Catching Up

Each year, an anonymous donor gives Bloom and Grow Garden Society* entry tickets and a table for 10 to the Habitat for Humanity’s Rock the House fundraising auction. Any members who want to go put their name in a basket for 2 seats. This year I finally got lucky. Maybe. I assumed this was an uptown affair. Nope, under a big tent in a field. *So Winter Garden to be a society, not a club.

One other factor in the plot is that each table competes in a table decoration contest. Our group decided on a bee theme, since the club promotes pollinator power. To make a long story probably too long, Ellen designed a huge centerpiece, making an old fashioned bee skep from a basket turned upside down atop an orange crate with lanterns and lights around it. Little bees were scattered on the table, and ribbon was strategically swooped throughout. Gold chargers topped by black and white checkered plates added glamour. We had painted sunflowers on chair-back covers, and best of all, dressed up like bees. At least most of us did. Alan came as a beekeeper. Wes wore a T-shirt that said “I’m the honey”. Stan was in a flowery aloha shirt. Still, we did win, although for Ellen’s sake, I was disappointed it wasn’t announced until the auction was over and most people had left. 

I had and still have rhinestones I bought probably before Steph was born, so I wanted Clara to bling up my wings with them. Had them last month, couldn’t find them when she was coming over, so I went to Walmart to buy more. Found them again yesterday. 

I bought a tiara to complete my queen bee look. Grant and I got double duty out of our costumes because we wore them to met Tony and Sheryl for lunch at Cheeser’s Palace in Clermont on Halloween. Many, many people enjoyed making bee puns as we walked around. Glad to be of service.

There were several live auction items like center court tickets to a Magic basketball game, cruises, and vacations in Colorado. None particularly appealed to me, and I had already finished our charity donations for 2025. I did bid on several silent auction items, winning, for $67, a basket of 3 wines and 2 stemmed glasses with poinsettias painted on them. We will drink the wine at Thanksgiving. And the glasses will be our December go tos.

I added to my winnings by donating an unused cork-board and not buying anything else when I picked up the basket at Habitat’s Restore thrift shop. Trifecta.

The next day we went to see the annual production of Handel’s Messiah that our friend Christine sings in. Free at the Dr Phillips’s Center. This year I acted early enough to get tickets so we avoided having to stand in line. Seats are first come, first served, and everyone gets one. However, those of us with tickets enter first. We sat with friends down front on the side. Fun way to try a different area. The paid soprano, mezzo, tenor, and bass were wonderful, and the choir plus orchestra backed them up beautifully. I’ll put it on the calendar for next year. We ate at Bosphoru’s in Winter Park after. No reservations for the 8 of us, but the manager put together several small tables to seat us.

The next Sunday saw Grant dumpster diving as he searched for his cellphone. Saturday we’d been ambassadors at LAWD, then went to a matinee of Wicked - For Good. To start the chaos, I discovered I’d bought tickets for the day before. Thankfully, West Orange Cinema exchanged them. When we got home, Grant realized he’d left his phone at the theater. I could see it still there on the Find My Phone app. We rushed back to the theater, and I searched our seats while the next ads before the next movie played. The manager tried too. No luck. She took my info and would call. We went home. Grant locked the phone.

Then the app seemed to show the phone was moving, first to a close by coffee drive through, then the BBQ restaurant.We jumped in the truck to follow. By the time we drove out of our neighborhood, the phone appeared to be back to the theater. The manager assured me she’d find it and call me.

I obsessed all night. Then, in the early morning it came to me. I knew what happened: for some reason, we didn’t clear our food tray like we usually do. Grant had obviously put his phone on the tray, and the cleaning staff had dumped it in the trash. Now I obsessed the garbage truck would empty the dumpster at o’dark hundred. By 7:00 AM, we were there. I pinged the app and could hear the phone answer. Not the top bag of garbage, but at least not so deep that he (more likely me) had to actually climb into the dumpster. I’m not sure whether this should be in the win column or not.