We'll miss you dear friend......and other good friends.

I have been blessed with some really great friends in my life. As many of you already know, one of these special people is moving to the country to help her Mom and continue her ministry in a very rural environment. One of her close friends will be moving with her but I wanted to do something small and intimate just for her. I let her pick some of the menu and make up the invitation list so I would know I was doing what she wanted. We almost put it off several times because it hasn't been an easy time for either one of us but I decided I should go ahead as planned. I'm working on the "putting off" part of my personality so this was a good test. Roseanne's daughter-in-law - Katarina- made the cake and we all loved it. I told her I wanted a woman's figure dressed in coveralls with her book bag over her shoulder and she pulled it off perfectly. Roseanne ordered and brought a gorgeous fruit bouquet that was delicious. It came in a lovely container Gerl will be able to use for other things. Eileen wrote a poem from me to Gerl and framed it beautifully - it made me cry a little and Gerl loved it. Eileen is such a giving person and I'm happy to have her back in my life. Gerl told me to tell anyone who asked to give her gift certificates to Lowe's and I thought - "Oh No - that just isn't going to happen". So Eileen and I went in together and gave her a nice gift certificate to Ann Taylor's. Eileen also contributed toward the food which was very helpful because I tend to overdo it when I host parties. We had my famous Wine Punch, Italian Marinated Vegetables, Smoked Mozzarella Pasta, Cheese, Chicken Salad Croissants and Chicken Salad, Lobster Dip, Crackers, Cake and Fruit. This is the least amount of food I've ever served but it appears that was okay because almost everything was eaten with just enough left over for me to wrap up for Gerl. I also bought some lovely flowers - two were already arranged and the others I arranged myself. Okay - you all know my weakness for fresh flowers so I'm not apologizing for going overboard there. Others gave Gerl money and she would say, "Okay, this is going to help pay for my new toilet"...we just laughed because we knew she wasn't kidding. It was a small intimate gathering to say we know you are doing this for the right reason but we are really going to miss you. Keith is planning a bigger party and I'm sure the congregation will do something also but we have been wanting to get a small group together for awhile and this worked out well. Her leaving means there is going to be another big hole in my life and to be honest, it is getting real old. My life is starting to look like a piece of Swiss cheese. I worked hard to pace myself and did pretty good. I'm learning the hard way that when I "push" myself too hard, it backfires and I'm down for the count to recover. Roseanne was such a big help as always and ended up staying overnight with me. We stayed up very, very late and she sneaked out the next morning right before I woke up. It was nice to be together so we could get caught up on the dramas of our lives. I've been fighting something for days and have determined it is a type of migraine that is also affecting my stomach but will not go away. Ruth came over last night and we ate Las Palmas and some cheesecake for dinner. We also sat up late talking but I didn't last as long as I did the night before. Today she got me started making the pieces of the flowers for the quilt I'm going to make. I'll have pictures of that as I move along. BigD got home from his fishing trip right about the time she was getting ready to leave. I'm having to "baby" my tummy and headache and am now having a TMJ issue in my right jaw. Ruth said it is from stress - somebody just shoot me and put me out of my misery. I listened in to the meeting today and heard a talk by one of my favorite old friends who was a guest speaker. Eileen made a great comment for the WT study. Ruth wasn't sure if her son and his family were going to make it up today or tomorrow but when I went on FB to "snatch" a picture of them, I saw where they are on their way. They are coming up to see Ruth's mom and brother. Ruth has been in town for three weeks helping her brother who is very, very sick. We are supposed to have them over for dinner one night before they leave Thursday and then Ruth's hubby is driving up for the weekend and we plan to get together while he is here also. Hopefully Kurt, Leah and Page2 will be here for the long weekend but they aren't sure if they are coming down yet. I called a florist in GA to have some flowers delivered to Bentley while he was in the hospital and Page sent me a telephone picture of them saying they were really pretty. I really expected them to be "more". Oh well, sometimes you have a great experience and sometimes you are disappointed and besides, I did it because I wanted them to know they were constantly in our thoughts during this stressful, scary time.Bentley went home from the hospital a little too early and had a setback but after a visit to the ER and getting better pain meds, he seems much better. She has SO much on her plate until after the first week in October I worry about her stress level. She is one of the smartest women I know so I'm counting on her getting more rest and maybe a few massages before the back to back long flights begin. I hate the happy, relaxed look on her face in the picture from our beach trip a few weeks ago was replaced by so much stress. She sounded good when we spoke yesterday so hopefully things will calm down and she can actually enjoy some of her trips.