RIP laptop

Oh, how I hope I don't make too many boo boos in my typing tonight!!  I have had to resort to using the nice iPad Mini that Justin gave me for posting because it seems my little laptop has quit. Not entirely DOA but for some reason it will not connect to the Internet any longer. All day long it was doing this, which was VERY frustrating!!  Because it's cold over by the windows where my desk is located, I am more comfortable on the bed. I am most grateful for the Ipad, please understand this, but I am so much more comfortable with my laptop. 

My IT guy, Justin, has told me the rule of thumb for computer life is approximately one year for each $100 spent on it. My research shows me this one, which was already a refurbished machine, is about three and half years old, so it's right there to be fading. Justin bought me a snap-on keyboard for this iPad to make typing much easier. There are some features on the iPad which I cannot do but that might be a training issue. What I might be able to do now is print using blue-tooth from my iPad which for some odd reason I can't do from the laptop. According to Justin's tech experts, it's a crap shoot as to whether or not that feature will work or not. In this case, the answer was no. Perhaps it will be yes from the iPad, a newer device. 

This morning when I went to Bible study at Victory, I arrived in the parking lot to find Pastor H. kneeling next to a car, changing the tire. He was wearing a suit and didn't get a speck of dirt on himself, amazingly. Rita had given him a cloth shopping bag to kneel on to protect his slacks. Later I learned the car belonged to a mom of a student in the pre-k. She was glad for the help since her husband is out of town at this time. Victory is a full-service church, that's for sure!

In other news, my hometown is all over the news, nationally, after being featured on a so-called documentary. A convicted murderer from over a decade ago is painted with a brush which makes the case look as though he is innocent. I know from family and friends that the County is tired of this case, and I am sure the family of the murdered young woman is just sick about this sympathetic look at this salacious case. They have my sympathies, as does the County and the officials yet in office. Reportedly some of them have had death threats and such after folks have seen the series on NetFlix, which is incredible and awful. I am usually proud of my hometown and hate to see it being maligned on a national level. Hope it is short-lived. 

p.s.  As of January 8th, the little laptop is alive and kickin', able to once again connect to the Internet! It's a blessed day!!! 

From the Quakers

Live beneath your means. 

Return everything you borrow. 

Stop blaming other people. 

Admit it when you make a mistake. 

Give clothes not worn in 3 years to charity. 

Do something nice and try not to get caught. 

Listen more talk less. 

Every day take a 30 minute walk. 

Strive for excellence, not perfection. 

Be on time.

Don't make excuses. 

Don't argue. 

Get organized. Be kind to people. 

Be kind to unkind people. 

Let someone go ahead of you in line. 

Take time to be alone. 

Reread your favorite book. 

Cultivate good manners. 

Be humble. 

Realize and accept that life isn't fair. 

Know when to keep your mouth shut. 

Go an entire day without criticizing anyone. 

Learn from the past. 

Plan for the future. 

Live in the present. 

Don't sweat the small stuff. 

It's all small stuff.

-from a Quaker newsletter

Epiphany today

It seems my electronics have recovered from whatever it was vexing them much of yesterday. Can't help but think it was weather/wind related. Or they just needed a good rest, perhaps. Whatever the case, I am so glad we are up and running here again. Today is the day of Epiphany, remembering when the Magi traveled from the East to see the Christ-child. It's a special day in the church year and it's also a special day for my sister, Kerry. Her birthday!!!  

Kerry posed with a cut out of Aaron Rodgers at Festival

The other day Mom asked me for a picture of Justin and Dustin together. Oh, oh! I realized I had not taken any photos of our guests but thankfully my friend, Terri, had. She sent me a couple shots taken at Chili's when we went after church on Sunday. Lori accused me of milking my birthday but I was not the one who informed our waitress that I had just celebrated. And yes, I will milk this landmark birthday, perhaps for the entire year!  

I posted this photo of Lori and me as my profile picture on Facebook today. 

Poor Justin got soaked through and through today out in the nasty weather. He sent me a message early in his day to report that his so-called weather resistant jacket has failed him. It lost its super powers. I wonder if there is a way to restore its qualities. A sporting goods store might have what is needed. Certainly I feel badly for them having to work in this weather. Being that it is cool out, in the low 50's,  makes it that much more miserable for working outdoors. 

I was horrified to see/hear my hometown on The Five tonight. NetFlix has put out a so-called documentary from the view of the convicted murderer. The series apparently makes it look like a set-up or at the very least, a poorly put together case. The nation is abuzz about the series, and some are putting out a petition to free the convicted killer who basically butchered a young woman and burned her body in a fire pit. I don't know how or even why the county sheriff's department could pull something off like that and not be found out, but it brings great shame and embarrassment to my home county and the area. I am so not proud of some of the people interviewed or featured, not the cream of the crop of Manitowocians. I feel so badly for the young lady's family, having to relive the horror of that whole terrible mess. Hope it blows over quickly. 

A few catch ups

Sunday morning we had no Bible study again so we could all go to church together. David was leaving us, however, heading to Ocala to visit his elderly auntie, and then continuing on his way to the Orlando area where he'll be working the rest of the week.  Lori, Dusty, and I went in my car, and Justin in his truck, hesitant for Dusty to get all smelly or dirty in his truck. (Later, after lunch, Dusty did ride in the truck, but that was okay). 

After church our group went to Chili's and were able to secure the 'big table' which can seat 12. We had Judy, Betty, Terri, Mike S., Dusty, Justin, Lori, and me comfortably around the table. We were missing Michael who was house sitting and needed to attend to the lady in his charge. All of those at the table with me had been great helps with the party and clean up so I treated the whole bunch of 'em. I am that thankful for their help!  

The group sang Happy Birthday to me at Chili's (Judy and Betty shown here with the manager and host looking on)

After lunch, Justin and Dusty went over to Miller's Ale House to meet up with Jesse. They were going to watch the Jaguar game. Lori asked me about the shop where Nancy W. purchased the presents our one group gave me so we stopped in. She knew I wanted to watch the Jags game but I can sacrifice for the time with her. She loved the store, located only a block or two from home. 

Right inside the door to the shop is this giant chair. Lori told me it was a Kodak moment so she posed for me. She looks regal, don't you think?

Here Lori is modeling a conquistador helmet, standing next to a bust of David. I am so glad I didn't tell Nancy I liked that giant head or she would have gotten it for my birthday!! 

For my birthday, I had ordered a veggie tray from Publix for those who eat that type of thing. We left it at church Saturday for use today for a memorial service being held for one of our shut in members who passed away. I was glad to be able to contribute though we had very few family members/mourners who stayed to eat after the service. One of the family members helped with putting the table cloths away and folding up the tables, etc. He was waiting for the rest of his family to be ready to leave so pitched in. That was a great help to this than able bodied lady. In no time things were cleaned up and we were out the door. And still veggies were left for me to take home. I wonder if Nancy would eat them....

...and, they are gone!

This morning my faithful driver, Justin, got up with us to make sure our two remaining guests, Lori and Dusty, got to the airport. We all four had alarms set so no one would oversleep. Their flight was at 9:00 a.m. which Lori found far toooo early! Justin put a curse on me last night by suggesting that I likely would not sleep for fear of missing the alarm, and he was correct. I feel like I was awake for every strike of the clock so I've been dopey all day!

We got Lori and Dusty to airport in good time, they having printed off their tickets and pre-paid their luggage fees last night. As we were nearing the airport Dusty mentioned not having a winter coat. I thought he left it at my house but he said he hadn't brought one along. Excuse me? They left from Minneapolis and he had no coat? He told me he didn't need one there, because, get this, "It was warm, in the 40's..." Downright balmy!  Lori suggested he take a cab back to his apartment in MPLS instead of public transportation but he thought he'd be okay. She was riding with her friend, Lynn, also on their flight from JAX, back to Holmen. 

My friend from church, Danny, told me the Christmas trees were being marked down 75% today at Wal*Mart so we decided to head out there right away to see if we could secure a new tree. We stopped first at IHOP to have breakfast, which was oddly empty when we got there. Only a couple other people were eating with us. Justin thinks we goofed by not going to Grumpy's instead the food quality and prices were no match for Grumpy's, but IHOP is close to Wal*Mart. We looked at the greatly picked over trees and left empty handed. Guess we waited too long, but who'd have thought that January 4th was 'too late'?!

When we got home, we were both sleepy and decided to take a rest. I did some cleaning up in the kitchen first because that's what I do. My neighbor, Kay, stopped by and I returned a jar to her plus gave her a slice of birthday cake. She greeted me with a 12 pack of Diet Coke, dropped off very recently by my friend, Bob, who was sick the night of my party. That rascal, he had to see me in the kitchen but sneaked away without being spotted. Thanks, Kay, for bringing it to my kitchen for me!  

Terri sent me this photo taken yesterday at Chili's. Lori and me posing together. I have few photos of us together for some strange reason. Thanks, Terri! 

Tonight, after having had a nice rest, I have Ladies' Group at church, right out of the chute to start the new year right. Fortunately, just after Christmas, Janet B. agreed to be president, which was a great relief to me since I was going to be both president and sec'y. somehow or another. Yikes! 

My birthday party

Yesterday was my 60th birthday celebration. The day began early with David, Dustin, and Justin heading off to the movie theater for the 9:00 a.m. showing of "Star Wars". They had all seen it at least once before, but....Oh, well, it's something I don't quite understand. I rousted Lori from the warmth of her bed to go have breakfast with me at Grumpy's and then we went to the Dollar Tree to get the decorations for the party. When we got home, Lori went to lie down for a while, having not slept well the night before. I was, of course, apprehensive about getting stuff ready to go in time but seemed to be alone in that concern. I'll jump ahead and let you know it did pull together and we entertained about 50 guests at my church in the Fellowship Hall. 

Here am I posing with my cake, made by my friend, Betty. The candles had blinking lights in them. What a delicious cake it was!

 As guest began to arrive, my sister, Lori, and her family were good about engaging them in conversation. Lori had nicely picked up a couple bags of cheese curds, one for the party and one for my friend, Ollavan, who is shown talking with Lori. Also shown is Dusty with Patty and her daughter, Katie. Seated see Jackie, OJ, Betty, and Judy C.

Thanks to Terri T. for taking pictures of the room, trying to catch as many guests as she could. She is just a doll for doing this, and for helping out in so many other ways!

Mike S., Justin and I sat down to eat with my friends Bill, Nancy M. and Nancy W. 

(Click the photo to see it larger) Justin took this photo of the room using my camera's panoramic feature. On the left side of the photo, foreground, see my neighbors Joe and Rose across from Dusty and Lori.  On the far side, left corner, see more neighbors, Debbie and Dick, and Tracy.

Thanks to Brenda for the idea of getting the four of us together for a photo! OJ made this lovely wreath we posed in front of: Robin C., me, Betty G., and Brenda N. The two on the right worked for/with me at Rosewood and Robin worked there after I was no longer involved. We've remained friends and look forward to get togethers as often as we can make it happen. 

Justin and I posed together as well (I wish I'd thought to remove his name tag first....)

As I was opening my presents, my friend and neighbor, Debbie came up to 'roast' me. Instead of insults, she said loving and kind things about me. I was so moved and deeply touched. I must spend the rest of the year living up to her accolades. Marlena is behind me, filling her plate. 

Happy New Year!

Boy, trying to find something to eat around here is not easy on a holiday!!  My houseguests like to sleep later in the morning than do I and knowing this, I didn't really plan much as regards breakfast. My brother-in-law, David, did get up earlier today thinking this morning was the day they were going to the movies for 9:00 am. Nope, that's tomorrow since we don't have near enough stuff to do already!!  He went back to bed for a while and then came out to enjoy a cup of coffee or two, refusing my offer of making some toast. He did have some orange juice as well. David is able to work from here so he did some of that before the rest of the family got up. 

Justin and Dustin are sharing his room, and I am not sure what time Justin got in last night. My family had gone to St. Augustine to enjoy the sights and watch the fireworks which was scheduled for midnight, obviously, but they came home instead of staying for them. It seems they were being launched from a site 5 miles away and since they'd been there all afternoon and evening, they decided to just head back. I was already in bed and sleeping and never heard them come in. NyQuil is good about that!  

Once the gang was all up and ready to go, we headed out in both cars to have late breakfast or lunch at Grumpy's. The bad news is---they were not open!  So, Plan B was to try La Napolera to have a nice lunch, but, alas, they also were closed. Nuts!!  Justin and I did notice that Sonny's BBQ was open so we grabbed it, not really an ideal choice, I thought, but I thought wrong!! They loved it, absolutely loved it, especially after I introduced them to corn nuggets. Good thing we ordered two appetizers of nuggets because they went quickly. All enjoyed their meals and Lori and Dusty particularly loved the freshly brewed coffee which was made just for them. Who drinks coffee at a bbq place???  

Once finished eating, Lori mentioned that Dusty wanted to see downtown JAX and asked if it was okay for them to do that. Absolutely it was fine to go exploring. As it happened, their good friend, Lynn, from their town, had flown to JAX on the very same flight (and will fly back together again, too!) as her son is part of the marching band that will play at the GatorBowl today. They were able to find each other in the crazy time which is The Landing, as the bands were taking turns marching around down there. I love it that they found each other, even for a little while. 

I took care of some preparations for the party tomorrow including setting a couple Jell-Os and made a double batch of baked beans. Justin loves Jell-O and it was made at his request. Of course, I've been fussing and fretting, worrying that all be ready to go for the party. So many details to take care of, timing of events for getting over to church and set up. I have lists, lists, and more lists for who does what and from where it comes, etc. Helps me to keep the ducks in a row to write it down---several times!  Because of their going to the movies (to see Star Wars yet again!!) I am concerned about the time element but oh well....

David suggested we order pizza for dinner and play a board game. Perfect idea! Justin has coupons for Papa John's Pizza, official pizza of the Jaguars. It would be only the three of us since Justin and Dusty were joining some others at Whitey's. At first there was talk of all of us going as one of Justin's favorite entertainers was playing, but I really didn't think it was a good idea for me to sit out in the cold and damp with this goofy head cold. Lori tried to persuade me until David came up with the idea of the pizza and games. I found the "Seinfeld" trivia game which I love playing and we just put the disc in and let the questions come up. Didn't use the board at all which is good since I never played it that way! The guys came home earlier than I expected, and answered a few questions with us. Fun fun fun!

The Schippers are quite taken with Public TV and radio, and tonight were thrilled that the season premier of "Sherlock" is on. I am fine with my laptop in the family room while they enjoyed their program. I think Justin is watching, too, while also on his device. They also like "Downton Abbey" which is PBS plus a another TV show called "Fargo" which others in my extended family enjoy. I know all about it now since I heard them talking about it at ThanksLiving when I was up in WI. A nice, quiet night before the flurry of activity tomorrow! And I rule the "Seinfeld" game!!