“God helps them who help themselves”

Rush just said this on his program, a result of an e-mailer asking him why he does not encourage the listeners to pray to God about the upcoming elections. Rush said at first he was going to dismiss the note, but then gave it some thought, remembering a little story he had read some time ago about just this thing. The quote was something like this: “If all you are doing is praying about it, it might not happen. God helps those who help themselves.” In the case of the upcoming elections, Rush stated, yes, we must do more than pray, we must act! Vote!

What a contrast today is from yesterday….the roar of the jets and air craft, the busyness of the waterways with boat traffic, football games to be played (some lost, some won)…..It is hot and a bit sunny today, only the occasional jet or helicopter, and no boats in view. The mullet are active, jumping into the air to grab a tasty bug or two, as a turtle is resting on the end of the bulkhead. It’s like nothing ever happened! Oops, I just looked again and the turtle has dived into the water, must have gotten too warm. It was quite the parade of vessels after the air show was over, and it lasted a long time. Sailboats make little if any noise but the cigarette boats roar even louder than the F-18s did. Justin thought he could still hear the jets from his place in Mandarin but I told him the show was over, it must be the boats on the river he was hearing!

Last night I stayed up late, even after the game was over, to watch the Packers beat the Vikings at Lambeau Field. Whoooo hoooo! What a game! It was bittersweet to watch the Viking’s #4 QB hobble off the field, stopping first to hug on a couple of his former teammates on the Packer’s team. During one of the plays he reinjured his ankle but kept himself in the game until they lost, due to over thrown passes into the end zone. The national announcer said the names “Manitowoc” and “Sheboygan” which tickled me greatly. Earlier in the day I watched the sadly tragic display as the Jaguars were whipped by the Chiefs, 42-20. Some speculation has the coach being fired in the next week or so, due to next week being a BYE week. We shall see, we shall see….

After the Jag game came on, probably in the first quarter yet, the screen became pixilated and then the little announcement square popped onto the screen telling me to call Comcast about the service interruption. Rats! Why now? Since I had the laptop going, I quickly clicked over to the radio station to hear the game, but then, the TV came back. Good! All the news I wanted to see and hear about NASCAR and its drivers. What is this? Using the remote control, I typed the ‘football station’ numbers into the control, in hopes that perhaps the TV forgot which channel I wanted. Nope, it made no difference, it was still racing. The other option would have been to go to the family room to see if it was working in there, but then the football game came back. I am guessing someone at headquarters hit the wrong button or switch and said, “Whoopsy!”. That was a close one!

This a.m. I went to Bible study where we continue our look at the worldviews of things. Today our subject was pantheism, where we touched on the focus the world has on ‘being green’. The lesson backed up some of this premise, as folks who are Western pantheists consider themselves to be god and everything around them to be god. Hopefully I am explaining this correctly but if you Google ‘Pantheism’, you can read about it. While the Lord has given us this earth and everything in it, He has also instructed us to be faithful stewards of His creation. We are to make use of everything He provides us. But He never told us to worship the Earth nor to consider it our Mother. We, as believers, have one foot in this realm, with our other foot in heaven, which He has prepared for us.

I shared my story about getting the new to-go box from Longhorn, now plastic instead of foam, due to their ‘going green’. Yeah, right….There are now TV commercials, more accurately, PSAs, featuring the actors from “Glee”, a series based around a school chorus. One of the characters discovers, in the ad, that the batteries have died in one of his mikes or something, and changes them out. Then he is called on the carpet by a young lady for not disposing of them properly, basically a bad citizen. Most of the folks around the table did not know there is a right or wrong way to throw away batteries. It seems there is! Twila brought up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, how puzzled folks were that the ocean ‘absorbed’ much of the leaked, untreated petroleum. There was also some talk a couple years back where the PETA group was supposedly asking the ice cream makers, Ben & Jerry, to quit using cow’s milk, abusing the cows, and switch to using human milk for their products. What???? An article on-line says that was even too far over the top even for liberal Ben and Jerry! So, yes, it was a very interesting class today and I am so glad that Twila was able to be there as usually she is working on her rentals on Mondays.

Justin called me a couple times this afternoon about a few things, including a portion of the radio program we listen to/watch, where two of the guys have Moron Trivia on Fridays. Justin has asked me not to be a spoiler so I quit telling him what I found to be hysterical on the program, as he listens a day behind my viewing. He was laughing about the Trivia game, a mock football game, where the guys call convenience stores in the competing cities and ask questions of the store clerks, and use their ‘scores’ to determine who is going to win the weekend match ups. This past Friday they called Green Bay and Minneapolis stores and asked their questions. The price of a first-class postage stamp, what is socialism, what is lupus, snacks you can get at the movie theater, name two coins in the cash drawer….I must say the folks they called in Green Bay did fairly well, as did those in MN, though not many knew what lupus really was. Other weeks, when they choose a game, they will have a dilly of a time finding English speaking store clerks, much less those who know the answers to these fairly basic questions. Now that is so funny, and frustrating! Miami is a nightmare, as is New York City or New Jersey. Again, hysterical!!! Anyway, he is coming over after work today to remove the art work from the hallway walls in preparation for the drywall replacement. Hopefully at tonight’s Board meeting I will get the go-ahead to have Mike do the drywall work so that my restoration project can continue!

A Saturday posting on Sunday morning

Was I so busy yesterday that I did not have time to post? Or, did I misuse my time and then became too tired to post? Let me think....The earliest part of the morning was spent in bed, catching up on my radio show over the Internet while watching Fox and Friends. Because I had plans in the afternoon, I figured I had better get moving to do my errands and such before I ran out of time. When I stepped outdoors, I could hear the familiar sound of cardboard boxes being taped and such. My "Turkish Friends" and downstairs neighbors were busily assembling boxes and proceeding to pack up the contents of their home as they are vacating while the repairs are being made. None of the workers looked familiar to me but I said a nice 'hello' to them anyway. As I later said to Penny, I think I should get my next move for free, since this is the 2nd time in a month people are using B & B at my referral!

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I went over to church to prepare the altar and sacristy for worship, stopping first at Sonic to get a Diet Coke. It made me ponder something, though, because only the day before at Wal*Mart, I saw 2 liter Diet Cokes on sale in the aisle, for a dollar each, and yet I paid twice that for 44 ounces at Sonic. The biggest difference is that the 2 liter bottle does not fit into my cup holders!!!! Ugh, the luck! Well, when I arrived at church, there were two cars in the lot plus one followed me in. What was going on? There were more cars for this than for Bible study on Tuesday night. It was Darwin, Ethel and Terri, all arriving separately, to do the cleaning of the church and the classroom building. I never do the classroom building or fellowship hall because cleaning the church is enough for me. Since I clean alone, I get a break. Some of the others, like Terri, have a team of helpers. Anyway, it was a delight to see them all working together and getting the Lord's house ready for worship. I tried to not make a mess getting the altar ready with really little to do as far as prep went.

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When I left them, I went to Fleming Island Wal*Mart to get my prescriptions, as well as getting the paint mixed up that I need for the hallway. No one was working in the paint dept. but I felt as if I stood there long enough, a nice man or lady would come along to help me. I was right----Danny Roy came through, hugged me, and then called on his walkie-talkie gizmo for help in the paint dept. Later I saw Kathy R. going through the end of the aisle and yelled to her, saying 'hi!' but held my position at the paint desk. Still no one came but when Danny walked past again, he yelled to a guy loading shelves down the line who came over to help me. Robert was a nice young man and helped me with matching my wall paint using a section of the wallpaper Mike had cut off for me---perfectly matched! I got my scrip and a couple gallons of paint and headed for home.

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As I was driving down Town Center Drive, I met Dee coming out of the Chik-Filet parking lot and we waved like nuts at each other. Now I was going to have to stop at the shop for a few minutes, since she had been gone for two weeks to the mountains. That was fine because I was also going to the dry cleaners to get my pillows, in the same plaza. We visited a while but then I had to get going since Penny and I were going to see the art show at the library. The poor little man at the cleaners, in a strong accent, explained to me that one of the pillows lost a lot of its feathers and gummed up the machinery, which was why it took so long getting them back. Oops! The young lady had checked them over for holes before she accepted them but somehow one of the pillows leaked anyway. Sorry....

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On the way home, Penny called and we made plans to meet in a half hour at the library. She arrived before I did but covered her face, she said, to not get a sneak peek at the art work. We did enjoy the hanging and managed to get the price sheet from the front desk inside the library proper, in case she is interested. One piece in particular that she liked was a boat on the water, similar to some I have painted, so we came over here to look at mine. Penny had never been up in my place for some reason, and just fell in love with my dining room. Me, too! I love my dining room and river room and family room and kitchen and bedroom.....It is fun to see these rooms through someone else's eyes. She is not the first person to tell me I have the best view in The Palace. I wonder why that is, I agree, but wonder why my view is the best.

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Unfortunately she could not stay very long, enjoyed the art work, but then had to run as she wanted to stop at her old house to pick up a few things yet. She has another week before needing to be out totally so has to step up the pace of getting the last of her items moved out. At 6:00 pm I went downstairs to order my dinner from Danny, and Pat came down to join me. She was trying to watch football and visit at the same time, which works for me. There was a table poolside decorated with a tablecloth and centerpiece, with some parents sitting off to the side. They told me it was homecoming for OP High and a group of kids were coming over to the cabana to have their dinner before the dance. Nice! Danny was hustling, making all our meals, some which were packed up to-go. Pat ended up taking hers to-go also as while we were waiting on hers, Maureen called to have us come to her place to watch the fireworks.

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Fireworks, you say? Yes! We had a notice posted in our lobby to let us know of a fireworks display planned by the wedding party which would take place at 9:00 pm. No holds barred by this father of the bride! Danny had to get wrapped up early from the cabana to get inside to help serve the wedding which was table-served for 150 people. Wow! Karrie, the owner of The Club was with us for the fireworks show and said it cost upwards of $15,000 for that. Complete with a fire truck standing by in case of a problem, which had backed into our parking lot. Not an easy task. At first we watched from inside Hugh and Maureen's river room but then went outside to watch from the sundeck. Part of the display was an illuminated heart shaped piece besides the air launched pyrotechnic show. It lasted about 5 minutes and the air was all smoky and smelled of sulphur, and I liked it! Karrie did not, she felt it was lame but I really did enjoy the show. Hugh kept insisting he put that show on for Maureen, which is so sweet. 55 years of marriage and they are still friends! Yes, they ran off as teenagers and got married, imagine that!

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After the fireworks were over, more folks had come outside, of course, to watch them, so we recessed to the sundeck rather than going inside again. It was a pleasant evening and even Butch, who was helping the downstairs neighbors with their packing, and later had dinner with Michelle and her friends up on 5, joined the fun. Some of us were afraid we'd never see him again after the water disaster but we have, and rejoice about that. They had had some champagne upstairs with their shrimp dinner and Butch was rather bubbly himself, fun to see. He shared some stories of his life in the Navy, serving many years in JAX and in Cuba. When Rose and Joe joined us on the sundeck, she got a bug to get us a piece of wedding cake. Hugh often jokes about it and last night, it happened! Pat and Rose walked over to The Club, much to the chagrin of Karrie, and secured from the bride's maids three plates of cake for us to share. It was absolutely delicious! Hugh took the plates into his house so he could wash them before returning them. Unbelievable that the ladies did this, and then Rose even starting dancing with one of the young ladies. I think she had had some fun before coming to the sundeck, if you know what I mean. The weather was so delightful that I did not need my jacket on at all, even though I carried it with me. At 10:00 pm I excused myself and went inside but could hear the fun continuing after I went to bed. Good for them!

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Oh, I am hungry this a.m. This might be because I ate so early last night, but I did have a taste of cake later on.....When we left Danny to go up to Hugh's, I gave him a hug and thanked him for a wonderful season as last night was my final time at the cabana. Next weekend I will be in Palm Coast for the worship conference and staying overnight at Bonnie's house (formerly the sec'y. at Victory, now working at Christ the King). Danny likes to send the balance of the pasta salad home with me, but I suggested he send it with the mom of one of the kids dining poolside, because she also raved about how delicious it was. I am going to miss the cabana and it's food, and I will miss Danny cooking for me out there. Guess I will have to eat inside until next summer!

Typing by moonlight

Well, nearly by moonlight, as it is beaming across my bedroom floor and onto the foot of my bed as I sit here, writing. The computer screen lights up the room some, too, but it is not the same as the moonlight! It is just shimmering on the water and looks amazing. Those of us outside at the cabana were able to watch the moon rise over the top of the building. We had a nice gathering at the cabana where some of us ate our dinner, including Penny. She has already moved to her new home but still came over to have dinner and drinks. It turns out she is living in the same neighborhood where my former lawn guy, Michael Jackson, lives and he is now her yard guy! She gets a charge out of him, just as we did when he took care of my yard and the repairs after the hurricanes removed my lawn and half my trees!

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Penny ordered the chicken quesidilla, and I had the sirloin slider. Jeanie had the bratwurst so we each had something different from Danny's menu. Tomorrow night I will have the brat, which Danny makes himself, supposedly. He made that wonderful beef brisket that I enjoyed on Wednesday night at The Club and I let him know tonight how delicious it was. Maureen was telling about the art show she saw today at the public library so Penny and I are going over tomorrow afternoon to see it. I also suggested that Penny come up here and look at my pieces in case they would work in her house. That would make me so very happy if she bought one of mine. She is a horse person and my type of work might not be what she has in mind. Maureen had been over there to help her hang her art work so knows what she has and what she needs. Maureen has an eye!

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Today I had planned to meet Tracy, Cassidy, and MamMa for our La Nop lunch, but I had a doctor appointment at 11:30 which would have made me late. They at first were going to change our plans to 12:30 on Fleming Island's La Nop but Cass called this a.m. to say that MamMa was not up to going today. It turned out, though, that the doctor's office called to see if I could come in sooner because they had a no-show so I grabbed my shoes and took off. It took a while for them to 'process' me and the office person came to tell me that when they called the insurance company, they said I was expired. What? I just got this policy in the middle of June after my other policy failed to cover my kaleidoscope in May. I paid cash for the office visit which I likely would have had to pay anyway because of the deductible. It turned out that I did in fact have coverage and yes, Dr. House is on the list of providers. It took about four or five phone conversations to get it all figured out with one more on Monday to discuss the payment made today with the office manager. Whatever!

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Once inside, the nurse checked my bp and all that, which was fine and got my scrips refilled for me without any hassle regarding blood work and such. Yay! Then Dr. House came in to see me, he is so nice! We had a lovely chat as he looked at my goofy itchy toes and determined it is indeed athlete's foot. I told him I had ointment at home and he asked me what kind. Um, store brand from Wal*Mart but he wanted more information. Well, I guess I should have taken the tube with me but I left in such a rush. He told me which brand to get over the counter plus prescribed an oral medication to take for one week to kill the germs from the inside out. The pharmacist at Wal*Mart was concerned about an interaction with the cholesterol medication so she did not fill it without talking with him first. So, I spent too much money waiting for the scrips to be ready and then had to leave without them. I can go back tomorrow as the pharmacist called me to say she spoke with Dr. House and worked it out with him. Glad they have my best interests at heart, so to speak!

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One thing I ended up buying was a vintage movie which I have never seen before, "Casablanca". Justin has seen it and really enjoyed it so for $5, why not? It will make a nice addition to my growing collection. That reminds me---Brenda N. has not been by lately to borrow DVDs. Between the library and me, we keep Carey and her entertained. One thing that I did not buy was a loaf of bread because I could not find any. The bakery had all sorts of artisan breads but none of them were sliced and no plain old bread for weirdos like me. I still had a half loaf from Winn Dixie for my ham sandwiches.

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Before I went to the doctor and after I took my shower, silly me, I got the vacuum cleaner out and cleaned up the hard floors. Vacuuming using the canister vac is a whole lot easier on my back than sweeping is, for some odd reason, and it really did a good job cleaning up the dusty foot prints from the floors. Andy showed me his hands on Friday, they were dry and sort of peeling, which he attributed to the dry flooring they were installing, and its dust. The floors look nice and clean now after the vacuum cleaning, and I no longer leave footprints behind me. I also wiped the counters and stove in the kitchen which had a bit of saw dust coating them. Wonder if any of that fine dust got into the butter which was on the counter and I was eating from.....hmmmm?

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Not only does Penny use my former lawn guy, she also used my Turkish friends for her moving day, and today, she went to see Barbara, the lady who cuts my hair. She told me this is the best haircut she has gotten since she moved here!!! Next it is my turn to go, as it is full moon and time for a cut!

Thursday is in the bag

I just came in from a chilly sit on the sundeck on 2nd floor with many of my neighbors. It started out somewhat comfortable but by the time I came up, it had become too uncomfortable to sit outside in a short sleeved top. Should have grabbed my jacket! Maureen called to invite me down and it started out being Pat A., Hugh, Maureen, and me but later were joined by Randy, who rents a unit on the 5th floor. He is a hoot, and brought this nifty gizmo to the gathering that aerates wine. He used it only on his first glass, and when I asked him why, he said the bottle had sat, open, now long enough to breathe on its own. After sitting a few minutes with us, he got up to go get something, and came back with a glass tray with neopolitan cheese, crackers, and grapes! He said we were savages for not having food with our wine! I was excused from that comment because of drinking Diet 7-Up but he was just teasing. Betty A., who lives on 2nd and is my usual person to enjoy to Happy Hour with, came and sat for about an hour, before going inside to pack for a weekend trip with her daughter, Kathy. Later, Tracy, Jeff, and Cassidy came out to sit for a little while and eventually Maggie came down, and stayed until only she and Randy were left at the table. Jessica made a cameo appearance as did Ed, but they did not stay. Randy made the remark that this was the most people he had met since moving in!

Here is a photo of Angelo taken this afternoon after Lisa was discharged from the hospital in Sheboygan. Noah and she drove to Green Bay so Lisa could spend some time with the baby, since she had seen him for only 10 minutes or so after he was born. Look at how tiny his head looks in Noah's hand!

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My day began early with me making sure I was up, dressed, and ready for the day when Mike and Andy arrived to work on the floor. They were busily shuttling stuff around in the rooms, 10,000 bins and such, to make room for the new floor. They were nearly to the hallway, where they stop until the drywall is replaced. Even with all the junque piled around, it still looks so nice and fresh with the 'wood' floors. Monday they will return to do the laundry room floor and I was filled with trepidation since they have to disconnect the washer in order to move it out. I told Mike I would stay home from Bible study and stand by with towels and mops but he said they would come by 9:00 a.m. and disconnect the washer before I have to leave for class. Andy made the remark that I was a bit shell-shocked and he is absolutely right! (I shared this comment with my neighbors and Pat A. said, "You are! I was like that for a long time, every time my A/C turns on and off, I jump!" because she had a hot water gusher in her unit from her A/C, caused by work done outside on the bulkhead! This was a couple years ago and she is still jumpy from it.)

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My friend, Stephanie, from Victory, has so much vacation to use up before the end of the year, just as does my sister, Lynn. Today she had an doctor appointment, and then we met for lunch at Bahama Breeze at St. John Town Center Mall. This was her first time and loved it, having the hogfish special, served with some sort of shrimp in a sauce and mashed sweet potatoes. My meal was the beef brisket served with yellow rice with black beans. I just love it, and brought half home to eat another day. I had had beef brisket the night before during the Happy Hour mini-buffet, actually ordering from the dinner menu instead of going to the buffet because it was fish. Oh, my, was it delicious!

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On the ride home from BB, I called Mom and found her at home. She had been out walking when I called on the ride over to BB. Mom said it was cold and windy, nearly blowing her over so it was good she took only a short walk today. She loves to go walking and it is too bad when the walk is reduced by nasty weather. Mom told me about a young Marine from my home town who was killed by an IED in Afghanistan after only a few weeks into his deployment. He was 22 years old, just a year younger than my Justin, and is distantly related to some of my cousins. How very sad for the family and the community, and the nation.

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In the afternoon, what was left of it, I worked some on the upcoming Ladies' Advent by Candlelight service planned for November 28th. Pastor is reviewing the proposed format but I still worked on it so I can be ahead of the game, as it were. Since I am 'borrowing' from other churches' programs, I have to customize the program to our venue since we do not have mini-choirs or folks to have piano solos. We will have a keyboard to use and hopefully Suzanne will be home from camping to play the viola for us. Also, one of our members used to be quite the flutist so I am not above asking Tara to break it out and tune it up for the service. Time is flying, wake awake!

My new great nephew

Yesterday afternoon my sister, Lynn, called to report that her daughter, Lisa, had given birth to her son, Angelo. He was actually planned to be delivered November 7th, I believe, but Lisa had been having contractions right along and had begun to dilate. No turning back now, she had to go ahead and have him, via C-section. Lynn was there at the hospital with her, not sure if Noah was there when she gave birth or not, because earlier in the day he had to be somewhere to take a test for work. At that point it was not clear whether they could stop the contractions or not, but Lynn was able to see the baby, Angelo, right after he was born. Her report to me was that he was nice and pink, a good color for a baby boy, and just over 6 pounds.

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Justin had come by at the end of his work day to relocate some boxes and my art supplies which had been deposited in the kitchen by the workmen. They were preventing me from accessing the silverware drawer or opening the dishwasher. He moved them into the living room and out of my way for the time being. Justin was so happy about the baby being born.

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I had Bible study at church that evening so I put my ham in the oven after cutting it up, to warm it through while I was away. When I got to church, I was surprised to not see any cars in the lot besides Pastor's, but one pulled in right behind mine. Oh great, only two people for the Bible study, about faithfulness. It made me feel kind of sad that he had gone through the work of planning this once a month class and had so poor a turnout. The subject matter was good, somewhat based on stewardship, being good managers of our time, talents and treasures. The kitchen smelled marvelous when I came home, the aroma of ham wafting. My dinner was a lovely hot ham sandwich with plenty left for a few more meals.

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On the way home, though, from Bible study, I listened to a message from Lynn. I called her back and found out that Angelo had been transported via ambulance to a hospital in Green Bay which had a NICU. It seems that Angelo's lungs were not processing his CO2 properly so he needed to be with the experts for this thing. He was only 36 weeks in gestation and the doctor, according to Lynn, was confident that Angelo would be just fine, but needed the extra care right now. I felt badly that the baby was alone in Green Bay but today Noah was able to be up there with him. Lisa will be able to travel on Friday and will be with the baby all weekend long. The little boys were upset seeing their brother in his 'glass case' and cried. Imagine how scary it was for them, breaks my heart....What cheers my heart is that their pastor was able to make it to the hospital before the baby was taken to Green Bay and baptized Angelo. Let the heavens rejoice!

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Back to my ham---I could have had that for lunch except that Twila called me to meet her at Pengrees! After our nice lunch together, I called Mike C. to see if he was going to Christ, Keystone Heights today and since he was, I dropped off two more boxes of stuff for their yard sale which is this weekend. From now on, the rest of my sorted, not sordid, stuff will have to be directed toward Victory's sale which takes place in a couple weeks. Not much time left to go through things but I really cannot work in the rooms that are getting the new floors right now. The guys are making progress, though, and are nearly halfway done with the 2nd bedroom, working their way into the 'Timmy closet' now. They were able to save most of the cove moulding, but will need to pick up several transition strips for the doorways to the rooms and one of the two bathrooms. Mike and Andy will get as far as they can before having to quit at the hallway where the drywall is awaiting replacement. We have not gotten word on that yet, so the guys will wait to hear from me about finishing it up.

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Many of the Facebook friends and some that I spoke with at Happy Hour at The Club tonight are asking the Lord to watch over Angelo and all his family. I truly appreciate this, as do Lisa and Noah, and the family in WI. The staff at the hospitals are taking good care of Mama in Sheboygan and Angelo in Green Bay, of this I am confident. I am also confident that the Lord has this all under control, and I am doing my very best not to fret. It is hard to take my own advice!

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Here is an update since I posted this: Lisa said she heard from the NICU in Green Bay and Angelo's oxygen levels are where they are supposed to be, so the doctors are considering taking him off the machines to see how he does. Thanks be to God!

Skipping along nicely, thank you!

Let’s see if this works….I am writing this in Word and then going to do a copy and paste to the blog, in a different font and color. Will it copy as-is, or will it convert to the default font and color it has been posting in???? This thing is just kicking my butt! “May all your problems be little ones….”

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A few minutes ago I got back from running errands which included a lovely visit to Great Hang Ups, stopping first to get Julia some lunch. Dee is still gone on vacation leaving Julia to fend for herself when it comes to getting her meals. When two are in the shop, one of the other goes to get lunch. Sometimes Julia can just run next door to Koko’s to pick-up a Bento box or something but today she got an Apple, Walnut, and Chicken Salad from Wendy’s, new on their menu. I just got a soda, needing the caffeine. After I took a pain killer this a.m., I realized that it was likely because of not having a ‘regular’ soda at all today. There is another case of Diet Dr. Pepper in the car but I can only carry one up with me at a time. So I had Diet 7-Up and Diet Decaf Dr. Pepper, hence, the headache!

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Yesterday when I came home from lunch and Winn Dixie, there was a gift bag hanging on the door handle with bold writing on it, telling to me to look inside. Ta da! There was a plastic jar of peanut butter pretzel nuggets from Ellen. Oh, yummy! We had had some a couple weeks ago up at Nancy’s unit after the Board meeting and they were just delicious. The best part about it is that these treats are so neat to eat, no messy fingers, like from Cheetos. Sometimes a person just wants a little salty snack with peanut butter tucked inside. Perfect! Lisa, my niece, reports that she also enjoys this treat, and gets them when she places her office supply order, pretzels and Twizzlers. That’s my girl!

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Some of those treats are being enjoyed right now as I write, staving off any hunger I might have. The last time I ate was before noon, not long after Mike and Andy arrived to work on the floor. As they were getting started, Mike decided that we should indeed remove some shelving from one the one closet that I had nicely stacked quite full to free up floor space. Fortunately I had retained some cardboard boxes which I used to stack the shelf items as quickly as possible, and not hold up the job. I have to agree with him, it would be best to remove the shelving and put the new floor underneath the shelves. Hopefully he can get them put back together again!

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We are trying to be quiet so as not to cause Jessica a problem with the sleeping baby above me. Usually she would take him to her mom’s house but they are also having some work done in their home, making that not an option. It is difficult to be quiet when using saws and grinders, pounding floors into place, but ‘we’ are doing our best. Andy set the saw up on the 2^nd floor sundeck instead of outside the doors here which I am not sure is quieter. It does give them more room to maneuver, that’s for certain. They will likely work here until Thursday, depending upon how far they get, before having to stop at the hallway and laundry room, waiting for the drywall there to be replaced. I have not heard a word regarding this so the rest of the job will be on hold until that drywall work is completed. I am cool with that, since the bedrooms will be back in shape in the meanwhile.

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At Great Hang Ups, I saw the most beautiful silk scarves handpainted by one of the Art Guild members, Sonya, whose jewelry I have purchased or received as gifts. Oh my goodness, they are gorgeous! She offers classes in the making of these scarves at a competing gallery so I will have to think long and hard about doing this. With four or five friends, mine would be free, so it worth considering. The balance of my ‘vignettes’ from earlier in the summer were ready for pick-up so I brought them home, but not my dry cleaned pillows. They were supposed to available yesterday already but the man told me the actual cleaners had to re-do them because some of them did not come clean the first time. That’s fine with me, I am in no hurry but will have to make yet another trip to the Island to pick up the pillows.

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When I came back from my errands, I carried in my art work plus a bag from Winn Dixie that I did not take up yesterday. In the parking lot I met Karrie and her friend, Mary Anne, who seemed to know me. She said she hears about me all the time, what a nice person I am, and enjoys the newsletter that Karrie shares with her. WOW!!! My spirits were lifted right up and made me feel good. What nice things to say! She asked about my son, and she knows about him from when I planned his graduation party at Winterbourne. I told her he was a big boy now, 23 years old, and she could not believe it had been that long ago that we originally met. Karrie bought a condo on the 3^rd floor that had been sold at auction so was going to show her friend. I told them it was nice to visit with them and went to my house, skipping along, like normal. That felt good! Apparently, I have a gift!

Ugh! what a game!

Another exercise in frustration, after all the excitement, a rotten football game! At first I wondered if the Blue Angels would do a fly over before the Jaguar game but then I realized there might not be a fly over at night, when no one could see them. My friend, Donna, who now lives in Savannah, commented on FB that the Coast Guard was doing the fly over, but Justin said there was none that he saw. Hmmmm.....

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Injuries and penalties are the flavor of the game, with both team's quarterbacks going out on injuries. The Jags do not have a 3rd string QB so nothing had better happen to the 2nd string guy. At first the crowd was the 12th man on the field but it did not take long for them to sit down and groan. The crowd was as injured as the players, and I wonder if Justin and his friends will stay to the end of the game or not. The weather is decent, that is one good thing about the game. After a certain point, the other team's 23rd point, I turned the game off to watch something else----so sad, because all day I was excited about watching a decent game of football and got none.

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Earlier I was at Bible study with my friends, minus Twila and Jackie, not sure where they were. Our subject matter is "What in the World is Going On", talking about the worldviews permeating our lives. Post-modernism, deconstructionalism, and other isms, most confusing---we all know what it is, just not what it is officially called, you know? The 'intolerance' folks are often accused of is really something to be cherished, calling a spade a spade, but in a loving fashion. Not always an easy thing to do, at least not for me!

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At Bible study we said a prayer for Andy and Fran as he suffers with his Alzheimer's disease as does Fran suffer from his disease. Now, he does not recognize his wife of over 50 years and it is so hard on her, brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. Sad for both of them, for the whole family. He knows her name is Fran but thinks she is a caregiver and is 'very nice'....That is true, she is! After class, we had lunch at Longhorn, for a change, and had a grand time. Poor Gretchen was all mixed up today, arriving a few minutes late for study, thinking somehow it began at 10:30 instead of 10:00 like always. Set the tone for the rest of her day and made us laugh.

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The rest of my day, after a quick stop at Winn Dixie, was spent at home, taking care of the rest of my laundry and such. Saturday I had started the wash, doing my sheets and such, which then wrenched my back trying to get the sheets from the washer. They were so wound around the agitator and resisted my attempts to remove them to the dryer. Yikes! Justin said he would stop by after working for his father to help me make my bed, but then he worked so very late that I excused him. Maureen offered to come and help me but I declined her offer as well, and slept, covered with a blanket, on the mattress pad. Sunday after noon, having iced and heating padded my back, I was able to dress my bed in fresh sheets with little difficulty. It felt so high school to sleep on the mattress pad but it was a full night's sleep, no harm, no foul, and no added soreness to my back. Monday is a good day to finish the washing and folding and putting away. I can also go to the cleaners to pick up my pillows which were going to be ready on Monday. I will get them tomorrow so I can stop by Great Hang Ups at the same time. Is $10 each too much to pay to have feather bed pillows cleaned? I thought it sounded like a decent price to pay to have freshened pillows, two of which were Timmy's.