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No longer on the river and, again, an empty nester. Back to living on Fleming Island and making some more friends!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

We made it!

Lynn and I arrived safely, soundly, and not the least bit warm in WI, right on time. Although we left Jacksonville nearly an hour behind schedule, we still managed to make our connection in Atlanta via a great deal of huffing and puffing. On the first leg of our journey, Lynn had the entire row to herself while I shared a three-seat row with one man. I told him he could lie down if he wanted to and he found that quite amusing. He introduced himself formally as we landed and we wished one another CHRISTmas blessings before parting company. “Ron” graciously offered to retrieve my bag from the overhead bin, not even knowing if I had one up there! Gotta love it-----and him!
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My friend, Judy J. took us to the airport this a.m. because I’d asked her before asking Joanne to do the honors. She was Johnny on the spot with picking us up at the appointed hour and we had a great visit on the way to the airport. I made sure Lynn ate something before leaving to avoid motion sickness or anything else during our trip. I also ate an English muffin rather early in the day which is not a good idea since then I become hungry, as though the muffin begins the process of feeding. Normally I don’t have anything until closer to 10:00 a.m. or so, unless I have lunch plans. So, I was hungry as we waited for our delayed flight!
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Oh, and of course, I set off all the bells and whistles AGAIN while going through security because although I remembered to remove my stainless steel bracelet and put it in my purse, I forgot the one thing that trips the alarm every time--------my cell phone! Darn it! I was sure I put it in my purse but nope, back through the line I had to go, fish my phone out and drop it into the plastic bin and then try again. The man behind me was chuckling because he saw where I kept it and I joked to him that I should put it in my purse like other people do. He said, “I don’t!!!” to which I replied, “Good point!” Later I saw him in the concourse and he winked at me, because we shared a laugh.
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Lynn wanted to get a coffee at the Starbucks and I went in search of a bottle of water---------nah! Gotcha! I went in search of a bottle of Diet Coke for on the plane. Bottles are simpler to handle than is a cup with lid, as far as I’m concerned. While waiting for Lynn I spotted my downstairs neighbor, Jeff, also getting a coffee. He is off to Ohio to drive his parents back to Florida to their “winter” place. What a good boy he is! He says its been a couple years since they enjoyed their place in Florida and he is making it possible for them in 2008. We wished each other well and parted company. (I didn’t mention this the other night but his wife, Tracy, came upstairs to very cordially twist my arm about serving on the Board of Directors for The Palace. Of course, my answer is ‘no’ but a soft ‘no’. I’d hate to compromise my status of being the 'peace maker' in my little Palace community instead of being a rabbel rouser!)
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Back to the traveling: Lynn and I found our luggage down stairs in the airport and made our way to the parking garage to find her car parked there oh so many days ago (7). All the cars have the same grey matter spattered all over them, making the car colors all the same. It was cold in the car but she had some blankets to cover my legs with and her heater took care of warming us both. Without much ado we headed toward “home” and arrived at Mom’s, being greeted with the aroma of baking meat loaf. Mmmmm! We stopped at the Kwik-Trip before heading to Mom’s so I could pick up a couple 12-packs of water------nah, soda, again in case we are truly homebound by the snowstorm tomorrow. So, I am all set to wrap presents tomorrow and play a couple games of Scrabble with Mom, enjoying my time in extremely cold Manitowoc! Bring it on!