Sunday photos

This Sunday was dedicated to Fellowship where we, as a congregation, lend our support to two students at Luther Preparatory School. Sandwiches were made and cookies enjoyed!

 Katelyn is lighting four candles on the Advent wreath

 

 The Cookies by the Pound sale taking place. I liked to tell people this is their weight BEFORE consumption. On the right side of the photo is Amber, the shared friend of Judy C. and me, enjoying some shopping!

 This beauty is me! Justin took control of the camera to free my hands for selecting cookies. Behind me is Jayne and Brett, regretting getting in line behind me!

 One of the two bouquets in the chancel was for my birthday, which is at the end of the month. They look perfect for CHRISTmas, decorating the grave site for the holidays. My friend, Carol, had been at their son's site also and noticed there was nothing on Timmy's---we must have just missed each other! 

 Young and old gathered to prepare the church for CHRISTmas, including Darwin on the ladder, Gretchen reaching up to afix an ornament, and Teresa, in blue, supervising

Following the decorating, The Maestro played the piano while we sang carols and some secular 'holiday' songs. Carol had the idea to stand in the open doors of the church to sing out to the passersby and those coming for the chili supper. We sang two hymns and it was wonderful to do that!

A Sunday wrap up in pictures

 The chancel is decorated for CHRISTmas Eve's worship

Once the decorating was done, we enjoyed a wonderful chili supper

 The tree is dressed and ready for CHRISTmas worship!

 

 Paul, Emily and Sarah came by see the tree but didn't stay to have dinner with us. Justin and I had lunch with them at Chili's and they were still full from that! Sarah is the goddaughter of Kim and Justin, just so you know....

I am so blessed! (WARNING!)

This morning I was reading a blog posting written the father of a not-yet born baby girl, diagnosed with Trisomy 13, a chromosome problem. The parents are not sure how much 'damage' their baby will have, once born, as her mom did not miscarry which more often happens. The dad wrote about his serious breaches of faith and even considered momentarily terminating the pregnancy to avoid the 'burden' of having to care for this child possibly all the days of their lives. It was a heart-warming yet tragic read, as this man recounts his feelings through the pregnancy, mixed excitement with dread, and so on. The recurring theme, however, was how his wife and he rallied in their faith in the Lord and His providence, trusting He knew how this would work out. Toward the end of his posting he wrote how glad he is that the Lord is trusting his wife and him with this baby, knowing they will be the best parents for her. 


As often happens, my mind went to my own situation when I was expecting Timmy at the ripe old age of 39-40. Despite the concerns of the medical folks, the pregnancy was nearly flawless--no diabetes even though I was fat. There was one episode of 'morning sickness' after taking my horse-pill vitamin (I never missed a beat as it happened in the shower and I just kept washing!). From that time on I took the vitamin at dinner with food, solving the problem of taking it on an empty stomach. Never missed a day of work at Sprint, quitting just a couple weeks prior to his planned delivery. He jumped the gun by a few hours when my water broke the night before he was scheduled, which should have tipped us off to how much of a rascal he would be!


So much could have gone wrong but did not. He could have been born prematurely and suffered with deafness or respiratory problems. He could have had Down's Syndrome and been dependent on me all his life. Instead, though, he was almost perfect, could turn his bottle inside out when drinking, and he did his best snoring during church. He was alive with character, that guy!


At age 3 months he was in the office with me nearly full time, walking at the horrendous age of 9 months---yikes! "Hurricane Hank", as our purchasing agent, Jim, liked to call him. Timmy's job, once ambulatory, was to press buttons on the computers and tear open archive boxes, distributing files around Jim's office. They loved each other!


Jim, who did not work for us anymore when Timmy died, took the death very hard. His co-worker at the time, named Betty, told me about it later, how he came to her house after hearing the news, needed to be with someone to mourn. I did not know Betty and she did not know me, but we felt like we did after the conversation! He told me he nearly passed out at the funeral service, but thankfully did not.


Yesterday, I had to ask my friend, formerly of GS, whose son is a month older than Timmy would be, what grade her son is in. Tenth grade, really? A sophomore, with his learner's permit for driving. The Lord, in His mercy, took Timmy home almost 11 years ago to spare him and me all this, whatever 'this' might be. He is now enjoying the bliss of eternally being able to see the Lord's face and circle the throne. And I am left here with tears running down my face, wondering what I missed out on with him on earth...

A hot time in the kitchen

I am not crazy, though some might dispute that, about this new or different composition page for the blog. I put in a complaint on the feed back site to see if that garners an answer. If this is improvement, they need to think again.


Justin left bright and early with my car to drive to Green Cove to get his father's car. He needed the larger vehicle to move his stuff from the bungalow at the beach house, and made two trips back to this side of town with his belongings, finishing the project. Not only did he accomplish that, but was able to meet his friends for lunch (he sounds like me!). Much of his stuff he unloaded at the office in some unused space for the time being. It is funny how he asked for clothes for CHRISTmas, yet he is buried in clothing in his room now! Will the new pieces see the light of day? I do hope so.


Last night we had dinner at Koko's, making up for last week's missed lunch on Saturday when Koko's was not open. From there we stopped at Publix and he offered to just run in for the couple of items needed. The bag of coconut was used then, once home, to finish the last batch of cookies for the bake sale at church tomorrow. We are having a "Cookies by the Pound" sale and we will have four different types to donate and possibly re-buy from the sale!


Earlier in the morning I got busy in the kitchen with the baking, taking my laptop with me to hold me there. I caught up on my Internet radio programs as I stirred, rolled, and baked. For the brownies, I used muffin tins to bake them, placing a dark chocolate kiss in the middle of them. Later I thought about using the paper cups in the muffin tin and kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner, as they got a bit knicked up coming out of the pans. Next time, will use the paper liners!


Besides the brownies, I made oatmeal scotchies plus peanut butter cookies with the same kiss on top. I had mixed up the sugar cookies already and was waiting for Justin to bring me the coconut, thinking he was going to be back before noon. The break from baking was welcome, and it only took a few minutes to finish the last batch. I mixed the coconut into the sugar cookie batter, then shaped them into balls to bake. Yummy! I learned this from my friend, Julia, at Great Hang Ups. And now I have 3/4 of a bag of coconut left. Pina coladas anyone?


My upstairs neighbor, Randy, had expressed interest in the bake sale some time ago and I had planned to bring him a pound. When he saw that I was baking he asked for some pre-sale samples as well as an order from the sale. I already had him covered but told him I would bring him some samples which were edible but not presentable. When I got up to his place, he answered the door but stood behind it. He said, "You should know by now that I don't wear pants..." as he reached around the door for the plate. Now, I had already told him I would bring him a plate as he commented on FB "delivery is always good..." I had to chuckle about that. In a few minutes, he wrote that he loved the treats, especially the oatmeal scotchies. 


My other neighbor, Tracy, had left me a card with a bag of oatmeal scotchies on my window sill this past week and I went after those cookies like mad. I let Justin have a couple but the rest were mine. Hers were much more dense than my cookies turned out, almost like mine had too much butter. I followed the directions and used the entire stick. Hers were like a meal, but mine, a treat.


Judy C. told me that Betty was bringing frosted sugar cookies ("which put mine to shame" according to Judy) so I will look forward to buying those tomorrow. One lady usually makes candy but with her spouse being ill, she might not be able to do that this time. But, if she does, look out!!!


Not only do we have that sale, but we are also decorating the church and chancel for CHRISTmas and having a chili supper afterward. Our two chefs, Mike ' Mike will handle the food portion which will be wonderful. I have a container of dinner rolls in the freezer, an extra from ThanksLiving, which I will take to have with the chili. We usually carol but am not sure if that will take place or not, depending upon The Maestro's availability.


Justin and I have a disagreement. When I checked the TV listings for Sunday's football games, the Packers did not show as being the game aired. I was sad but knew I could watch upstairs at Randy's if I wanted to see it. At dinner, Justin checked the listings from his phone and it showed the game being aired on FOX at 1:00 pm. What? He said I looked too soon, too far ahead and that the network might have switched the games around. We shall see just who is right, because as I look at it now, it still does not show as being on here. Does he have an inside line on this or what? I hope he is correct though because I would not wish to go up to watch and then have to leave to go back to church for the rest of the day's events. My allegiances might be dallied with!


Judy J. is on board to take us to the airport Thursday which will save us the parking fees. She is a doll for offering and I will bring her something nice from WI. She brought me a jar of Saunders ice cream topping when she came back after ThanksLiving. MI is known for this topping as well as Vernor's Ginger Ale. We can get the soda here but not the chocolate topping. Connie, the maintenance lady, said it is cheaper to use a taxi for the airport runs than to park one's car at the airport. Of course, this would depend upon the length of the stay but she might be correct on that. Getting picked up at the curb is very nice too!


The last of my mailings went out in today's mail so I can cross that off the list. Work has begun on the church newsletter, working as far ahead as I can before going north. I can put the final touches on it at my sister's and e-mail from there. Now, to clean off the desk and get things in order before we depart...I have books stacked all over the place which not only makes me look crazy but feel crazy at the same time. Whenever you see a movie about a mad man, he is surrounded by dusty books. At least mine are not usually as dusty as they could be!

Full Friday

This morning was the Meet, Eat and Play breakfast at The Club so I was up and at ‘em earlier than normal. Justin came in to give me a hug and kiss good-bye (bet he missed that when he lived alone!) after we made the arrangements for his ride home from work. Jesse was picking him up with the landscape truck on their way to the job. I just had to get him home, at a yet undisclosed time.

We did have five show for breakfast, including a new participant, Stephanie. She is very nice lady and will be a welcome addition to the circle. Retired from the phone company and collecting some disability after a serious surgery, she now has time for enjoying the benefits of The Club. Stephanie told us about her move-up career at ATT (BellSouth) which was an inspiring story to hear but it has a tragic turn to it---when the markets collapsed a few years ago, her 401-k investments took a $300,000 hit. That sort of changes everything for her, and I’ll tell you, it made me feel a bit sick to my stomach! But, at the end of her story, not told with a sad face, she remarked, “God is good!” Yes, I think I will enjoy visiting with her some more. But no game playing as we chose to talk instead!

I had taken a couple movies along to share with Andrew, whom I met last week, but he did not come today. When I got home later, he had left me a message saying he had to ‘go to town’ for a doctor appointment, as he is recovering from a back injury. Sad we didn’t get together, and I would have loved for him to meet Mary, who treats people with his type of injury. I sent him all her contact information so perhaps they can get together. She lives and works within walking distance of The Club, more convenient than going downtown. Oh, it’s funny that the pool guys are always doing their work when I walk through for breakfast. Yesterday one of the guys asked me if I worked for The Club, and I said I live at The Palace but dine at The Club. A new wardrobe for me might be in order if I look like a staff person---hardly!

Once home again, I got busy on the church newsletter, working as far ahead as I can before leaving for WI. I will send it to myself via e-mail and put the finishing touches on it at Mom’s, and then at Jill’s house. Jill has the high-speed Internet needed to transmit the document, it chokes Mom’s dial-up service. I sent a couple e-mails to folks in search of information for the letter and managed to make forward progress. Judy C. was able to answer some questions I had in regard to upcoming events and we shared the concern of just whom was getting the tree for church. We are all set to decorate said tree, we just don’t know who is going to obtain it. More e-mails addressed that and were answered late this evening. Whew!

Justin was going to be ready for pick-up in the OP Country Club around 5:30 so I planned my trip to the store for prior to getting him. There is a Publix at the entrance to the OPCC where Robbie works where I got my supplies for making cookies, which I will do tomorrow. We are having a “Cookies by the Pound” sale at church Sunday and if I want to buy some, I should bake some! I hope someone makes frosted sugar cookies for me!

Tonight Martie and I attended the Clay County Christmas show at the Thrasher-Horne Center. It was absolutely fantastic and we enjoyed it very much. The closing act is a live nativity which featured a new shepherd this year, Robbie! Judy C. and Donna W. rounded out our group, with Debbie S. being a no-show. We had arrived early enough but the parking lots were getting full and she would have had a really long walk once parked. Debbie’s health is not wonderful, having to use a cane to walk and has problems breathing. Her mom, Arlene, is near death so we speculated if that might be why she did not come. Mike C. had visited her mom in the hospital and she was not aware of his visit this afternoon. She is 90 years old and not strong enough to endure the surgery needed for her heart. She was a charter member, or very near, of Good Shepherd, the last one still at the church.

Martie and I got back here just after 10:00 and she headed for home, having to return to the office tomorrow to finish a mailing she was working on. If I wasn’t busy in the afternoon, I would help her, having done my share of mailings in the past. In fact, I have one of my own, on a much smaller scale, to take care of tomorrow! Justin was quite chatty when I got home, offering to dish me a bowl of ice cream so he could have some. He did not want to violate the fresh container purchased earlier so waited patiently for me to get home before having some ice cream. Boy, is ice cream ever getting expensive! I bought Blue Bell Creamy Vanilla, promoted as ‘still being a half-gallon!’.

Justin asked if he could use my car on Saturday for getting more of his belongings and I said he could since I will be making cookies and staying home. It will be so nice when he is moved entirely and settled in---right now, it’s a mess in there!

p.s. My apologies for the uniform size and color of font...this blog page no longer allows me to vary it, not even by typing it first in Word and transferring it. I might have to make a change of blog pages after the New Year! I gotta have more colors!

A great evening tonight!

Justin and I were treated to dinner by my dear friend, Joanne, at Carrabba’s. Not only did we dine together, but I will continue to enjoy the deliciousness at a later time since I brought home the ever-present to-go box. Justin had wisely asked for more bread which we also put in the box to come home. Yum! It has been a long time since we’ve seen each other, likely about six months ago. We talk to each other on the phone or via Internet but sometimes, no, often, we need to speak face-to-face and let the electronics rest. I will make sure to get in touch with her as soon as I get back from WI, entice her with some cheese curds! She is going to Atlanta for some CHRISTmas time with her two sisters, but coming back on the 25th to spend time with her dad, in the Memory Care Center. A sad situation for them both. * Justin had originally planned on using his father’s car to move more of his stuff but I guess they did that together earlier today when checking on a house being built out toward Justin’s place. His bed has now made it as far as the office and hopefully this weekend he will get his bed home and set up. First he will have to move the day bed to the other spare room in order to clear floor space for his double-sized bed. He is sort of tall for the daybed so have been using the trundle where he can hang over the ends! I never had that problem. I have let my downstairs neighbor know about the moving in racket, in case they wonder what the commotion might be. MamMa’s room is directly below Justin’s and she would be accustomed to no noise at all from that part of the house. He told me that last night he dropped a coin on the floor and it sounded like a gunshot in his room. He hoped it didn’t startle the grandma downstairs. I wonder if we should get an area rug to soften some of the sounds… * Besides our wonderful dinner, Justin and I sat in the family room to watch the Jaguar game. We were torn between the Jags and the debates, flipping between the two until I figured out to stream on my laptop and watch the game on the TV. The football game was going horribly and Justin said he was sick of the game, as we switched to the TV for the debates only. At halftime, the score was 27-0 in the favor of the Falcons. Bad news! Around the same time the 3rd quarter began for the football game, the debates took a break, and Justin went to bed. He has a long day doing yard work, from just after daybreak to just as it gets dark. I will have to pick him up after work before I go to the Thrasher-Horne Center for the Clay County Christmas. The Maestro, Robbie, informed me he is taking part in the live nativity that concludes the program. I am very much looking forward to my evening tomorrow night! Breakfast and game playing tomorrow morning at The Club, which Marlena believes will have six joining the fun. I am just delighted about that, looking forward to more visiting and taxing my brain.

Let’s hear it for the sun!

Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! As I drove home from Trivia last night, the moon was beaming brightly off to my left, showing me the way. Nancy told us at Trivia that Thursday was when the sun last made a showing. Cary said he did not see the sun when he was golfing but Ed, near Mayport, rode his bike in the sun. That is how weird the weather can be. I reported that only once this cycle did I see the moon growing full. And now again, last night! For sure I know it’s haircut time! I have that internal clock like Kramer has, but, like him, I sometimes hit the snooze!

Yesterday I heard some heavy-duty helicopters going up and down the river, not my usual traffic. Ed reported that the Marines were doing some maneuvers out of Mayport and this might be their equipment. They sure looked like Marines---the choppers, not the crew members! Usually I can doze right through the helicopters coming and going, but these demanded all my attention!

Justin rode with me to Trivia, after I collected him from the office. He brought me a treat of a caramel apple coated with mini-chocolate chips. Oh, yummy! The last time I had such a thing was when Billy Powell, my neighbor, brought some to me as a special treat. Talk about sweet---in more ways than one! The box it came in shows a pattern for cutting it into segments, not really meant to be eaten in one sitting by one person. Before we left for Trivia, he helped me make my bed again, making sure everything was nice and even, smooth, and no sheet edges exposed. Fussy, fussy, fussy!

Jesse was able to join us for Trivia since he is done with his classes at UNF for the semester. Rita was not able to make it so we still had six players, with Nancy, Cary, and Stephanie rounding out the team. We stunk on ice! Sometimes everything just falls into place and sometimes it doesn’t. Last night was a “doesn’t night”! But we certainly do have a good time, good food, and a good workout on our memories.

Justin rode to the Beach with Jesse after Trivia, in his mother’s Suburban, borrowed so that Justin could load it up with more of his belongings. Jesse, then, dropped him and the stuff off at home this a.m., on his way to work. They are not doing yard work until a full day on Friday so Justin is working at the office in hopes of using his father’s car to move the bulk of his belongings. He needs to move his dresser, bed, night stand, etc. which is more than will fit in his car, or mine. I wish we knew someone with a pick-up truck to help him but neither of us are friendly enough with anyone to ask for such a favor. It is really up to Justin to work this out but I cannot help but wish I could help more. I have offered repeatedly to help him organize the room but until he gets his stuff over here, well, it is of little point.

Today he got brave and started his car, venturing out to Fleming Island to the RPM shop for his repairs. GULP! He was a nervous wreck, fearing the very worst and having to face the ‘bad news’ of what is actually wrong with his car. He did not want or need me to go with him, but asked me to have my shoes ready in case the car died on the way to the shop. Twice he came back for hugs and kisses before he left, and then sent me a text message informing me it was running fine. Whew! Since then he reported that he dropped it off and was walking to the office. Now, we wait….

Justin told me he would stay here with me until such time that he’s paid off the debt he will owe for the repairs. As much as I like the prospect of having him here, I will also need to have the other guest room ready for more friends coming from Rocky Mountain Lutheran High School in July, to help with VBS. Last summer, the teacher had trouble getting names for doing this, and brought all three of those who applied. After the kids got back and talked about their great experience (ahem, ahem), Kerri now has ten students vying for an opportunity to come help out. Wow! The kids who came last summer are not eligible to return, sophomores only. I will take as many as I can house, as requested, but might have troubles taking them all if Justin is still here. I guess I don’t have to be a hog and host all the students but I think their friends really talked up the place here!

A couple weeks ago Judy C. did the great favor of shortening the sleeves on one of my fleece tops. I have had it for a couple years and wore it with large cuffs, as the sleeves are terribly long on me. She cut off 4” and then hemmed it by sewing machine another inch or so. The sleeves are now the perfect length, coming just passed the wrist and will work nicely with layering a T-neck under it. Last night I did the same type of thing with a cotton top, putting up the length by approx. 4”. When I finished it, my thoughts were, “Mom would have a fit!” because any sewer worth her salt would have cut off the extra length and put a decent hem. I am still proud of my stitching ability after all these years, not using ‘horse stitches’ as Mom used to call them. Now, two more items need my needle and thread, both being sweaters. One has a fraying edge (not really a repair that should be made with thread, but oh well…) and the other needs a button sewed back on. Then, I will ready to set up the card table to start packing for my trip to WI!!!