Still no word

Orange Park is all over the national news today, starting already last night, I guess, because we have a missing child. A seven year old girl, a twin, was walking home after school with a group of kids, got into a snit with one of them, and took off ahead of the rest. She has not been seen or heard from since. Nothing good can come from this, there was no shiny balloon ride scare for this little girl, named Somer. She just vanished. Cindy from church reported that last night a visibly shaken policeman searched their property and the woods behind it for the little girl. Please, all, ask the Lord to bring this child home safely to her mom and siblings, please....

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For other news, my fingers are aching again today but not necessarily from the cold. In fact, the temps are over 70 at the moment, with Saturday looking to be in the high 80's again. I rejoice over that! Instead, I was busily addressing envelopes for Joanne last night and again today, finishing all the names on the lists for both her monthly mailings and the holiday cards. If there are names added to the list for the cards I can sort them and address the envelopes as the names are submitted to me. But, for the most part, I am done!

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Martie is coming to help me work on the Luther project for Reformation on Wednesday. Her back is giving her a fit and she is trying to get an appointment with Carol, the magical massage therapist, tomorrow at some point. Regardless of her aching back, she wants to help me out because it is better if she keeps busy---I will take her word for that and keep her busy! Besides the addressing of the envelopes, I have been busy with doing my laundry, including hanging it on the line! No, not really, but what I do have is my comforter draped over the railing in my courtyard in attempts to get the dust of it. My mattress pad is washed and dried, as are the sheets so we shall see if that helps with the dust control in this room or not. Maybe it's too much paper...

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Last night I had an Outreach meeting where only three people besides Pastor attended, with only two of us being what could be considered, producers. The other person I am sure has good intentions but really is not the type to do reaching out. But Kelly is excited to get busy with a few things so this is good, this is real good! There are others who will and do participate but cannot do night driving or meeting attending. I will be having a meeting of the Greeters in the next two weeks to go over some of the "responsibilities" of serving and can hopefully scare up a few more people to help us out. Now I am excited, too!

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Tonight is Bible study and tomorrow am taking care of the Luther presentation. We are meeting early for choir rehearsal to fine tune our anthems for Reformation when we combine with Victory's choir. Those of us who do not read music are challenged by the unfamiliar melodies and need more work to be comfortable with them. Thursday night is the Open House at Precious Lambs and the kindergarten, which reminds me, I need to print a few more brochures for the kindergarten classroom. I only made enough for the preschool the first time around. My printer has since caught its breath and is ready to produce yet a few more. Pastor said last night that he was impressed with them and are just what we need to show the non-member parents what else we offer at Good Shepherd. I love doing whatever I can, while sitting down!

Doctor, my eyes....

....have seen the years and the slow parade of fears..." My particular fear recently is I might have to give in and get reading glasses. The text on the e-mail page of this 'up-close' laptop is smaller than my desk top, which is also further from my face when I use it than is the laptop. Working on the envelopes for Joanne is like trying to read the phone book and I find myself holding the page further from my face, especially when night falls. It might be time to surrender to age on this one. While the LASIK bought me some time, the eye surgeon did tell me he could do nothing about age with the surgery taking place over 9 years ago. There are some cute fashion frames out there, off the rack-style magnifying lenses, which will make getting older fun for me!
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Oh, there is a man on TV who stole my job with the government! He is doing something with exercise, supposedly with the Dallas football cheerleaders, describing himself as being the "Fat Czar"! That was going to be my job, and with a tidy salary for my services, too! Humphf! What is one more czar added to the long list? "Jay" conducts some sort of boot camp for fitness, whipping these cheerleaders into shape. I wonder what time frame it took to get these ladies looking like that.....might look into this...... I often wondered what I would like being about 8"taller.
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Some cheese popcorn was just thrown away, a bag partially consumed. When Justin and I were coming home from WI after moving Mom, I bought a small bag of cheese popcorn at the gift shop and it was just so delicious. Sunday when I stopped to get the potatoes, I saw a bag of this type of popcorn in the deli area and took it along home with me. It fell far short of the delightful bag at the airport. Not only was the flavor lacking but the hulls simply took over my teeth. Guess I am over the hankering for this type of cheese popcorn for awhile.
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Joanne asked me to do another favor for her in my down time, and that was to research the value of some art pieces from her parent's home. They had about 25 or more pencil/ink drawings by an artist from Germany named Eberhardt. She simply wanted to know an approximate value so she could get insurance on them plus the contents of her storage unit. This artist did primarily animal and bird sketchings, making them appear more than life-like. Thanks to the Internet it did not take long to get a few estimates for her. Since the piece she left for me to price is quite small compared to some of the others, it seems if she ever wants to sell them, there will at least be a nice market for the artwork.
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Speaking of getting the right price, the other day when I spoke with my sister-in-law, Barb, they were in the process of listing their Packer tickets on e-Bay. My nephew was there to help get them listed, a pair of tickets, north end zone, for the Packer/Viking game. I was beside myself as to why they were even thinking of selling the tickets versus use them. Barb said that pairs of tickets for this game were going for $500, so say no more! As dwellers in Brown County, where the team is located, they get put into a lottery for tickets, and this was the game they drew. Jackpot! Hopefully they will see ten times the value of the purchase price, paying for their CHRISTmas expenditures. That must mean one of them has my name! I did get my envelope with the names inside and can do my shopping when I am up in WI----oops, did I just give it away???

So starts the week

God morning all! Finally I decided to throw off the covers and climb out to face the world. In my bed I could use the "laptop" while burrowing under the comforter but here at this desk, the sun shines on my face and warms me. My feet are cold, because they are bare, but my face feels nice. The cupcake is still on my desk, staring at me and smelly entirely too delicious but it can just wait for me until I get home later on. The first order of business today is Bible study and then lunch with the ladies afterward.

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My sister-in-law, Barb, told me last night that Justin's and my exchange names for CHRISTmas should be arriving any day now so I have another reason to hit the mailbox other than at the beginning of the month when my check is expected. Once a week or longer sometimes, I stop at the box to torment myself with yet more paper to cover to my desk. Garbage in, garbage out! Much of it, anyway. Soon the lobby trash receptacle will be re-installed near the mailboxes and the sorting of the junk mail can take place well before bringing it all up with me. But I will watch to see whose names we get so my brain can start working on that. If I can take care of it when up in WI for ThanksLiving, I will. Barb's parents, the Petska's, did the name draw for Justin and me, so only they know who we have, the big secret!

Here is Justin and me with Harvey and Clara in their kitchen last CHRISTmas. We look a bit blurry because the photographer was not familiar with my camera, it was sort of heavy for him to support. I am in my Jaguar outfit and Justin in his Florida Gator jacket.(When I looked at this picture, I looked a bit like Barb---had to do a double-take! I have my red driving glasses on which makes me look like her, too, I guess!)

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Time to leave for Bible study so must dress my feet in the appropriate footwear. By the end of the week the temps will be back up to the 80's but right now, it is snowshoe weather---44 above zero when I woke up! Yikes!

Man, it sure was great to see everyone again!!

Am I hungry? Can't be! Was it the meatballs with barbecue sauce? Perhaps...Cannot be from the chocolate fountain because I kept myself a safe distance from it. (Martie and I put something on our "Bucket Lists" today though----stick our faces in a chocolate fountain before we die....) I only had half a peanut butter ball and half an espresso ball for dessert, plus two Halloween Oreos. Hmmm, my tummy is rolling as though it is hungry, but really, I should not be. In fact, I am having a stare-down with chocolate frosted cupcake decorated with a giraffe pick brought home with me from the baby shower, and at this writing, think I will win this one. Will make a delightful breakfast tomorrow.

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After mentioning what I did not eat, I should report what wonderful treats I did enjoy. Homemade lumpia, hand-rolled by the ladies, and cooked today by the grandfather-to-be, Paul. His wife, Cindy, the "lola" to-be, was hostess for a baby shower for their son and daughter-in-law's coming baby. The ladies of the house made food items familiar to the Philippines, hence the lumpia and the lo mein dish plus rice and beans. Besides two lumpia, I also had an innocuous ham sandwich and three meatballs. I went a bit nutso for the fruit salad, yes, I said fruit salad, which was just delicious. I had two helpings of that which might account for the revolution taking place in my tummy. The dessert table was laden with creations from the hands of Christie, the soon-to-be 'aunt extraordinaire' to baby Noah. She is quite the baker and decorator. Christie made all the cupcakes and chocolate covered cake balls, like you see in magazines, or on her Facebook pages!!

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Martie and I left after the future mom opened our respective gifts because Martie's back was bothering her, especially after sitting so long an ottoman shared with our friend, Lauren. What was so wonderful, besides the food, was seeing some of our old scrapbooking friends from years back, and Cindy's sister, Ginger. Amber, the mom-to-be, was only about half way through the pile of presents and I can tell by the first half that this will be one well-dressed, sports minded little fella!

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On the way home, after dropping Martie off, I stopped at Publix to get potatoes because I neglected getting them yesterday at Winn-Dixie. My sister, Kerry, was talking about having baked potatoes with butter so I used the rest of mine to make baked potatoes for me! Now my supply is replenished for when the spirit again moves me to bake some. Tonight might be good because the temperature in here has gotten down to 76 degrees. Some might find that a bit warm, but I do not. Not by a longshot!

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The Packers won today, and the Jaguars won at home in overtime, yippee! I saw the F-18s circling about prior to the game for the flyover after the national anthem is sung. There were only two because one of the three had a hard-landing at the airport yesterday and broke its landing gear. They had to get by with two and I must say, I was impressed!

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Bible study and worship this a.m. was terrific, too. We sang our anthem in place of the regular psalm but I was quite concerned to be the lone soprano today. Kristi went to the football game and I was left on my own, not entirely comfortable with my part. During the run-through, I totally missed my notes and ended up singing melody with the altos, which Kathy said was alright, do what you must. But, as we gathered to sing our anthem at the appointed time, somehow I found the notes. After church some came up and said how nice we sounded with a couple mentioning being able to hear me. Whew! Not sure if they were the right notes, but they could hear whatever it was I was singing!

A little treasure found when cleaning up the computer files:

The Women In My Circle

When I was little, I used to believe in the concept of one best friend---then I started to become a woman. And then I found out that if you allow your heart to open up,God would show you the best in many friends.

One friend is needed when you're going through things with your man. Another friend is needed when you're going through things with your mom. Another friend is needed when you're going through things with God. Another when you want to shop, share, heal, hurt, joke, or just be.

One friend will say, 'Let's cry together, another, 'Let's fight together, another, 'Let's walk away together; another, 'Let's pray together. One friend will meet your spiritual need, another your love for shoes, another your love for movies, another will be with you in your season of confusion, another will be your clarifier, another, the wind beneath your wings. (I miss Linda, when is she coming back????)

But whatever their assignment in your life, on whatever the occasion, on whatever the day, or wherever you need them to meet you with their gym shoes on and hair pulled back, or to hold you back from making a complete fool of yourself--those are your best friends.

It may all be wrapped up in one woman, but for many, it's wrapped up in several..one from 7th grade, (or from 4th grade!), one from high school, several from the college years, a couple from old jobs, on some days your mother, on some days your neighbor, on others, your sisters, (your biological ones or your sisters in the family of God) and on some days, your daughters.

In youth we learn; in age we understand "A friend loves at all times." Proverbs 17:17

And the best friend of all is JESUS!! He's there when no one else is.

I think this came from Dolly, my friend since 4th grade......

Brrrr.....it is cold here!

I could hear the building creaking, I think, when I went to bed last night. Something was making noise and when I turned the sound down on the TV, the noise was not audible. Finally I just chalked it up to the wind and groaning of the building cooling down from 84 degrees during the day, to 50 degrees overnight. Wow, that is dramatic by any one's standards!

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I woke up before the sun so I watched some "Roseanne" re-runs waiting for Fox and Friends. It seems I am catching up to where I watched a few months ago when Dan and Roseanne were having problems in their marriage, this time his mom going into the mental hospital. My sister told me the show had really changed over the years but this was the first time I saw Dan sobbing. Wow, I was so moved by it that I joined right in! He had come to the realization that all these years his now divorced father had covered for his mother so that Dan would not know about his mom's "problems". This made the Dad look like a jerk to Dan, until he found out the truth about the situation. Much of the discussion was how mental illness is no one's fault. Good point.

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Me thinks I am getting a cold! There has been some sneezing and my throat feels a little hairy. Maybe I should do what Suzanne did once and take an Airborne without first dissolving it in water----something made me think about that this early morning and I woke up laughing! It just never gets old, you know? She has been having a terrible time with hives, joint pain, assorted ailments from the medication she is taking. The question arose that perhaps the used car she bought to use for work might be part of the problem, an allergic reaction to something in the car. I gave her the name of my friend who does mold remediation so hopefully he can help her narrow the problem. The steriod she has to take is causing problems with her wrists and other joints, terrible with the side effects. Poor Suzanne!

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This afternoon I might wander down to Palm Coast to deliver Tina's poppyseed doughnuts to her and see the kids. Yesterday I worked on the church newsletter, getting as much filled in as I could. At the end of the month I will be busy with Joanne's mailing project, so must make hay even when the sun did not shine! In defense of the sun, it did pop out later in the day but not soon enough to warm me at the desk. The other afternoon, the computer guy came by with the repair disc for the other laptop and he got it started up, repairs made, good to go once more. That was Thursday---Friday I went to look at it, still sitting on the table where I left it, and the screen was showing its troubled face yet again. So, I guess that is it for that laptop. To replace the mother board would be $400, more than I paid for this replacement. Now, what do I do with the old one?

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Oh, the reason I mentioned watching "Roseanne" was while watching, I saw a commercial for Kohls, having a big sale this weekend. Justin loves shopping there now that he has lost weight and I like their home decor department. I do not really need anything (cannot believe I just said that!) but might take a ride over there to check it out. They showed the shoes on sale and my mind said, "51 degrees outside? Might be time to start wearing regular shoes again." My little plaid canvas shoes are not really winter styled...wonder if Wal*Mart has this style in a fall pattern....It must also be time to switch to long pants instead of capris full-time.

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Late afternoon I got a message from a friend at Victory inviting me to a spaghetti dinner but it was really too late for me to get there in time. Nuts! That would have been so delicious and fun, too. Next week we are invited to join Victory for a craft night where we are making pink bracelets for breast cancer awareness. We pay for the bead supplies and such, with a donation of $5 to the research. Plus wonderful fellowship opportunities!! In my small circle of friends, I have three experiencing breast cancer, including Judy R. who has been declared "cancer-free". Sadly, she just let me know that her niece who lives her in Jax has been diagnosed with the dreaded disease. My pastor's wife also has breast cancer and is undergoing treatment at present. Pastor Hoyer mentioned the other day that no other cancer seems to get as much attention as this one, and I told him it is because women are in charge of it!

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Lori, my sister in Holmen, called last night to invite me along on a bus trip with the church ladies. We will go to the Twin Cities to see "Mamma Mia" and stay in the lovely hotel and go shopping, like we did last year. I know there will not be filthy language in this show as last year Lynn and I were appalled by "Jersey Boys". We had no clue, not until we were handing over our tickets at the door where a sign was posted cautioning about language and (gasp!), cigarette smoking on stage. I hope Lynn goes, that was so fun! And I will get to see Judy R. again, too!

Can you stand another one from me?

Wednesday night at choir rehearsal we practiced the anthem for Sunday, "The Lord is My Shepherd" which is quite repetitive in the refrain. Kathy said that the congregation would be singing it with us but since I had typed the service folder, I did not see that. According to my instructions, I had left a copy of the folder for her as well as for the MIDI operator, which confirmed that only the choir was singing this anthem. Well, Kathy, who was under the weather, said it must be sung that way or it would not be the same, so when I got home, sent Pastor an e-mail to let him know. I offered to come in on Thursday afternoon to make the copies to insert into the already printed folders.

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In the morning there was no e-mail from Pastor so off I went to Bible study and lunch with Justin. When I came home I found an e-mail from him, saying either Lynne or he had missed that about the anthem and suggested that there was room on the service folder inside back cover to print it. Um, um, I am not sure how to do that, and told him via e-mail that I would have to think about this because I could not picture it from here. The computer repair man was coming by in the afternoon at an unspecified time and when he was done, I would come over to work on it. Well, a bit later, Pastor called me to report that he had it figured out already, took him 10 minutes, and got it done. I know I would have probably wasted a lot of paper and possibly ruined the completed stack of finished covers. I was so thankful that he took care of it!

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Kathy was feeling good enough last night to enjoy dinner with me at The Club. The special was prime rib and we both ordered it. Oh my, it was delicious with a wonderful gravy/sauce over it. Of course, most of mine came home with me for another time. My fridge is beginning to bulge with to-go containers so I might have to stay home for meals in order to get them cleaned out. For breakfast I ate leftover meatloaf and green beans from Cracker Barrel's dinner on Tuesday night with Judy J. One down, about three or four to-go (a little play on words there....)

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Before Kathy arrived I watched the poor wedding planner trying to do a run-through with a bridal party outside the dining room. Without being able to hear what was going on, it was comical to watch, as it appeared she was herding cats! At times, it looked as though all the participants were telling the others what they were supposed to do, where to stand, how to walk in, instead of listening with their mouths closed. At one point, the planner threw her arms up and basically said, "STOP!" When Kathy arrived, I told her it reminded me of choir rehearsal when everyone is trying to be the director, singing when they should be quiet, trying to count out the notes, and so on, at times. We sound like an orchestra when it is warming up!!! I am amazed and pleased at how nice we sound when it all goes together. The cats are herded!