Category: Susie’s musings

Good Sunday morning dear gentle readers. This week has been extremely personal. There is no looking out here, only looking in. I went with a few ladies to the home of Liz who just lost her son. She held a memorial at morning Mass and invited her friends back for coffee. To lose your child is so hard and Liz is bravely bearing up under the blow. We talked of others and of the friend who is currently in the hospital doing diagnostics with complications. She’s supposed to have surgery, but her body filled with fluid. The email came to pray for her as it’s cancer and … probably spread out. There is a tqble in the lobby of the church where up coming funerals are honored. A photograph of the beloved, a note with their name on it, and a white vase with a white rose. People stop and talk there…. It’s a relatively small community. Only new people like me don’t know everybody. This is the "age" when we begin to lose our fellows. The prayer list is long. I’m one of the young ones but I stand with them and pray for me too. "Lord let me live to speak in church, to serve, to paint at the 2 art galleries! and … to finish the mural on the shed!!!"

I opened with the personal nature of this week. We don’t look "out." It’s almost if that is for the younger people and our role here at our age is to pray. When my mother retired from teaching, I said she shouldn’t retire yet; to me she was so vital! But she said, "Leave it to the young ones." My sister once said, "I am now a crone." Yes, I understand now… our role is advice, giving hugs, giving love and acceptance! i look around and hope the "young ones" will come to carry the load! Not only to carry the tables and chairs that are set up for the St Vincent de Paul collections, but for all the heavy lifting that "we used to do!" I will roll the little table around the church and set up the altar and the communion tables, and clean up after Mass as long as I can, and I will climb the steps and read the Word as long as my voice holds out ( I hear a lot of raspy voices here… I think that comes too when our voices go.) Let us do as much as we can… my gentle readers: get out the vote if you can! Get out there and speak, hug, and do the heavy lifting! God bless you. Angels with us.

I watched a little bit of news yesterday and today and there are 2 newsy "issues" out there floating around… Well there are many newsy items but I’ll focus on these two. (1) Has Iran backed down? Is it over and "All is well?" as President Trump says? Is the blowing up of our air bases in Iraq not really that important? Does Iraq care? Will he ever be tried in the Senate? and (2) How will Meghan and Harry ever earn a living? OH my dear. I paid attention to this one. Didn’t she save ANY money? I saw her on a Hallmark movie, and she was in several TV shows for a while and she managed to accumulate about $5 million. I saw her asset figure as i scanned thru an article and now I can’t find it. But let’s say her assets are that… $5 million… I am sure she and Harry will be writing a book and speaking (Harry will garner about $100,000 for each public speaking event.) And people are asking…."How will they live?" I’ll bet she has a closet full of clothes, and he equally a closet full of suits… They apparently get to stay in Frogmore Cottage. Have you seen a picture of it? It’s HUGE. Bigger than my several houses all patched together. I guess I’d sell that (oh wait they can’t; it belongs to England as a historical building)… So move in with Mama for pete’s sake…. Live in sunny California. Ah my dears. Could we live? Oh yes and give away much to the poor. I am going to go now and check my lottery ticket and buy more… Stay tuned to see how "Meghan ruined Harry’s life… How poor Harry hurt his Grandmother’s (the Queen’s) feelings…etc" Oh and Grandmother (the Queen) wouldn’t talk to him, she sent him to talk to his father. I’m not sure I’d want to do that. God bless us. God don’t laugh at us. Although we are funny. Angels with us.

This morning I had the time to turn on the TV for 15 minutes before going for a first time doctor’s visit…. I had looked at news the day before and was treated to the impeachment and Iraq news, so I guess I just had a prurient interest in whether the earth had a hole in it yet…. I was treated to all the news a person can take and it was riveting…. House of Representatives is trying to impeach a president who has fired or just not hired State Department diplomats and who is tweeting war with Iran. His attitude? "Who needs diplomats? You got me". I’ll admit, I don’t think "diplomacy" has worked… they hate us, but generally we send in dark operators who do the dirty work and carry the body out in the dark of night as if it never happened. I can’t believe I’m writing about this, and it’s probably the cause of my blood pressure being raised after waking up after 2 nightmares!!!

I went to the doctor’s office at 10am (1 1/2 hours after that early morning bp check), and my blood pressure was nice and low normal where doctors want it to protect the aneurism. I was surprised at 126/70 which makes the doctor very happy. It might be the country music I turned the TV to and keep on. Doctor gave me the name of a cardiac vascular surgeon he wants me to see "up here." It’s almost as if, "We got good doctors here too little lady!" He also told me not to tell the doctor what to do. Does he know me or what?

On New Years Day I made Chuck go into his shed and get all my (outdoor) painting supplies, paints, brushes, rollers etc and I harangued him about how I need part of that giant new shed for "my stuff!." You see, I’m about to repeat my part time job as an outdoor walls mural painter. So I have been working 3 to 4 hours a day since New Years day priming and painting the new 32 x 20 shed with mountains, ocean, sky, sun. Fish and small mountain villages are still in my imagination!!!  I think of ice sculptors working with chain saws as I roll the roller and ply the brushes on this work of art! It’s half done and I can’t answer any questions except to say, "It’s coming along" when Chuck gets home from hunting this Friday! In between times I’ve been trying to put away clothes that never found a permanent home since we only moved into this house in late September! Did you ever feel, "I have too many tee shirts?" All through my business and church career I collected tee shirts with logos, charity runs, holiday decorations, etc on them… So try to fit all that into a 2 bedroom house after retirment!  I’m doing better today but now what do I do with the 100 coats and jackets Chuck has collected over the years that I threw on the floor to accommodate my clothes in my side of the closet. I would suggest to those of you thinking of moving … make it 3 bedrooms (the third is for closets.) We have collected TOO much stuff! I’m back at it gentle reader. Be sure to pause and offer a little prayer for peace in your own heart…. We can pray for the world too, but don’t let the world get to you. God bless us. Angels with us.

My friend just wrote to me that she is lectoring once again at church and she described the struggle of getting into panty hose this morning. Just imagining that made me laugh out loud. I’m over 70 (I’ll bet you didn’t know that…) and I don’t even own panty hose. If I wear strappy shoes on formal night I trim my toenails and give them a coat of paint. That’s my nod to "getting dressed up." AND the dress rule for women who lector at her church is dress or skirt and blouse. OH boy I don’t have a dress tht isn’t floor length and I own 2 skirts. I do wear a skirt, blouse and jacket (I alternate the 2 skirts) to be a Sacristan because I am actually up on the altar a lot in the preparation for Mass, even opening the Tabernacle. This is such a lofty position, it humbles me. So today, I was a lector, it was 50 degrees and I wore pants, bright shirt and jacket and when I looked down as we entered the church, I was wearing socks and sneakers. OH NO! It’s 50 degrees. Flats without hose would have been cold. OH the guilt I felt marching into Mass carrying the Big Bible, wearing sneakers. My friend tells me she is not a libber. Neither am I. Am I? I am more like an old retired woman who paid my dues in suits, panty hose and heels … For some reason I kept those 2 skirts. Must have been angels whispering…. Wear a skirt when being Sacristan in church. At least I never wear shorts in church!

I am painting a great big shed that sits in our side yard. When Chuck and I ordered it, I didn’t think it would be so Orange!!! My goodness, every time we drive up to the house I say, "WOW! that shed is orange!" When I step out of the shower, there is a window I keep open and the shed is right THERE. Orange. So on January 2 I hauled out my outdoor paints, brushes, roller pans, rollers, rags, etc and set up to paint that orange shed. It’s huge! 12 feet wide by 32 feet long. It took 2 days to cover it with my favorite base coat, white Kills. And it’s got spaces between each board so it needed roller AND brush. Mountains sprung up and then I added the horizon. I will make little villages on the mountains like I did on the lakehouse in Miami, I’ll add palm trees and flowers, of course little water features and a great big ocean and fish. Chuck wants a leaping bill fish so I have some work to do! Why didn’t we buy a white shed? Do they make them? Ah the beauty of second thoughts!

Pray for our country today as apparently we have killed an Iranian General in front of everybody and Colin Kaepernick is calling the shot racism. Pray for America. God bless us. Angels with us.

I was speaking with my sister Sarah and she said I haven’t written in forever… And I realized, "I haven’t". Where has the time gone? On the 7 day cruise we took over Christmas every moment from 8 am until midnight was full. We sailed with friends Peter and Karen Skipp (Chuck and Peter friends since age 14, then I joined the gang at age 16, and Karen joined about age 23.) Peter and Karen’s two beautiful adult daughters joined us and quickly found Chuck’s and my hideaway in Vintages for pre dinner wine or champagne. I loved vintages because they have outside tables and I see a lot of people I know. At the first Mass on board I took my prayer book up to help out a girl who Father chose to sing! Then I read at a few Masses and father put me up on stage at the Royal theatre to sing at Christmas day Mass with a powerfully voiced Jamaican genteman. We sang about 8 hymns! So I knew a lot of people from daily Mass and they would stop to talk as we enjoyed the garden at Vintages (Including Father himself). The two giant RCCL cruise ships, Allure and Harmony have a beautiful Garden called Park Place on deck 8. You can’t tell you are on a cruise ship. Our cabin on the Harmony overlooked that garden and we got a huge balcony because they used the space next to us for storage but gave us the storage space’s balcony!!! Every day I woke up when I wanted (but remember the storage space is next door) so it was wake up time between 8 and 830am. Quick shower, put on clean clothes, and trot down to the Diamond lounge for latte machiato. We are Diamonds because we cruise so much so we get inordinate amounts of lattes, wine, and water all for free. I tell people to be loyal to a brand and "get the loyalty points". After breakfast in Diamond lounge almost like clockwork I was off to the pool from 11 to 12. Lunch, read my Maeve Binchy books, and take a nap. Get up, get dressed, formal wear two nights, lovely dinner, go to shows. Amazing shows. Back to room about midnight. Meanwhile we got off the ship twice to go to Cozemel twice (the weather kept us away from the private island so we stopped twice in Cozemel where we have a cute little bar called Ernestos where we eat mexican food and drink Dos XXees (how do you spell that?). Nap after. Dinners were lovely with the 6 of us as family. Food was wonderful. The last night we all went to Chops Grill as travel agent had given us dinners. We drove from Cape Canaveral to visit Renee and drink and eat more!!! And we ate Thai food with her. Then we binge watched the 2nd season of Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime. Home for 2 days, I was so relaxed and tired that I totally forgot it was New Years Eve and when I heard fireworks I thought they were practicing!!! Chuck went hunting in Georgia with Dave and Sam, but not before I made him find all my mural painting brushes, rollers, roller pans, etc. I need to get into his shed and create my own space for my outdoor paints. I have painted for 3 days since Chuck left first covering our enormous shed with a base coat and today… mountains rose up! It is a huge shed. I am having a wonderful time at St James church. Today we wrapped about a million presents for the mission children (we have a lot of farms and migrants here). The church ladies are a lot of fun. That’s about it! I need to sink into Chuck’s easy chair and rest my poor paint covered body! God bless you! Angels with us!

Now that we have moved to Lake Placid, the routine has become more important. To go on a cruise we have to drive 3 hours and park a car and then get a shuttle bus. Allow 4 hours. So our routine is …. "What time do we have to leave the house and what time do i set the alarm for?" I’ve learned long ago, don’t argue about this second question and answer. The driver knows. I will fill up the car before Mass today. The tires are OK and we are packed. We are off for our last "booked Cruise"! Meaning I’ve not called our travel agent to book us a cruise nor have I used "Cruise holidays" on the ships to book. We are going cold turkey for an indeterminate amount of time. i have to change some credit card billing now as Bank of America changed our credit card number as one of their agents did some bad stuff. Off to do work on this beautiful Saturday before Christmas. Sail away tomorrow! God bless us! Happy Christmas. Welcome Christ. Angels with us!

Good morning gentle readers! I just looked at my last writing and it was Saturday morning 6 days ago!!! Where did time go? The 4 of us, Jane and Steve, Chuck and I enjoyed a day of ceremony (the submarine memorial), and raffles and gift giving and banquet. Then Sunday morning Chuck and I headed south back to Lake Placid. The roads were good and we arrived home about 5pm. Jane and Steve took the coast road stopping in Appalachicola, St Petersburg, Treasure Island and … Places Chuck and I haven’t been to! I can’t tell you what we did except unpack, laundry, clean up our rooms, and start packing again for the cruise this coming Sunday!!!! When Jane and Steve arrived we went out for meals and drank champagne and went into town for all kinds of shopping. Lake Placid is a little town with a crossroads of Main Street and Interlake Boulevard with wonderful shops branching out from the 4 corners. We broused and found some gifts and then I went to get my hair done and we had lunch at Schooni’s (a pizza and burgers place among other interesting meals). While Chuck fixed my car tire (out of which a Lake Placid tire repair guy pulled a nail and then repaired the tire), Jane and Steve drove me to church for an hour of adoration (taking the place of my friend Elsie). When they picked me up they had found me a dresser in a thrift shop. I’ve been complaining and moaning about having my clothes (especially long pants and sweats) spread all over the house and I need a proper dresser for them in our bedroom…. This is a proper dresser with really heavy iron scrollwork on the feet part and a nice light brown wicker. The top needs sanding and I’ve been fooling with the idea of sanding and painting the top which has a big scratch…. paint and make a little mural on it! I’ll start that right now…. So my $50 thrift find got me a new friend named Corky (who volunteers at the thrift shop that supports elderly care) whose husband wants to look at a 20 foot pontoon boat to see how big that is (we have a 20 foot pontoon boat). They live 1 block over on Anderson. New friend, thrift store dresser…. Lots of fun. Jane and Steve just took off. It’s a 2 hour drive north to the Orlando airport. I’ll say a little prayer for their safety. We sent them early at 10am and flight is at 6pm. That gets them through the roads and turns, the rental car return, baggage drop off and the dreaded TSA safty inspection and hope it leaves plenty of time to check in by 3pm and have a snack. So we leave you asking for prayer for our travelers back to England, and a little prayer for Chuck and I driving over to Cape Canaveral early Sunday morning where we will meet Peter and Karen Skipp and their 2 beautiful daughters Catie and Rebecca at the Vintages wine bar on the RCCL Harmony after noon on Sunday!!!! Happy last days of Advent my dear friends and May the Peace of Christmas and celebrating the (thank God) birth of Christ be with you! Angels with us.

We have gathered "upstairs" in the banquet room / restaurant here at the Hilton in Panama City Beach for the tolling of the Ship’s Bell for lost submarines. We will remember boats and men lost from the American Navy and boats and men lost from the British Navy. After the Navy hymn, we will go to lunch and then back to the hospitality room for celebrating Christmas!!! Jane and Steve, English friends, are welcomed and loved! All is well with the world with these wonderful veterans! God bless us! Angels with us!

I’m watching and listening to coffee drinkers and sea stories… I just heard, "and the captain said…’dont touch anything!’" to a visitor! And everybody laughed. They had Marines come on board for transport. The Marines would say, "I didn’t know we were going under water!" I guess it’s a bit scary when "Dive! Dive! " Is alarmed, and Chuck said you can feel it and things start to slide…. I’ve never done that. I’m the stay at home submarine sweetie.
Our English friends arrived last evening about 5pm. They followed the GPS and finally arrived safe. We walked down to the outdoor bar where the young bartender was lighting gas heaters. It was good enough to keep the 55 degree winds off of us. Due to the time change, when I went to bed at 8:15 it was actually 9:15! We were Up at 7am, 10 degrees warmer, and I’ve been drinking coffee and listening to stories ever since. When our English friends finally get here to the hospitality room, I’ll be ready for bed and a nap again!!!

Chuck and I have moved into the quiet lanes! The "biggest road" we have at home is 2 lane route 27 and now (930 am) we are taking route 19 / 98 north into the Panhandle to Panama City Beach for a Submariner’s Christmas party. We should enjoy sunny and 60s… Warmer would be better for me but we plan Beach walking and restaurant and bar sitting to prop up the local economy. The small fragile beach town was badly damaged by hurricane Michael in October 2018. That’s why we will shop and eat a lot to help the economy. I remember when we visited Waveland Ms after 20 feet of Katrina flood surge wiped out Waveland. We have all been hurt by storms; let us try to take care of each other. The drive on route 19 is peaceful and quiet with lots of trees and one other car. God bless us! Angels with us!