"We are all stories, not just biology"

What an incredible, insightful day I have had today! This early morning, I woke from a dream steeped in frustration (like THAT ever happens!). In the dream, I am attempting to travel overseas, am already at the airport when I realize I have forgotten my passport and phone charger. Both of those are deal-breakers. Fumbling with my phone, I was attempting to reach my spouse who was at home, but having every sort of problem getting my message through. I even had snowballs being thrown at me from a railing above the waiting area where I was struggling with the phone. It was as though everything was working against me getting to my destination!!! It was an absolute relief to wake up just before 6:00 a.m.! Fortunately I was able to go back to sleep after a quick walk and had a more restful snooze for another 45 minutes….

Once I was awake for real, I had my laptop fired up and began to watch more segments I had started the night before. A psychiatrist who wrote a book with a host I watch has some ‘patients’ who are using this how-to book to repair problems in their lives, publicly. Wow, is it ever interesting!! Watching the folks make progress week from week is quite exciting and satisfying. One man had lost his wife who left him after he gave up his job, then got them deeply into debt. He was going to take his own life but then decided to read the book and get help. Another story is a dad of a drug addicted son who wrote a letter after reading the book, seeking help for his son. The son, Ron, makes progress right along, too, and is free of drugs for nearly 6 weeks and gainfully employed. Another woman was in an abusive marriage and took to alcohol to ease her misery. She is making progress as well, all of them digging deeply into their pasts to see where the ruinous patterns developed. Sometimes painful to watch, but very hard to look away….

I had to quit to take my shower and prepare for the day. Justin called me in the a.m., but I cannot remember right now what he wanted…Oh, yes! He wants to go to Epcot before the Flower Show is over and he had checked the ending date of the exhibits. We have until May 15^thto get there. I asked him if he would be patient with me as walked through the park and his answer was, “I am always patient with you, especially at Epcot…” This is true but it has been years since we walked the grounds together and I am certainly MUCH slower than I used to be. Well, I told him we could certainly look into it, perhaps after Easter. He also mentioned that we saw a portion of “The Lion King” at Animal Kingdom but we are not 100% sure that his grandma was with us. We know my sister, Lori, and her family were there, as was Timmy so it pre-dates January of 2001. Hmmmm…

Today I was able to join my neighbors at La Nopalera for lunch, after a couple weeks of missing out. Before they arrived, I read some of my book while sipping on my strawberry margarita. What a wonderful, helpful book it is! “Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns” is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. I had it along at Whitey’s the other day since I arrived before Jessica did but she was not interested in borrowing it when I am done. She reads fiction and is never interested in my subject matter. She is reading a book by the same author that wrote the book, “Water for Elephants”, which many of my reading friends raved about. So, back to my book, man, it is good. The author is a media ecologist, which I had never heard of before, but sounds fascinating.

This tied in with our lunch conversation as MamMa told me about her siblings, eight of them, with interesting given names and nicknames. Love when the conversation goes to birth order and how that plays out, especially in her upbringing. One of the ladies on the program I watched on the Internet this a.m. was the oldest of six girls (sounds familiar!) and considered herself to be the ‘plow’ in the family, she had to plow a path for the rest of the kids to follow. Tracy, who is a licensed counselor, found that fascinating as well, and told me about writing a paper once for school. She chose the subject of “What is Normal?”. This truly intrigues me, the entire subject, and we laughed when she reported that after 30 pages, the answer to the question was “we don’t know”!! I told her ‘normal’ is just a setting on the dryer!

Once home after our lovely lunch and conversation, I sat at my desk for a bit to open some mail. There was an e-mail from the CPA’s office with some questions and such regarding Justin’s tax return and such. We got that all straightened out. Judy J. is back from her long time away in Detroit and she called to let me know her status. She is emotionally wrought and weary, while being so very glad to be home. She appreciated coming home to a stuffy, hot house!!! She kept apologizing to her poor car for putting it through such cold, nasty weather. Poor ‘Betsy’ was shivering the entire time they were in MI! The two of us are going to a birthday party tomorrow in Mandarin and I thought I would be her driver for a change. But the hostess for the party wanted Judy to come about 4 hours ahead of time to decorate and help set up so Judy will drive herself. One of our members just turned 50, so Julaine is helping to host a surprise party for her former daughter-in-law. They remain close, fortunately and blessedly. Should be great fun to surprise the birthday girl!

In checking my e-mails, I had a note from a Facebook friend, whom I had 'met' via my friend, Jami's, blog. Darla had been diagnosed with cancer a few months ago and was undergoing treatment. She had reached out to me with her news privately and I was able to offer her some comfort and assurances from the Word, etc. She sent me a note today thanking me for my help and prayers, that she was now cancer-free. She said I was a good teacher. Such great news, thanks be to God!

I was not home for very long before it was time to head downstairs again to meet Brenda N. as I was driving Miss Daisy across the bridge to her real estate closing. We drove right up to the door of the title company and Brenda was quite impressed with my abilities. Well, we did have a little help from the navigation system. While Brenda was in the closing, I read some more of my book, and at one point, I had a tear running down my face. The author wrote about his infant daughter being diagnosed with leukemia and not given long to live. His wife and he stayed at the hospital with their daughter, and he would hold the baby in one arm and his hymnal in the other. One day he chose the hymn, “Abide With Me”, which moves many folks to tears without a dying daughter in their arms. Strangely enough, this a.m., I nearly posted on Facebook that I was having a “Hold thou thy cross…”-day, but did not. I regret not posting it, though, because this man wrote how he managed to get through the verses of the hymn okay, until he got to that stanza, "singing the comforting words as much for me, as for her…”

“Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes; shine through the gloom and point me to the skies. Heaven's morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee; in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me”

Another glorious start to the day

The washer is humming away, my 'cheap' washer by compare to the souped-up model that my friend, Suzanne, just got. Hers is a front loading, high-efficiency style machine. She has to put the laundry in first, and somehow a computer calculates how dirty it is, how much the load weighs, and lets her know the settings and the amount of detergent to put in. She even needs special HE soap, and when she first wrote this to me, I had no clue what HE soap was. Different than SHE soap? It stands for high-efficiency, so it might be low sudsing or something like that, due to the front loading of the washer. Now, me? I just bundle the dirty wash into a pile, toss it in, add a cap full of the liquid detergent which smells so awesome, and away it goes. No discussion! Love that about my 'cheap' washer.

See? It does look nicer in the light of day!

My nails look terrible and really need attention, might take care of that this afternoon when I get home after lunch. I had sort of thought of doing that after church last night, getting home right around 9:00 pm since we have church first and then choir rehearsal. So enjoy the rehearsal because "The Maestro" really puts us through our paces, going over and over difficult parts until we get it right, or the dynamics emphasized, etc. We have two pieces we are practicing, one for Maundy Thursday and one for Easter. We will also be singing a hymn with the Sunday school kids on Palm Sunday, standing up front and wearing our robes! Debbie, one of the altos, said she will wear her robe if it's not too hot, otherwise she won't, but the others chimed in that she can wear her robe for that little while as we sing right at the beginning of the service. I like the robes for a number of reasons, not the least being it covers a multitude of sins!

Back again! Justin and I met for Bible study, a very interesting continuation regarding our dual natures as saints and sinners, as the battle between the Old Man and New Man is waged. The second lesson we read through was about how the television made its way into our households, how it was invited in and have even made special rooms just to house it! The television and what it represents does not necessarily have to be evil but it certainly allows for it! Next week we have no class as the Hoyers are heading to MN for their daughter’s wedding.

Not having the class next week will certainly help me out because my friend, Brenda N., is in need of my services. She is having some with medical problems which make her hesitant to drive across the Buckmann Bridge so she has asked me to drive “Miss Daisy” on Friday of this week as well as Thursday next week. She hated to ask me but it is my true privilege to be able to do this for her, and she would do the same for me if I needed her help. Thankfully I have that spiffy new telephone with the GPS built into it to prevent our getting deeply lost.

Yesterday I used that same GPS to get me to see Marian and Biff in Palm Coast. I made a call to Biff in the morning and asked him if he would mind coming to Marian’s place so I could see both of them at once, so he did! First he went to a doctor appointment, then went to Wal*Mart for some new shoes for Marian. He got her men’s shoes with Velcro closures for her ease of operation and to reduce the squeezing of her feet from her regular shoes.

When I arrived at Marian’s nursing home, she was yet in the dining Room, but there was a place at the table where I could sit to wait for her to finish her meal. As we sat there and chatted, I looked up and saw Biff at the door, but almost did not recognize him! He looked old, plain and simple, wearing his oxygen equipment, sporting a head of grey hair and a matching beard, walking with a cane, and wearing suspenders to keep his pants up. No more Marboro Man-look for him! Wow! And he seemed to have put on some weight while he was at it, which is in contrast to how Justin described him when last seeing Biff. He is finally getting some meat on his bones, after all these years.

Earlier in the day, Christina had been there with her mom, wanting to speak with the foot doctor who was coming to look at Marian’s sore feet (the above mentioned shoes, etc.) but the line was too long. Tina had some errands to run so she left her mom in the line and went about her business. I am sorry to have missed her. The three of us, though, had a nice visit in Marian’s room. The regular doctor was going to be there in the building so Marian got her name added to the list for a chat with him. He had not come yet when I left but hopefully Biff and she did get a chance to talk with him. Marian is doing well with her rehab work and is hopefull of being able to move out of the nursing home and into a facility where they can live together. Marian still needs medical monitoring, but not necessarily ‘round-the-clock care. What a blessing this news was to hear! Last August she was given 48-hours to live with the family rushing to her bedside, but pulled through. And now she is hoping to be able to live her husband again some day soon!

The weather has been lovely here recently, with the temperature soaring toward 86 above zero. In a totally unrelated story, my home church in Manitowoc did not have Lenten services last night due to the snowstorm! Sorry, had to bring it up….

My punishment for bringing up the snowstorm is that my formatting went haywire...serves me right!

A picture of a picture

I took this picture using my cell phone of my framed piece picked up the other day from Great Hang Ups. I will take another picture using the 'real' camera in the light of day but for now, let this one hold you over. On the right, you can better see how the green framing pulls out the green in this watercolor spray painting. What a blast it was to do these pieces!

Short and sweet!

Jessica and Beckham invited me to join them for lunch at Whitey's today since the weather was so lovely. We sat on the deck and shared an order of fried dill pickles in addition to our meals. Beckham was going to take the bun from my hot dog to feed to the fish but tried a nibble for himself first!

A great day!

Tuesday is in the can, so to speak, and what a nice one it was! My morning began with a phone call from Justin who just had to tell me about seeing a Navy man in uniform getting his marriage license at the Clerk of Courts office at Jax Beach. He was sort of moved by it. I told him about seeing people getting married when I was renewing the license plates or something for my car, at the Clerk's office just down the street from me. There is a small white arbor the couple stands under and the JP performs the ceremony. I wonder if they have to take a number, too????

We know of someone who was married in a Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Kentucky because that is where the notary public worked. This same person, who used to work for us, is now also a notary public and can perform marriages for others....Justin did not know this. He asked, "So, getting the license is only the beginning?" I told him it was, in more ways than one! I explained that the pastor and witnesses must sign a document after the ceremony or service, and Justin said he saw a photo of that from his friend's wedding. He said the man who presided over the ceremony had a stamp with him that he used on the certificate. Now he knows why and what that was about. Just another 'service' I offer!

Connie, the maintenance lady, interrupted our phone conversation with news of a giant turtle sunning itself on the rocks outside the building. He looked to be about about a foot across, from up here. I had also been called by the clock repair man who was coming this a.m. to repair grandfather. This meant I had to get up and dressed sooner rather than later.

When Dick got here, he at first sort of suggested that I had not set the clock time properly, indicating it was 'operator error' in winding and setting the clock. Upon his getting it set and running through its paces, the clock acted up for him as well. I was so glad about that! He had to take the works apart and had a mess of tiny pieces on my dining room table. I hoped Dick knew where they came from and where they went back in! In the meanwhile, I heard voices calling to me from outside the opened kitchen door. There stood Jessica and Beckham, inviting me to have lunch with them at Whitey's. I told her I had to wait until the clock man was finished so she went ahead to the park for a bit. As soon as Dick finished the re-assembly of the clock, no charge, I called Jessica to meet at Whitey's. It was such a gorgeous day, in the 80's, and it felt great!

We shared an order of fried dill pickles and I had a lovely blue drink. Sadly, Jessica can't have alcohol as she is in the family way again, due in July. Not that she would have had a drink at lunch, just that she could not. Mine was quite fruity! I told her that tomorrow I have to come back down to Whitey's for my haircut and she said, "I wondered who would come to that beauty shop!!" because it does not look pretty from the outside. It originally was the bait shop for Whitey's. I assured Jess that the interior is really quite nice and I am comfortable there. Beckham was good, as always, and enjoyed his banana, cheese stick, and Cheerios while we ate our lunches. I let them have the bun to go and feed to the fish, but Beckham wanted to nibble on it first, so cute!

After lunch, I stopped at Walgreens to pick up some M & M's for Twila and got us each a bottle of Diet Coke. Not sure what dietary restrictions she was under so I got a small package of the plain style candy for her. When I got there, Ellen from church was already there, so we had a very nice visit. Twila looked much better, good color and all that, but really has to cough a lot because of the heavy pollen count. Her other friend brought her some flowers but they decided to not open the package because they might make Twila cough more. She clutches a heart-shaped pillow tightly to her chest for coughing purposes, so she does not strain the chest muscles too badly. I left her the package of M & M's but she was too hesitant to drink the soda because of the carbonation. No worries, it won't go to waste!

When I came home, then, I took my rest while watching the radio show until it was time to get ready for Trivia. Justin and Jesse joined us ladies again tonight and we took 2nd place. Last week we stunk on ice and this week, we could have taken first place if we had wagered differently on the final question. Just like on Jeopardy!, when the contestants wager against each other and for themselves, but in our case, we know the question before making the wager! It makes $5 difference on our prize and we had a great time playing either way. The waiter was totally messing up all night so he gave Jesse and Justin free ice cream (we ladies had our dessert already) as his apology for 'being off his game'. Stephanie thinks he is usually off his game, but I just think they were understaffed. It was and is just plain fun, playin' Trivia with my friends and my son!

Love hearing the conflict in Libya described as being 'an odyssey' by the Secretary of State...so much for having an exit strategy!

It's getting late

Does this really look like it is my sized cup of Diet Coke?

Monday nights are the worst for me as regarding TV viewing. It never bothered me, if bothered is the right word, when I used to have more meetings on Monday nights each month. Now that I am down to one meeting a month, I suffer. The good news is that there is always Fox News to tide me over until wrestling or whatever is done. Or watch something on the computer, which is what I was doing until I realized how late it was getting! From this vantage point, I can see into the river room where my newest framed piece is propped on the floor. It is so pretty, if I do say so myself. The framing truly makes it, pops the green out of the work, and looks so sharp!

Oh, we had such a laugh today at Longhorn! Most of the ladies are older than me, some by nearly 20 years, and prefer to order from the children's menu for the smaller portions. Last week I did not want leftovers so I ordered only a baked potato for my meal, and this week, the same situation but instead, I ordered a cheeseburger from the kids' menu. All of us ordered from the same menu, being served by a guy we had never seen before. He asked us if we'd ever eaten at Longhorn before and we told him we are there every Monday.

After taking the orders, he rather curtly brought out the drinks for us, served in small plastic cups with the lids! Judy was in the rest room with her grandkids and did not see the sodas come out. I could not wait to see her reaction to this affront. He told us that it is company policy to serve the kids' menu drinks in these cups and I defended him, saying we did not want him to lose his job over it. Our regular waitress stopped by the table and we asked her what was up. Amber said, "Oh, yeah, when I came in today, they told us the new policy..." It is not really new, the Management is simply enforcing it. The waiter kept our sippy cups full, we kept him hopping!, me especially!

For my dinner tonight I did finish off one container of leftovers, somehow burning my poor tongue even though I found cold spots in my food. What gives???? No worries, I can get myself a bowl of raspberry sherbet to treat my cooking injury, or would that be an eating injury? It sounds windy again out there tonight, which I can hear well through my open sliding doors. It is expected to reach 83 tomorrow for the high temperature which will be great for those enjoying spring break in the area. Up north, I hear that snow expected again this week, but saw none in our forecast here in North Florida. Kids have been out enjoying the pool although I am certain the water is not really warm enough for swimming. Not by a long shot!

Yesterday's Listening Sunday went alright, no fireworks, but there were some surprising suggestions from not so surprising sources. What bugs me, causes me near sleepless nights sometimes, is that folks do not really seem to know the difference. Be careful what you ask for, you might get it!

One of the shows I listen to on the radio, the host always says, "Do your own homework" about topics and news stories. Very few people in the group I was with had written down any notes---three of us had---a group of about 10-11. Often they would say "pass" when their turn came around to add something to the lists, and then would say, "Oh, that's a good idea..." or "I never thought of that..." For weeks the questions were listed in the service folder, had been mailed to the homes, and also e-mailed. One week handed out at the door, and yet few had written out anything nor had anything to contribute. This bugs me!

It was not meant for 'give and take' at all, was supposed to not have discussion, but did anyway. Amazingly, it was not me yakking it up, since I had so much to add to the lists! The tone was mainly light and upbeat, but eventually folks would say they had to leave, pack up their stuff, and go. Three of us were left at the end, because we felt it necessary and important. Of course, somehow, our group was the last one done. Terri T. asked me to lunch so I called Judy C. to see if she wanted to come too. She had been to church across the river, sat through a 'concert', so we had plenty to talk about over lunch at Chili's. Judy had given me her list in response to the three questions, plus an extra copy for her Elder, to make sure it gets included in the tally. So anyway, we had a lovely, lively lunch and by the time I got home, it was after 3:00 pm! And another container of leftovers waiting for me to eat! Maybe tomorrow for lunch I will have some sliders but tonight, to soothe my burned tongue, sherbet!

Sky shows

The Super Moon after it rose on the river last night, reflecting gloriously off the water. It was fantastic, as always on the full moon, but it was extra so for the Super Moon!

This was the sunrise greeting me this a.m., the morning after the Super Moon. What a fantastic red color it was, did not translate to the photo but my eyes remember it!