Reminiscing

My friends, Paul and Emily, with their extended family members, have made a tradition of going downtown Jax every year for the tree lighting ceremony and the boat parade. Photos from The Landing were posted last night and again tonight of their activities, many of them featuring their daughter, Sarah. They hotel rooms along the river's edge from which to watch the boat parade from the comfort of their room, but actually go in the flesh to see the tree lighting and hear the caroling, followed by the fireworks display. Thanksgiving weekend is quite action packed downtown. They have invited me to join them in the past, and I respectfully declined, allowing them their family time. 

When Justin was a little boy, we began the 'tradition' as a family of going to the tree lighting, have some dinner at The Landing, and enjoy the beginning of the holiday festivities. The food court had something for everyone with the Chinese restaurant where I got my meal. I think my former spouse got Mexican or perhaps a burger. Justin likely had hot dogs, but that much I don't remember. I do hope we fed him...He loved the fireworks, ooohed and aaahed over the colors and the banging, lights reflecting in the water, and such.  One year we took him to see/hear the fireworks for the 4th of July and he said, "They have fireworks in the summer, too!!" He only knew about the ThanksLiving ones!

Fast forward to the mid-2000's and there I was at the boat parade with Jesse's family, watching for Justin on his father's boat taking part in the parade. We were freezing!!  We sat on the porch at a restaurant from where we had our dinner, and after the parade, we walked over to the Times Union Center for a free concert by a semi-local band. For Christmas that year, Pam gave me a CD of their music. It was an unexpected day and event, and this memory came back to me as I thought of Paul and Emily making theirs.

A year or two after that, Justin, our friend, Olivia, and I were at the tree lighting ceremony on a lovely evening. Her folks, Owen and Sandy, came downtown to meet up with us, and we ended up at a sushi place upstairs overlooking the river. They had stand heaters on the porch but eventually it got too chilly for us outdoors so we moved inside. Twice Sandy ordered a sushi tray, NOT an inexpensive purchase, and the four of them just dined away. I did not eat sushi since we'd eaten dinner in the restaurant below the sushi place, so I was all set to simply enjoy the company. We sat there for a couple hours and had such a good time doing so. I don't think Justin drove yet so that means I must have driven us down there. Those details escape me but I do remember the impromptu fun had at The Landing on this weekend in past years. People come and go from our lives but at least some of the memories live on...

Friday after ThanksLiving

Much of my time on Wednesday was spent making ready for the gathering planned at my home on ThanksLiving Day. I'd work a little while and then take a break, work and then take a break, to spare my back. I'm like a turtle, slow and steady wins the race. I got my table all dressed, pulled folding chairs from the closet (had to put them all back again when our number changed). Put up the folding table to place at the end of my dining table so we could all set together. 

Justin and I were both going to be working in the kitchen but alas, due to our heavy rains the previous couple days, he had to go to work to make up for it. They didn't miss work those days but didn't make the progress they'd expected to due to the weather.  He was tired when he got home but had a chance to rest before leaving for church at Victory. 

Once at church, being the first ones there, Stephanie came to sit with us. Erica is in WI visiting her grandma, and frolicking in the snow.  It was so nice to see our old friends and acquaintances that we don't see as often since we don't worship there on Sundays any longer. Also got to see some of our Thursday Bible study friends. We worshiped and sang marvelous hymns accompanied by Rachel on the organ...such an amazing organist. Stephanie made a special dessert with me in mind---bars made with raisins using a recipe her mom read her over the phone. Reminded me of those from Shady Lane Home. That was nice! The fellowship consisted of pies and other similar desserts, and good company.

I was exhausted last night after cleaning up from our feast but at least the kitchen and dining room were presentable. I rested the evening away with the heat pad easing my bones and finally decided to just go to sleep. My boy, on the other hand, was out and about with Jesse. They went to Jesse's dad's house at the Beach, where both boys used to live. Justin then spent the night at Jesse's but I didn't know it. I had to laugh at myself because I was holding off emptying the dishwasher and refilling because I didn't want to wake him. And then he wasn't even home!! I figured that out around noon...Jesse and he are making their moms a Christmas gift so they were working on that this a.m.

Last night they stopped in at Wal*Mart just to see what it was like. First, they had to park at an adjoining lot in order to get to the store. Next, they found the lines in the check-outs on ThanksLiving night to be all the way to the back of the store. The lines, according to him, were as long as at Disney. They bought nothing. The customers seemed to have vouchers in hand which secured for them the desired gift for pick up at another time. Still a long time to wait in line, if you ask me, and for Justin 'n Jesse!

Today was a quiet, at-home day for me. I worked on the church newsletter, having contributions being submitted in dribs and drabs. Saturday is my planned publication date and just tonight got a few sentences from Michael for the preschool. He is busy with the budget committee plus paperwork for the license for the preschool. I assured him I can make an article out of what he sent me. After that is done I might, just might, work on getting my desk cleared off! The bane of my existence, my cluttered desk...ugh!

Our time of ThanksLiving

The morning began with Justin busy in the kitchen making his dinner rolls for our feast. When I ventured out to see how he was doing, I had the privilege of cleaning up the mess left behind. I am all about it, enjoy the task of putting everything back to right in my kitchen. Justin came up with the idea of using the little tool from Pampered Chef for cleaning the stone baking sheets to remove the residue on the counter from rolling out his dough. It worked to get the big stuff off but the somewhat gummy feeling the counter was going to take some work. I wiped it several times in the course of the day to try to get it smooth again. 

The fresh baked rolls didn't turn out quite the way Justin wanted them to but I liked them. He is going to keep trying recipes until he finds one the fits the bill.

Much of the prep was done the day before for my foods and I spent the time before worship to dish up my cranberries and relishes, etc. and get them ready for the table. Justin and I sort of waited until the last minute to start getting ourselves ready and we both got showered and ready for church in less than 20 minutes. Time in the kitchen flies by! We looked nice for church, not the least bit rushed. 

Dee had offered to pick up the turkey for us. Justin and I were responsible for some of the foods. I had mixed up the green beans casserole, mixed up a corn souffle using a new recipe, prepped the ham for cooking, brushing a brown sugar glaze over it, plus mashed the potatoes. They gave me a terrible time----wanting to climb up the beaters and out of the top of the bowl. As my niece once described my mashed potatoes:  "sticky, but good!" All things were ready!

When we got home after church I got everything out (forgot to mention my cranberry Jell-O made yesterday) and what needed to be baked went into the oven. Justin had done his rolls ready but needed to prep his mini-apple pies. There was no room in the oven for them until all was on the table so he got them ready and popped the pans in when we sat at the table. When the folks started arriving, it was a flurry of food and folks, pies and wine and gifts!

Justin took this photo of us at the table, minus Donald who was in the kitchen carving the bird. From left are Martha, Dee, Helen, Matthew (married to Martha), Michael, Donald's chair, me, Justin's chair, Julia (married to Michael), Jacko (Martha's son), Nadia, and Lorese. The three younger ladies are sisters. There mom and other sister cancelled due to the youngest sister being ill. Our number went from 14 to 12 to 13 and then to 12. This way all the plates were the same which for some reason meant a lot to me!  

We enjoyed our feast, with me being thanked for hosting about a dozen times. Part way through the meal my corn souffle finally set up enough to serve and we made a dent in it. We also had sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top and a squash casserole which Dee made, and Michael made two types of stuffing, one with oysters in it. We had three types of pie plus Justin's hot- from-the-oven individual apple pies made with crescent rolls. I think that's enough food, right? 

We sat around the table until about 4:30, so for 3 hours we enjoyed each other's company. In between Justin and I cleared away dishes and our guests followed my request to remain seated while we did so. My kitchen is too small to accommodate many people and I wanted them to just enjoy their time together. Dee was impressed with how neat everything was in the kitchen. That's the way I like it!

Ready to cook!

This morning I ventured to the Island to start our shopping for the holiday feast. We didn't have Bible study this week so my Monday a.m. was free and I needed something to motivate me to get up and dressed. Publix did the trick! Justin and I compared the ads from both Winn Dixie and Publix to see which had the best prices, etc. They were pretty much a horse apiece and my choice was Publix. I know my way around there fairly well and had my list to avoid missing anything.

It wasn't crazy busy in the store and it seemed that I had a brand-new shopping cart. Was so pleased it rolled easily and went the same direction I was going. The soda was on special too which was icing on the cake. Justin and I had picked up some of our meal prep stuff last week when shopping the big sale at Target so I just had to fill in some blanks on the menu. A nice young lady helped me get my stuff to the car, and laughed she tried to fit 4 more cases of Diet Coke into the back of my already loaded with DC car. Yes, I have a problem and so does Justin!!  

We had a nice day today of 86 above zero, but up in WI my family and friends are enduring a snow storm. Linda was not able to watch The Five with me tonight because the snow accumulated on their satellite dish. She was waiting for Tommy get home to use their long-handled brush to clean off the dish. My sister who works at a state hospital reported that their pager system for communication went down which is NOT a good thing. The wards and such need to be able to contact each other and her in case of emergency, etc. Glad it came back up again for them. Justin came home from work sapped from the heat and humidity but at least he didn't have to scrape anything!

Tonight was a Board meeting here at our building. I wanted to be sure to attend since a civil engineer was going to present some ideas for our garage leaking problem. Yes, more water problems, but at least it's outside this time. Al, the engineer, was the first person 'we' met upon moving to FL. He was a classmate of our partner, Curt, and showed us around on our exploratory visit to OP. It was good to see him again, and brought back some fond memories for me. He told me once, upon seeing me in a restaurant, that he usually heard me before he saw me, my tell-tale laugh gave me away. I reminded him how his oldest daughter used to baby sit for Justin...wow, we go back a long way!  And now he is nearly my neighbor and might see each other more often. I don't mind that one little bit!

A long day for me

It was a long day for several of us, with me just a short while ago getting home from a worship meeting at church. Apparently we are in a time crunch now to get our 'Vision' stuff ready to be presented to the leadership before the next quarterly meeting. I would personally like to talk this stuff to pieces, it's so very important, and fear making a mistake in our determinations. Sigh...We have one whole 'big idea' we haven't touched on yet but hope to do so in the New Year. It's about Bible studies and I am all about that!

I am envious of Linda and some of my family as they have up to 5 opportunities, depending upon the week, for Bible study. Linda goes on Sunday morning, Monday nights to help with the Hmong class, Tuesday afternoon with a lay leader, Thursday evening with the same lay leader but different subject matter, plus every other Friday and Saturday mornings, one with Pastor and one with a lay leader. Mom and Lynn join her on Sunday, Friday, and Saturday for those classes. They are so blessed with study opportunities!

Back to my day---It began with Bible study and worship on this Christ the King Sunday. It's hard to believe we are facing the new year already---Advent! Justin was able to join our regular group, minus Terri and Betty, for lunch at Chili's this week, watching the Jaguar game once home. It was hard to watch but at least the Packers won. Gretchen didn't come to church today. She rides now with Ethel and Darwin, and since they were staying for the soup pot luck which was after worship, she knew she wouldn't get home in time to watch the game. Oh, that Gretchen!

I had my homework done for the meeting tonight but took the time to try to organize the paperwork so I know what is what. In speaking earlier in the week with Kristi, we shared our being buried in papers for this project, and not being sure of what to keep and what to toss. I think I got it figured out. Print outs of other reference materials I collect have been marked with post-it notes so I can pull out what I need to help with my case. Didn't get to do much of that tonight as much is already pretty cut 'n dried. But, I encouraged Kristi, our official note taker, to make sure she wrote "let the record show..." as I stressed that my name is going to affixed to this final document. When I was leaving the church, I texted Justin to let him know, telling him I'll just have dessert and a strong drink when I got home. I gave it my best!

Fabulous brisket

Oh, my goodness, such great brisket! Nancy W and I went to the newly opened 4Rivers BBQ place which opened where the Quincy's used to me on Hwy. 17. Justin and I had gone there on Wednesday but it was too busy, lines snaking around the building, so we went home to eat the beef roast I'd made. This time the line was shorter and the weather more pleasant than Wednesday evening. It was well worth the wait!

The way the meat is ordered and served is somewhat unique. The customer orders at the counter and the server writes the order on the brown paper lining the food tray. One orders the brisket either moist or dry, and I chose moist, which means the opposite of dry. My choice came with three sides so I had green beans, mac 'n cheese, and cole slaw. I could have other items but was mostly concerned about the brisket. The meat is just plunked down on the brown paper from which one eats from, but the sides come in foam cups. We got covers for the sides right away, especially me, knowing mine would go home with me. 

The dining room is lined with rows of tables with some booths around the perimeter, and seating outdoors as well. We found a place at a table and got settled in to devour our meals. Nancy took the chicken and was delighted with it, taking half home with her. I, however, ate every morsel of my brisket plus some of the paper it came on!!  Wow, words cannot express...I remember when Justin went the first time to the store on the Southside with Will and Bethany. He sat here in my room and simply gushed about it. Now I see why! 

Because this is the first week they are open, the manager was walking around, making sure we were all set. She told us this was the smoothest first week store opening they've ever had which is good news. I told her that I should have bought a double order because I loved it so much, and was told it is possible to order a second portion for a few bucks more. And she gave each of us a card for a free sandwich for our next visit. Can't go wrong with that! I cannot wait to go again!!

A day of remembrance and encouragement

Today is my dad's birthday, or would be, if he was alive. He would be 92 years old, something I cannot even imagine. He passed away from complications after a stroke when Timmy was about 5 months old. I remember talking to my sister, Lynn, on the phone, getting a report from her on Dad's condition. The doctor had told her Dad was doing better, showing improvement, that type of thing. A few hours later she called to report he was gone. What in the world? How could things have changed so dramatically in a few hours' time? Bob was 74 when he died and he never got to see Timmy. I'd send him letters and cards with pictures, some of which were still in his room at Shady Lane where he lived. Lynn did the lion's share of taking care of business for Dad and I am so thankful for that. 

When I was young, I used to spend lots of time with my dad in his workshop and on projects around the house. It was my job to put the nails the right way in the box, all the heads on one end, easier to grab and use that way. Now it all makes sense about my wanting things organized...my dad taught me that! This might also be why I like the smell of fresh cut wood. 

This afternoon I got a message from a friend from high school, who commented on my blog posting about dreaming of Timmy. Steve said, "Come on, Kimmer, quit spending time on the blog and finish your book!" Another friend, Judy, also from Manty, chimed in with her encouragement. Both seemed to think what I have to say will be valuable to others so I told them I'd make a New Year's determination to work on the book again. I know I've said that several times before but perhaps this time it will stick!  I am thankful for the encouragement and also thankful that Steve remembered my article in our high school's alumni newsletter back in 2005. Whew, that is a long time ago!