have picked that out with her old eyes! Lisa is wearing the outfit she wore home from the hospital. These many years later, Gabriel, Lisa's firstborn, who will soon be six, wore the same outfit home from the hospital when he was born.

Lori is holding Lisa on her lap as I am sitting on the floor in the kitchen at my family's home. This may be the same day as Grandma Sickles famous comment. Now all babies look like Aunt Martha Cornelius!! Even the boys!