TODAY'S TASK

Before I get to what I accomplished today let me say I think this place must be Camelot!  I woke up this morning at about 7am to pouring rain.  It was really coming down hard.  After listening to it for a while I decided I needed to go get the days newspaper out of the driveway before it was totally soaked and unreadable like my paper in MD was if caught in the rain.  On went the rain coat over the PJ's and I ran out barefoot and being amazed at the warmth since the sun had not yet come up.  There was no need to worry about the readability of my paper.  It was wrapped so well nothing was going to soak through.  Very, very nice!  The morning news said it was supposed to rain pretty much all day, but stop by early evening in time for trick or treating.  Well not in The Village!  Dawn came and by 9am the rain had stopped and by 10 the sun was out!  Another beautiful day in TV. 

Now on to the organizational task for the day.  One of the few pieces of furniture that I brought from Maryland, other than craft room stuff, was the desk that lived in the bedroom.  I took everything out of it to move it and not only had to put that stuff back but had found more to go in.   This is what it was looking like in its new home along the dining room wall. Not a pretty sight!  So I pulled up a chair and got to work. 

It took a while to find a place for everything, but after about an hour here is what it looked like.  Much improved!  Everything had a designated location.  One thing is for sure.  I don't think I will need to purchase any pens, pencils, markers or paper pads for the rest of my life,  I have more than enough......probably I have enough for several lifetimes.

One thing that I really like about this desk is that it has a lot of good work space when open, but when you don't want the whole world to see your paper work it closes up into a very compact cube. 

This is how it will look most of the time.  I will only open it when needing to work at it.  It really doesn't look at all bad sitting in the dining room while closed.  The picture sitting on the top of the desk is a very special going away gift given to me when I left Covenant UMC.  It is an amazing shadow box picture of the church's sanctuary.  It was made by the Church family.  They are all amazingly talented and I have counted them among my friends for over 20 years.  It will be cherished.

At this point pretty much everything is in place.  I still need to get a tall book case and a computer desk.  I'm going to look at a couple of the local furniture consignment stores.  I really am tired of building furniture.  

I DID IT!

I did it!  I've conquered my concerns over driving my golf cart.  Friday afternoon Pam came over and "held my hand" while I took my first spin around the block.  Well she didn't really hold my hand since both my hands were on the steering wheel, but you know what I mean. She encouraged me with periodic :you can do this" comments and little tips on what to be doing to ensure safe driving.  Like everyone had been telling me it was pretty easy.  The biggest things I had to get used to were no side view mirrors and no power brakes of steering.  After going around my neighborhood we headed father out and went to Lake Sumter Landing. 

Of additional import is that today I headed out on my own!  Check out the bag on the front seat.....groceries!

About four this afternoon I headed out to Sweetbay, one of the local grocery stores and the closest one to my home.  I made it without any issues.  I was going to go in and pick up some milk and jam when I thought why waste a perfectly good golf cart outing and headed back out to Johnny Rockets at Lake Sumter Landing.  I had a coupon for a free burger with the purchase of a milk shake.   I decided that would be my reward   for driving to grocery store in the cart rather than my car.  Now I need to find another route to somewhere else.  May be tomorrow I go out and just roam around a bit. 

Another major accomplishment today is I've pretty much gotten the craft room organized and in place. For pictures and a description of what I've done you will need to head over to my craft BLOG Stampin' & Kwiltin'.

 Tomorrow I may even allow myself time to play in the craft room though I should organize the desk which is in the dining room. 

OKTOBERFEST

The Villages is famous for its ability to have fun and celebrating life.  Today was the celebration of Oktoberfest. I decided I needed a break from unpacking and the challenge of finding a place for everything.   At 3pm I headed out for Spanish Springs where a parade was to begin at 4.  Something told me that I needed to get there plenty early to find a good viewing spot and hopefully a chair or bench to sit on.  Boy was I correct!  The area around the Square was already packed with people when I arrived.  The parade was something else.  It lasted over 30 minutes and included all elements needed to make it a fun event.

There were floats........

........walking units and also bands,  Speaking of bands, I'm not sure what connection bag pipes have to German culture, but there was a rather large group of bag pipers complete with the proper attire of kilts.   There were also horses and lots of flags.

 After the parade there was entertainment at the pavilion as well as at other venues around the Square. The entertainment was kicked off by a performance of The Village Cheerleaders.  They were so fun to watch and there were probably around 60 of them. The group actually has over 130 but many of them are snowbirds and are not yet down here for the winter.  I had heard about this group last week and wondered about cheerleaders that were over 55.  Actually I would say they are more a Pom group. but whatever they were fun to watch and they were obviously have fun.  

Then came the music and the dancing.  There is always dancing at the Squares when there is music. There were several couples like this one dressed in ethnic German attire and having a fantastic time as they waltzed and did the polka around the gazebo. 

I wandered around and listened to some of the music at other points around the Square then decided to head over to Lake Sumter Landing to see what Oktoberfest had to offer over there.  When I arrived I discovered it wasn't so much what they had to offer but what they didn't have. There was no power!  The main thing this lack did was cause the stores along Main Street to close up and restaurants weren't serving food but were still doing a booming bar business.  Most of the vendors who were around Market Square and set up for Oktoberfest had generators so they were up and operational.

I ran into Pam and Allen, some friends here and then after a chat with them went off to find some dinner.  Since I was celebrating Oktoberfest I bi-passed Chik-Filet, Sonny;s Bar-b-Que, and Greek food and had Beer and Brats with a funnel cake for dessert!  Then after a bit more music and watch a bit more dancing I headed back home after a fun afternoon and evening.

LIFE IS VERY BUSY

My life is very full and very busy right now, but I wanted to declare myself officially moved.  I no longer live in MD but have move to FL and a community called The Villages.  If you have never heard of The Villages I must tell you it is like nothing I have ever seen before.  People are genuinely happy here and they are so friendly and welcoming.  I went out for a walk this morning and not only did other people out walking say "Hi" but those in golf carts did also and even a few driving by in cars smiled and waved.  I've met several neighbors and attended a very nice church on Sunday.  In the word of a quilting and cruising friend "Life is good!"  It's been so long since I have been able to say that and it feels real good to be able to do so and mean it. By no means is everything perfect or resolved but it is good.  I think the daily dose of bright sunshine and delightfully warm weather has a great deal to do with this.  So do you want to see where I live.......

This is how I will travel about The Villages when I get up the courage to get behind the wheel.  Everyone tells me it is real easy, but for some reason it intimidates me.  Maybe tomorrow I'll give it a try going around the neighborhood.  For now I either walk or drive.  Today I walked up to my mail box which is up at the neighborhood pool.  I love walking here.  It's nice and flat.  And if you go out early enough in the morning it's not too hot.  Even at 75 when it is so sunny out I've discovered you can work up quite a sweat.  It was about 65 when I went out to mailbox.  It took me about 30 minutes to get there and back.  Also while up there I got a local newspaper.

The rest of my day was spent working down this pile in the garage.  I'm about 3/4 done with the unpacking.  Some of the boxes will not be unpacked.  I don't have any book shelves for the books so they will stay boxed up for now.  I think they will be fine in the garage until summer and maybe by then I will figure out where to put them.  I also don't really have anywhere to put the items I brought from the china cabinet.  I may send a few boxes of that stuff back to NC with my sister when she is down here next week.  I'll get down on my knees and beg......PLEASE!!!!!  Store them for me. 

At the end of a long day if I stay home this is where you will find me.  It's also where I can start my day.  When my friend Thelma was still here helping me unpack and get set up we took a CD player out and had our afternoon sangria and chips with salsa.  It was delightful. 

So this is where I am. Tomorrow I get to experience my first big celebration at the market squares.  It is Oktoberfest.  There will be a parade and strolling entertainment of all kinds as well as German foods and beer.  I will try and get some pictures.  I'm told there will be a lot of ethnic attire and loads of fun. 

Oh if anyone wants to find out more about The Villages check this out.

ONCE AGAIN JUST WHAT I NEED!

Once a gain God has heard my prayer and he sent a message through my daily devotional "in-basket" that he knew I needed to read and hear at this time. It was in the form of a poem written by Sam Hamilton-Poore  I don't want to write out the whole thing do to copywrite issues but here are the first few lines.

MAY THE SPIRIT of life move you
from apathy to action,
from observing to doing,
from despair to hope. 

To read the rest you can go to the Upper Room Reflections site.It deals with the pain and joy of change. The Devotion is for October 12. 

This is my prayer for today.  I currently have 4 days left to call the state of MD home.  Sunday I will be leaving to start a journey to a new life.  At the moment I find myself fighting apathy brought on by the despair of all going on.  There is so much I need to do and all I want to do is go back to bed and pull the cover over my heads and make it all go away.  For a while know I have been in a state of observing.  Its too painful to allow myself to feel and be moved to action.  I pray that God's spirit will live with me and grant me the strength for the days ahead.  

I am looking forward to next week at this time.  I will be in my new home and I pray I will be a bit more happy, content and relaxed as well as excited to discover all that is in store for me in my future.