Thank God it is Election Day!

Win or lose, I am sure we can all agree on how happy we are the never ending election cycle is over!

What, pray tell, have I been up to? I bet you can answer that question without much thought, right? I have been learning how to make some new things which will remain unphotographed because they might be Christmas gifts! Oh yeah, another thing that goes on forever. Earlier and earlier each year we see Christmas goodies in the stores. At least I do. One thing I did learn though is that craft stores put out Christmas stuff early so crafters can buy what they need. Now you know too.

It was kind of a strange weekend for us on two fronts. Friday night Cheryle asked me to man her studio at FAVO while she was vacationing. How could I say no? It was a heck of a lot easier to do her space than it used to be mine because everything was already neatly hung and did not have to be packed up when it was over at 9PM.

FAVO has greatly expanded since I left in loads of ways, not the least of which is the studio doors are painted very fun colors. Then too, there is air conditioning!!

As the sun was setting (see above sun flare in the photo), I was hoping the crowds would increase and they did. Sort of. Irene came to keep me company for a while which was very nice indeed.

As you can see when folks were not there, I was sewing on some quilt binding. I got a lot of it done. Then too, there were two entertainment acts, one of which were some 16 year old identical twins singers. Covers, of course. I had quite a chat with their respective boyfriends who both went to Full Sail, the same place Bill pleaded with me to attend. Not on your life Mr. Bill--way too expensive!

You may have noticed the wood looking floor in Cheryle's space and my, what a change from the space I occupied and wrote about here! I can hardly believe I stayed for over a year without air conditioning! What I wouldn't do, back in the day. 😲

The artists are better as well. I mean no offense, but once you actually have to start paying for a space, which I did not, you have to be reasonably successful, as it appears some of the new artists are.

Plus, you can now serve wine, which is huge! I'm hoping as the years go by, it continues to grow, because I still very much believe in the concept of an motel being converted into artists's studios.

I'd convinced Bruce to stay home because I knew he would be bored, and he did, staying up until I got home. The bad thing about that idea was that he was leaving at 7 in the morning to join the men's group on a trip to Camp Boggy Creek where they were going to replace something like 200 feet of wooden decking. This was a huge step for Bruce because we are still making our way into the church family. Needless to say I was very proud of him for going. They spent the night in the cabins, learning about each other, and the mission of the camp. Are you familiar with it? I was not. Started by Paul Newman, it is a camp for children with debilitating, or life threatening diseases. The link above tells you more, should you be interested, but after listening to Bruce, and reading the website, it sounds really, really special. While he was working very hard, I was at home sewing away, learning something new from one of the many fantastic people that write sewing blog tutorials, unlike this here blog that is merely for....well, what the heck is it for?

The church service was once again held at Rollins College. Called Founder's Day, the place was packed with not only church members, but it was parent's weekend too! The entire Rollins choir and orchestra performed, and they were absolutely wonderful!

I nearly had to turn around and go home because there was absolutely no place to park! Then, I saw a woman park in what was clearly marked "no parking," and I got the nerve to do the same. We walked into church together, and she turned out to be a delightful person. Only thing is, when we returned to our cars we had parking tickets for $110!!! Yeesh! That afternoon I wrote a respectfully pleading email to the security department, and I am delighted to report they voided the ticket!!

There are two things I've been meaning to write about how much I like this church. One happened earlier this year, and I'm still in shock over it. When VBS rolled around they asked for monetary donations to help with the food costs. So, I wrote a check. Well, hot dog if within about three weeks I received a thank you note from the director. Can you imagine? Over the years we have given gobs of money to various churches and this is the FIRST time ever someone thanked us. That goes a long way in fostering good will, don't you think? Secondly, two weeks ago, about three quarters of the way through the service, a man came in through the open sanctuary doors, screaming and hollering with his hands held high. Pastor Shawn called out to him to come forward, however he just kept shouting. You can imagine the ill ease most folks felt. Well, one of the male parishioners got up from his seat, walked right up to him, and hugged him tight, all the while speaking soothing words. Then Shawn came down from the front, and did likewise. Eventually the convinced him to leave the sanctuary peacefully. It was really something to behold.

My rash is finally disappearing, but one thing I did not tell you is that while he was examining my back, Dr. P. saw a mole he thought was not looking too good. So, this morning, this happened.

Amazingly enough, I was able to get in to see Dr. Chambers within days. She is an old "colleague" that I cannot recommend highly enough should you ever need surgery. The first thing she said when she saw me was, "where are you working now?" I laughed, telling her I was a complete gad about these days. On the phone the scheduler said she would need to do a consultation first, but here's an example of it is not what you know, but who you know. She excised the offending mole, which we both think is squamous cell skin cancer, and at the same time she scraped away a mole that was just plain ugly. I told you if it wasn't one thing, it was another this year! So, I await biopsy results, and lab results, both of which I'm not too concerned about.

Which brings us to election day. I've completely avoided any political discussion in this space, and I will continue that trend, except to say, if history is our guide, we will survive whatever the results are. Keep the faith my friends!

This too shall pass,

Gail