Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Catching Up Continued

Okay - let's see I finished Wednesday. Thursday was Bible study. All went well in the morning session until the VHS tape decided not to run with about 10 minutes left. We had gotten the main points of Beth's lesson so we called it a morning. I asked the ladies to pray for the evening session that the tape would not jam again. I fast forwarded and rewound the tape multiple times and it seemed to be okay. We headed home. We came back for the evening session. Because a number of ladies were not able to make it, we decided just to play the tape and skip the discussion of the homework. We started the tape and about 10 minutes into the tape, it wound itself around the player heads and jammed tight. It wouldn't go forward or rewind. I tried to eject it and it wouldn't eject! ARGHHH!! Dan managed to get the tape out of the player but the tape broke in the process. So, Bible study was considerably shortened (1 hour instead of 2-1/2). The tape breaking wouldn't be an issue except there is another group doing the same study starting October 10th. What we decided to do was to purchase another copy of the study - it is now out on DVD (YEAH!!).

Friday morning we drove up to Brandon and purchased the new set. Right after we got home, it was time to head to the senior center and scrapbook class. The ladies are really inquisitive and ask good questions. They are busy organizing their heritage photos and deciding on layouts. The evening crop party is disappointing. I don't know if it's fall activities or lack of interest. The last 2 months no one has shown up so I am going to put a notice in the bulletin that the crop night has been cancelled. With the holidays coming up, I don't see attendance increasing or coming back. I may try again in the spring, but we'll see.

Saturday Rick and Csilla and their girls and David and Kyndall and Hayley arrived about 2:00. As soon as they got here, they changed and headed for the pool. We swam (played) for a little while and then got out, changed and ate dinner. Aunti Vi was also here. After dinner we headed for the beach for sunset. It was a beautiful sunset and the girls enjoyed playing in the sand and water while the adults watched the sunset. After sunset, we headed for Sweetberries, a delicious frozen custard place.

Sunday was church. David and Kyndall (and Hayley) joined us at second service. We came home and grilled Italian sausage and then headed for the beach. We stayed at the beach until the afternoon thunderstorms chased us home about 4:00. After showers and cake and ice cream, they all headed back over to Sanford. It was a fun weekend but exhausting!

Yesterday was our first totally free day in over 2 weeks. We did not leave the house! I caught up on laundry and dishes and also did some studying. Today is another quiet day. We have a few errands to run but otherwise a quiet day.

I think that pretty well catches everything up.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Catching Up

Well, I finally have time to breathe. Let's see where to start. Last Thursday was Bible study. We had good sessions both morning and evening. Friday we left for Tennessee about 1:00PM. We planned to only go as far as Macon on Friday and then the rest of the way on Saturday. It really helped to split the drive up - 400 miles on Friday and then 300 on Saturday. We got to the hotel about 8:30 and had a good night's sleep. Saturday we finished the drive and arrived at Mom and Dad's about 1:30 PM Tennessee time (CDT). Mom planned to start dinner about 3:00, but about 2:30 PM the electricity went off and didn't come back on until about 5:00 -too late to make what Mom had planned. So we went to downtown Crossville and ate at a new restaurant - Dickie's Bar-B-Que. It was delicious. By the time we got home it was about 7:30. We talked about going to church the next morning, but Mom and Dad didn't want to since there is a bug going around and Mom was afraid of catching something.

Sunday morning when we woke up, we went out to the family room where Dad was sitting and sang "Happy Birthday" to Dad. His smile was so wide it could have lit up New York City. I can honestly say I have never seen my Dad with that big a smile! Mom said "oh, I forgot it's your birthday" and she was dead serious! We didn't do anything special, but we did go to the Country Club for lunch. It is always nice there and the food was really good. After lunch, we headed home and just "hung out" until it was time to leave.

We left Mom and Dad's about 6:30 PM to head back down to Macon. We got to the hotel about 11:30 and headed for bed. We wanted to get a good night's sleep as we had a long day ahead of us. We also wanted to stop at Warner Robins Air Force Base where they have an aviation museum. We weren't planning on spending too much time there since if it was a decent museum (it was - more on that later), we would be making a return trip and if it wasn't - nothing ventured, nothing gained - it was definitely on the route home.

The museum itself was phenomenal - it had lots of planes and very well done displays. They currently are building a WWII hangar with plans to have a major WWII exhibit. Many of the planes were in the museum's 3 buildings (2 of them huge hangars) but many more were on display outside. The museum covers 51 acres and is definitely worth a return visit. We got home Monday evening about 7:30 and unloaded the car and crashed - we were exhausted!

Tuesday, I spent the day studying for Bible study on Thursday. I knew with Leonard coming in that afternoon, I would have no prep time at all Tuesday evening or Wednesday and of course I had to be ready to go at 9:30 Thursday morning. Leonard arrived about 5:00 and we immediately left for dinner. Leonard wanted to go to Carrabas' and they don't rush through dinner. In fact we didn't finish and get home until 8:30. We sat and visited for a short time and then headed for bed.

Wednesday morning we got up and worked on catching up on stuff that I hadn't had time to do (like laundry!). Of course Wednesday is our normal shopping day with Aunti Vi, so I called her to make sure she wanted to go out. Leonard planned for all of us to go to a local Amish restaurant for dinner. Since she was going out for dinner, she didn't want to go shopping - she was afraid of getting too tired. So Dan and I picked up her groceries and went down and visited with her for a short time. When we got home, Leonard was sitting on the lanai and I asked him how the business at the bank had gone (the reason for his trip this time was to gain access to his dad's safe deposit box which was where his dad's will was). He said I didn't want to know - it turns out that this was an unnecessary trip. The bank had refused him access when his dad died - said he wasn't on the signature card. However, in checking further he was on the safe deposit box contract which meant he could have had access when he came down right after his dad died. Obviously he was livid and NOT a happy camper. We went out to dinner and had a lovely dinner. Leonard took Aunti Vi home and Dan and I headed to church for choir.

Well, that catches up through Wednesday. More on the rest of the week later.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

No time to breathe!

I figured I'd better write something because for the next 10 days, we are going to be busier than busy.

Tomorrow is Bible study which means leaving the house at 8:45 AM getting home about 1:00 and then leaving again at 5:30 PM. Friday we're heading to Tennessee to be with Grandpa and Grandma to celebrate Grandpa's birthday on Sunday. He'll be 92. We'll get back home Monday night. Tuesday, my cousin Leonard is coming down to hopefully settle his dad's estate. He had to wait for a court order to allow access to Uncle Len's safe deposit box which is where his will is! Uncle Len never put Leonard on the safe deposit box signature card so the only way to get access to it was to go through the courts. Leonard will be staying with us until Thursday morning. While Leonard is busy with the attorney and courts on Wednesday, we'll be taking Aunti Vi shopping and then choir in the evening. Thursday of course is Bible study and somehow/someway I have to find time to study and prepare. I'm going to take my stuff with me and hopefully study in the car on the way up and down from Tennessee. Friday (October 5th), is my scrapbook day - teaching in the afternoon and hosting the crop party Friday night. Saturday morning Rick, Csilla and the girls will be over as well as Kyndall,David and Hayley who are arriving in Orlando Thursday. They want to come over and see our home and go to the beach. So, as Rick says, we will have 7 extra mouths to feed next weekend.

I'll try to post during the week and blog happenings, but I'm not anticipating a lot of free time.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Bible study last night --

Neat sharing at Bible study last night -

One of the ladies has trouble trying to picture things - she says she has no imagination. Beth Moore wrote a description of Christ in the study (Jesus the One and Only) and wanted us to maintain this picture throughout the study (muscular, dark skinned, dark almond eyes, etc.). She really struggled with that because of her lack of imagination, so she prayed and asked the Lord to somehow help her picture what Christ may have looked like. She promptly forgot her request, she had given it over to the Lord. Two days later, as she was walking from the out patient clinic to her office at the hospital, "something" made her turn around. She glanced around and there was a gentleman meeting the above description exactly and he was SMILING! She suddenly remembered her request and turned around to get a better look and he was gone! She couldn't see him anywhere! Talk about goose bumps! We all had them after she told us about this incident! An answer to her prayer!

Just one of the neat things happening in Bible study. Yesterday, in the morning session we had the most wonderful season of prayer! The ladies also "voted" to have the morning session go until 12:00 (morning Bible study starts at 9:30 AM). They said 11:30 just didn't give them enough time! The evening session already goes from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

Also today I had a call from a lady in Sarasota. She had just finished Beth Moore's book "Get Out of the Pit." She is now hungry for Bible study so she called Living Proof in Nashville and they gave her my name and phone number. She will now be joining us in the evening study!

This afternoon we went out to the gulf to watch the waves. With the tropical depression off to our northwest, the winds are coming out of the south. The waves are breaking at 4-6 feet. They are just beautiful! The beach patrol is flying double red flags which means the water is closed to the public, but there were still many people playing in the waves. I'm glad I'm not a lifeguard!!!!

Monday, September 17, 2007

Busy week

Last week flew by and I didn't have time to post. Monday and Tuesday I spent catching up on housework and then studying for Bible study on Thursday. Wednesday we took Aunti Vi shopping and taking care of things she needed done. Thursday was Bible study morning and evening. Friday was Uncle Len's memorial service. Before the service, we all met at a restaurant on the Manatee River and had a lovely dinner. All of my cousins were here so there were 17 of us at dinner (Charlotte's husband was the only one not able to come). Rick came over from Sanford. Uncle Charlie and his lady friend Vida were here and of course Aunti Vi. Leonard and Ruth of course were here as were their 3 children (David, Cheryl and Karen - Karen's husband was also here). My dad and mom were the only ones not there, but dad is still gun shy about traveling with mom. It was fun to see everyone - the cousins hadn't been together since Thanksgiving 2004. Unfortunately, my cousin Leonard was feeling less than stellar and thought he was coming down with the flu. However, I just had an e-mail from Lenore and she says Leonard has had a 103 degree fever since he was here and the doctors are now testing him for Lyme disease. The memorial service was wonderful. We sang 3 of Uncle Len's favorite hymns and his pastor delivered a wonderful message.

Today was Rick's birthday. We drove over to Orlando so we could have dinner together. We went to Giordano's pizza and then over to Lake Buena Vista so the girls could get ice cream at Ghiardelli's. We got a table right by the lakeside so we were able to watch boats come and go on the "Sassagoula River" (a waterway created by Disney connecting Dixie Landings and The Marketplace). We had a good time playing with the girls and visiting with Rick and Csilla.

Tomorrow we'll be taking Aunti Vi shopping. There are some grocery specials she wants to take advantage of and the sale is up tomorrow - a slight change in our weekly routine. Wednesday is choir and Thursday is Bible study. So far, Friday is open, but I'm sure something will come and fill it up!

While we were over in Orlando, I went to a new scrapbook shop in Kissimmee - Mouse Memories. I had ordered from their website (www.mousememories.com), but I wanted to see their retail store. It is loaded with Disney stuff, but also has a wide variety of other scrapbook supplies including Sea World, cruise themed, Lego and much more. I will visit there again when we are over in that area!

While I think of it, we are going on a scrapbook cruise November 10-15. It should be fun. I'm looking forward to the scrapbooking and learning new techniques in classes but I'm also looking forward to our ports of call - Grand Cayman Island and Calica, Mexico. We've never been to either place. We're also looking forward to 2 entire days of sailing - no ports of call - just the great big blue ocean. It will be interesting to see how Carnival cruises compare to Disney cruises. We sail out of Tampa which is a huge plus. We won't need to drive far to get to the ship.

Well, I best close - it's approaching midnight and I am getting tired!

Monday, September 10, 2007

This weekend

This weekend was fun and rewarding! Saturday, I got an e-mail from Lenore (my cousin Leonard's daughter-in-law, wife of Uncle Len's grandson David)asking questions about people and dates for pictures she was trying to scrapbook for Uncle Len's memorial service Friday. When Uncle Len moved out of his house in 2004, my cousin Leonard had taken all of Uncle Len's old pictures intending to work with Lenore on identifying who was who and when the pics were taken. Since Leonard hadn't had time to work with her, she wrote me describing the people in the pictures and what they were wearing. By finding comparable pictures in the heritage album I had done, I was able to give her dates of pictures and what the occasions were. This just reinforces what a valuable and rewarding hobby scrapbooking is!

We didn't go to church Sunday morning since we weren't sure what time Csilla and the girls were going to be arriving. Once they got here, Taylor couldn't wait to show me her new scrapbooking case that she had gotten for her birthday! Prior to this, her scrapbooking stuff was in an old laptop computer case. Now it's all organized in a wheeled bag that so far she is able to pull. If it gets much heavier, she may have trouble balancing herself and the case. Many of her birthday gifts from her party on Saturday were also scrapbook related. We gave her a Creative Memories 12 inch straight edge cutter (Taylor was so cute - when we were packing up her stuff she asked if she was going to leave her straight edge trimmer here - I said no it was hers to take home - she said she didn't want to because Ashley might take it and get hurt! Csilla and I assured her it would be kept in the box so Ashley would have trouble getting to it). We scrapped for about 1-1/2 hours, completing the pages from her 7th birthday party last year.

One of the reasons Csilla and the girls came over here was because Taylor wanted to go to the beach. So after scrapbooking, we headed to the beach. We had a great time! The gulf water is 88 degrees and yesterday there were gentle waves. Taylor was in the water for the entire 3 hours we were there. She said "this beach is better than Daytona and New Smyrna beaches (beaches on the Atlantic side) combined!" We had been to this beach with them 3 other times, but Taylor was too young to remember. Ashley was so tired she fell asleep in my arms (I was sitting in a chair on the beach). After holding her for about 45 minutes my arm was sound asleep so I laid her down on a towel on the sand. She slept for about 1-1/2 hours. We finally managed to "drag" Taylor out of the water and headed home. After a dinner of Publix fried chicken, mac and cheese and a tossed salad, we celebrated Taylor's b'day with an ice cream cake. It was a great day! We live so close to the beach, but except for sunsets, we have only been to the beach to swim once since we moved down here!

Today is going to be a quiet day - it's cloudy and threatening to rain, so we'll probably just hang out here at home and maybe go grocery shopping. I also need to spend time studying for Thursday's Bible study.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Fall Schedule Starts

Well, I can tell it's the week after Labor Day - our fall schedule has kicked in big time! Saturday, Eric and Sarah called and asked if they could come over Labor Day for swimming and scrapbooking. We had nothing special planned so we said come on over. They got here about 3:30 and stayed until 10:00. We had a good time swimming and then got some scrapbooking done. Tuesday we relaxed and then Wednesday Aunti Vi called and said she didn't feel up to going shopping so could we pick up her groceries. So we did and then we went down and visited with her for a little while. By the time we got home, we only had an hour before we had to leave for choir. After choir, we picked up a pizza. Once home, we ate and then watched the introductory video session for "Jesus the One and Only."

Thursday morning we headed for church about 8:45 to get set up for Bible study which started at 9:30. We had 7 ladies there and 4 were absent (they told me they were going to be gone). The first session is always a little shorter since we don't have homework to discuss so we finished about 11:15. We got home and ate lunch and relaxed until it was time to head for church again at 5:45 for the evening session. We had 8 ladies in the evening session - what was so exciting is 2 of the ladies found the Bible study on Beth's website (www.lproof.org)! 3 other ladies are "non-Bethelites" who heard about the study "through the grapevine." We had a great time sharing and finished about 8:15. After a busy day, I got home and collapsed!

Today was scrapbooking day - afternoon at the senior center and then tonight at church. There are two faithful ladies at the senior center and it's fun helping them organize their photos and give them ideas for their scrapbooks. Their main objective is to get the photos in a scrapbook and labeled with who are in the pictures. One of the ladies is a retired missionary from the Ivory Coast. She wants to do 4 scrapbooks - one of her life growing up, one of her going to Africa, one of her life in Africa and then one of her retirement and return in 1999. She has many hundreds of pictures that she is organizing. The other lady is single and wants to get her heritage pictures in albums for her nephews. She is concerned because she has been given the responsibility to identify every one in the pictures and get them in a scrapbook. She's feeling frustrated and overwhelmed right now because she has so many pictures. I have tried to reassure her that she's on the right track and she can't expect to get everything done overnight. Tonight the only one who showed up at church was the retired missionary. She brought more pictures and we talked about what ones to include in what album. She left about 8:00 so it was a relatively early night.

Tomorrow nothing is planned. I'm figuring on using the day to catch up on stuff that I've let go this week. Sunday, Csilla and the girls are coming over to celebrate Taylor's birthday with us. Rick has a woodworking demonstration so he won't be coming. Csilla is planning on arriving about 11:00 which will give us a chance to go to church. As soon as they get here, Taylor wants to do some scrapbooking with me. After that Taylor wants to go to the beach. Csilla is planning on heading home about 6:00. It will be a full day but fun.

Monday and Tuesday, I'm going to need to do some heavy cramming for Bible study next week. Besides tomorrow those are the only 2 days I have this week to prep. Wednesday is shopping and choir as well as Leonard and Ruth and their daughter Karen arriving. Thursday is Bible study morning and evening. Friday is Uncle Len's memorial service. That brings us to Saturday which right now is open. I think we'll probably use it to recover from the previous 4 days!