Is it really morning?

The sun is reflecting brightly on the river this a.m. and while it sounds and looks windy, according to the dancing palms, the water is remarkably still. No white caps, like we had yesterday. But, after I trundled out to the kitchen to get a soda, I saw the clock on the stove. What? 7:15??? Why am I up already?? Evidently I must be done sleeping! No wonder I only trundled out to the kitchen instead of skipping!

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So, how did you like the photos I posted? The ones posted to Facebook elicited responses and comments but none from this blog thus far. More were posted to FB simply because it is easier to do so. It was a busy start to the morning on Monday, which did not include an airport run. Judy called me after she got back home again to give me a report, said Pastor Deutschlander was a VERY nice man. I guess they covered a myriad of topics in their hour and a half drive to Keystone Heights so I am glad it worked out the way it did. She had Pastor autograph my book for me, "The Theology of the Cross". He wanted her to attend the session and hear him speak but she was not dressed for attending, only for driving. Judy got into a disagreement with her Garmin about which way to go, which really made me laugh. I can imagine the voice in the Garmin just sighing and saying, "All right, you win..."!

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I made my way down Kingsley Avenue toward the Aamco Transmission shop, fearing my trany would quit part way there. No need to fear, all went well. I got the car delivered and had a nice chat with the man running the shop, as I waited for Jen R. to pick me up. Another couple came in and the man sort of clunked his coffee cup on the counter, exclaiming he was NOT a happy camper. Oh, oh! Now I felt better about the whole thing.....He was complaining that their car, which had been in this shop for service Saturday, leaked transmission fluid all over their driveway, and they demanded it be fixed. The lady I had spoken with Saturday when making the appointment, Diane, was not there yet. When I was getting into Jen's car, Diane came walking up so I called to her and said I was a bit nervous now after hearing what I had. She assured me all would be well, she would take good care of me, etc. Okay then.

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Tony, the man to whom I had turned in my car, called me later on to give me a status update, saying their machinery and such found no problems. Huh, what do you know about that? He asked me more questions such as the frequency of the problem and so on. The guys were taking it on a test drive to see if it would act up and then they put it back on the machine again. Later, he called again, knowing I was apprehensive about getting a huge bill for a new transmission. No problems, they found nothing, but he did ask if the fluid had been changed when the tires were put on. Nope, only the oil was changed a month ago, which is good to know because Tony said my fluid is considered 'lifetime'. Like my tires??? Whose lifetime?

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About two or so, I called them back again to check the status, wanting my car back. Tony answered and he said, sadly, "Well, we took the transmission out..." and I exclaimed, "WHAT????" Then he laughed and said no, they had not taken it out, he just wanted to make me laugh, and he said, "See? It worked!", and I told him, "Yeah, but now I have to go change my pants!" He was sending my car back with a technician who I would then drive back to the shop. Louis came to get me and of course, the car behaved perfectly. Louis also assured me, saying the car would not leave me stranded, I would get a warning light on my dashboard and it would go into Safe Mode...Okay, sure, good. He also said my car was too young to have needed new tires already (I agree) or to have the transmission mess up. Using the cruise control has no adverse affect on the system, either. I was so glad that he was my driver because I could ask the horse's mouth all the questions I had, and trust his answers. There was no charge at all from the Aamco people since the diagnostics is free. By the way, the problem with the guy's car early in the day----the leak was not part of the work performed on Saturday on their collector car Mustang. The man apologized profusely, but privately, while his complaint was public. Always the way...

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Judy had mentioned that morning that if I wanted to have dinner I should call her so I did. After I offered to be her driver, she called back to say she had errands to run so would meet me at Koko's. Oh well, I tried! She did allow me to buy her meal in thanks for all the driving of me she has done including the airport on Tuesday morning. I had also brought her a stick of Chermak summer sausage which she went ga-ga over. Since I cannot bring her a perch sandwich, she was glad to have the hometown sausage!

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Since I was homebound most of the day, I got much accomplished including work on the newsletter for church and other communications. I brought up my mail which did not bring a check but did provide a giant stack of paper to be dealt with. Ugh! I used the information from the Hospice speaker at Ladies' Aid last Thursday in the newsletter, good advice for how to interact with a very ill friend or family member. Suggestions such as 'hold my hand', 'bring my favorite meal in a disposable container', 'cry with me', 'laugh with me', etc. Some of the things seem so very obvious to me but I guess some are just not that comfortable in situations.

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Speaking of friends, Judy J. and I have had some in depth conversations regarding this topic of late, with Judy telling me how glad her kids are that she has so many people she can call 'friends'. Her family is all in Michigan so then the friends step in and fill the empty spots. Linda J. and I had such a laugh on Sunday night about this same topic. I was reading Facebook and saw a posting of Linda's where I was just about to comment, when the phone rang. It was Linda!!!! My fingers were poised to type and she called me! We talked about the value of our friends and our friendships, etc., which make us truly wealthy. Better than jewels, better than gold, better than silver the friends in our fold!

Photos on my most recent trip to Manty

Can you believe it???? It snowed once again on my visit to Manitowoc. I wore no coat when I went up there and had to depend upon a turtleneck and sweater for layering, plus a coat of mine that Mom uses now. At least my nylons kept my feet warm....NOT!

My sisters and niece posed for a family photo, minus Jill who had to go to back to work after the funeral service for Rochelle. From the left is Lori, me, Kerry, Mom, Lynn, and her daughter, Lisa

Mom attempts to support Auntie Marie while the ladies chat with David and Ronnie, Marie's sons. David is the man whose lifetime sweetheart, Rochelle, died after being diagnosed with a brain tumor only a month ago.

Lisa and her friend, Vicki, smile for the camera. Vicki used to work in David and Rochelle's restaurant in Cleveland many years ago. It was great she was able to come for the funeral, nice to see her again!

Lisa and the boys came to Manty to have dinner with us on Friday night. Gabe looks very somber but he really did have a nice time. Manny is having a birthday at the end of the month so I gave him his present in advance. The cotton throw was extremely soft and fuzzy and Manny loved rubbing on it while he ate his pizza.

Here is a better shot of the group, with the giant pizza in the middle of the table. It is called a 'football pizza' probably because it could feed the entire team! Seven of us ate off of it and Lisa took the rest home for Noah to eat after work. Yummy!

Manny LOVED his birthday cake provided him by the nice waitress. He ate nearly every bit of it after eating several pieces of pizza, all the while rubbing on the blanket in the bag next to him.....I am sure it's washable!

Listening to the wind in the palms

After a lovely night's sleep, undisturbed as far as I remember, I am now hearing the breezes moving through the palm branches outside my door. The slider is open in the river room, has been since I got home yesterday afternoon, allowing the outside to come in. It is a bit chilly for me outside the bed but under this comforter, it feels great. My up-north family and friends sometimes sleep with their windows cracked open well into winter but this is as far as I go with the fresh air thing.

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Kathy picked me up at the airport, where I was right on time. But she just blew me away by meeting me as I left my concourse, standing in the common area. I cannot tell you the last time anyone has met me at the airport in such a fashion! It brought back the memory of my meeting family at the airport where I would wear a goofy hat or sparkly deely boppers on my head. How else would they find me in that mob of people?? Kathy came in regular clothes but I knew her immediately!

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We had a slight delay in finding the correct baggage area, it seems the baggage came out on the far end of the other side from where we normally get ours, so by the time we got there, the belt was fairly empty, and a handler was pulling the bags off as they came through. I spotted mine on the floor near his feet and gathered it up. Kathy came with her car instead of mine, saying mine did its questionable acting up thing I told her about. Her son-in-law and she switched the cars out yesterday when hers was done at Pep Boys and parked mine at home. I was sort of glad that it did happen for her so it proved to me that I was not imagining things.

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On the way back, we stopped for me to pick up my tax return and then we went home. She asked if I wanted to get something to eat or anything but I said I just wanted to get home to sleep! Kathy helped me get my suitcase upstairs and I was just amazed to see the yellow coating on the tile floors in my courtyard. Normally Connie sweeps or hoses the common areas on Fridays to make all things are nice for the weekends so either she did not do it, or this accumulated overnight. Justin had come over to my house to clean out the fridge after the Easter feast and I was not sure what kind of mess I would face. Ta da! My kitchen was clean and presentable, the empty dishes stacked nicely in the sink. The lovely bouquet that Ron and his mom brought me Easter Sunday looked a bit sad, petals falling around it onto the table and such. Too bad I could not enjoy it longer but that is the nature of cut flower arrangements.

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After she left me, I got busy with my washer running to take care of the laundry from the closet floor first before the contents of my suitcase going in. And then, I had to tackle the problem of having a sickly car. I was going to pick up Pastor Deutschlander from the airport tomorrow morning but now Judy J. will be the one, as was the original plan anyway, and then drive him to the pastor's conference in Keystone Heights. And I will miss the conference talk which is what I was interested in hearing. Rats! My friend, Jen, is picking me up at the repair shop, Aamco Transmissions, in the morning when I drop it off for its going over. Pep Boys, my first contact, told me they do not handle transmissions so I called the experts.

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Justin called me to say he was absolutely NOT available on Monday, that even the slightest delay in his being on time for helping his father would bring wrath, so Jen was glad to pitch in. Once more, frantic moving is taking place, cleaning out the double garage on the property where Justin's father/boss lived, finding places to store the stuff and the worse job, finding bodies to help with this project. The days are running short for getting this completed and tensions are high, so I do not need any part of that. Who knows? Jen and I might even enjoy a lovely, casual breakfast while Justin and his father are hustling like nuts...Justin had asked me to go to church with him this Sunday but now that my car is misbehaving, I do not wish to chance a trip that far or on such busy roads. So Judy J. is picking me up for church this a.m., my go-to girl!

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This a.m. on Fox and Friends there was story about a WWII veteran returning to college to earn a degree in psychology at the age of 84, so he can work with returning soldiers from the Iraq/Afghanistan conflict. His fellow students are the ages of his grandchildren, he laughed, so no girlfriends to be found on his campus. But, you know, good for him!! My driver to the airport yesterday morning, "Frenchie", told me about his years of service in the Navy, passing through Jacksonville but not stationed here, and so on. He liked his time in the service, 22 years, and then he moved from Manty to Sheboygan where he worked for the streets department. Now he does this shuttle driving for his living, although this is retirement for him. His face was a relief map and he was fun to visit with, although he was definitely a man who knew his mind. Sort of a gruff guy, but in talking, he mentioned about his friend/neighbor passing away and how he promised the man that he would help his wife with things like snow and mowing and such. "...and then he died." Don't tell me you have no heart, Mister, not when you do things like this!

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My niece, Alayna, had the privilege of hearing and seeing some Viet Nam War veterans speak at her school on Friday and she is shown on their local TV news, sitting in the audience, paying rapt attention. She is gorgeous, what can I say? The TV station ran the story, and my sister, Jill, sent me the link so I could see it, too. In watching the footage, one part brought tears to my eyes---a young man was walking amongst the displays and such, and when he passed one of the veterans, he reached out and shook the guy's hand. The guy's hand was in his pocket, so the young man had to have initiated that gesture and it moved me. Alayna had mentioned on FB how much she enjoyed their talk and presentation, ending her posting, "God bless 'em". Yes, God bless them!

The rest of my time was spent....

.....doing what else? Eating and church stuff! After the funeral service was over and folks had dissipated, Lori came back to Mom's to gather her belongings before heading back to Holmen. She had an important meeting the next morning so it was important for her to get home, and especially before dark. We are at the age when night driving is not advised any longer. At least some of us find that to be the case. Lori and I shared the guest room at Mom's which did not go as well as it should. We have quite different sleeping habits, mine includes having the TV on all night, very quietly. Lori does not know the concept of quiet and could not tolerate the flickering of the TV. Finally, in frustration, she yanked the cord from the outlet, end of discussion! We won't try that experiment again! Like Lynn said, she had an empty bed in her house....Otherwise, as always, we had a great time although we were both tired in the morning!

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Mom, Lynn, Linda, and I went to dinner at The Oar House, or Whore House, as Lori pronounced it. We could have laughed as loudly as we could there and not disturbed a soul, as we were the only customers in the dining room! Sad, but true. I am so glad I suggested going there or they would have had no business at all. Their perch was done to perfection with an almost shredded wheat-type coating and the dinner rolls were fresh made by the chef. Oh, yummy! After our meals we went to Linda's to see her newly decorated family room, completed with the pieces we had picked out at Taylor Creek only a month ago. Tommy finally got them all hung up, making the room feel even more cozy and warm. Snow was predicted for overnight which Linda claimed was Tom's fault, since he took the plow off the John Deere!

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Thursday we did wake to snow on the ground and continuing to fall, on and off all day. I took pictures which will be posted as soon as I can once home again. Mom and I were going shopping and stopped to have breakfast at Four Seasons. She discovered a new favorite, a fried egg sandwich with a fruit cup, from their Senior's Menu. I had potato pancakes and fried eggs, doing a respectable job with my meal for a change. We went to Wal-Mart first so Mom could some scrips filled, and I shopped while she got her hair cut. Once checked out, we headed to Copp's for some groceries and to see Susie. Jill's birthday was on Thursday and I wanted fruit tart for her cake. Nope, no tarts until the fruit improves so we settled for a raspberry pie instead. And no sugar cookies either...obviously they did not get the memo that I was back in town! Mom suddenly remembered something----we forgot to pick up the prescriptions from Wal*Mart! Now, how did that happen? We could not go back because Mom and I went to Ladies' Aid that afternoon and ran out of time. It was an interesting speaker that day, a Hospice person whose entire program was about laughter!

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Last night (Thursday actually) I made Jill a birthday supper which was enjoyed by Mom, Lynn, Jill, and me. We had a turkey roll, mashed potatoes and veggie mix with cheese, all from Mom's freezer. Plus the pie. Danny brought some pizza with him to Mom's to eat instead of the dinner and played video games while we ate and opened Jill's gifts. Together we watched Jeopardy! before our wild party broke up.

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Friday, I went to church to hang out with Linda and then we went to lunch with her sister, Georgia and my mom. We ended up at Harborside (I was thinking of you, Dolly!!) because our first choice did not serve lunch (?) !!! How can that be?? It was in a hotel! Anyway, we had a great time, even knew some people there, of course, who were not quite as noisy as our table. The perch sandwiches there are served on fresh-baked hard rolls from an area bakery, and were soooo delicious! Perfection! After lunch and saying good-bye once more to Linda, Mom and I went to Wal*Mart where we got her scrips picked up. We came home again and just hung out until it was time to meet Lisa and her boys, plus the rest of the family at Luigi's for pizza. I am glad she was able to come because I won't see them again until June when Justin and I return for Alayna's graduation party. Manny has his 5th birthday, which I consider to be a very special number, at the end of this month, so I gave him present in advance. He loved his pillow and cotton throw with "How to Train a Dragon" all over it. And the waitress, seeing the present, brought him a piece of cake with a candle in it! Very special indeed!

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I am going to shut this down now and go wait for the shuttle driver to come for me. Not that I am anxious or anything, but this is not the simplest place to find the first time and I do not want them to be lost. My watching for him will ensure he will find me immediately! See you tomorrow, or rather, later today, probably, back in Florida!

Rochelle's funeral

On Tuesday, Lori was driving from across the state for the visitation and funeral for our cousin, Rochelle, and the plans were made for her to meet the rest of us at the church where the visitation was being held. It was the same church, St. John, Newtonburg, where my father-in-law's services took place at the end of February. Lynn, Mom, Jill and I drove out there in Lynn's car, with plans to have dinner after the viewing. The line was at the door and up the steps to get into the reception line. Mom refused at first to go up the ramp to sit in the parlor area so I went up with the coats to scope it out. My cousin, Barbie, was up there and I told her about Mom standing down stairs so she went and spirited Mom up the ramp to sit on the sofa. Mom was assured that no one would feel like she was pushing in line at a funeral visitation when the rest of the family made it to the top. Truly heartwarming was the turnout for the viewing, Rochelle was much loved and well-known in her community.

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Before long Lori arrived which made our family well-represented. Kerry was still having troubles with her sciatica and lower back giving her such fits of pain that she would be sick from it. The chiropractor was seeing her daily and recommended she take a leave from her job in order to heal. We hoped to see her on Wednesday for the funeral service itself, and she did make that after her adjustment.

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It was tough to see Rochelle's children, Larry and Cheryl Lynn, so deeply saddened, and most especially, her husband, my actual cousin, David. We Lahaie's have deep connections to this particular cousin and family since Lynn is Cheryl Lynn's baptismal sponsor, and we babysat for Cheryl Lynn from infancy at our family's home. We babysat for both kids at their homes in Newton, too, having many fond rembrances of those days. When this couple owned the Cleveland Family Restaurant, we would stop out there to eat whenever we were in town to see them and enjoy some good home-cookin'.

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Later, when David retired from truck driving, Rochelle and he customized a Peterbilt truck cab into a mini-motor home and would pull a special trailer designed for transporting collectible cars. When a buyer bought a collector car at auction or a sale, they would hire David to take the car where they needed it delivered. Often, David and Rochelle would be in our area for the car shows, in particular the Amelia Island show. They would drive over to our part of the world, park their rig behind Wal*Mart where we would pick them up for the day. They had come around this time of the year in 2001, not long after Timmy had died and spent the better part of the day with us, which was great. We had last seen and spent time with Rochelle at Arno's funeral in late February, only a week prior to her diagnosis.

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Not only could we extend our sympathies to the immediate family, but it was also a great time to reconnect with our cousins, aunts, and friends, and co-workers of Rochelle's from Hannah Home. My sis-in-law, Sharon, resides there and Rochelle worked at HH for five years before retiring in January of this year. She was still Sharon's caregiver, at least until she was diagnosed in early March. Sadly, Sharon lost her dad and her caregiver in a month's time. Sharon was unable to make it to the viewing, telling Harv and Barb, who did make it, that her knees were too bad that day.

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Larry, who in now 40 (unbelievable!!!), greeted my Mom and sisters in front of me as we went through the line, and cried when he grabbed me in his giant arms, telling me how glad he was that I could come. Truly a head and a half taller than me, it was not a small task to bend over to hug me, and Jill said Mom looked like a doll in his arms. I explained that Justin could not make it this time, having just a few weeks left of school, etc., and they were most gracious about his not being there. I assured the family we would get together when we both return to Manty in June.

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After the visitation, much time spent from the pews trying to figure out who was who (people look very different than they did years ago.....!), we all went to eat at the Green Street Tavern, Mom and her girls. Many of us had the perch plate which was divine, meaning you can go home again! As often happens, I saw someone I knew there, Ruby, who was out with her friends. She asked me if I never went home after the other funeral, since she knew I was here for Arno's. I laughed and said I had gone home and barely unpacked before coming right back. She is taking my greetings to her hubby and my friend, Curt, who works with her. Curt had been our partner when we moved to Florida but he moved back after two years, and now works with Don at a lumber company as a draftsman and purchaser.

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Wednesday morning, the funeral service was lovely. Fortunately Kerry was able to make the drive from Oshkosh to attend. Jill had to work but had enough time off for the service only and then had to get back. Lisa and her family made it just in time for the service as they got a bit turned around coming from Sheboygan, the road the church is on did not make their GPS system for some reason. I barely got to acknowledge the boys or Noah after church, as he drove them back to Sheboygan so he could go to work. Lisa stayed for the luncheon before heading back to work. It is tax season and she has tons of work to get done before Tuesday! I had wanted to have a family photo taken with all the girls and Lisa but Jill had to leave, so our photo is short a daughter. I took lots of photos of the luncheon and the folks there to share with Cheryl Lynn and Larry at a later date. David assured me that he will consider coming down yet, as they had planned together, in August for a car show, and I encouraged his younger brother, Jimmy, to come with him. Jimmy was excited about that prospect as well, and Cheryl knows this, too, so she can keep that little fire burning in her dad's head. Jimmy had been at our home in Florida already so he knows how lovely our area is, but not so sure about the August temps! Shhh!, no one tell them about the heat, okay?

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After the service and on our way to the luncheon, I stopped to say good-bye to my friends, the Harrigan's, who had handled the arrangements for Rochelle and for Arno. When I got to church on Wednesday, I saw Andy standing at the top of the ramp. As I got closer he said, "Well, here comes Smiles!" and we hugged each other. After I said farewell once more before they drove off, Lori told me, "The undertakers love you." I just looked at her and smiled, and she said, "Yeah, when you went over to get the coats, they were talking between themselves about how nice you are..." Golly, (digging my toe into the ground), that is so sweet! Thanks, Lori, for eavesdropping!

More time in the terminal (From Tuesday)

Sorry for the missed postings but with the goofed up Internet connection and the packing and the traveling, well, I simply did not have time! My sister, Lori, called me Sunday night to ask me when I was coming up to Manitowoc for the funeral of our cousin, Rochelle, who passed away rather quickly from her brain tumor. Only one month from diagnosis to heavenly bliss, thankfully for her, too fast for the rest of us. Anyway, I told Lori I did not know yet, but would make my plans as soon as I heard what the arrangements were….Lori said, “Oh, didn’t anyone call you?” Ah, no, no one called me although the obituary was in the paper already on Sunday. Oops!

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Now I had to hustle and make my plans but the Internet prevented my attempts. After meeting Kathy B. and Terri T. for breakfast at Grumpy’s on Monday a.m., I took my laptop to Panera Bread, via the cemetery where I placed the bouquet from Sunday’s altar at Timmy’s site. I kept the lily at home for fear it would blow around when I was gone. I got the plans made from my ‘strange’ location, and in my haste I goofed, booking my return flight for 5:45 a.m. rather than p.m. on Saturday! And there is no undo on that type of thing…I can sleep all Saturday afternoon, what the heck!
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My flight out of Jacksonville went well, short of course since I changed planes in Atlanta. After asking three different Delta people, I finally found my next gate which is not indicated on the ticket nor on the monitors. A mystery gate, the sole place Midwest comes and goes. Good luck if you find it! We were delayed leaving Atlanta, however, due to our plane being fogged in here in Milwaukee, making our departure about 45 minutes to an hour late. I let Lynn know so she could judge her time to leave work to pick me up, having an hour ride down and 1 ½ hours to Mom’s house. I had the row to myself on that leg of the trip and wanted to sleep, but did not.
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It was great to see Lynn at the airport and off we headed for ‘home’. Mom was waiting in her door watching for us and I was happy to arrive at long last. What a day it was! Driving, sitting in the terminal, sitting in the plane, wandering in Atlanta’s airport, then sitting LOTS more, sitting on the plane, sitting in the car, and sitting in the recliner at Mom’s…ahhhh!

He is risen! He is risen indeed!!! (Sunday's posting..)

This is truly an awesome day, but the extremely slow Internet connection I have here is driving me wild! Almost as though it cannot make a connection, the sites are searching searching searching but not locating. Ugh! But, not to let that deter me, I am writing this in my Word program and will transfer it over if and when the connectivity resumes---if it does!

*My fridge is stocked to the rim with leftovers, even though some of my guests took some home. Justin carried out a bag of ham while two more went in the freezer plus the mashed potatoes, garlic reds, and a tiny bit of mac ‘n cheese leftover. Sarah had another helping after she left the table, having had troubles staying in her seat for the meal. Might have been the Easter candy before we ate that fired her up!

*Justin had invited his friend, Ron, plus his mom and grandma to join us plus Lawcock’s and Judy J. I am so happy to have had a full table and all enjoyed their meal. Judy and Paul each brought wine; one called “Cheap Red Wine” and the other brand “Mad House Wife”. Funny stuff! Those that had wine liked the flavors, not bad for cheap wine!

*I woke up this a.m. just prior to my alarm clock on my cell phone going off and got ready for sunrise worship. It was ‘cool’ outside but I used my ‘dinner jacket’ from the car to keep comfortable while worshiping outdoors. We had birds singing, watched the sunrise as we repeated our confirmation vows as part of this service. Really nice! The cross was decorated with flowers as folks arrived, and it was so beautiful. Our choir anthems and the trumpet added to the music went very well but I will have to tell you, all the standing on Easter REALLY wears me out! And then doing more standing as I prepared for the feast once we finally got home…There was no way, absolutely no way Justin and I could have made an 11:30 reservation at The Club because even without the ‘talking’ afterward, we would have been late. In fact, I even have the floral bouquet and the lily from church to take to the cemetery tomorrow as we ran so short of time. Thankfully almost all the food was prepared the night before and just had to be reheated for serving. Four dishes in the oven and two in the wave, plus one on the stove. I was cooking with gas! Actually electricity but it fit in the story. Justin helped me get the table loaded with the hot dishes and we sat to down to enjoy our fabulous feast. And then, there are the leftovers……….