This will not do!

Not at all! It has already been dark for hours and it is taking every ounce of control not to get ready for bed. What is up with that? My memory must be failing me because I simply do not remember it being like this last year, although, I am sure it was. The river was calm today and it was obvious the mullet liked it this way, as they leapt madly out of the water to grab bugs. My friend, Ellen, and I were speculating as to why some days it seems there is an abundance of leaping mullet and others days not so much. My theory is that they can harvest their bugs more successfully on the calm days. The past couple of days were rough water ones, and there were no mullet to be seen. Hmmm.....Ellen wondered if there were schools passing through which could be an option or explanation as well, and merely a coincidence about the calm water. Neither of us are losing rest over it, merely observing from our perches.

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The day began with Bible study, learning about the reluctant witness, Jonah. A couple of the folks in the class wanted something less topical than looking at worldviews and deeper subject matter. I believe that a few years ago I went through this study with one of our members, Pete L., as the leader. Joseph, the man who wanted Pastor to interpret his dream a few weeks ago, always has lots of input in the class. Today Pastor had to jump in and redirect the conversation a couple times as Joseph likes to take the long way around, without really asking a question.

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Some of us went to lunch afterward, with Terri T. meeting us there, as she is working half-days only this week. From Longhorn she was going to physical therapy so had a lighter lunch of the strawberry chicken salad, which I must admit, looked truly delicious, as did my steak and baked potato, a change up again for me today. We miss Twila as most Mondays she is busy working on her rentals when her granddaughter is available to help out.

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Justin called me a couple times today with various things including scheduling our day on Thursday. After Bible study we are coming back here to have a Papa Murphy's pizza and watch "Casablanca". Normally I do not watch movies in the daytime but I can make an exception in this case. If we have time, we might also watch "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" but might be movied-out by then. On Friday, he is going to Ft. Lauderdale to help pack up his auntie Marian's house. His father 'invited' him to come along, and I believe some other folks will be there to help. Marian and Biff will be moving to Palm Coast, something they had considered in the past but vetoed. Looks like it is going to happen now, with Justin's help, but he must be back here Sunday in time for the football game, for which he has tickets. I do hope he gets back in time or he will be one sad fella! Supposedly both M & B will be in a nursing home which is so tragic a thought, as they are relatively young yet, 62 years old. At least it will be easier on Tina having her folks closer, and I will get to see them more often as well.

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Oh, good! The temperatures around here are going to be higher this week, looking at 75 for Wednesday. Quite a relief from the way it has been the past several days. My indoor temp shows 71 on the thermostat but it is warmer in my room as I have it closed off and was sun-warmed earlier today. Tomorrow I am meeting my friends, Betty and Robin C., for lunch which will be delightful. Brenda called me on Saturday and wants to get together this week some time, too, but I am afraid we will run out of days! Tomorrow late afternoon I am picking up Martie and Ernie from the airport, after their trip to AZ. We might have dinner afterward, depending upon their layover in Dallas. They could have lunch there and not be ready for dinner when they land. Saturday night Suzanne and I will be meeting for dinner before attending a French chamber concert at the Thrasher-Horne courtesy of Julia. Whoo hoo!

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Sunday we have two church services again, with the more 'relaxed' service at 9:00 a.m. and the regular one at 10:30. I will be attending the early one because I must observe, but then will have to fly over the bridge to Victory for the later service to help Ed and Judy A. celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. The luncheon is being served immediately following worship and I am so looking forward to it. Bonnie F. will be there from Palm Coast and others I have not seen in a while. Justin had asked me to come to church with him last week but I could not, and this week I will be there but he will not be. At least we have our time in the Word on Thursdays!

Boring Sunday

Lisa sent this photo yesterday, showing Mom holding Angelo for the first time. Mom, in speaking with her today, was blown away that Lisa could take the picture with her phone, e-mail it to me, and having it posted on Facebook within minutes! Do not ask me to figure it out or explain it, but I love having these shots 'as they happen', so I do not feel left out way down here....

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With no Jaguar game this afternoon, it made for a very long day. Except for the time spent over at Willie Mae's house (MamMa), it was without interest. Saturday was great with the "House" marathon the early part of the day to help pass the time, but today, it was slim pickens. Late afternoon one my favorite movies was on TV, "Freedom Writers", and even though I own the movie, I still enjoy watching it. Having the down time allowed me to sort through the stacks of mail garnered from the box after church. Much to my chagrin, the power was out and I ended up carrying the arm-load of mail up the stairs. Whew! Only a few moments are getting home, the power came back on, after what appeared to be about 45 minutes, according to the blinking clock on the stove.

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Silly me! Get this---last night I posted on Facebook a reminder for folks to turn their clocks back and I took my own advice and set my clocks in the kitchen. My bedroom has no clocks other than my telephone, which changes automatically. Or, so I thought! It seems that one must turn their phone off in order for it to automatically reset. Upon driving up to church and seeing no one in the yard, it occured to me that perhaps I was an hour too early. Duh!!! I erred right along, not confirming the time with my computer or the TV; not matching it with the microwave and/or stove on the way out the door; and not noticing that the time on my car's clock, which I had not changed, matched my phone! Oh, oh....Well, time for breakfast at Grumpy's! I figured out by myself the shutting off of the phone and restarting, and figured out how to change the clock in my car as well.

*

Our Bible study on Sundays has switched to a study of Luther and the Confessions which has proven to be a wonderful refresher for what we believe and why. We had a nice group in attendance for the study which is heart-warming. The readings for this End Times portion of the church year are a bit morbid, but necessarily so, as I noticed some of the ladies near me sort of wincing about the pictures painted in Ezekiel's vision, etc. Justin had asked me to come to Victory today but I was responsible for the door collection today for our Befriend a Mission project, and am supposed to be doing so next week as well. Since we have two services I am not sure I will be able to do both times, as I am invited to Victory for a wedding anniversary celebration taking place after worship. I might attend the early 'sample' service and then hop in the car to attend Victory's worship, and for Ed and Judy's party. Justin likely will attend their 9:00 a.m. service because there is a home football game and the guys like to tailgate beforehand. They park off-site, take the bus, and then meet friends who have local parking to have their tailgate event. Kick-off is at 1:00 pm, and I am already braced to miss the game due to the party, but it's worth it!

*

Tonight I am going to watch the Packers mop the floor with the Cowboys. I was telling MamMa about watching this game and she reported that she used to be quite the Cowboy fan back in the day, since they are from TX. Oops! She told me she could not stay up late enough to watch the game anyway so it didn't matter. Tracy and Cassidy were coming home tonight, and Jeff popped by on his way to the airport to check in on her, too, not realizing I was there. That was nice. Willie Mae said I should come by again, and I certainly can even when her family is back in town. We had some great chats these past few days and I have more to talk about yet!

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Linda and Tommy are on their way to St. Pete Beach for a get-away to celebrate their anniversary, and are staying at the same place that I won a weekend retreat from WOKV in the springtime!!! I could have crashed their party!!! Suzanne and I had talked about going to see/hear an orchestra in Lakeland this weekend, where she used to live, but those plans sort of faded away due to her kids playing soccer and other things in our lives taking precedence. Hopefully the weather is great for Linda and Tommy and I hope she does not get a sunburn again, since her dermatologist scolded her after her Florida burn!

*

Julia gave me some free tickets to the see/hear a French chamber orchestra at the Thrasher-Horne next weekend and Suzanne is coming along as my guest. Thanks, Julia! We are thinking about meeting for dinner beforehand if her schedule allows and I am looking forward to attending this with Suzanne, a skilled violaist. (Is that a word??). She has had several offers and requests recently to play for church services and other venues, which is incredibly flattering to her, especially when they want to pay her. We are all delighted that she picked it up again after years of not playing, it has really added much to our worship music. Guess I am president of her fan club!

Such a gorgeous day---inside!

I have been sitting here in my window the better part of the day, the first part with the sun beaming on my back and shoulders. It continues to shine but has moved around the building. It sure looks nice outside, but it is not! The high temps today are expected to be mid-50’s at best, but has not gotten that close as of yet. Later I do need to venture out to visit MamMa over in The Villas for a bit but am sporting a sweater which should help stave off the cold. My room is closed off from the rest of the house to bottle up the warmth, and I have not yet gotten my portable heater set up in this room. I think next week brings the mid-70’s back again so I will be fine soon. The bed sure does feel good in the morning, though. My niece, Alayna, who simply loves winter said to me on Facebook yesterday, “50’s is sweater weather? Pshhh…..” That pretty much sums it up!

Last night I finished working on the Ladies’ Advent Service materials. Being a huge dunce when it comes to some things (would fail on an IQ exam!), I cannot figure out how to print the pages off and have them be in the proper order for making into a booklet. When I used to assemble the membership directories at church, Pete would have to lay them out for me in advance. I guess doing an old-fashioned cut and paste would work but before that, I am sending it to the church secretary to see if she will do it for me! Delegate! The most difficult part of arranging the service was finding suitable hymns to be played and sung, matching up with the readings and commentary. The script I borrowed from had choir anthems and other hymns inserted which I could not use so had to do some shuffling and research to make it work. Done!

Today I began working on some other computer-related things, just to stay sitting in the sun. Sign-up sheets for the Ladies’ Advent Service for hostesses and the stuff for the Befriend a Mission Sundays the rest of this month. The best part, besides the sunshine, was a “House” marathon on the USA Network which makes the day rather fly by. Tonight we get an extra hour of sleep, as we “fall back” for daylight savings time. Must remember to tell MamMa that when I go over there…and Justin, he might not remember and be late for church tomorrow. I wonder if he would consider coming to Good Shepherd since he is staying on this side of the river for a bit…hmmmm…..

All warmed up

The sun is out, although not beaming brightly just yet, which makes it seem warmer than yesterdays's dark and rainy skies. If there is any doubt that it is cold here, the thermometer proves it, showing 45 above zero at this moment. Of course, that will 'warm' by 20 degrees as the day progresses, which is yet chilly by most standards. Only a week or so ago we still had high 80's which makes this quite dramatic a change.

Wednesday night I went over to The Club for Happy Hour and met up with my sweetheart ladies, older ladies for whom I am quite fond, including Mary Lew from water aerobics. Janet, who lives in the condos just north of The Club on the property plus Betty, who lives in The Palace. Betty's daughters and son often accompany her on Wednesdays, not all at once, and it is fun to get to know them as well. Cindy, a daughter I had not yet met, knew about me somehow, and asked me, sort of on the sly, if I could encourage her mom to get her paints out again. Her other sister, Kathy, must have said something about me liking to paint. Betty also used to write poetry and such so they are encouraging her in that direction as well. Betty is a recent widow, and it is taking some time for her to get back into the swing of things. It is less than a year, and coming to Happy Hour plus other socializing is a great re-start for her.

Hugh and Maureen came over to HH a bit later so she joined our table while Hugh chummed with some males standing at the bar. Karrie, the owner of The Club, visited all over the room and eventually lit at our table. Poor Mary Lew was trying to move from one chair to another, when she put her hand on the chair to scoot in, it slid out from her and bang!!!, down she and the chair went. Maureen screamed and made it sound worse than the metal-framed chair hitting the ceramic-tiled floor. The men rushed over, since they were standing up already, some of the ladies, to help get her back up again. Mary Lew (in her late 70-s, early 80's) was unhurt, except for her pride, but I gave her a call yesterday to see how she was doing. As Karrie said, "She's only drinking ice water..." so it was not a booze related accident at all. Janet was wearing a medical device which monitors her blood pressure and heart rate, and I told her she had better sit quietly for a few moments after this event or the folks looking at it will really be alarmed when they review it! Maureen, Hugh, Miss Chardonnay and I all left for home at once, and already one could feel how cool it was getting. It was sprinkling when I walked over but not when going home.

At HH, the appetizers were okay, buffalo chicken tenders which were too spicy for my taste, and the brie with crackers and fruit. Good thing that was not my dinner that night! Last week the chicken was not buffalo and could make that my dinner, with the brie and crackers. Next week, I believe, is the mini-buffet but I am not sure if I will be there or not. Rachel had approached me after the Reformation Service to encourage me to sing with the joint choir for Advent. She offered to get me the sheet music and CDs so I can review it for content, etc. I told her I would love to look at it and would participate, which might, just might, affect my departure date for WI. Must check both church's calendars to see what is when! But choir rehearsal is on Wednesday nights which would interfere with my HH schedule....

So, Thursday was Bible study with the Victory family and Justin, although he came here to shower before we drove together to Victory. He is staying for a few weeks at his father's new house, until he can move back to the beach. I comfort myself with the fact that my house is torn apart yet with the repairs being made or in pending. But anyway, we left from my house for Bible study which continues it look at why trials and tribulations come into our lives and how we deal with them. This is Justin's first time in this study since he was absent last week when we started it, and when he looked at the cover of the booklet, he said, "Oh, boy....", knowing what delicate subjects we will be discussing.

The sanctuary, where we meet, was lined with tables stacked high with donated items for their yard sale. At one point in the discussion, we talked about the Israelites getting their manna flakes from heaven every day and how they were to only get a day's worth at a time, as a test. The example was the way people 'worry' about things like clothing, shoes, a roof, food, stuff, and I pointed out the tables laden with the extra stuff from people's homes. Even some of the 'stuff' from my own home was out there, Timmy's toys that I had donated. I had told Liz in the pre-k that if they could not use it in the classroom, they could sell it in the yard sale. I should not just say Timmy's toys, since some of them were Justin's as well. We truly live in a land of plenty!

After the class Justin and I went to have lunch at Panda Express which was probably not the best idea since we had two hours between finishing lunch and the movie beginning. Silly us! To pass the time, we went to Barnes and Noble where I bought two more movies, actually more than two, since one is a series in a box. We wanted to watch "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" with Jimmie Stewart as the lead actor, and I bought "Founding Brothers" about our nation's founders, a multi-disc set. As a member of this 'club', I got discounts on my purchases so it wasn't as much money spent on 'stuff' as it could have been. Justin needed a coffee and I got a soda with a ginger cookie which we shared in the little cafe. Then headed to the movie theater at Tinseltown. Man, it was cold in there! I had not been that cold since the weekend before at the Worship Conference!!! And I am still laughing about hearing the water dripping from the ceiling over the sound of the movie.

When we got home again, in the drizzling rain, Justin helped carry up the balance of my purchases from Publix bought the day before, and put them away. Then he grabbed his dirty clothes from earlier in the morning, and told me he was going to his father's house to take a nap. Immediately I climbed onto the bed and snuggled under my fleece throw to get warm, sporting slippers. You would think it was 30 below, the way we were acting! No sooner had I settled in with my laptop and was getting caught up on things, than did Judy J. call to see if I wanted to go to dinner. At first I refused, not wanting to leave the warmth of my blankie, but she insisted the car would be nicely warmed for me and the fireplace roaring at Cracker Barrel. Well, she was right about the car being warmed up but no fire at Cracker Barrel. In fact, Seth, our usual server, was sweating as he dashed about the dining room. It seems, we heard later, that there were problems in the kitchen last night, and we overheard one man report to his wife that their meal was no charge because it was so bad. Mine was grand, although Judy complained her piece of meat loaf was smaller than mine!! She even measured it with her knife....yup, mine was bigger!

Okay, so now I'm cold

Baby, it is cold outside! First the rain came and now the cool front is moving through, making for a very chilly Kim. It rained this afternoon when Justin and I were in the movies and when we came out, after freezing half to pieces in the theater, it was cold outside. Justin was driving and turned on the heater and the seat warmers to get the chill from our bones. He was kicking himself for not grabbing his sweatshirt from the car before we left my house. Fortunately, I had my 'dinner jacket' in the car which he had gone back outside to get for me before the movie began.

*

We saw "Waiting for Superman", a documentary about the public school system which was really interesting. When it was raining outside, I could hear it on the ceiling of the building. AND, I could hear drips!!!! I am not crazy----I could hear drips coming from the front left side of the theater and even Justin, with one ear, could hear it once I pointed it out. He had to chuckle because I could hear the sound of water dripping over the sound of the movie!

*

Our lunch was eaten indoors at Panda Express and since I was still full from there did not order any pop corn or snacks at the theater, just a drink, which we shared. It was too cold to eat! I will write more about today's events tomorrow but for now, am snuggling under my covers to keep warm! Merry Christmas!

Whoo hoo! What a night!

At some point last night my laptop quit talking to me, and this a.m. I found out they went off the air at 1:00 a.m. So, I missed about an hour of the live program watching all the races around the nation, keeping track of the seats won or lost, gubernatorial victories or losses, and such. The TV stayed on all night, as always, but I had switched over to my mindles

s viewing around midnight. My guess is that sleep came not too long after that, with the sound of rain on my windows. This a.m. brought news that the governor's race in FL was not yet determined (surprise surprise) and as of this writing, is still in the works. (As of 10:36 a.m. Scott is the winner!!!)

Yesterday morning I went to vote, was #135 after being in line

a short time. Love standing in line to vote!! When it was time to sign my name with the magnetic pen, I complained to the poll worker that I did not like how it came out so he let me do it again. He still had my license in his hand when I expressed to him how particular I am about my writing, and he said he could tell from my license. Filling in the dots on the ballot was not as neatly done since folks were waiting to vote so h

opefully there was no grade for that!

Originally I had planned to go to the store after voting but went straight home instead. Soda was already purchased and on the floor in my car and the fridge held enough nourishment to hold me for the day. So, once in, I stayed in.

While watching and listening to the radio, TV, and Internet, I also worked on the condo newsletter and got that e-mailed off. For those who cannot open it or have no Internet (poor Gus!), I do print off some hard copies. For an hour and a half I was on the phone with my sis-in-law in Manitowoc, catching up on family news and such. Her son, JR, is heading to Afghanistan at some point, but had just been ‘ho

me’ for a couple weeks on leave.

Also spent some time on the phone with my friend, Carol, as she drove to her doctor appointment. We are kicking around the thought of attending the National WELS Worship Conference next summer in

MN but there are so many other things to consider as well. IF I did go to that Conference, (family, it is a big IF) it would put me in the right area to help my sister celebrate her 60^th birthday. I am just sayin’…..Lori had mentioned perhaps going to a Shakespeare play where my friend, Judy R., serves as an usher. Hmmm….seems like things are falling somewhat into place for that! So, this put me on the telephone for a length of time, in b

etween which I washed my sheets and dried them, plus another load washed and dried. I even made my bed without any problem, in less than 5 minutes, because I had something in the ‘wave for that length of time and finished the bed making before the ‘ding ding ding’ went off! Last time I changed my bed, I wrenched my back transferring the sheets from the washer to the dryer but this time, all went well.

Starting at 7:00 pm then I tuned into my Internet radio show to ‘watch’ the return tracking while having Fox News on TV. It was difficult to read the results across the bottom of the screen from my desk, though, so eventually I moved over to the bed so I could more successfully view it all. Which brings me to where I began this posting….Sadly, I still find myself in Corrinne Brown’s district, which snakes it way up one side of the river and down the other, all ‘blue’ voters. I have not heard how the redistrict

ing referendum went so if it happens, I might be moved at some point to a district more representative. At one point, Mike C. called to say it looked like she had lost but when I checked on it, she was a

head by nearly 50%. Rats!

Here is the most recent photo of Angelo, getting ready to go see the doctor this morning. It is hard to remember how cold it is up there….

Justin and I are planning to have lunch together today as he is working not too far from the Island and I have errands to run up that way. I am sure he is about ready to bust after the elections. My time will have to be well spent these next few days in putting together the program for the Ladies’ Advent Service, choosing the hymns, and making other arrangements. Janet has kindly agreed to play the keyboard for us and I must get her the list of hymns so she can practice ahead of time. Carol asked me to help work on something requiring editorial skills but this comes first. Then I must order my Advent card calendars for the Sunday school kids that I send every year. Only need about 25 this year, sad to report, that is only how many we have from infant to 8^th grade. The kids look forward to getting the calendars and I enjoy sending them, Win-Win, again!

Please forgive my jumping around words, something happened with the cut/paste thing and inserting Angelo's photo. Still working out the bugs with this!

A new baby picture

Can you stand it??? I mean, really, how cute is this baby??!!?? Here is Angelo at two weeks old, now home with his mama, papa, Gabe and Manny. He had a bit of troubles getting used to the quiet in his house, after all the commotion he had grown accustomed to in the NICU. Lisa today ordered a white noise machine similar to the one he heard in the NICU in her attempts to help him get more comfortable. Last night she used his swing which makes lovely noise like a rain forest even when he is not swinging. I think that is the sound which Carol plays during my massages....ahhh.....Welcome Home, Angelo!!!