Justin arrived to collect me a bit early but we headed off to Middleburg anyway. Being ahead of schedule, Justin went into Winn Dixie to buy some Tylenol plus bought me a case of Diet Coke. Mmmm! We took our seats in the restaurant, a larger booth to accommodate our group. To make it simpler, he and I took the inside seats, bouncing and dragging ourselves along the waterbed-style bench. Whew! I was nearly motion sick from all the maneuvering. When our group arrived, they were minus one person thereby making this large a booth unnecessary. Oh well, we were in to stay! Speaking of booths, we saw Timmy's teacher from St. Johns in the restaurant, Mrs. Booth, and got to exchange some hugs.
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My sandwich didn't taste too good, should have known better than to order a prime rib philly, I am never pleased with them. The others enjoyed their food just fine and I like the company so it was perfect! Off we went to the foot repair shop while the Hilcheys went to Kingsley Lake to their store. We made plans to meet them there afterward. Lisa was just about to eat her lunch so she got Justin's feet soaking in the foot bath while she enjoyed her Big Mac. He turned on the massage feature on the chair and reveled in the moment. Lisa got his rough feet smoothed off nicely and away we went to meet the Hilcheys.
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It was raining, both while we were in the restaurant and at the foot place but we drove out anyway. Owen gave us the tour of his remodeled gas station/restaurant soon to re-open and then we headed back to Orange Park. Then it really started to pour. Justin was the driver today and I had to trust him to handle this ride safely. We made it back to Great Hang Ups and were thoroughly soaked going from the car to the store. Talk about chilly and wet! We picked out three handmade coffee mugs to give to the debs tomorrow, to which we'll be adding a Starbucks card. Good thing I asked Sandi what the protocol was for these parties, or we'd have shown up sans gifts!
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Justin's friend called to report that he needed a ride home from the car dealer so he dropped me off at home and headed to get Ron. But wait!!!!!!!! My case of soda was still in the car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He turned around and brought it back for me---whew, that was a close one.
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I confess I was not only a little concerned about Justin driving home in that pouring rain but we had made it safely back from Kingsley Lake and so forth. Right around 5:00 p.m. my phone rang. It was Justin on the other end, asking me what I was doing. I told him I wasn't doing anything, which was absolutely true. He then said, "Well, let me first tell you that I am fine and my car is pretty much fine......" What???? Why are you telling me how fine you are?
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It seems he had a sort of mishap after dropping me off. Again, he assured me he was fine (it might have been my sobs which prompted his mentioning it again). I regrouped and allowed him to explain what happened. Apparently he hydroplaned on I-95 between Phillips Hwy. and Baymeadows Road, spun around from the inside lane, and found himself facing the wrong way in the median. One moment please while I collect myself again.............okay, I'm back. He hit nothing but was shaken, and shaking. After putting his four-ways on, he had to manuever his car back onto the road and facing the correct direction, all the while traffic kept going past him. No one stopped to help him, but he was okay with that, he said.
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He got turned around and exited as soon as he could on Baymeadows. He pulled into a gas station to check his car over and could see nothing unusual going on. Justin noticed that he couldn't go faster than 40 miles an hour without the rear end of the car shaking like nuts, so he added air to the tires just to make sure they were okay. None were flat, which was good. In the meantime, Ron no longer needed the ride home.....Justin's roomie, Mike, and he took the car out to check it over for damage and he, too, noticed the vibration. None of the car dealers were open anymore today so he'll have to wait until Monday to have it checked out.
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At first, he told the guys he didn't want to tell me because I'd "freak out" but felt he needed to talk to me. That's great! It's in his best interest to not keep things from me, it would have been tragic for me to find out from someone else or by "accident", so to speak. I simply told him over and over again that I thanked the Lord he was okay and that we'd get the car checked over Monday. Justin assured me he was absolutely NOT speeding, he respected the rain, and so on. I hope he wasn't protesting too much!
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He's not sure how we'll handle our events tomorrow, such as church and the party, but I told him I'd be glad to be his driver. He's going to ask his roomies about a ride to church, which would be awesome if they'd actually attend with him.........always workin'......hey, I'm in promotions!
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Justin told me, as we spoke, that he was still shaking, and since they had time before heading over to Dave and Busters with the guys, he might go take a quick nap. I suggested he have a good cry into his pillow and he thought this was a capital idea. After all, we did already buy some Tylenol this morning.........He also said, earlier in the conversation, he didn't know if he ever wanted to drive again, but hopefully he gets over that. I don't know if I want to become his chauffeur again!!
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So, I rejoice that Justin was not hurt in this event, he hurt no one else, and hopefully his car merely needs some sort of adjustment. If it does, I already told him, "Happy Birthday!", which he says he'd be okay with. Not the gift I had in mind, but is much easier to wrap! Thanks be to God for watching over Justin and the other drivers on the roads today!!!!!
