Every Day Posts ~ Gone With the Wind!

Well, hello there! Remember me? Yeah, I'm the one who went to camp meeting 10 days ago and had no Internet connection for the duration. That's tough, ya know? Just sayin'........

The camp I went to is a God's Missionary Camp in Sun City, Florida. Harry Plank, the President of the denominaiton, and his wife, Rachel, went to school at Hobe Sound Bible College in Hobe Sound, FL, the same time we did ~ so it's always fun to be with them. Rachel asked me if I would help her out this year, by planning and preparing the snacks after evening service for the camp workers and other invited guests. That is a task that I really enjoy, and I had lots of fun! I love to set pretty tables, and fix yummy foods, and be around people ~ so this was really no "task" for me, but lots of fun.

Rev. Don Myers, from Schenectady, NY, was one of the evangelists. I knew him as a young girl and teenager, but hadn't heard him preach since then. It was great to get reacquainted and sit under his ministry.

Rev. James Plank (Harry & Rachel's eldest son) was the other evangelist. He is a powerful preacher and certainly gives you spiritual food. He had to leave the camp early due to his wife having surgery, plus the fact that his wife's grandma passed away during the week of camp, as well.

Rev. Jacob Martin, from PA, stepped in and took James' place ~ and did a terrific job. He's an on-fire preacher and stirred us up to walk with God! It was a very wonderful week!

Our pastor, Rev. Jay Smalley, offered the use of a 5th Wheel RV for us to stay in on the campgrounds. We had it parked right beside the caretaker's house, which is where the evening entertaining was done, so that was a real blessing!

Mark packed my car Sunday evening, so all I had to do was pack the refrigerator stuff and get Mom's stuff and head home this morning. I'll have to admit, I am quite weary today. I had the job of unloading the car and putting everything away today ~ but the only things that got put away were the refrigerated items. The rest can wait for Tuesday.... *yawn*

Sassy went to camp with us, and didn't seem to mind being there ~ however the trip down there and back was another story. The cat carrier is definitely not her favorite conveyance! When we got home today, she walked to the middle of the living room floor and laid down. Like, "Thank God, these people have come to their right minds!"

I wanted to update today ~ but I'm so tired I'm not sure I'm making much sense ~ so I'll sign off and try again tomorrow.

Good night from
The Russells at Richmond Place

Tuesday "To Do's"

When I got up this morning, I had camp meeting on my mind. I started going through my closet and getting my clothes ready to pack...and so the time passed and I missed my Silver Sneakers workout at the Y. I was rather disappointed, because tomorrow will be "it" for another whole week. That is one activity that is "important" for my heart health, and ya know, it's probably the one activity that seems to be hit 'n miss for several weeks now. (tsk, tsk) Must be gettin' that higher on the priority list...

The library happened to be open today, thankfully, and I got my next book for my book discussion group, "The Commoner" by John B. Schwartz. On to the bank, then to a little computer class @ the Y offered by one of the Silver Sneakers who calls himself a "geek" but truly is NOT! He showed us a few things I didn't know about, but not much ~ and I'm certainly no computer geek! Ahem! Just sayin'....

Came home & had lunch with Peggy, then took a nap while she went out and took a walk. I tended to Sassy's needs, then just couldn't get enthused about fixing supper. Mr. Mark came to the rescue and took us to Chili's! Was it ever good! Our waiter was really good to us, and when we left, he gave us a bag of chips & a container of salsa. Thanks, John! You impressed Mr. Mark, and we'll be back! *grins*

Peggy has gone to bed ~ she's an early-to-bed and early-to-rise person. How on earth does she fit into the Russell life-style, you say. Good question! She's a very patient, easy-going person, I'm thinkin'.

Mark is workin' in the "grudge" (you know, where you park yer car...) and I will be heading for Facebook here in a couple minutes.

Wishing all of you a pleasant week ~ from the
Russell's at Richmond Place

Remembering...

Class #6 of 6 Memoir Classes was this evening. It was not expected that our entire lives would be on paper by the end of this class, but that we would have done a summary of grandparents, parents, and 10-year sections of our lives, and be ready to seriously begin the project of writing our memoirs. I was interested in this class because I thought it would be a good idea to have for my children and grandchildren. I DON'T think it will be best-seller material ~ although.... (lol!)

Mom washed up all my dirty towels today, and the remnants of her laundry, and I took her home on my way to class this evening. She will unpack and re-pack for camp and I will get her again on Thursday and take her to Sun City Camp. Peggy is going with us, too, until Sunday after dinner, at which time Mark will take her to the airport to meet up with her twin sister, who is coming to be with her through her surgery.

Our pastor & his wife, the Smalley's, are not going to be able to stay down at the camp this year, and they graciously offered us the use of a lovely RV (5th wheel) to stay in on the camp grounds. Mark & Bro. S got it all situated today near the Gandee's residence, where I can be of assistance to Sis. Rachel Plank in feeding hungry preachers after the evening services....

Mark rented a storage unit today, so we can empty the garage of boxes and "stuff" in order for him to create a workshop. I'm thinkin' that as we look in the boxes that we take from garage to storage unit (that we haven't looked in for over two years) that the decision may come that we don't need a storage unit at all. What do you think? Na, I really didn't think so, either.... just sayin'.....

Sassy is sitting on the floor looking at me, like, "Doncha think it's time you leave the 'puter and go to bed?" Cuz she doesn't go to bed until I do ~ so ~

Monday's shades are closed at the
Russell's at Richmond Place

3rd Sunday of 2010

Wellllll....I went to bed before I updated my blog last night. What excuse can I come up with? One is, I guess I really don't have to say something EVERY DAY!!! Another one is, I spent way too much time checking on all of you in Facebook, until I just couldn't stay awake any longer... And both of them are true statements.

Mom spent the night, so she was with us for Sunday. Dot (Peggy's daughter) went home this morning, so that left Peggy here with us for Sunday. Off we went to Sunday school and church ~ to the God's Missionary Church in Seffner, FL. Mark taught the adult lesson, which was about Rahab and the Spies. Interesting, that. Adam Clarke says that "harlot" in this instance, was more of an innkeeper. He does not feel that she was a woman of loose morals. I like that ~ it has always bothered me that Joshua's men stayed at a house of ill repute. Thoughts, anyone?

Mark & I sang, "Each Step I Take" Sunday morning, and one lady said she hadn't heard that song in over 40 years.

When we walked into our house after church, the yummy aroma of the roast beef that had been in the crockpot since Saturday night, wafted through the air. Mmmmm. We were all hungry little bears ~ well, I guess Peggy is the only one who qualifies for that "little" adjective...

Rev. Harry Plank, the President of the God's Missionary Church denomination, preached for us Sunday night. The Sun City Camp (Florida District of the GMC) will be starting Thursday night, which is why Planks are here from Pennsylvania. Mark & I attended Hobe Sound Bible College the same time Harry and Rachel (Will) Plank did. It's been fun getting re-acquainted with them since we've moved to Florida ~ plus a few other people we went to HSBC with, as well.

After church, the Smalley's invited us to the parsonage for sandwiches. Mrs. Sally Smalley makes the best tuna salad in the world (personal opinion, of course). We enjoyed some good fellowship, until Mom and Peggy were nearly asleep, then decided we better head home before we had to carry them to the car. Picture that. =)

It goes without saying, that between the delicious roast beef dinner and the Sunday night service, we quite "religiously" took our Sunday naps.

Thanks for "experiencing" a Sunday with the
Russells at Richmond Place

1 little, 2 little, 3 little cousins... 10 little cousins meet

Today I drove to Bradenton, FL, to take my mom to a "cousins' reunion." Let's see, how do I put this simply.... My mom's dad and Don Whitney's dad were brothers, so that's the connection for mom. Said cousin Don's mom had two sisters, and their children were the ones who had the reunion today. So actually, mom was only cousin to Don ~ but they invited her to come, and she and Don with his wife Mary Lou had a great time re-uniting (it's been 40+ years since they'd seen each other). It was also fun to meet Don's other cousins. Now just imagine being in a room with ten 80-year-olds, listening to them joking and teasing each other, and reminiscing and solving the issues of the world, and laughing (cackling?) ~ it was a hoot! The host of the day was Howard Spencer, and he and his wife, Gerry, were a delight.

Penelope (my GPS) did not know anything about Howard's address, and we found this out when we got in the car and tried to plug the address in. So now we were at the time when we needed to depart. Mark graciously made the phone call to Howard, while Mom and I headed out in the direction of Bradenton. When we got to the town, Mark called and tried to read a Google map to direct me to the desired destination... This proved to be quite a disastrous situation. He was telling me to turn on streets as I passed them ~ or telling me I should be going west when I was going east and there were many cars on the streets acting like they knew exactly where they were going and were NOT happy with me trying to go slow and be in the right lane, when often I was not. If you know me, you know the blood pressure was rising.... *sigh* Not a happy thought. However, we finally arrived and really did have a nice time. But ya know, this kinda thing wears you out, and when it was time to return home, I was more than ready.... And, thankfully, Penelope knew exactly how to get me home! Gotta get that girl some more schoolin'!

I need to get my Sunday dinner in the crock pot so I can relax and go to bed.

Here's wishing everyone a wonderful Sabbath day from the
Russells at Richmond Place

Coffee * Tea * and Mom

Ahhh ~ don't you just love Fridays?

My house guests had a very early start today ~ leaving the house @ 6:30 a.m. and not returning 'til after 3:00p.m. I did not get up with them, but Mark did (bless him!) and they followed him to Moffitt, where Miss Peggy saw the physician and had some tests done and got some plans laid for treatment of her disease.

My day started with a lovely, leisurely cup of coffee (with liquid pumpkin spice creamer)and a look at the "to do" list. Library, post office, grocery store, pick up Mom, go to lunch, gather the "stuff" for the sing tonight....

The library was the first stop ~ and there were no cars in the parking lot! Wait! Did I miss Friday? Was I working on the wrong "to do" list??? Let's see what the sign says on the door... "All Hillsborough County Public Libraries closed today due to budget restraints. All employees are off without pay." Well, isn't that hunky-dory? They then listed a Friday each month that the same process would be followed. Hmmmm. Well, since I had no overdue books and part of the reason for going to the library was to GET more books, I went on my merry way to the post office. THAT was open, so the card got mailed.

Now to the grocery store. Can you ever go the store and get ONLY the things on your list? I find it nearly impossible! However I did get everything on my list, plus a few more items that "should have" been on my list. *wink*

On to pick up Mom. We loaded her things in the car and went to lunch. She suggested a new little place in Zephyrhills, called "Two Minutes." It is owned by a Tibetan monk, who left the monestary and went into business. He had a restaurant just out of town on State Route 54, and CVS wanted his property, so bought him out for a pretty penny. Now he has this little place in town ~ and on Fridays he has an "all you can eat fish" special. The fish is Alaska polluck, which is a north Pacific species of the cod family. Aren't you glad I've done my research? And it was quite tasty! And his little place of business was packed to the gills and the waiting line was out the door! I think the little Tibetan monk has done well for himself...although I'm sure the people in line waited more than "Two Minutes."

Mom and I headed out for the sing at the Smalley's Italian Wagon around 6:45. Mark suggested that I travel some back roads to Seffner, since the highways were backed up with traffic due to construction, and just Friday night volume...so here we go, in the dark, on a new venture, which Penelope (my GPS) knows nothing about. You must understand that I am VERY directionally challenged, so this could be interesting. The first turn I make was the wrong way ~ okay, who's surprised? I call Mark and he's not answering his phone. I really need to make him understand that when I call, he is to answer! So I call again, and he answers! I find out that I have turned the wrong way (my first clue was not seeing anything familiar) and get turned around and head in the right direction. Next turn is only supposed to be a "dog-leg" turn ~ you know, right then left then right again in rapid succession, but I missed the last half of the dog-leg. Turn around again and then I'm home free. Oh yeah? Well, I make the next two turns correctly, then call Mark again (and he answered!), and asked which way to turn when I get to the street the Italian Wagon is on. He says right ~ I turn right and get to the Interstate, which is what I was trying to avoid, so was I going in the right direction? I called Mark again ~ no answer. Three times ~ no answer. Well, I just know it's not the right direction, so I turn around and head back the other way, and sho 'nuf ~ I find the Italian Wagon. THIS has not been a happy trip ~ and I'm supposed to sing and smile all the rest of the evening. I'm just sayin'...

We are now safe and sound back home ~ I came right up I-75 and made it without a hitch. Sleepy Time Tea hits the spot...and soothes us to sleep. Mark is still not home ~ wonder if he turned right ~ or should that have been left? I'm not gonna answer the phone. (hehehe)

Friday is coming to an end for the
Russells at Richmond Place

Success! Nap! Pork Chops!

Hello Friends!

It's a happy mood we're in this evening!

Our new friend, Dot, needed to get a rental car, so she went on line to see what wonderful bargains she could find ~ and find one she did! $13 / day ~ not bad atall! So where does Dot need to go for this wonderful bargain? The airport. *Gasp!* But I don't DO the airport! Not even! The only two times I've tried, I have made wrong turns exiting the place and wound up going across the bay to St. Pete.... (groan) But I take this situation in hand, and drive right downtown like I know what I'm doing. We found the National car rental office (which was no small endeavor in itself!), and then came the task of getting home without crossing that stupid bridge... The morning Fox News guys had just said a couple days ago that there has been so much construction downtown Tampa and in and around the airport, that it has rendered all GPS's invalid ~ so I knew no assistance would be forthcoming from Penelope... I took a deep breath and followed the signs v-e-r-y carefully to get myself on I-275 north. Made it! Now ~ I-4 east. Made it! Now ~ I-75 north. Made it! Yay! I'm on familiar territory ~ made it home with no problem. This was epic, people ~ a major accomplishment!

When I got home, there were two loads of laundry to do and supper to prepare, but you know, I was really worn out. So I took a nap. Don't you love it?

I had put "Golden Glow Pork Chops" in the crock pot in the morning before all the excitement ~ so to complete the meal, I fixed a veggie tray (sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers), rice, and green beans.

Supper is over, dishes are done, company has gone to bed, and

It's a happy mood we're in this evening, these
Russells at Richmond Place