Well, that was embarrassing...

I try hard to do things well, especially in front of other people, but sometimes things just don't work out the way I plan.  About once or twice a year I take my turn reading scripture during the 11am  service at my church. Today was my day, and I also read several parts of the liturgy.  All went well; people stood up when I told them to, read the responsive parts and generally did their part.  Until I read the scripture. There were actually two scriptures to read today, the first one was printed in the bulletin and I led the congregation in a responsive reading. The second one (blessedly short) I read. Everything seemed to go well - I didn't slip on the steps going up and down from the lecturn, I read what I had been given loudly and clearly and was feeling pretty good, and relieved, as I sat down. That is until the pastor, before he started his sermon, announced that what I had read was the wrong scripture and proceeded to read a completely different passage. In my defense I had read what was given to me by the staff person (not the pastor) who provides readers with a copy of what they are supposed to read and he did apologize to me after the service for giving me the wrong scripture. Ironically, right after the service a friend told me what a good job I done with my readings. You can bet that the next time I read I will double check the paper copy I'm given against my Bible. We live and learn.

A different kind of shopping spree

Every year I give each of my grandchildren a shopping spree for Christmas with a set dollar amount, lunch (my treat) and a full day of shopping with no nagging to hurry up and make a decision. The Three granddaughters all elected to have their shopping sprees within two weeks after Christmas and spent most of their time and money at Victoria's Secret, Claires and the book store. Today was different. After waiting for four months, my grandson decided that it was his turn and boy did we shop. After a very late brunch at IHOP (teenage boys do sleep late) we went to game stores, a book store, Home Depot, and Connoly's Do It Best. He bought game cards for his phone and laptop, an adult science kit, a soldering iron, electrical solder, pliers, wire cutters, and a few other small tools. To round out the day we spent a couple of hours roaming down memory lane at Science Central. What fun.

a different kind of sleep over

Tonight my only grandson, age 15, is staying over at my apartment.  This is a really different experience than when any or all of my granddaughters stay over, particularly in the area of TV viewing.  When the girls stay over we watch chick flicks on Net Flicks and sitcoms like "Friends."
This evening however we have watched "Undercover Boss"' "American Ninja Warrior" and, on Net Flicks the stand up comic Jim Gaffigan. I have never watched this guy before but he is hilarious. I will definitely watch more, even when my grandson isn't here. I always enjoy people who can see the humor in everyday things.

travel woes

Watching the "Amazing Race" gives me quick views of some of my favorite places. Tonight they were running around Milan, Italy which is a beautiful city and next Thursday they will be in Venice, my personal favorite European city. However, the show also reminds me of some of the travel misadventures my travel buddies and I have eperienced, like the time I got up in the night to discover that my roommate was sleeping in the bathtub because my snoring had been keeping her awake.  I'm happy to say that I have since resolved my snoring problem. or there was the time I tripped and fell flat on my face on a London sidewalk; that was bruising and embarrasing. Or the time a different roommate and I got lost in the pouring rain in Bethlehem. And yet I'm still very excited about the trips I have coming up in the next several months. Travel is such fun.

Rain, rain....

Well that was an exciting storm that just blew through. It's not often that you actually see the raim blowing sideways. I felt like I was standing on the deck of a ship, except the building wasn't moving, thank goodness. Of course, I should not have been standing at my silding glass door. The warnings always say stay away from windows, go to an inside sheltered area., but then you can't see the show. Actually when there are tornado warnings (this was only a severe thunderstorm warning) we are told to go to the lowest level which for me is the basement of theis building, 10 stories down. The problem I see with that plan is the possibility that the power could go out and I would be stuck in the basement unless I want to climb 10 flights of stairs. I really don't want even the possibility of doing that so I will continue to just stay put in my apartment where I can enjoy the show and the cool after breeze.

I thought I was teaching a life lesson.

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I pick up my youngest granddaughter after school and we usually get into some pretty interesting conversations as we drive home. As an eample, during the early part of our dirve this afternoon she explained to me her vision of Christianity as a tree with the trunk being the basic ideas of Christianity and the branches being the Catholic and many protestant variations. I though that was some interesting thinking for a 7th grader. But later, she spotted one of her teachers riding her bike through the Target parking lot (we took a slight detour home) and urged me not to hit her with my car. Since the teacher had ridden off in another direction that wasn't a likely problem and I said so. Then my granddaughter asked what if the teacher backtracked and rode up beside me. I replyed flippantly that she had better not run into me because in a car bike collision the car always wins. This is, I think, simply a truism but my granddaughter was astonished that I would say such a thing and thought I sounded really mean. I didn't mean to sound mean but maybe she'll think carefully before she rides her bike in traffic.

a walk in the park

Today was a beautiful day for a walk and I have a favorite walk that I like to take when I'm not going anywhere in particular. Particular walks I like are to the library or church, each of which is one mile going and a mile back. Today though I just did my one mile loop through the grounds of the old fort, over the foot bridge and through Headwaters Park. I took a picture of a beautiful redwood in blosom. Not only did this walk satisfy my need to get moving, it also answered a question. Not a very pressing question you understand but something I've been wondering about. I can see the fort from my apartment and durng the winter there was some strange orange fencing stretched out along the river.  Recently I've also been hearing some loud motor noises that are definitely not from the 18th century. Turns out the loud noises were produced when a few trees were cut down. I guess historic accuracy doesn't go as far as chopping down trees with an ax or cross saw. But concerning the river, today there was a helpful sign posted, explaining that the work being done was to stop the one foot a year erosion of the soil in the riparian area along the sides of the river. I was proud of myself because I actually knew what riparian meant, not because I have any great knowledge of soil erosion along river banks but because I used to teach about riparian ownership rights in real estate prelicensing classes.

another one bites the dust

Well, there goes another old wives' (or in this case old husbands') tale. We already know that the world is not flat. You won't fall off the edge if you sail over the horizon. Eating your spinache won't give you super strength and eating carrots won't make your hair curly. But now we also know that, if it rains on Easter Sunday, it will not rain on the next seven Sundays. Last Sunday, which was Easter Sunday, it rained but today, the first Sunday after Easter, was sunny and beautiful. Today was also, in our church and many others, Holy Humor Sunday and we had fun in church, dancing in the aisles, telling jokes, wearing silly hats, cartoons on the bulletin cover, and general rejoicing. After church a visitor approached me and said that she had taken pictures to share with her home church, also Presbyterian, in New York, Her comment "They won't believe the frozen chosen were dancing in the aisles." Maybe that's another old "truth" shattered.

boil water advisory????

The boil water advisory that has been in effect for the last day and a half was lifted this afternoon and it;s good to know that I can safely drink the water that comes out of my faucets again. However, it does make me wonder how many people actually boiled their drinking water. I did, but the way they explained it on TV an advisory is merely a suggestion that you might want to boil your water but they really didn't think there was any danger in drinking it. So why bother with an advisory? I suspect the powers that be were more interested in avoiding any possibility of a law suit if someone did get sick than a real concern for people's health.

mixed reviews

I attended a party at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art with friends this evening and it was fun as usual. However I came away with very mixed feelings about one of the major exhibits. Considering the subjects of the paintings and sculptures by artist Robert Williams, I suspect he would be please with mixed feelings. His work was, to put it mildly, bizarre. Weird monsters coexhist with puppets, pets and ordinary looking people. His technique is excellent; he's obviously a very skilled artist, but his subject matter was so very strange that after a whole room full of his works I was just tired of looking. On the other hand, an exhibit sponsored by AWS displayed original works by several well known artists including Pocasso and Warhol who overcame learning disabilities. There were some truly beautiful pieces in that display. Do go see the current exhibits ar FWMoA' just don't take Mr. William's work too seriously.

map misunderstandings

I was watching the 'reality show' the amazing race this evening. I love the scenery but cringe, sometimes at the lack of knowledge of the contestants. Of curse it might just be the pressure of the moment. They do seem to do a lot of running around. What made me wondrr about their map skills this evening was when one young lady pointed out to her partnerthat way was morth because she was holding a mao and the little arrow on the map was labled north. Her partner tried to point out that if she continued holding the map but turned around north would be in the opposite direction. He then tried to explain to her how a compass works, although he didn't seem to clear on that concept. Perhaps we should blame this directional disfunction on GPS systems. If you have a little voice that tells you "Turn right' turn left." you really don't need to know  north and south unless the system fails.  Is that what happened to our ship, reportedly on the way to North Korea, that ended up off the coast of Australia?

A radon test, really?

I thought I was finished with radon tests after I got out of real estate and sold my house, but not so.  The apartment complex where I live is evidently getting new financing (at least that's the most reasonable explanation I've heard). During the last few weeks we have had three apartment inspections. This is the first time in the almost two years that I've lived here that we've had apartment inspections. I don't mind the inspections.  I understand that any investor or financer would want to see the condition of the buildings. However, two days ago we received notice that they're doing radon inspections and everyone needs to keep their windows shut, fans off, etc. Now, I do understand the dangers of radon but I also know that radon is found in the lowests levels of houses. If a house has a basement you set up the test in the basement. If it's on a slab, then you test on the first floor. But I'm having a hard time imagining that they will find any trace of radon on the 10th floor. If they do, they have a real problem. I really can't imagine what radon abatement would look like in a 14 story building. The testing will be finished tomorrow. I doubt that we residents will ever hear the results. It will be interesting to see what comes next.

Bible Study Presbyterian style

I belong to a Women's Bible Study at my church which happens to be Presbyterian (PCUSA) by affiliation with a membership which is generally pretty liberal. Our weekly discussions tend to wander away from the assigned topic from time to time. Today we discovered that each of us in the group has at least one close relative or friend who is quite conservative and literal when it comes to their interpretation of the Bible. We all agreed that there have been many times when we have, or should have, bitten our tongues in respect to their opinions. One member of the group, Ady, one of the kindest people I know, declared that it is a wonder we don't all have cancer of the tongue, considering how many times each of us has had to bite ours. Personally I should bite my tongue more often. As a case in point, at Easter dinner this past Sunday, when one of my guests told the table that she had just been to see "The Ark Experience" in Kentucky and that it was huge and very impressive. I have seen pictures provided by another friend who visited the same site and I agreed that it looked very impressive. I should have stopped there but some times my mouth seems to just keep running even though my mind has disengaged. I said that I really don't believe that the Noah's Ark story in the Bible is literally true. With two grandchildren (who go to Catholic school) and two pastors at the table, my comment was met with resounding silence. What could I do? I not so subtly shifted the conversation to a whole different topic.  Will I never learn?

A little too wild life...

I've been enjoying the sounds of geese and birds from the safety of my balcony for the last several weeks but today beautiful weather and enough time finally combined to get me outside for a walk.  I walked along the river and it was a lovely day for a stroll. Lots of other bikers, runners and walkers agreed with me. Everything was lovely along the river except for the geese. They were actually lovely too, looking quite plump and well fed, but they were honking a lot. I just walked calmly on by but they didn't seem to be after people. There were two geese who seemed to be having a territorial dispute and several others had gathered around to watch the fun. The two were jumping over and around each other and running at each other, honking all the time. I'm not a naturalist but I'm pretty sure this wasn't a mating dance.  By the time I had walked on  by no blood had been shed, I don't think, but now, when I hear geese honking in the night I'll be wondering are they fighting or mating or playing? I think when they fly by at midnight I'll assume they're partying.

I think the curse is broken.

Happy Easter everyone. I'm writing this fast before anything can go wrong.  I hosted dinner this afternoon for some of my family and also invited our new pastor. I wrote a while back about the unfortunate things that have happened in the past when I have invited pastors to dinner. But so far, fingers crossed, everything has gone well. The dinner was good. Several people brought food. The conversation was fun and casual, we played a new game after dinner, and everyone said they had a good time. The guest pastor even took some leftovers home with him. So far, I have not had any calls about food poisoning or other dire problems so I'm putting this one in the success column.

The Ten Commandments

I'm watching that great old movie "The Ten Commandments" this evening. It's always shown sometime around Easter/Passover but this is the first year in  a while that I've actually taken the time to watch the whole thing. It's a great story, obviously, played out on the big screen with evil villains, 'super' heroes and some pretty impressive special effects considering how long ago it was made. When the movie first came our our in 1956 I was in 7th grade and our whole class (probably all the 7th and 8th graders) were taken on a field trip from our little Lutheran school in Woodburn to the Clyde theater in the big city of Fort Wayne to see "The Ten Cmmandments". Back then the Clyde was, I think, the largest, newest theater in Fort Wayne, with a really big screen and lots of turquoise in the decorating scheme (always one of my favorite colors). Needless to say it was the most amazing movie any of us had ever seen, and I was pretty sure this was exactly how the Bible story really happened. I do remember being absolutely terrified when the old lady got stuck behind the huge stone and was going to be crushed to death.  Tell the truth now, when you think of Moses, can you imagine the original looking like anyone other that Charlton Heston?

Help me check this out?

This evening on a local news show the weatherman (yes, he was a man, I'm not being politically insensitive) said that it will rain this Sunday which will be Easter Sunday. Then he went on to say that there is an old saying that if it rains on Easter Sunday it will rain for the next seven sundays.  I hadn't heard that statement for years but my father used to say every time it rained on Easter. He always said it with total conviction so I believed him.  Every time I tried to keep track though I usually forgot about it along about week three or so.  But not this year. I am going to see if this old saying checks out, that is if my PMA syndrome doesn't kick in.

Maybe it's my eyes but...

if organizations want me to come to their special events they should make the invitations easy to read. Ok, maybe my old lady grump is coming our her but I'm a little frustrated. In the last week I have received two mailings from the Fort Wayne Museum of Art that I find almost impossible to read. Don't ger me wrong.  I like FWMoA. I am a member and have attended some of their special events over the years. I even bought several Christmas presents in their gift shop last year. But, when I attend their receptions and other events I can't help but notice that most of those in attendance are around my age which means that at least some of them may have the same vision problems I have.  The two invitations I mentioned above are hard for me to read because of the colors used on the postcards. Yellow and orange are pretty colors but not when the words I'm trying to read are printed in pale yellow on a bright orange background. The same for hot pink and chartreuse, pretty but not legible. My suggestion, use the pretty colors (I'm all for artistic effects) but print the message in black  Maybe I'll send them a letter. Yellow on white should get the message across.

time to clean up

I have family company coming for Easter dinner so I need to get some apartment cleaning done.  My basic attitude toward house cleaning is "Thank goodness I have company over every once in a while or it would never get done." That's not quite true but pretty close. I read an interesting fact yesterday. Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms including 78 bathrooms. 775 - 78 leaves 697 non-bathrooms. I'm wondering how many of those rooms are bedrooms. Assuming one in four are bedrooms (in my old house it was one in three) that gives them one bathroom for every two to three bedrooms. Not too bad I guess. My real question is how do they organize the cleaning of all those rooms. Do cleaning crews clean the same rooms over and over again or do they rotate for some variety. Are the rooms nunbered for easy identification? I can envision the early morning doling out of assignments. "Team 3, you have rooms 27 through 122 today." and so on. I've only ever seen Buckingham Palace from the outside.  When I was there last year the flag was flying over the palace indicating that the queen was in residence so we couldn't go inside. I'll just have to assume it's always clean since they always have company coming.  Maybe I'll get inside on my next trip to London. I'll be sure to take my white gloves so I can check up on their cleaning.

I'm having a bad feeling about this

Today I invited our new pastor to come and have Easter dinner with me and my family. He's new in town and doesn't have any family here so it seemed like a nice thing to do and since I chaired the search committee that hired him he knows me pretty well. I'm not sure yet but I think he'll come even though I warned him that he would be surrounded by Methodists and one Lutheran. However, after I issued the invitation I started remembering the other times I have entetained pastors at my house.  My track record isn't very good.

The first time was when I invited our pastor and his wife from the first church my husband and I attended after we were married. It was jsut the four of us. My dear mother-in-law was keeping the kids overnight. The dinner tasted fine and we had a very good time with enjoyable conversation. Unfortunately when we went into the livingroom after dinner it was to discover that our dog had chewed a four-inch hole in the front of the pastor's wife's sweater which she had casually tossed on the couch when they came into the house. And this wasn't just any old sweater. This was the very expensive, irreplacable sweater they had bought on a trip to Scotland.

The next time (many years later) I was hosting a fundraising dinner for our theater and invited our new co-pastors as special (non-paying) guests. As I carried the platter of really delicious swiss steak to the table I was informed that they were both vegetarians. They were able to eat the asparagus and potatoes.

The most recent time wasn't so bad. I invited our Korean pastor and his wife as special guests to yet another fund raising dinner, again as special non-paying guests, and everything acrually went pretty well once I convinced the wife that she could not help serve and clean up and must sit at the main table with all the other guests and not at the smal table with the servers.

But, hey, what could possibly go wrong this Sunday?  Stay tuned.....

remembering Carol

Today was my cousin Carol's birthday. She was a year and a half older than me and the closest thing to a sister I ever had. We grew up in the same small town and had lots of fun times together. She died of complications after surgery for lung cancer the same year that my husband and father died. Not a fun year. She buried two husbands, both of whom died of lung cancer and still couldn't quit smoking. It truly was addictive for her. But today I've been remembering the fun times: ice skating on the pond behind their house, which coincidentally was the house my grandfather built and in which my father grew up, writing silly stories together, making grass skirts and leis made of colored kleenex flowers. I hate to think how many boxes of kleenex we used up. The most exciting thing we did together was to come in to fort Wayne, in 1957 (her father brought us) to hear Elvis perform at the coliseum. I was in 7th grade, she was in 8th, and we were both convinced that he was singing only to us. Truly a sweet memory. Happy Birthday Carol.

Genetics or coincidence?

I recently unearthed a wedding picture of my maternal grandmother and grandfather. I am not sure what year they were married but it had to have been around 1900 or a little later. My mother was born in 1910  and she was their third child. What held my interest in the picture wasn't my grandmither's face, although she was very pretty, it was her wedding dress. It was white with a floor length straight skirt, long sleeves, a high neck and a wide sash with a big bow and long streamers hanging down on the front left side. Really very pretty but not particularly unusual for that era. What is interesting, I think, is that 68 years later, never having seen my grandmother's picture or wedding dress, and never having known my mother's mother, who died before I was born, I was maried in a dress that was very similar in style - long skirt, wide sash, long sleeves, etc. She wins though in the tiny waist department. I was fairly slender when I got married, but I know my waist never looked as tiny as hers does in that picture. Still, I think the dress similarities are a lovely coincidence. I think she would have been pleased.

Scam phone calls...

I had begun to think that I should get rid of my land line because I'm getting very tired of the calls I get, usually asking me to donate money to some great cause but now I've started getting them on my cell phone also. Every once in a while the calls seem to take on a more sinister tone.  I've heard so many warnings about phone scams that I tend to be very suspicious  I have received a few of the "Hello, grandma??? calls and I can see how people get fooled by this. The caller sounds so pitiful and desperate. I must admit the callers are pretty ingenoius. After I hung up on the first caller, who sounded white midwestern, they tried with two other callers, one with an Hispanic accent and one who sounded black. Recently I received several calls from a giggly girl who apologizes for dropping her phone and askes if I can here her alright. That's when I hang up. I know I should never say yes.. I am trying hard to retrain myself and I;m getting better. In the good old days before caller ID and when every call might have been business related I felt compelled to answer evey call. Not so anymore. If caller ID shows me a number I don't recognize I just let it ring. I figure if it's a friendly caller they will leave a message. Of course then I do have to be careful to check my messages. I got home this afternoon, saw by the flashing red light that I had a message, didn't recognize the number and almost discarded it  Lucikly I listened. The call was from a long ago classmate telling me he will be attending our upcoming high school reunion. Sometimes mystery calls are good.

Movie Day

From time to time my brother and I go see a movie together and from time to time I get to pick what we will see with the understanding that we won't see a "chick flick". Today we saw a movie that was just released called "Going in Style." Even though it involved three elderly gentlemen plotting and attempting a bank robbery, it still turned out to be an 'awe' movie with plenty of feel good moments. Sadly, while Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin are all still excellent actors, they aren't the eye candy they were many years ago, but then, none of us is. It was a good movie.

garage sale anyone???

I downsized a year and a half ago and I absolutely don't need anything (except groceries and other consumables of course) but tomorrow morning at 9:00 am I am meeting a friend at my church's annual garage sale. We're just going to look you understand but what if some excellent treasure is waiting for me there. A couple of years ago I bought a 12 place setting (92 pieces) of nice china fir $60. I actually have enjoyed that and use the dishes three or four times a year - the next time will be Easter dinner which is coming up soon. One good thing about living where I do now - it's not really easy to move in large bulky items and I'm driving a smaller car than I used to so that limits what I can carry  This should keep me from buying anything too outrageous. We shall see. Thank goodness it's not an auction.

today is National Walking Day...

and I'm happy to report that, according to my Fit Bit, I have walked 2.37 miles today. Was I out there walking with the group that walked a mile around downtown Fort Wayne today? Absolutely not. I like to walk but I make no secret of the fact that I am a fair weather walker and today was not a fair weather day.  My walking was accomplished dashing through raindrops in and out of the dentist's office, the Hallmark shop and the post office. Not sure if that would count with avid walkers but it works for me. Since they are predicting 50 mile an hour winds tomorrow I probably won't be going for a stroll then either.

too close to nature??

I love nature, from a distance. I suspect that one of the reasons I enjoy my balcony so much is because it;s high enough that I can enjoy a wide view of trees and grass and water without actually slogging through mud or getting bitten by insects. However, today nature came a little too close for comfort. I happened to glance out to my balcony (it was a bit too chilly to spend much time out there) and saw two pigeons walking around, checking out the place. They looked like they had nesting on their little bird minds but when I opened the door they flew away. If they show up again I will shoo them toward the old fort. There are lots of more interesting and natural looking places to nest in around those buildings, or maybe they could just consider nesting in a tree. That might be a radical thought for a city pigeon but I think they could adjust. It would have to be a more comfortable life that having me chase them off with a broom every day.

nail biting time

Up until last week I really didn't have much interest in the March Madness basketball game series. But a few days ago I learned that Gonzaga is a college located in Spokane, Washington.  I'm not sure why I didn't know this before.  Just not paying attention I guess. But, since I have family living in Spokane, suddenly I'm a Gonzaga fan (it's as good a reason as any). So here they are playing North Carolina for the NCAA National Championship and the score is tied 52 to 52 with 8 minutes to go. Woops, North Carolina just went ahead by two. So now the big question is will I watch until the end of the game, knowing full well that sports eight minutes is not the same as real time eight minutes, or do I just go to bed and learn the final outcome in the morning. Yawn, I think my bed is calling. Oh no, NC is up by 4.......

Spring break worries

While many students and families are taking off for Spring Break this week, at least in this area, very few have a more exciting trip planned than my son and his family.  As I type this they are somewhere over the Atlantic on their way to Paris. I'm sure it will be a wonderful trip but I was reminded yesterday when their other grandma had us over for supper what a different perspective teens and preteens have when it comes to travel. My youngest granddaughter (almost 13) is concerned that she will have to stand up in front of her class and make a report about the trip when she gets back. Her sister (14) will be meeting her French pen pal for the first time in person and she is concerned that he is too clingy. Evidently he emails her several times a day. Ah such problems. I tend to wonder about more basic concerns when I travel like will the plane stay up til we get there. Can't wait til they get home so I can hear all about their adventures.

Does this typing look squishy to you?

I was sitting on my sofa earlier this evening playing a game on this laptop while talking to a friend on the phone. I reached for my cup of tea and somehow, not sure what happened, managed to spill the (still hot) tea all over me, my laptop and the sofa. Who knew one cup of tea could spread so far. So I hung up on my friend, who was calling from Florida, mopped everything up, changed my clothes, blotted the keyboard with a microfiber cloth and set it on edge to drain. To add insult to injury, I just last week paid $!!0 to have this computer tuned up and it has been working very well til now. I'm relieved and excited that I'm able to type this paragraph. Now I think I'll turn this off, let it drain some more - I'm feeling an occasional bit of dampness as I press down on some of the keys - and hope it still works tomorrow.