Going to Texas more often!

Backtracking just a bit---last Tuesday I attended the event at The Club, a fundraiser sponsored by the Rotary Club where area restaurants and vendors shared their goods with us. Not normally a rib eater, I had trouble passing up the grilled (yes, made on site!) ribs provided by Texas Roadhouse. Oh my! Talk about 'fall off the bone' good! As I sat on the sundeck with my neighbors on Saturday night, I told them how I wanted to go there to eat after having had those ribs, and all agreed how delicious they were. For some reason, that restaurant is not on our list of places to go. Well, Justin and I headed off to Texas Roadhouse that night!

We had a short wait, arriving at 7:30, but it was worth the wait. I told the hostess how I had enjoyed some ribs at the event on Tuesday and that was why we came in tonight. Pretty soon the manager of the place stopped at the table, having been told that I was at the function Tuesday night. He said he was there doing the cooking but he didn't remember me, his excuse being there were 100's of people. Okay, I'll give him that. 

Justin and I enjoyed our meals, shared a 'cactus blossom', half of it, for our appetizer. I brought home 3/4 of my half rack of ribs, all my sweet potato and all my corn. Justin had half his steak left, enough for another meal plus a sandwich from the leftovers!  I recommend this place...and I must not be the only one who loves it because people were still coming in the door, even with kids, at 9:00 pm when we left!

Gretchen's special day

Justin and I rode to church together again, with him dropping me off for Bible study, and then going for coffee and a bite. We are soon wrapping up the Bible study based on the movie "Come Follow Me" which is put out by our Synod. Everyone in the congregation got a copy of the movie, but, since I didn't know that, I had already bought my own. Good things come to those who wait...

Today for worship, Janet played the organ for the hymns. Oh, how nice that is! We are going to get so spoiled between her playing and Kathy R.'s playing for us. Janet added some 'dynamics' to the hymns, not as dramatically as can be done on the pipe organ at FG, but she found a way. I am so thankful for this! 

One of our members serves at the submarine base in GA, while his wife and daughters live in New Ulm, MN. Periodically Ann comes down for a visit, and when not in school, the girls can join them. Corey goes out on deployment for periods at a time so it made sense for the family to stay behind and finish school. Anyway, Ann has a wonderful voice and sings harmony on the hymns, which adds much to my personal appreciation of them. She is a 2nd cousin to my young friend, Naomi, a student in New Ulm. Small world!

Gretchen and Terri T.

After church, a whole gang of us went to lunch at Sam's St. Johns Seafood where Gretchen likes to go. She doesn't like to go to Chili's so when she joins us, she gets to pick! Two days ago Gretchen celebrated her 88th birthday. She likes to mention how the Queen of England and she are just days apart in their birthday. She tears me up! Terri T. had called her to do something that day but Gretchen's niece and nephew beat her to the punch. So we celebrated today with the church bunch. 

From left is Mike S., Betty, me, Justin, Kristin, then Sue, Judy C., Gretchen, Terri T., Michael, and Jacob. We have all age groups represented for Miss Gretchen!

Before we'd headed to eat, though, Meghan and I went to the classroom building to have her try on the wedding dress. It was huge on her---not around the middle but up top. Oh oh...Bonnie's granddaughter, Alicea, tried on my dress and we figured with some pins, she's a go. I feel so badly for Meghan, though, because she would have loved to wear a gown. She wondered aloud if she could wear her mom's dress and we all said, "Yes!, if it fits you!" We mentioned it to her dad, waiting outside, and he was doubtful about that, but will ask Michele when she gets home from work. 

As we pulled onto the property after lunch, I spotted my friends sitting at the pool. Justin knew I would go flying out there to join them, but not in my swimsuit. Quickly I changed my clothes and grabbed a partial 12 pack of Diet Coke to share, since the cabana is not open yet. The water is too cold yet for me but Mo was in the water and Bill had dived in a couple of times. The sun feels awesome and the company is great. Mo had her computer along to do some work while seated poolside...As a teacher, her work is never done. I think three of her kids were with her, one of whom did a food run to Wendy's for the family. Mo has 8 kids, and my utmost admiration! Lee moved away last fall, and today her absence was felt profoundly by me, as the pool season gets underway. She really liked the cooler water and cooler temps. Mo and I might go to eat once more at Santioni's before summer is in full bloom, and drink a toast to Lee, our absent friend.

More wedding preparations

This might a bit misleading but it sure feels more like getting ready for a wedding than for a Mother-Daughter event at my church. The theme this year is Weddings, and the ladies are bringing their wedding dresses/gowns and other treasures to church to match up dresses and models, etc. Not many, if any, can wear their own gowns, but some can wear other people's gowns! In one case, a mom is wearing her daughter's gown...

Justin and his friend, Jesse, had plans to go eat endless wings at Golden Corral for lunch, and he wanted to borrow my car to do this. He took me to church and then swung by to pick up his friend. I got there at the right time, able to help Jayne carry in some stuff from her car, china and other serving dishes, and baby food jars. What?

The group gathered in the back classroom where all the dresses and such were being stored, mine being one of the first items dropped off, since I was there on Monday. Laurie brought not only her wedding album but several from her grandparent's 50th anniversary party which I had attended. I think most of the congregation was there, in fact. The year that event took place evades me but in the photos, Cliff is still carrying Robbie. Perhaps the very late 80's or early 90's?? The albums show group shots of the tables where I could see people who have left us for heaven or for other reasons. Probably a good thing I took this sneak peek and got it out of my system before next week!

Half of the committee working on this event consists of teachers and they have the best ideas for everything. The baby food jars were for presenting each attendee some 'scrub' to take home---their parting gift! I offered to help but had no idea what I was getting into. Laurie and Jayne mixed up their concoctions which looked vile, and poured them into the jars. Some were mixed with coffee grounds, oil, sugar, extract, but not all in the same jar. When I asked what it was, Tamara told me it was scrub. What in the world is that? I figured it was recipe ingredients (like cookie ingredients in a jar) but nope, it's for cleansing skin! 

We had four different labels for the jars, which was my job to affix to the lids, and then Jean and I started out the job of taping a little wooden paddle, like for eating ice cream from a Dixie cups, to each jar. Then, we had to cut ribbon to tie around the neck of the jar. Terri T. came in a bit late with some little silver 'rings' so we untied our finished jars and added a ring to those jars as well. Both Terri and I agreed that the scrub is a lovely idea but no way can we reach our feet! I told the ladies I would pour it on the floor on my shower and rub around on it that way. I heard lots of "Oh, Kimmer!!"  I guess I need a servant to scrub my feet for me!

My 'honorary' daughter, Laurie, and my friend, Judy C. at 2013's Mother/Daughter event.

Tina N. came in with her dress in a giant box. As she lifted off the cover, the gown almost pushing the lid off, it exploded in white fluff. I have never seen a gown like that in real life. Absolutely gorgeous, so much so that I cannot successfully describe it, other than to compare it to the one in "My Big, Fat Greek Wedding". The dress alone was remarkable, but in the box was more yet---the mesh skirt portion that made it poof out. Like a Cinderella dress! I hope the ladies can find someone to model that one because I fear the hanger alone would not do it justice. It is wow!

Lynn K., our pastor's wife, on the committe, was able to fit into three of the dresses people had brought in. That means three wardrobe changes for her alone. I have a young lady in mind to wear my dress but she won't be available to try it on until tomorrow. Her mom can't make it for the event, so if Meghan can wear the dress, she will be my honorary daughter for the day. Our last Mother/Daughter event had Laurie as my honorary daughter, so I am cool with this!

Sunflowers galore!

The other day on Facebook someone commented about sharing my fondness for sunflowers. I offered to take pictures of what I have in my house. Today I went around with my camera and took pictures of my sunflower decorator items and memorabilia, to share. 

 This piece is the one that started the entire conversation about sunflowers, when I took Timmy's piece in to be photographed and framed at Great Hang Ups. 

 An early art piece of Justin's, before he perfected his letters. Dee expertly cut the mats to the shape of the flowers

 This piece was painted by Justin in 2001. Because it was so good, his teacher wanted to use it in an auction to raise money after the terror attacks of 9/11. We left the choice up to Justin as to whether to keep it or auction it off. He chose to keep it because "Timmy loved sunflowers..."

 My front door wreath

 Here is the new blue vase from Nancy W. with my sunflower bouquet, perched on my sunflower bird bath in the foyer

This window pane artwork was purchased on a fun outing with Brenda N. at Volano Beach

My entire collection is not shown here, but a good portion of my sunflower pieces made the cut.

A real whirlwind of a day

It was no surprise today was going to be a full one but yet, it leaves me spinning. My ride over to Victory went smoothly, the traffic not too heavy, so I could talk with Mom without much problem. We had a good chat, me filling her in my 'new' friends found on Facebook, with Manitowoc ties, etc.

Class was very good, except for the fact that I took my mini-muffins, napkins, and purse with me, but left my class materials behind on the counter. Pastor H. made a copy of today's page for me and some of the info I had written down the day before came back to me as we discussed Isaiah 25. Like Pastor said, it is a perfect portion of Scripture for Easter. "Death is swallowed up..." and "...this is the Lord...rejoice in His salvation." Yes, made to order just for Easter!

On my ride back home, I had a scheduled phone call with a young man, son of my home congregation, who wanted to talk with me about Orange Park and Jacksonville. His wife and he are considering moving up here from S. Florida and wanted to know about OP. I explained to Brandon that OP was where I raised my family and have made this my home. Since I have been out of the business for a long time, I wasn't able to give solid advice on the real estate market, availability of employment in the building industry, etc. or paralegals. 

I could answer about the difference between OP and JAX as far as real estate taxes go, plus answered other questions he had. They have a son who is a toddler or just a bit older than that, not quite ready for school. Sadly, I wasn't able to offer him much help as regards available Lutheran schools, other than our 3-5 year olds preschool. I could tell him about St. Johns CDS and do know about other Christian schools in the area, but they are not WELS. Told him about the facilities and growth in Palm Coast (some salesperson for OP I turned out to be!). We were told when moving down here from WI that our church was planning to start a school, but so far we've only gotten to preschool in my 25 years here.

Once I was home, I grabbed a quick bite to eat before my friend, Carol, was coming over. We have some meetings coming up and we had things to go over, plus she enjoys coming here for a 'vacation'. By the time she left, I had a stack of four hymnals on the table, including my aunt's confirmation hymnal with no musical notes included. The breeze was nice through my open doors and Italian music on the CD player...nice!

She left before Justin got home from work, unlike yesterday's marathon session when J. was here to greet him. His plans at first were to go to the pool hall with his boss and co-worker before going to his friend's birthday celebration. Those plans changed, however, and he was going to be home for dinner. We had decided to just forage on our own---that was until I got a phone call from Judy C., asking me to dinner. Since Justin was going to use my car to go to Ron's, Judy came to pick me up. 

We had to back track at bit (or she did, really) because we ate at Sonny's BBQ. We had a good dinner and a great visit, with me bringing home a full box of leftovers. Since Justin had eaten a meatloaf sandwich for dinner, he was not interested in those goodies in my box. Though Justin was quite weary, he was still going to Mandarin to go bowling. Oh, to be young!

All this visiting and time away from my desk has not been helpful so I must buckle down tomorrow and get something accomplished. That is, after the window washers are done. Justin and I took everything away from the windows in the living room and my room to keep the area free for washing. Looking very much forward to my fresh, clean outloook on life---on the river!

No Happy Hour for me

I decided to stay home tonight and just hang out with Justin. He got in late afternoon, while my friend was still here so he got to greet her. It had been a long time since they saw each other but he was too filthy to hug anyone. 

For dinner we dined on leftovers, as I had made a wonderful meatloaf for his dinner last night. To make the meatloaf, the first one in ages and ages, was to mix the hamburger with half a package of Stove Top stuffing, two eggs, a little water and then put it in a loaf pan. Over the top I put some bacon strips and ketchup. Turned out perfectly! Not as good as Mom's or as good as Cracker Barrel's but it was the best I've ever made. Next time, I am adding pickle juice to jazz it up!

I had met my friend for lunch at Grumpy's, where I have nearly exhausted my gift certificate from Rosalie and Hal. Only $2.50 left on it, enough for a soda! Then my friend, J, and I went for a car ride, showing her the area. The rest of the time was spent sitting in my river room, catching up and looking at my scrapbooks, etc. I can't imagine where the time went! I got nothing done desk-wise so will have some catching up to do tomorrow!

Speaking of tomorrow, I already have a full day. First I have Bible study at Victory (did my homework tonight!), and then a phone call to make on the ride home. Then, my friend, Carol, is coming over so she can have a little 'vacation' in the river room. We have some meetings coming up for which we (I) need to prepare so this should be quite interesting. I am ready!

A couple things have happened in recent weeks via Facebook, like finding long-lost friends and making new ones. One site I am a 'member' of concerns all things Manitowoc. From that site I have become friends with two ladies from my home town. One had mentioned taking her mom to Easter worship at my home church. That opened a door for me to get to know her and hear her story, etc. Another lady has done a family tree on my mother-in-law's side of the family, which even includes me! She has, I think, 3500 names on the tree, which is amazing to consider. It has to be quite the growth if I made the list! I very much enjoy chit-chatting with these ladies, plus with my old friend, and it's no wonder I get nothing done on my desk!

Food galore!

This evening was spent with hundreds of my closest friends (well, truthfully, I didn't know half of them!) at a fund-raiser event at The Club. Nancy W. went with me on this glorious night. Nice and clear, warm, not too many bugs...There were tables on the lawn and patios as far as the eye could see, covered in white table cloths. The event was called Gourmet Night where area restaurants and vendors were set up inside The Club and around the patio with their fares for us to sample. Additionally, inside, there were silent auction items available for bidding. Neither Nancy nor I bid on anything but there were some very interesting items on the tables.

I actually did know some of those attending since the fund-raiser was sponsored by the Rotary Club for Lighthouse Learning Center. Many of my neighbors were there plus other Club members, but I wanted to make friends with the people with their food displays. I can begin to mention names of restaurants, sure to leave out important ones but here goes: La Nopalera, Texas Roadhouse, McDonalds, Ramirez, The Pie House, Carrabba's, the Hilltop, The Club (of course!), Allegro, plus about 20 more places. Nancy did better with sampling than I did because she could walk and eat while I had to sit down. Too hard to juggle ribs and carry a Diet Coke at the same time!

He had on skinny suit pants...interesting! See The Palace behind him?

Nancy and I finished the evening on the back patio, sitting near the crooner musician (sort of like Tony Bennett or Michael Buble) who sang into an old-fashioned microphone. He was very good, not too loud which means I am not too old! After the singer stopped, the vendors were wheeling their equipment and supplies away, and below us, on the grounds, the Junior ROTC gang was noisily folding up tables and chairs. Nancy said, "I guess they are trying to tell us something..." and we got up to leave. Hated to, though, as we were having such a good visit, complete with eye-dabbing. I DO know how to have a party!