It's fun to just listen...

....to the sounds of the house. Rarely do I let my environ be quiet but I hear voices today, perhaps from outside, not inside my head, activity on the floors above mine, and the ice maker in my kitchen. Boy, I wish my ice cubes tasted good. Judy J. asked me last night if I changed the filter on my ice maker and I asked her "Where is it?". Guess that answers the question. Am I supposed to pull out my fridge, climb back there and try to find a filter? No! I can buy ice at the store and use that instead! Or suffer through wretched-tasty ice cubes---phooey!

*

There, I turned my radio program back on for background sound while I write. The A/C has just turned on, adding that noise, which also means it must be warmer than 80 in here. I cannot wait to see what Kerry makes of my temps when she is here, I am prepared to have the A/C running for her visit. Outside it started out to be 71 degrees but since I woke up, has risen to 79. Good, heading in the right direction, but certainly too cold for water aerobics. It has nearly an hour before time for aerobics so if it gets about 10 degrees warmer, I will go out. Whether I get in the water or not, well, that's another thing!

*

Yesterday was incredibly busy and whether you noticed or not, I did not post a blog at all for Tuesday! The early part of the day was spent at the big computer, putting the final touches on the church newsletter, sending it off, and printing a few hard copies in color for the select few who get them. After that, I wrote the newsletter for The Palace which went rather well considering I had no Board meeting information to report. Somehow or another our building and its business (at least I hope so!) gets done even when no BOD meetings take place. Silence can be frightening sometimes, and hopefully there is nothing going on that is being ignored by the powers that be. Somehow I managed to find plenty to say, as folks would mention things to me through out the month to be added to the letter, such as making sure the trash bags are tightly secured before throwing them into the bin. Common courtesy-type of things. And I included a recipe for Tomato Basil Pie, which one of my Facebook friends had entered in the county fair in Belle Plaine, MN, and won first place! I do not eat tomatoes but have eaten this type of pie twice here in The Palace. My mama raised me right, I used good manners and ate the slice of tomato pie....

*

Much of the heat is off, so to speak, regarding getting my house ready for company as I have enlisted the help of this lady I met at aerobics. She is older, works part part-time for the owner of The Club, and has an elderly lady that she escorts to Bible study and luncheon once a week. Shari wants more work but so far has no clients and mentioned that she does house cleaning, anything, to earn money. Shari lives in a Habitat for Humanity house and is extremely ambitious and a true joy to be with, full of pep and wit. She had given me some of her business cards to share with folks who might need some elder care, and I decided to call her (since I skipped aerobics!) to see if she would be interested in cleaning my house. I hate to leave all the work for Kerry, right? I can just see Kerry and Shari jousting for position with dust mops and Swiffers! It is mutually beneficial to Shari and to me so Friday is the day she is coming.

*

Justin forgot to bring a change of clothes along to work with him on Monday so he did not come to do my list of jobs I had for him. He won't walk around my house in his work clothes, no matter what, he always showers and changes his clothes before going to work or even visiting here. His list will remain until he can get here, stuff that neither Shari nor I can or will do. If he cannot tackle the entire list before Kerry comes, much of it can wait until her visit is over, and then Lynn and Linda's visit is over...I am going to have the most excellent September!!!!!

*

In the afternoon, I decided to head to the Island, as I had to pick up a scrip from Wal*Mart. Because I had called ahead, the order was ready and I walked in and out with little damage. Nearly I bought the boxed set of "House" DVDs offered at the check-out area but resisted since I am not sure Kerry is a big fan. That reminds me, I must ask Justin to bring his portable DVD player for her to use in the guest room. Since it was after 2:00 pm, it was Happy Hour at Sonic so I headed over to get my Route 44 Diet Coke at half price. Kerry will get a kick out of that, too, when she is here. Oh, I can't wait....Anyway, with my drink in hand, I went to Great Hang Ups where Dee was already at work matting my water color project. She had several vignettes ready for me to view and while I was there, she kept working and rearranging the remaining pieces for my approval. With other clients coming in, and ad salesmen, and the phone keeping things busy---before I knew it, the clock read nearly 5:00 pm! I had to fly! Judy J. was picking me up for dinner and Bible study at 5:30 and I was not even home yet. I passed our 'old' office and saw Justin's car there so pulled in to say hi. He was waiting for his father and very sadly told me he had a couple more hours of work to do yet that night. Getting ready to close the Brookstone house which is a good thing but a long day for Justin.

*

I did a quick turn-around once home and got myself downstairs to wait for my chariot to arrive to collect me. My Bible study material was in the car so I grabbed that before jumping into Judy's. At first she wanted to go to Cracker Barrel but I mentioned Panera for the mac 'n cheese for me, and Judy loves their chicken with strawberry salad. We dined el fresco which was a delight and then went to church. Since the kindergarten is no longer using the room, we can use it for our Bible studies. No sense in cooling the Fellowship Hall if the classroom building serves us well. Pastor handed out the packet for our last night of Communicating Christ, and it turned out to be one page, front and back. The title page "Church Membership" and the reverse was for filling out our information. Since only one of us is not a member yet, Tyler was the only one needing to fill his out. There was a short segment on the video about what it means to be a member of a congregation, what God asks of us, the congregation, and what we as members expect of each other. Very nice wrap up. Tyler is being baptized on Sunday, confirmed, and going to the Lord's Supper. I wonder if I will cry...hey, I already did when I heard about this the first time! He is former Navy, and unbaptized. The Lord brought his wife, a WELS girl, still active-duty, into his life and now look, he is going to be a member of our church!

Perfect end of the day

Only a few moments ago did I come in from the pool area where my neighbors were gathered, enjoying the lovely evening with gentle breezes. Most of the folks brought their wine bottles out with them and I had my can of soda. If Miss Chardonnay had not come by with her leftover sushi made for lunch at Koko's, I might have missed all the fun outside. Not only did she give me sushi, she also brought me a lovely tall blue vase complete with four gerbera daisies, artificial but gorgeous nonetheless. She told me I could throw them out if I did not want them, but, of course, I want them!

*

There were about 8-10 of us around the table, the number fluctuated as folks came and went. We had quite the conversation about dentists, with suggestions being made to 'pass the hat' to help Danny pay for his dental work. Not sure if that will pan out but I was quite interested in hearing how he was doing. My sympathies go to him, since I know quite well what he is going through. Everyone has dental stories and all have good dentists but none of them do pro bono work. There is a place in Green Cove Springs where folks can go for free care but they line up at 6:00 a.m. and get a number to be seen by the dentist. If only one volunteer dentist and assistant show up, only the first few in line can be seen. I am worried about Danny, as I told the gang, "He is my bread and butter" maker!

*

Well, I think I should not have any typos or other problems with my keyboard, now that I have cleaned it. With some frequency the keyboard is wiped as I am bit neurotic about dirty keys but today I took the pressurized air can to it and holy cow, what a mess! From the looks of it, I should be nearly bald-headed and be quite hungry from all the crumbs accumulated on the desk. It was downright gross! Most of the crumbs appeared to be from bread but some were orange which means Cheetos....unbelievable. Disgustingly so....No wonder I found ants not too long ago.

*

Well, I am having a glass of green iced tea with agava sweetener and I gotta tell you, it's not my favorite. Maybe I made it too strong, used four bags in the Mr. Tea maker, choosing that many was compared to the recommended "3 to 5", which means four should be just right. That didn't happen but I drank it anyway because I should. It truly is an acquired taste, to be sure. Guess I could use more of the sweetener which might help with the bitterness. People who drink tea really like the sweet tea from McDonald's so maybe I should try that some time. Others say the canned green tea falls short but I do like the Arnold Palmer tea which is mixed with lemonade. The only thing with that is, the lemonade adds calories. Humpf!

*

This a.m. our Monday Bible study resumed with our study being "ID-ing Worldviews" . We barely tapped the surface of this subject matter and will be taking next week off due to Labor Day. That is too bad because Kerry will be here and I would have loved for her to share in this group, the study portion and the lunch portion, too! We enjoyed our Longhorn's reunion, although our guy who managed the place, Mark, who has left the company. Rats, now we have to break in a new manager! We sure will miss him, he always took time to come greet us and made sure we were well taken care of. But those wonderful chicken tenders-----ooooooh, so good!

*

Originally I had planned on going to the pool as soon as I got home from lunch but the clouds had moved in. No sun, no Kim. After leaving Longhorn, I had to circle back to church because I forgot to collect a bouquet of flowers, donated to Timmy's gravesite by Terri T., who was not in church Sunday. She had requested them for their wedding anniversary and knew she would not be there to claim the bouquet, so she sent me a message that I should take them. Very nice, I appreciate it greatly. The previous bouquet on the marker was quite crispy and charred from the sun, in serious need of replacement. I adjusted the little black fence around the tree, snapping the connections back together, which I would guess was bumped by a lawnmower or something. I might ask Justin to go with me someday and re-do the fence all the way around.

*

Late this afternoon Justin let me know about his friend's sister's boyfriend had a serious motorcycle accident this weekend. He is in ICU and wearing a halo to support his neck which has broken vertebrae. In addition he has other bones broken and road rash from scraping along the pavement. This happened while Justin was away so he does not have all the details but does know the fellow has no health insurance and is self-employed. Now what?? His girlfriend said she wants to have a fund raiser to help with his bills and such, and I offered Justin my kitchen and equipment if he wants to make stuff for a bake sale. He neither accepted or declined, just sort of was irritated that Bill won't wear a helmet. Not sure if that would have affected the outcome or not, but Justin is correct, the riders should wear a helmet, and drivers their seat belts!

*

Another topic for discussion tonight was many of us receiving Past Due notices from the accountant who is in charge of our finances for the building. What? Past due? It is not even the end of August yet and already our September fees are considered late? We realize it was an error, of course, but I did dial the number on the statement and let them know I was not in arrears. But it sure did make me double check exactly what day it was! Only a few more days until Kerry gets here!!!

What a lazy day it's proven to be!

When I arrived at Victory this a.m., Pastor Hoyer greeted me with the words, "Oh, Kim, you braved this rainy weather to come across the bridge today!" It was drizzling but certainly not enough to deter my trip to Victory...what? I heard him tell someone else that overnight to morning they had gotten over 2" of rain! Wow, that was what he was talking about. In my sleep, I vaguely recall hearing rain against my windows but it did not seem overly 'damp' outside when going to my car. Not 2" worth, anyway. We have not had sunshine for two days and I am really feeling funky through and through because of it. No pool time at all since last Sunday late afternoon, either, with the full schedule, etc. Yet, if it had been clear skies, sunny, and hot, I would have made the time to be out there! The surfing is reported to be fantastic with the passing storm in the ocean, so bravo for those riding the waves and those bobbing in boats outside my building on this blustery, now rain-free day!

*

Justin is on his way home, stopping overnight Saturday at Grove's mom's house in NC. He sent me a number of text messages and even an e-mail greeting me this a.m. when I turned on my computer. Yesterday afternoon my sister-in-law, Mona, called me and we had a nice chat, our first since I was home in June. She was less than impressed with Justin's adventure to DC, saying it was totally opposite her politics. She was not aware this was a non-political event, but it is hard to tell from what the media writes. "Reports" would be a real stretch. Anyway, it was merely a coincidence that she called me as I had news regarding Marian, whom I heard through the grapevine, via Mishicot, that Marian was in the hospital again. Her daughter, Christina, in Palm Coast (here we go....) had posted a prayer request on Facebook for her mom as she was having serious heart troubles again. Marian's sister, Nancy, let Marcia know in Mishicot, who contacted me. Somehow or another I had missed the prayer request earlier in the day and was glad Marcia e-mailed me. Immediately I reached out to Tina to find out the scoop, but in the meanwhile, Nancy wrote me via Facebook chat to ask if I knew anything. I told her I was awaiting word from Tina. Biff evidently had seemed quite short of breath when talking on the phone which alarmed Tina and somehow she had gotten time off to go down south to see her parents. I gave Mona as much info as I had regarding that situation.

*

When Mona and I get on the phone, we make it count, and somehow I managed to change my clothes for the funeral, and drove over to Publix on the way to church, without missing a beat. Fortunately I had showered earlier in the morning (during one of the gospel songs at the event) and should have dressed in my good clothes right away---duh! Part of our conversation was regarding what Allie was going to pursue for her field of work once out of high school next spring. She likes kids so was thinking of being a teacher or working in a day care. Mona said she has to keep reminding herself that Allie in 'only 17 1/2" and shouldn't be expecting grown-up thinking from her just yet.

*

My fridge holds lots of leftovers, from Carrabba's and Longhorn, the funeral on Wednesday, and the one on Saturday. Tonight might be a good night to have the Carrabba's because I hate to have that before I am going to be around people, due to the garlic. I can brush and rinse really well in the morning and be fresh for Bible study. Afterwards will likely be more Longhorn....hmmm....I could take my leftovers along and have them reheated for my lunch! I just finished my little container of green beans brought home from last night's funeral dinner, with the bacon crumbles in, Suzanne's recipe. Pastor raved about those beans and I told him I would share the recipe, but have to clarify a few details of it with Suzanne first. The way it is with these type of things is actual measuring rarely takes place, more like a little of this and a little of that. We will figure it out and see if Lynn K. can reproduce it for him.

*

Twila and I were talking at the table yesterday that is was 5 years ago now that we were on the Mediterranean cruise with Jean and her family, sailing from Barcelona. It was on this trip that I spotted my dining room light fixture but the lake house did not call for such a thing. However, only a year later, living in the condo, it did beg for such a thing. Justin searched those streets in Florence relentlessly in search of the shop, hence missing the church where Michelangelo and other famous folks were interred. And tomorrow, he is coming over to help me polish it up before all the company arrives!!!!

*

Ethel and Darwin were sitting near us, as were Judy C., Judy J., Twila, and me. Darwin pointed out that it was nearly the entire gang that took the Alaskan cruise in 2007. Sue was sitting at the table behind ours so we had well over half of us around the table. Ethel says they wish to take another cruise and I am guessing they want me to put it together (gulp!), thinking this time of going through the Panama Canal. I told them my vacations now will be to see my mom which they understand but the thought of the Caribbean is awfully enticing! I would so prefer that to Alaska, let me tell you! And we really did have a great time, even though I was cold. Really?

The age of electronics

The score is 10-6, Tampa, and the Jaguars just kicked the ball away to end the first half of the game. There was already one lightning delay and just as Scobee kicked the field goal, it lightninged again. Last week was an extended rain delay, but thus far tonight, no rain. Earlier this evening, I thought I would go right to bed because of a beastly crying head-ache, but I had taken an Advil-look-alike while still at church and had a pina colada picked up at the cabana when I came home from the funeral. Danny was fixin' to close up shop as only four people were there, and no one having dinner. He had another tooth ache, his second tooth situation this summer. Always on a weekend, don't I know that feeling!!! I offered him my penicillin but he had some at home and his dad has pain medication but I hope that holds him until Monday. Evidently he's seen a dentist already and he cannot find anyone to extract the offending tooth. The dentists want to save the teeth, of course, but he cannot afford to save it and cannot afford to loose it, not even 21 years old yet! Poor guy!

*

Since none of my buds were out there, and I was not feeling too hot myself, I took my drink upstairs to watch the Jaguar game. Once situated here and 'calmed down', my head settled down too. I am sure it was from the crying at the funeral for Mary this late afternoon, where I did well most of the time. The "....and he shall wipe every tear from your eyes...." always gets me, and add to that the closing hymn of "In Christ Alone", and I was wiped out. As we ate our funeral luncheon, or dinner, in this case, the ladies were talking about how much that hymn has packed into it, in a nutshell, as it were, like John 3:16 is for the Gospel. When we sang, I did great through the first three stanzas, and then Pastor had us stand for the 4th one, and I struggled valiantly. ".....no fear in death..." It's true, there is no fear in death, because of what Jesus did for us!

*

Another hymn sung was "Amazing Grace", which I sang for the third time this week, and the second time today. Toward the end of the Restoring Honor event, a whole team of bagpipers and drummers, associated with a fire department, played "Amazing Grace" as those gathered sang, and I sang from home. The first part of the day was spent watching the event on Facebook which streamed it live, plus watching it on C-SPAN while instant messaging with Linda who was on a speaker phone call with her sister, and I was being text-messaged by Justin. Whew! All the electronics were smokin'!!! Justin did not send many messages during the actual event but did beforehand and afterward. I kept him posted though on the number of Facebook users on-line watching the event, which was up to nearly 130,000 people at one time. He estimated that there was about 400,000 people there but I guess we will not know for sure until Monday. The area where Justin was standing, along the reflecting pond, forward from the Lincoln Memorial, holds 200,000. That area was full plus an additional lot off to the side which holds another 200,000 people. The 'news' people are reporting "10s of thousands" which is extremely modest because the other numbers are the ones provided by the Park Service, who do this all the time. No politics today, only honoring the troops, and earning over $5 million for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation---whoo hoo! http://www.specialops.org/

*

After the main portion of the program was over, three different musical groups performed as the attendees were departing, or stayed around to listen. Facebook showed folks lining up to sign the ginormous American flag that had been carried by a mess of people so I asked Justin if they were signing the flag. He sent a message back saying they were heading to the museum instead. A bit later I got a single word text message from Justin which said, "Butter". That's all. Immediately I wrote back, "Say 'Hi' to Julia", because I knew he was at the Smithsonian standing at Julia Child's kitchen. He and I just loved that movie, I saw it with him at the theater where he kept giving me the elbow when something reminded him of me! A minute later came this picture mail from his phone to mine, which I then forwarded to my e-mail, and then saved to my computer. I love electronics, Advil, and pina coladas!

Where is Mr. Sun today?

Fortunately it was not raining an hour ago when I wandered out to the cabana to get some lunch from Danny. At that time, I was his sole ticket for the day. No one was out there swimming or anything, being an overcast day with occasional drizzles. There being no sun also meant no water exercises for me, even though Marlena called me from the pool to request my presence. Sadly, I was in the laundry room and did not hear the phone ring so I missed my summons. Danny thought he might ask 'Chef' if he should stay open or what since it appears no one else was coming. It's okay with the Hot Dog Lady now that I have had my lunch! I got the recipe or what have you for making his delicious pasta salad so some day I would like to give it a try, perhaps when summer is over!

*

Today already brought several text messages from Justin, giving me a report on his activities in DC. His first one was when he was on his way to the Arlington National Cemetery, and he suggested I listen to song by Trace Adkins, on youtube.com, called "Arlington". It brought me to tears, as Trace tells the story in first person form of a man returning home from war, where he is given some land with other men.....Arlington National Cemetery! Wow, quite powerful and moving. Later Justin sent a message that he just heard a 21 gun salute, and I quoted a line from the song, ".....we welcomed another brother home....." I wrote back to Justin, telling him I envied him this, and asked him to please enjoy it!

*

Justin did report also that the weather there is amazing, 'like a miracle', I told him. He did not even try to get tickets to the Kennedy Center event tonight, knowing folks had been there long before he arrived in DC to get tickets so instead, they will do their site seeing and touring. At some point our FL congressman arranged for them to have a tour the Capital and White House. On a program I watched on the Internet this a.m. there were people from as far away as Alaska and even a student from Albania, in town for the Restoring Honor event. C-SPAN is broadcasting live tomorrow at 10:00 for which I rejoice because it was not going to be shown on the Internet, although Justin was sure it would be. Tonight's event is going to be on the Insider Extreme so I will get to watch that, either live or later on, depending upon the weather. If it's nice outside, I will be at the cabana!

*

Well, the sheets are tumbling in the dryer so tonight will be a clean-sheet-no-eating-in-bed night. I can last one night, I guess. Before the bed will be remade, I plan to vacuum the floor to get all the cruddlies cleaned up. It seems I must have more than 10 fingers and 10 toes, at least that's the way it would appear with all the clippings on the floor! Am I that untidy??? No, I say, no! I had to chuckle at myself when I stripped the bed this a.m.---seven books were removed from my bed before I could take off the bedspread. Not so many papers piled up this time, but so many books! My newest book is the "Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis, an illustrated edition but I am still reading "Not Unto Us" and "The Council of Dads". It seems I, too, must have ADD when it comes to reading and OCD regarding the dust and nail clippings on the floor!

What a day, Part II

Nearly 12 hours later and I finally sit down to finish my posting of the day! My tummy is stuffed after having dinner with Martie at Longhorn, chicken tenders and a sweet potato. It was the potato which filled me up. Leftovers stacked in the fridge so no worries about dry bread and water this weekend if it rains. If it does not rain, the cabana will feed me. It seems that there must have been quite a storm while I was in Argyle because the streets were wet and my neighbor's car cover was blown off, while parked under the garage/car port! It was all clear now though I believe it did lightning in the distance since getting home. There are several boats bobbing outside the basin, likely shrimping, so it must be okay weather wise.

*

Notice I am using green colored font tonight? That's because the Packer game is on TV! At the end of the first quarter, the score is Indianapolis 10, Packers 7---is that your number? Martie searched through her book collection, which rivals Linda J.'s, and managed to locate a book she had borrowed a couple years ago, which actually belongs to Linda! At long last, it's back in my hands, and I still haven't read it! The author is Max Lucado and the title is "Every Day Deserves a Chance". Now that I think about it, I never did ask Martie how she liked it....

*

Today after Bible class where we concluded our study of the Kingdom of God, I pitched in to collate and fold the service folder for Sunday. I had pretty much decided to worship at Good Shepherd this week but now after seeing the Order of Service and the hymns, I want to go to Victory. Now what? They are singing many of my favorites including "Come, Oh Come Let Us Sing to the Lord" and the Te Deum "You Are God, We Praise You", a psalm based upon "Not Unto Us" as well as the hymn with the same title, and ending with "Lift High the Cross". There is no Bible study at my church this week because of Sunday school Open House so if I went to Victory I could study more of Galations...hhmmmmm.....

*

When I got home again, I came upstairs and made myself a sandwich for lunch, getting right to work on the church newsletter. Pastor had called me when I was in class so I returned his call, answering his question regarding how many people he should expect for Monday's Bible Study. It will be wonderful to resume that class again, with our subject matter this time being "What in the World is Going On?", which will look at various 'world views' which can undermine our beliefs, such as 'spirituality' vs. being religious. Sounds interesting to me. I made a few phone calls to make sure all the regulars were on board to attend class, and tonight, I warned the Longhorn staff that we are coming back on Monday, as usual! Anyway, the newsletter is nearly ready to go out with the balance of the information arriving this evening in my e-mail. Perhaps tomorrow morning I can finish it up, before water aerobics. Yes, we have class tomorrow as it was postponed from today. I hope the weather holds, and that the rain did not cool the water too much. You big baby!

*

At the appointed time I started watching my radio program but had numerous phone calls and text messages coming in and things to be handled, which prevented me watching the entire program. Justin had asked me to download, or actually upload, the program today for him, writing all the directions and motions on my service folder from last week. But, it turned his friend, Grove, has Internet in his car so did not need me to do it. That's good because #1, I forgot about it, and #2, I am not sure I could figure it out! Yikes!

*

Last evening Justin and I had dinner together at Carrabba's, but first he came here to shower and regroup after work. He asked me if I wanted to sniff him, like I used to say to him when he was a kid. My former employee and dear friend, Jim Hattaway, when he heard me say that, said, "I love it when girls say that to me...." Justin reminded me of this story, and made me smile! Didn't need to sniff 'im, though, because his sweaty garments gave him away. At first we decided on La Napolera but I was so hungry for Carrabba's, which was great not only due to the delicious food, but we saw an 'old' friend there. A young lady came in, right in my line of vision to the foyer area, and I told Justin, "I think Shannon just came in..." He spun around in his seat, and asked, "Grumble Muffin???" and I said yes. At the same time the man with her asked if she knew me because he saw me looking intently in their direction. She stood up just as Justin called out, "Grumble Muffin!!" so she came into the dining area to hug and visit. She looked so darn cute, and was taking her daddy out for dinner. She used to hang out with my niece, Alayna, when she summered with us so must be about 21 or so now. Justin and she exchanged phone numbers and Facebook information which is fantastic. Shannon is the daughter of my friend, Christine, who is now selling real estate with Joanne! Small world!

*

The entire first part of yesterday was spent at church, starting first with the funeral service for Kristi's mom, Jane, followed by the luncheon. Several of us ladies stayed a long time after the luncheon and clean up, hashing some things over. We did not have to tear down the tables and chairs since we will use the same ones for the funeral luncheon on Saturday. Suffice it to say, I really love my Christian sisters. And I really feel like I need to talk with Judy Rusert, since I mentioned her more than once yesterday....

*

Wow, what a game this has been so far! I hope Martie can sleep tonight, as she had a terrible night on Wednesday. She finally dozed off at 5:00 a.m., so a good night's sleep is much needed. She wears a sleep mask and an appliance in her mouth to prevent grinding (a pretty sight!, no wonder she does not want to sleep over here!), she finally yanked everything off and tried sleeping the old fashioned way, giving her a couple hours of early morning rest. The rest of her day was spent shopping with her hubby and then dinner with me. Poor girl! This subject came up when I said I would be up late tonight watching the Packer game, which could be after 11:00 pm and she sort of teased me that this is not late!! Generally I go to bed around this time and if I fall asleep, no sweat, but when it's a game, I have to stay awake and attentive!

*

Tomorrow I am going to wash my sheets and vacuum my floor in the bedroom, as I am tracking junk from the floor into my bed! Yech! Too many crumbs on the floor plus other stuff and this princess is very fussy about having cruddlies in my bed. My sheets have to be nice and smooth too, which you would think should keep me from eating in bed---but does not! I forgot to mention that Tuesday late afternoon I got an e-mail from my friend, Stephanie's daughter, Erica, from Victory, inviting me to go play trivia with them at Johnny Angels. Sadly, I had to decline because of attending Bible study but really want to be able to go. Justin was asking me last night where they play, as he plays at a couple places during the week, too. When I told him, he made a face and said, "That's almost to Beach Blvd.!" So? I said I would take 9-A and exit on Beach...and he said, "No, I don't want you on Beach Blvd. at night..." Excuse me? Instead, he gave me different directions to use to get to this place, should I ever get to go and play. Now, I am curious as to what is going on on Beach Blvd. at night......!

What a day!

This will be quick as I must ready myself for Bible study. I just wanted to check in and let my thousands of readers know I am alive and now well-rested after an extremely full day yesterday. It began early with a funeral service which was just lovely, for Jane. The service is actually for her family as Jane is with the saints and angels in heaven, seeing the Lord face to face. Rachel and Suzanne played "Jerusalem, the Golden" for pre-service music, and Suzanne gave me a heads' up about it, plus "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". She is so thoughtful, not wanting me to be caught off-guard. When Rachel heard Suzanne tell me that, Rachel said, "I don't think I have ever NOT played "...Redeemer..." at a funeral and Suzanne told her "Kim cries"...I explained, unnecessarily, to Rachel that there is a very good reason why those hymns are chosen for funerals, the message conveyed in the text and the tune. Another person told me she can no longer sing "Amazing Grace" since her hubby's funeral. Has to just listen. Not because she does not like the hymn, but by what it stirs in her. I get that!

*

When Suzanne was practicing for the funeral one night last week, she sent me a message, "I love our hymns!". Every time she played through one, determined it was her favorite, she would turn the page and find another perfect one. "I love our hymns!", too!

*

Gotta run, will write some more later, okay?