My kitchen smells great

A kettle of 15 Bean Soup is saforating on the stove, with the remains of the Easter Honey Baked Ham adding the flavor. There is a packet of Cajun seasoning to add but thus far I have only put in a small portion of it, for fear of making the soup too spicy. (the spell checker is going whacky trying to figure out ‘saforating’, but we know what it means!) The refrigerator provided a partial bottle of wine from a previous dinner which was added to the water for cooking the beans. One of the finest aromas I have experienced has been beef roasting with wine poured over the top of it, smells like bread baking, somehow or another. Might be the yeast?

The sun is out and it looks like a glorious day, with only occasional cool breezes. Cassidy and I just got home from La Nop where we had lunch with MamMa and Tracy. The cable man was coming between 2 and 5 pm today so Cass came back with me so Tracy could take MamMa to the store for a few things. At lunch, I enjoyed a very delicious strawberry margarita which went down too fast, so I had a diet Coke in between sips of the adult beverage. It occurred to me that I had not had one of these since the weekend before the Worship Conference, at the cabana. No wonder it tasted so good! The ladies had a good laugh at my expense as I discovered something red in my beef quesadilla. At first I thought it was a chunk of raw meat, but upon further investigation, realized it was a tomato!! Tracy and Cassidy about had a fit over that discovery!!! They are vegetarians so are used to eating veggies.

As I am writing this, the printer is sending out pages of postcards for me to distribute for the Ladies’ Advent Service, trying to drum up more business for this event. Right now, I will say, I don’t have a really good feeling about this. The following week we are invited to Victory for their Advent by Candlelight service. Hopefully theirs will pull together nicely. I know they use to reach out to others and I hope it works that way. Besides the postcards I am making notices to post, reminding the ladies to sign-up, and am asking the preschool to post a sign-up sheet in the classroom, too, to see if any of those moms would like to come. I hope so!

Thursday while watching the movie, Justin and I went through the CHRISTmas bags leftover from last year and pulled out the suckers and cookies which do not really have a year-long shelf-life. Especially since the box of bags sat in my river room which is not kind to candy in paper wrappers. Oddly enough, the candy canes were just fine, their cellophane wrappers not melted or anything. Much of the stuff in the bags is reusable but there are only 21 bags leftover. We might need another 10 or so, but this is not something for which I am raising my hand. With the Ladies’ Advent Service and such, plus my traveling, I am not taking on another project. 

Rachel from Victory encouraged me to sing in the choir for the combined concerts on two Sundays in December and after reviewing the music, believe I will participate. The accompanying CD helped, plus getting to read the text of the pieces, assured me the anthems are wise, doctrinal choices. I only hope I know how to sing anymore!!!

My eyes are so tired

Just heard a good report that Amazon.com has removed a pedophilia book from its website after many many folks were pulling their accounts because of their allowing this handbook to be sold on the site. Less than a day and it is gone, good!!

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Today was an awesome one, starting first thing this a.m. with Justin and I heading over to Victory for Bible study. We had a full house, too, and were able to use the kitchen for our class since there was no school today. All the schools around here have off on Veteran's Day which allowed for more folks to attend the class as well. We continued the study of trials and tribulations, and how they are not to be seen as punishment from God, but seeing how the Lord will use the problems in our lives. Sometimes a tough pill to swallow. Pastor and Anne shared a story of having had a health problem with their daughter less than a month after taking a Call to Calgary, Canada. Before they moved, Anne's mom, furious that they were moving to "another country", told them she would NEVER come to visit them in Canada. Well, with Betsy's illness, within five weeks of their moving up there, Anne's parents were on their way to help out with the boys and such while they dealt with the illness. And the doctor there, a Chinese man, told them it was in the Lord's hands, he had done all he could for Betsy. Wow, this man did not even know they were in the ministry and unexpectedly he witnessed to them! Betsy is doing well now, by the way, having moved back to MN and is making a life for herself there. Something is still wrong with her, though-----she loves winter!

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Yesterday I went to Wal*Mart and got my prescription plus a few other items. Some friends are coming here tomorrow night for Dinner and a Movie so I got the ingredients for bean soup. That reminds me, I must borrow an onion from Maureen, if she remembers offering me one last night after Happy Hour. She may not. The ham is from Easter's Honey Baked Ham and I was able to remove some slices from which to make sandwiches. That was delicious! The beans are soaking and the ham is all cubed, ready to go.

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Justin and I took care of that, me more than he, while the pizza was baking for our lunch. The first movie we watched was "Casablanca" which was really good. What a beautiful woman that Ingrid Bergman was, wow! Right after that movie Justin popped in "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" which was so timely, it seems. Both excellent movies and are already claimed by others in my building for their viewing. I have a stack in the kitchen ready to be disseminated. That reminds me---the new videos still need my address labels pasted inside so I can get them back again!

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Tomorrow I will have to get more stamps as I have another newsletter ready to mail, having mailed one off today for our prospect members. Tomorrows is for the members away and our seldom-seens. The rest of my day will be spent readying things for the ladies to come over for dinner, having not dusted or anything since the Great Flood. The bright side of the time change is that darkness comes earlier and the dust won't show as well in the night! We all look better in the dark!

The warmth has returned!!!

Here is a photo Lisa sent yesterday of Angelo's eyes, up close and personal!!

Oh, it is so nice outside right now, having just come in from trying to better see what was bobbing in the basin. It was more brown than black which made me think it was not a manatee. There was never a nose poking out of the water which really puzzles me. Now that I am back in my cat-bird seat, the floating beast is gone from my sight. The temperature is in the high 70’s which felt dandy. I am so glad it was warmer down south where Linda and Tommy are vacationing. It occurred to me today that Tommy might have to get a pat down at the airport and I would buy tickets for that!!!! One of the ladies with whom I enjoy Happy Hour on Wednesday is married to the guy in charge of TSA in Tally and had cautioned about the upcoming increased security measures coming our way. They are here!!!

Connie had asked me earlier today to send out a blanket e-mail to the residents of The Palace to let them know she would be off work tomorrow, as she is babysitting for her niece, out of school for the holiday. Just as I was coming upstairs, she thanked me for sending off the notice, and then mentioned she would rather talk to me about it than the secretary for the building. This is a compliment to me, and I appreciate it. On a similar note, yesterday after lunch, Betty and I popped into Great Hang Ups where two artist ladies I know were hanging out. Kris, the one who taught me the new technique for water colors, had a sheaf of papers with her on the floor. It seems the other lady and she had been to a sketching workshop with a nude and out of respect for me, they put them away when I came in. I much prefer spray painting abstracts with watercolors than I would trying to sketch a naked person!!!! But, again, a compliment to me, or rather, a bow to my sensibilities.

These days I am drinking wwaayy too much soda, it just is going down so good. One reason might be that I bought the Diet Dr. Pepper with cherry which was on sale at Winn Dixie, and even the print on the can states: amazingly smooth. You got that right! Ever since The Great Flood I have not been able to get myself to drink a glass of water, and I do not believe it is physiological. Right afterward, when I was consumed with grief over the accident, my mouth was so dry that I could barely swallow and soda was about the only thing I could drink. Except for the sleepy tea that Jessica made for me, it was the decaf and other soda, not water. Perhaps I am simply out of habit so I will refresh my pitcher in the fridge and try again, to wash this sweetness away.

In a few minutes I am leaving for Wal*Mart to pick up my scrip. The nice lady from the pharmacy called to report I had one ready to pick up, although I did not recall asking for anything. Then it came back to me----when I took my other prescriptions in a few weeks ago, the ‘insurance’, (i.e. Big Brother) would not allow me to fill the cholesterol medication because it was too soon. So, I totally forgot all about it until the lady called me. There must be a call on the black market for Zocor or something to make it a problem to have enough on hand. I can have 6 month’s worth of other meds, but not that one, it seems.

On the way back I have to swing by Papa Murphy’s for a pizza for our lunch tomorrow. Justin and I are coming back here after Bible study to watch “Casablanca”. To save time, I am getting it tonight rather than take the time tomorrow. Later Ellen and I are joining the gang at Happy Hour for the mini-buffet which features steak, red garlic potatoes, steamed spinach (believe it or not, I actually like spinach!) and other things. I cannot wait!

My family is busily making plans for the ThanksLiving feast at Lisa’s house, each one indicating on-line what they are making for their portion of the meal. Lisa is making the bird, and the others the side dishes. Lori makes the most wonderful sweet potatoes, more like dessert than anything else, and Lynn’s mashed potatoes, and the green beans and and and….Last year I was up in WI for ThanksLiving, attending church with Judy R. and her family on Wednesday night and then celebrating the feast with my family at Lori’s house. I do remember driving to Lori’s from Judy’s in the dark, in the snow, and being totally freaked out, even with my special glasses on!!! Ugh! At least here, I won’t have to deal with a snow storm, but my lip is still curled thinking about the good times they are going to have. And celebrating Gabe’s birthday, which is the 14^th. His daddy is taking some little boys and Gabe to the children’s museum for his special birthday treat, which all are crazy about, perhaps even Noah!

Happy and sad, at the same time

Lisa, my niece, sent me a message via Facebook yesterday reporting that Gabe's "Memory Treasure" this week is to learn the hymn, "Jerusalem, the Golden". I am not sure how many stanzas he will memorize or what is required, after all, he is only 7 years old. Lisa said that when Mrs. Unke handed her the assignment, Lisa got 'water eyes', a Justinism for teary-eyed. Oh, yes, those lovely pictures of heaven awaiting us. Ever since then I have had an earworm of that hymn, not a bad thing to have, let me tell you. Last week, she reported, the kids learned "Great God What Do I See and Hear?", and the teacher uses games and such 'tools' to help the kids memorize it. In my comments to Lisa, I told her the students are learning good, solid hymns which will sustain them all their lives, especially when other words fail them. I am just so happy her boys are getting such an excellent education!

How is everyone else doing with the time change? Last night I fought like nuts to not get ready for bed at 7:30 when it was so very dark and today it looked like noon at 7:30 in the morning! The temperatures overnight were at 41 degrees but the sun is warming things right along with the expected high to be 73 when all is said and done. I am so looking forward to having lunch with Betty and Robin at Koko’s, not only for their company but for the great rice. Afterward, of course, I am visiting my lady friends at Great Hang Ups and then stopping at Publix for something, which I cannot remember right now. It will come to me----oh, yes, laundry soap! I love so much the scent of their generic brand of soap and am quite glad the Wal*Mart store brand soap is nearly used up. Justin could have just used it for pressure washing and been done with it, that’s how foul I found it to be. Using the Publix Fresh Scent has my clothes smelling nearly as nice as Lynn’s dried on-the-lines laundry.

One consequence of dropping some of my extra-curricular activities is that it has allowed me more free evenings which is not usually a bad thing, but on Monday nights, it seems to be. In the future, I should save ‘watching’ my radio program to Monday nights since there is little on TV I care to watch. Thankfully I have a vast collection of DVDs to pull me from the depths and last night I amused myself with “Frasier” episodes. Oh, my goodness, I was soooo wishing my sister, Lori, was here to watch with me, and sent her a message telling her this. She wished she was here, too! The one that really tore me up was when Woody, from Cheers, went to visit Seattle, still dumb as a rock. At one point Frasier invited Niles to enjoy some pizza and beer with Woody and him. Niles said he would be delighted to enjoy beer and pizza with ‘these rapscallions’, and Woody, in true form, asked, “Can we order that half rapscallions and half pepperoni?” Just like in the old days, my legs flew up in the air in my laughter, and I remembered scaring the daylights out of Lynx, the cat!!!

Late last week I made the decision to stop waiting around for decisions to be made and sent Mike an e-mail letting him know we are going ahead with the repairs. I feel if we take lots of pictures of the walls--before, during and after—we should be fine with the insurance people. They, then, can finish my floor installation and all my bins can be put away and the rooms made to look nice again. This week I am having some ladies come for “Dinner and a Movie”, now that the cabana is closed (excuse me, I need a moment here to regroup….okay, I’m good) and I hate having the bins and such spread into my family room and foyer. They are better placed there than to have the guys moving them around, because they have more than enough to keep them busy back in those rooms! It would be a safe estimate to say there are less than 50 bins between the two rooms right now…

This reminds me that I must buy a closet light fixture to replace the blinking, sizzling-sounding one in the Timmy closet. The paint is purchased but yet in my car and I can carry them up one at a time so they are ready for Mike to apply to the ceiling and walls. I have a gorgeous pendant light in the cabinet but would certainly not present well in the seldom-opened closet. Sure wish I had good place to hang that light because it is so me...

Dee and Julia sort of talked me out of selling my house now, telling me it would not be wise to make such a decision because of the trauma of The Great Flood. Of course, others have said the same thing, but then some others were concerned about my peace of mind and stressed spirit. The depressed market would not allow me to make any money on the sale right now, or perhaps ever, I am aware of that, but now is certainly the time to buy. There are more assessments coming down the line for the condo building, not the least of which is for the forensic plumber and his findings, the repairs that need to be made so this never (or likely would not) happen again. It is a tough decision to make, and especially if the health care bill is not recalled, in a few years I would face paying sales tax besides the other closing costs. Ugh! So, now versus later……….hmmmm………On days when no disasters occur, I sure love living here. But on days when disasters occur, I am so out of here!

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.

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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!

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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!

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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…..