Friday, September 1 –  Friday, September 15

On Friday, I worked on a special project for a couple of hours before going to Jackie’s for lunch and a vacation planning session.  Then, I went to volunteer at the food bank and had supper with some of the other volunteers.

There was a pool party for Emma’s 10^th birthday at the house on Saturday.  Everyone seemed to have a good time both in the pool and playing on the big slide they had rented.

On Sunday, Emma and I had a meeting with Pastor Jonathan about her getting baptized.  At the end of the meeting, her baptism was scheduled for September 17^th.  After church, we visited with my Dad.

Monday, September 4^th, was the Labor Day holiday – a day of rest for me.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I was back to my regular routine, volunteering in the church office then having lunch with Jackie at Jaxx in Palmetto.   Wednesday morning, I visited Dad then went to choir practice in the evening.

I attended an annual meeting with my financial advisor, Evan Guido, on Thursday afternoon where we charted my financial course for the next year and was back at the food bank Friday afternoon.  There was nothing on my schedule on Saturday.

On Sunday, the 10^th, we did not go to see my Dad after church because his memory center had told me that he had an upper respiratory infection and we thought we should let him rest.

Some time ago, I started using the Publix Grocery Store website to create my shopping list.  I just log in to their site and pick the things that I want to buy.  It is put in order by the aisle in the store which makes my shopping quick and easy.  When I logged in this morning, there was a pop-up that said that I was entitled to a free bunch of flowers.  All I had to do was enter my phone number when checking out and the cost of the flowers would be removed. That was a nice way to start the day.

Since Tuesday, September 12, was the second Tuesday of the month, I did my volunteer work, had lunch with Jackie and then attended a Family Council Meeting at Dad’s memory care center.  I also checked in on him to see if he was feeling better and to arrange to come up early Sunday morning to pick him up and bring him to church to see Emma’s baptism.

I had a normal Wednesday and attended an evening meeting of the Women’s Ministry Bible Study Group at Palm View First Baptist Church on Thursday and then returned to church to work at the food bank on Friday, the 15^th.

September 16 – September 30

On Sunday the 17^th, my 10-year-old granddaughter, Emma Grace Hoffmeister, was baptized at Palm View First Baptist Church by Reverend Jonathan Elwing.   I drove up to Sun City Center (about 18 miles from my home) to pick up Dad so that he could attend the baptism.

In addition to Kellie, JP, Dad, and me, we were joined by a long-time family friend, Rebecca and Emma’s friend, Brooke.  I do not put the young ladies faces on the web at their parent’s request.

Thursday 21, in Palm View’s Senior Saints meeting, we stuffed shoeboxes with small items to be sent to Samaritan’s Purse for distribution through their Operation Christmas Child project.

About 20 people worked together to fill about 50 shoeboxes.

Our coordinator, Brenda Rogers, had put items in an assembly-line format.

The boxes are separated into age groups for both boys and girls.

On, Friday 22, I updated our client list for the food bank and found that we had added 39 new clients in the past two months.  Next week, we plan to make up 100 boxes of food for the week’s distribution.

JP and Kellie went out to eat Saturday night for an early celebration of their 13^th wedding anniversary (which is Monday, 9/25.)  Emma spent the night with me that night and then, on Sunday, we went to church and visited Dad before doing some quick shopping to get a couple of anniversary cards and a small gift for her parents.

Finishing out the month, I attended a funeral; had two doctor’s appointments; and three opportunities to volunteer.

Florida- August, 2023

Happy birthday this month to the following members of my family:

• 8- 6 Wim De Boeck lives in Nebraska with wife Christina, daughter Elodie and new son Flynn
• 8- 8 Michael Frantz lives in Florida and is preparing to be married at age 25
• 8-13 Louisa Cambre lives in Georgia with her parents, Tim and Connie, is starting kindergarten at age 5
• 8-13 Mary Cambre is Louisa’s grandmother and married to my brother, Bill. They live in the USA.
• 8-31 Emma Hoffmeister, my granddaughter, lives in Florida with her parents, JP and Kellie. In the 5^th grade at age 10 this month, she is a school patrol.

My routine schedule this month included:

            WEEKLY

• Tuesday, volunteer work in the church office and/or North River Care Pregnancy Center
• Wednesday evening prayer meeting followed by choir practice
• Friday afternoon/evening – volunteer at the Palm View First Baptist Church food bank and then go out for supper with some of the other volunteers
• Sunday, attend choir sound check, Sunday School, Church followed by lunch with granddaughter, Emma, and then a visit with my Dad at his Memory Care Center in Sun City Center (less than 20 miles from home.)

MONTHLY

• 2^nd Tuesday afternoon, Family Council at Freedom Plaza Memory Care Center
• 3^rd Thursday evening, Senior Saints at Palm View First Baptist
• 4^th Thursday evening, Board Meeting at North River Care Pregnancy Center

 Tuesday, August 1 – Saturday, August 5

On our first day home from our trip to Compass Cay, I did a lot of resting along with unpacking and doing laundry on Tuesday.  On Wednesday, 8/2, I had a 4-month follow-up appointment with my doctor.  He had changed one of my diabetic medications at my last appointment and saw that had adverse effects on my sugar level, so he put me back on the old medication.

Thursday, 8/3, I took the car in for its 60-thousand-mile service.  While I was waiting, JP called and said that he’d been sick since we got home Monday evening and that he was going to a walk-in emergency center.  On my way home from the car place, I drove by the emergency walk-in and picked up Emma.  She and I went to lunch and did some shopping, then came home and wrapped a baby present for a shower that is scheduled after church this Sunday.

Sunday, August 6 – Saturday, August 12

As usual, Sunday, 8/6 found me and Emma at church and then visiting Dad.  After travelling last weekend, I was happy to have a massage scheduled for Monday, 8/7.  On Wednesday, 8/9, with a heat index of 110 or more, granddaughter Vanessa was sent home from working in the kitchen at Hickory Hollow BBQ on the verge of heat exhaustion.  She called me asking if I could bring her some Gatorade to help her recover which I did before going to church and choir practice.  Thursday, 8/10, was Emma’s first day of the 5^th grade.  She is proud to be a school patrol this year.  It was another very warm day, so I stayed inside and got some work done in the house.

Sunday, August 13 – Saturday, August 19

A business meeting was scheduled after church on Sunday, 8/13.  We need a new roof on the church building and some other repairs, so the membership voted to seek a loan to cover those expenses.

The Senior Saints met on the evening of the 17^th.  After eating some potluck food – delicious as always – we played some Bible Trivia and then Pastor George (our senior adult minister) gave a short devotional.

Most of the participants there this evening, noticed that Pastor George’s wife, Esther, looked as though she might have had a slight stroke and we urged him to take her to get medical attention when they left the meeting.  The next day we learned that she had been admitted to the hospital and our prediction had been correct.  I am happy to report that she is recovering nicely.  Every other day this week was filled with my routine activities.

Sunday, August 20 – Saturday, August 26

My friend, Jackie Sosville, had been on vacation for the past few weeks with her sister, Barbara.  She drove them up to Maine.  After I finished my volunteer work on Tuesday, 8/22, Jackie and I got together for lunch at the Shake Station in Ellenton www.shakestation.com

CAPTIVA ISLAND

We have been considering going to Captiva Island for a week of vacation in October, but they had significant damage in Ft. Myers, Sanibel Island and Captiva Island eleven months ago from Hurricane Ian.  Before making any reservations, we thought it would be smart to take a day-trip down there to check the area’s recovery out.  We drove down there on Saturday (about 2 and a half hours south of here).

We have stayed many times with our husbands in our boats on Captiva Island.  Most often, we stayed in the marina at the Tween Waters Inn Hotel Tween Waters Island Resort & Spa, Captiva, United States of America – Lowest Rate Guaranteed! (hotelsone.com).  When we spoke to the desk clerk, she said that they don’t take walk-ins – just call their reservation center.  Although most of their buildings are in use, many have tarps on the roof.  She also told us that they have built a new Crow’s Nest Bar on the second story of the restaurant and now have two restaurants operating on the first floor.  All three are open but, she advised that we make reservations for most of our meals as there are very few eateries open on the Island.

When we left Tween Waters, we drove by one of our favorite restaurants, the Green Flash which was not open.  Although we didn’t see much damage, they remain closed but plan to September 22.

Then we went to lunch at another favorite place which is right on the beach, The Mucky Duck. The picture below is their outside bar which had to be replaced after the storm. (You can click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Notice the roofline above the Mucky Duck sign looks like there is some damage along the ridge line.  Although the “selfie” below does not show us in the best pose, we enjoyed our lunch and the beautiful view out the window.

After lunch, we continued south to another resort where we have stayed in the past, South. Seas Plantation South Seas | Captiva & Sanibel Island Hotel  Unfortunately, this once beautiful property was completely surrounded by a chain link fence and notices said it was a construction area.  After looking at the website above, it looks like they plan to make it better than ever.

While we would love to help the locals by staying on Captiva Island in October; but, we came to the conclusion that they are still rebuilding after Hurricane Ian and we’ll consider it again next year.

Sunday, August 27 – Thursday, August 31

This was not a typical week for me.  On Sunday, 8/27, Emma visited her friends’ new church.  After getting my hair trimmed on Monday, 8/28, I went to visit Dad prior to an anticipated storm coming to the area.  Schools were closed as were many businesses on Tuesday, 8/29, so people could prepare for Hurricane Idalia.  Rain started just after 1 p.m. and continued throughout the night and most of the day on Wednesday.  The eye of the hurricane came inland in what is known as the Big Bend area of Florida and the Nature Coast.  There was much wind damage in towns like Cedar Key and Perry but the entire west coast of Florida, from Ft. Myers to south of Tallahassee had significant flooding damage from the storm surge.  Several of my friends were told to evacuate because they live close to the water.  We live in the eastern part of Manatee County and have been experiencing an extreme drought, so the rainwater was soaked into the ground here at home.  The Manatee River was high but did not come out of its banks.  The picture below was taken on Wednesday.  This dock is next to a boat ramp in our neighborhood.

Early on Thursday, 8/31, morning I went outside to se  a rare blue supermoon.  It was the second full moon in August, which is why it’s called a “blue” moon. The “blue” designation doesn’t have anything to do with its color.  A moon is called a supermoon when it is unusually close to Earth. When the two occur simultaneously, it is called a blue supermoon. NASA says a blue supermoon happens about every 10 years, and the next one isn’t until 2037.  The photo is blury because it was so humid outside – humidity left over from the storm.

School was back in session.  JP took cupcakes to school so Emma’s classmates could celebrate her birthday.  Emma’s 10^th birthday dinner (at her choice of restaurant, Bob Evans), included Emma and her friend, Brook, along with JP, Kellie and me.  I took a lot of pictures of Emma opening her presents, but since I don’t put her picture on this site, I have only included one.  She has a pool party scheduled on Saturday.