Awake in the wee hours

Good morning every one! Or, I should say that more softly for those yet sleeping. Somehow I found myself awake again at this hour and I am hungry. After Justin left last evening I reheated some rice from the fridge for my dinner. It was not much but I did not really feel like more at the time. For lunch I'd made a sandwich as it turned out our water aerobics luncheon was postponed to next week due to Marlena's schedule. That was fine with me since I was not really in the mood. Kerry will be glad to know that Dot asked for her Cream Cheese Torte recipe, which I had included in The Palace Press this month.

After the class was over, Mary Lew drove down here and I loaded a box of books into her car, my donation to the Book Mine. Two gardening books were pulled out and given to Connie but the rest, to Mary Lew. Later she called me to report how she'd pulled out a couple already for reading and asked if it would be okay to share them with the others from the class. Absolutely! I told Mary Lew that once they were in her car, they were hers to do with as she pleases. Eventually she can get store credit at the Book Mine to reinvest in more books!

*

I had gone through church papers and such before loading up the books into the box. Since Mike C. was coming after lunch for the yard sale stuff, I went into the bedroom and started messing around with boxes and bins in there. The bin marked fall decor was still sitting there ready for Mike to pick up and I decided to grab another bin to sort through. I ended up going through the spring/Easter bin and consolidating that with the fall. With abandon, not getting rid of anything significantly 'personal' to the kids. It's getting there! When Mike arrived it was just pouring rain and thankfully his truck bed has a cover. Connie directed him to back into the garage and then had me pull my car in next to his so we could transfer the stuff from my car to his truck without being soaked. Nice!

*

After Mike was gone, the rain had made me weary and my back was aching, so I decided to take a rest with my heating pad. I believe that I did fall asleep for a while and my back did feel better after I got up. After my restorative rest, I decided to get busy in the bedroom again and since the TV with VCR is in that room, watched a couple episodes of "House" while sorting through papers. The other day Justin had put a flat, wheeled bin into the family room for me to work on during the football game but I never got to it. When he came over last evening, I asked him what I was supposed to do with it so he went to get it. He told me it was empty and that he had meant to put another box out there for me to sort into the flat plastic bin. Ooops! The ones I had just gone through that afternoon, re-packed into a regular bin, were then transferred into the underbed bin, fitting nicely, and put away. That was a trip down memory lane for sure!

*

In those cardboard boxes I had sorted through were the cards from Justin's baby showers, his birth cards, baptism cards and even his baptismal napkin. Plus cards made by him for his parents when he was little, my 25th anniversary stuff and photos, but not my original album (I am still wondering where that is....), high school stuff, and so on. All these various treasures were still packed in cardboard and what a terrible disaster it would have been had they gotten wet. Also, I found some poems that Lisa had typed and sent to us after we moved to Florida, and I wept as I read them. She wrote the most lovely poem to Justin, how much she missed him and such. Justin suggested I scan them and send to Lisa, which I did last night. And put the originals in to the bin, now under my bed! And talk about coughing and sneezing from the dust 'n dirt from the boxes...ew! This job needed doing.

*

Justin worked on the toys, and made some sort of decision regarding their future, but I cannot remember what. He has set aside a couple bins of toys and has told me what he considers them but I am not sure. Some he means, I believe, for safe keeping while some are for kids to play with when they come over. We hardly have little boys here except when Gabe and Manny come every couple years, nor do I have little girls come for whom I would get this bin out. I think he is not quite ready to part with them either, which is fine, just so they are in plastic. He also repacked some more Christmas decorations before he carried stuff down to the car for me and left.

*

At 5:45 pm I was supposed to meet Penny at the lobby with my clothing donations for Quigley House but right before that set time, the insurance adjuster finally called me and I missed her. He is coming today to look things over, as is Mike Kelley, who will measure for the laminate floors with which I plan to replace the carpeting. My prayer and hope is that the insurance man will be very gracious to me and that my neighbor's will all be fine, and Butch. Oh, I would feel so badly if something came back on Butch after all this.

*

Penny and I will try to reconnect this a.m. on her way to work so I will make sure I am up and dressed early enough. I am planning to go to Bible study today but am scared out of my wits to be so far from home, as I am now quite gun-shy that something might happen. Another person I was talking to mentioned after having a similar event in her unit in The Capri that she was constantly hearing things and going, "What was that???" Like after a car wreck, your hands grip extra tightly to the wheel for a long time afterward. Hopefully I will get over it and I might once all of us are made right again. I look around my rooms and wonder what is exposed that could be ruined by water running down the walls and through the ceilings, that would be damaged. Fortunately I collect glass for the most part, but I also wonder about my kids' art in the hallway which is fortunately shrink wrapped, which would offer some protection. Timmy's portrait would be the worst loss. I wonder if I have a photo of the painting somewhere in my papers, because I did have it professionally photographed to give to his father. Someday I will look for it, or I might even come up a copy, smaller of course, when going through bins.

*

Before going to bed last night, I put out an e-mail letting my neighbors know that I have a desk and the tea cart to let go to a good home. Two of them have replied, both of whom own shops. The one table/desk was given to me by one of the "scrapbooking Kelly's" years ago and weighs a ton. The other piece is the tea cart mentioned yesterday. I love it that they will go to people who will take good care of the pieces and possibly restore them to beauty!

Yet more boxes 'n bins

Yesterday Butch came to finish installing the vanity in the bathroom. It looks great, and the way he rigged the once-drawer-now-door is quite nifty, allowing ready access to the cut-off valve. He put all the accessories back and even went looking for the throw rug, which was in the dryer. I told him not to worry about the rug, I would get it once the guys moved their machine from the laundry room. Anyway, all he charged me for was materials and no labor, under the circumstances. In the meanwhile, he did extra caulking in the family room for me, fixing some areas from where water had poured in from leaks due to rain. After the painting and sealing of the building last year, and other repairs made in upper units, the leaks seem to have subsided so I felt comfortable having him caulk. It looks nicer now, little to remind me of those days!

*

My house is quiet now with all the machines removed and no A/C running. My moisture levels are all within normal range so no mold would grow, and now all I need is for the adjuster to come to tell me about my coverage. My thoughts right now are to go with laminate in the hall and bedrooms, and laundry room, although I might have to add to what ever money they give me for the carpet and damage. The remediation guys said having carpet up here helped to hold some of the water back from dripping through and IF something like this would happen again....but I guess I cannot think that way. Either way, the rooms will need to be emptied of their bins and furniture.

*

One more box of filing was tackled and taken care of yesterday, and another box or two gone through for the yard sale. I consolidated the Easter and fall decorations that I did not use/want any more, leaving a few personal items to keep. A box of clothes for Quigley House is ready to go as is a bag of Justin's clothes. Penny told me yesterday that they are really in need of young men's clothes so I am glad that we had these here. I have more clothes to go through yet but she can only take some at a time. Good, 'cause I am not quite done with my sorting.

*

Today, I am invited to the pool with the water aerobics folks as we are having our end of season lunch. When Mary Lew called, I was not sure I wanted to go but think that I can get myself out there, might be good for me, and I sure do want to see everyone again. Some of the attendees do not participate in other Club events so I would not see them again for a long time. After lunch sometime Mike C. is coming over to pick up some of the yard sale items, if he has room for them in his truck. There are some yet up here in my house as well as my car packed full. This evening before Happy Hour Penny is coming by for the clothes donations. Purging, purging!

*

With some sadness, I am afraid that I will be saying 'farewell' to my tea cart. It was a gift to me from my parents over 30 years ago and it served me well all these years. Most recently it's been relegated to the back bedroom as a nightstand but it has seen better days. When we were moving from the lake house, it took a tumble down the front porch steps and got battered up. The wheels wiggle and it's really just tough looking. Perhaps someone will buy it at the yard sale and fix it like new? I also have a pitcher and bowl set that I have had for years but it really does not go with my decor any longer.

*

Yesterday I told Mike that the ladies at Keystone Heights are going to absolutely HATE me for sending all this stuff down there without being priced. That is one bug-a-boo we have with our church's yard sale every year, having to mess around with the pricing. There is absolutely no way I could take the time to mark these things, not under this type of pressure to get it out of here. He said that the 'old ladies' enjoy doing it so I hope he is right. They might give him a head smack for saying this, however, if they ever heard about it!

*

Another option available to me is a yard sale at Victory in November. So, even if we do not get done with everything right now, we (Justin and me and whoever helps me) can shoot for November's sale. And, of course, the Quigley House is always ready to receive donations. I saved a box destined for the trash to use for packing up books that I am giving away. Mary Lew can take them to the Book Mine and get store credit for herself to buy more books! Yesterday morning, Connie came up to see if I had anymore trash to go out, as the dumpster was being emptied in the afternoon. I hated to have her do it but she insisted so she got her cart and together we took stuff out there. Saved Justin an extra trip to the trash. He is coming over tonight to put the box of toys for Victory's pre-k into my car and hopefully can stay to help with more boxes and bins. We found an entire huge plastic bin with toys in it yet but decided to wait with going through it. Boy, those kids had alot of toys! He knows what goes with what, who got what and from whom, the circumstances surrounding his toys (bribes or whatever). Ha, that made me think of something that transpired the other day---He found something that he got for making honor roll and reminded me that we went to Uncle Pu's every time he made honor roll. I did not really remember that and said, "I really stunk as a mother..." and he said, "Nah, you were just busy..." He gave me a pass! Whew!

*

Joanne and Christine came over yesterday afternoon, the first time I had seen Christine since February, and Joanne not much more frequently. We discussed the situation and all that has happened, but both of them said this is not the time for me to be thinking of selling, as the market would not support the price. Also, it is not wise to do something like this in the heat of the moment. Travis said the same type of thing to me the night before, as we shared some pizza they treated me to. He said this is where I belong, and I cannot go through life fearing for what might happen. At some point I am sure I will relax again and become my normal complacent self. Both the ladies are struggling in real estate, and Christine said if it were not for buyers, she would be starving! Joanne asked me if they should look for something for me with waterfront and I told her I did not need water front. She said, in typical Joanne fashion, "Yes, you do!" So there! Guess I am here for a while yet....

Tuesday morning, having slept

And I am sad that that Packers lost last night. Thanks to being dead-tired and Jessica's Sleepy Tea, I fell asleep during the first quarter. At least I got to hear one touchdown for the Packers take place. And got to hear/see the very end of the game when the Bears won. Facebook reports that the Packers had an abundance of penalties and many fans are upset about that. I hope they were legitimate flags and not poor refereeing.

*

Justin came after work with the intent of taking the garbage to the dumpster, which we had set aside on Saturday. Connie was going to leave the lock open for him to have access to it. He and I got busy going through the Christmas boxes and I amazed myself again with my ability to send stuff to the yard sale or even to the trash. Over the years, I have simplified my decorations, not doing every room and such as was done in the past, so many items had not been seen since 2004 or before. They might make a lot of money at the yard sale in Keystone Heights!

*

Earlier in the day Butch came back to install the vanity and faucets, and I was quite nervous about it. Sure enough, we had a problem, but it was dry one. It seems the vanity I bought was not deep enough to accommodate the plumbing where it came from the wall, the side wall where the leak erupted Thursday. To cover the pipes, the cut-off valve and the drain for the sink, we needed a deeper vanity. My goof, I guess. Butch had cut it out of the box already and said he did not even think of it until he was about ready to cut the notches for the supply lines in the back of the cabinet. Oops! Fortunately, Lowe's took the other one back without its box, and he went in search of the right-sized one.

*

Butch called me to report that all the vanities deep enough to conceal the pipes had drawers as a standard on the right side, never on the left. If we wanted to special order, we could get them reversed, drawers on the left. We came up with a plan, however, to remove the bottom drawer, make it a blank, basically, and we would be good to go. Butch picked up a set of hinges that will allow the fake front to be used as a mini-door allowing access to the cabinet and the cut-off valve. He is quite the guy!

*

This new vanity that he brought home is taller than usual, like a shaving sink in newer homes, which means the mirror had to be moved up, too. Justin helped him put the mirror back up as it is quite large and heavy. While Justin was here we went through stuff in the guest room, which was formerly his room. He took one plastic bin to the family room for me to go through while I watched the football game but that did not happen. That is a flat, under-bed style bin with the kids' school papers inside. He thinks I should go through it and then stash it under the bed. Why not? There is stuff in boxes and bins from before I was married and have a tough time parting with it, sometimes. The stuff which induces memories for me I feel I must keep even though I never look at the items. What is the solution here???? One sure thing is that stuff is going into plastic and that's it!

*

The other day, Saturday, when Stephanie arrived, my neighbor, Rosemary came to the door, asking me if I wished to stay with them, using their guest room with private bathroom. How wonderful are my neighbors? Pat A. also offered her place and Ellen would have but they have so many animals that it is not conducive to house guests. But they did the soggy towels and laundry for me instead. Tracy sent flowers, and last night, Jessica brought us a pizza from Papa Murphy's because she knew I was having a bad day. What a sweetheart! Plus the Sleepy Tea which really did help me to sleep. Must go to Winn-Dixie and get myself some of that stuff. Plus I need garbage bags as I have been going through them like nuts.

*

Justin wants me to go through the clothes bins and get things ready to go to Quigley House. I can do that today, and must get hold of Penny to find out how she wants me to do this. Evidently she wants to look at everything first to take to the House directly for the women in need before it goes to the resale store, which raises funds to support the home. By the way, she is moving from The Club property, with her closing happening today, I think. She will stay a Member, so we are not rid of her yet, ha! The movers she is using are B & B Movers, my "Turkish friends" as Justin calls them. I asked her if she mentioned my name when dealing with Saban. She said, "Oh, yes, I certainly did. And he said he hasn't seen you for a while. You must have settled down..." Funny that idea should come up.....The last time he was here was after he moved Justin's stuff to the first condo rental, when he brought me my Turkish flag. He didn't like it that I had a Greek flag but no Turkish one. When he called me, he said, "I am your worst nightmare..." which made me laugh, because he is far from that. Just how settled I am here leaves some question, though...

I would prefer to be sleeping...

but I am awake, since about 2:30 a.m. That is what I get for checking the time on my cell phone when I got up to use the bathroom. A consequence of consuming my pitcher of water yesterday afternoon. On the bright side, my desk is now cleaned off, all the papers that required filing filed, or placed into binders, or shredded as needed. This early morning I paid some bills on-line, having to establish several new vendors to finish paying for my "kaleidoscope" costs, the bills which only recently arrived. From May until now to do the billing, really? So glad I do not have to do that again for at least 10 years, especially since I likely would pay again out-of-pocket. I wonder if there will be Medicare or similar around when I am old enough to make use of it.....Did you know I will be 55 this year??? Wow!

*

One of the file bins I need is in the back bedroom, I think, but it can wait until Justin comes back this afternoon to fetch it for me. Oh, no, he can't...I just remembered that I used that file basket for my record albums, to send them to WI with the Kuske's! It was intended for filing my church papers, Bible studies, Outreach info, all the church papers from meetings and such that I feel must be kept. Guess I will need to make a trip to Office Max to replace the file basket. A plastic bin would work, too, but I like the wire baskets which fit so nicely on the stand or on the closet shelf. Not water tight, for sure, which really is foremost in my mind these days.

*

Next week I will begin helping in the church office a couple days for two weeks while the secretary is on vacation in Hawaii, where her daughter is stationed. Hopefully I will remember everything there is to do, but I did take notes on Wednesday when I went in for instruction. Lynne runs the office quite efficiently, using her military background for organizing things. By comparison, when I worked in the office, it must have been sheer chaos.

*

Sunday morning I went to Bible study and church, arriving at study a few minutes late. We are yet on the "Come Worship Christ" class, plodding along. Either they were shown a brief snippet of the video or none at all because I did not see any, arriving only a couple minutes after 9:00 a.m. We discussed the liturgy and what types of things make a good hymn. Church seemed well-attended and Suzanne played the pre- and post-service music, including my favorite, "Be Still My Soul". One of the topics we discussed in the study was about favorite hymns and why they are so, and after church, Suzanne said to me, "You sure can't tell which ones are my favorites!", because she often plays them postlude.

*

Mike S. carried the toy bins from my car to Suzanne's car for me after church, and John put them in her trunk. I wonder if John knows there were a 1000 pieces of road tracks and tiny components in those bins...he might have tossed them into the dumpster instead! Mike C. was not there yesterday, he must have been at Keystone Heights, so I did not leave my yard sale stuff. There was nothing else around that others had dropped off and I did not want to be the first. Later Judy C. called me to say he had already taken a load from church to Keystone but she said he would get together with me to transfer the items. I am dreadfully sorry they will not be priced, something which is so time consuming to do for either end of this deal, but I hope it helps their sale.

*

When I got home from church, I came upstairs for a while, and then decided to get some lunch. A good sign, a return of the appetite. Danny made me a hot dog while I chatted with some of my neighbors at the cabana. Pat and Kathy invited me to watch the Jaguar game with them but I just wanted to be alone and collect myself. My body ached from the work of the previous days and was not good company, I felt. Even turned down an invitation to the movies with Twila and Jean. They understood, said they could see in my face that I was distressed, and thought a movie would help. Sweet ladies, but maybe next time? I cannot ever play poker, not with my face as such a give-away all the time!

*

Butch is coming today to install the vanity and faucets, which frightens me, I am so jumpy now, so I will stay home from Bible study. It seems things happen when I am away. I will become a recluse, staying home to check for things dripping or leaking in my unit or others. Justin is coming over here again after work to haul the trash from Saturday's work to the dumpster. Connie will leave the lock open so he can have access to it. There is a load of books that got wet so he can bring up the yard cart to haul them downstairs. Justin said I 'can have him' until about 8:00 pm because he has TV shows to watch with his housemates tonight. So do I, the Packer and the Bears!

Somehow, life goes on...

It amazes me how quickly life can change, how one week we can skip merrily along, enjoying our houseguests and busy lives, and the next, disaster! We get up in the morning and go to work, see patients, teach classes, attend classes, fly planes, and then, a flood! I am speaking in the last sentence about Tracy and her household, with Jeff flying for FedEx during this mess. He got home on Friday to face the aftermath. I have not spoken with him yet, not even to wave since we were so busy yesterday in our own house.

*

So, anyway, Friday I went and got a haircut while Maggie washed and dried the mopping towels from my house and Gus's, since my washer would not work on cold water. (Butch came yesterday and found that the water screen inside the hose was plugged with rust 'n junque from the pipe breaking, simple fix). In my mind it was wacky for me to consider getting a haircut only 24 hours after the flood disaster! And Tracy with Cassidy was going to lunch with MamMa and then getting massages. There really was nothing else we could do once the machines were in place and doing their thing. Besides, of course, going through our wet boxes and belongings to save what we can. But, life went on, people went about their normal lives despite the drama in our lives here in The Palace.

*

After Timmy died, my friend, Carol, told me a story about when she delivered her twins and was driving home from the hospital. They went passed the Burger King on the corner and she looked inside, saw people sitting around and talking, and eating. She thought, "What is the matter with you people??!!??? Don't you know my baby died and my other baby is fighting for his life???!!!??" Basically, how can you sit there and go about your lives when mine is upside down and my heart torn out?

*

A few weeks after Timmy died, one of our customers, Delores, whom we were quite close to through the entire building process, stopped by the office to drop something off for us, a sympathy gift, I think. She asked Betty how we were doing and Betty said that Roger was in his office if she wanted to see him. He told me later that Delores asked him when he was coming back to work full-time again and he was embarrassed to acknowledge that he was pretty much back full-time already. I know, there are no rules and we all deal with things in our own ways. But, that is when it hit him, too, that life somehow goes on. No disrespect to Timmy or to me, but we had a business to run, you know? And hair to be cut, lunch to be had, and massages to soothe the weary bones and backs!

*

The folks in WI and MN whose homes are being washed away in flooding from the torrential rains would scoff at our dilemnas here, with our soggy floors and damaged personal items. And a few months ago I was all distraught when Jessica and Travis' ice machine malfunctioned and caused water to drip into my unit. Such a minor matter now, no harm, no foul for me, extra cleaning got done which was needed, and it was over. But at the time, it was a problem. By comparison? No match!

Here I am....

Flowers delivered to me, as well as to our other neighbors who pitched in to help with the water mess, from Tracy and Jeff

*

I have slept through the night, starting relatively early with that. Saturday was a busy, full day, exhausting to me but much was accomplished.

*

But let me back up a bit to Friday. After the water remediation guys had come and gone, bringing me yet more equipment to dry my floors, I had pretty well decided to rest and perhaps sleep. No sooner had I rather settled in did my phone ring, and I knew who it was before I answered. Penny! She asked if I was coming out to the cabana for dinner and after I told her what had happened, she excused me from coming down. About 15 minutes later, she called me back and said that a group of folks were gathered downstairs and they really thought I should come down to eat at least. Earlier I told her I had not been able to eat, etc. Okay, I gave in and went down for a while.

*

Hugh, Maureen, Karrie, Penny, and Pat were sitting around the table and Hugh went to get me a chair. I told Danny about the flood and such, as Marissa made me a strawberry margarita. Straying from the dinner the menu, Danny made me a hot dog. His pasta salad was rather dry so I left it but ate the hot dog, leaving most of the bun. But the margarita and the Diet Coke went down well. Everyone is sympathetic, but my greatest concern is for Tracy's place and all the inconvenience they will bear from this. She came down for a minute or two to chat with us, and I was able to thank her in person for the lovely bouquet of flowers she had delivered to me, and all the neighbors who pitched in to help. Can you imagine? I told her I would do anything to get flowers from her!!

*

There was another lady who sat with us, Jeannie, whom I have seen around but did not know personally. She does housekeeping for a living but there was no way from looking at her that one could tell. Oops, that sounded like stereotyping housekeepers, didn't it? If I had to guess what she did for her living, I would not have guessed that. Anyway, she suggested I take a Benedryl to help me sleep but I did not think that was a good idea since my mouth was so dry already that I cannot spit. When I got back upstairs, about 8:30, early for us to disband on Friday night, I got myself ready for bed and I am willing to bet that by 9:00, I was asleep! Waking up at 4:00 is not so bad with such an early bedtime.

*

So, to Saturday: At some point the water remediation guys were coming back to check the equipment and take measurements of the moisture and such remaining. We have to make sure we don't get mold problems here after all this. Stephanie Benson was coming over to deliver my Pampered Chef purchases which I was so looking forward to, although my house is not presentable. She said it would not be a problem, she wanted to give me a hug and see my view. Stephanie brought a plate of bars, too, which Justin thoroughly enjoyed, and I even had a couple. She stayed a little while, telling about her life in Janesville, WI and how her family used to eat dinner at 3:15 when her dad got home from his first job. They had an hour of family time between 3 and 4 pm when he left again for his job at GM. Her dad was a contractor in the daytime and she learned much from him regarding DIY jobs around the house. When Justin arrived, he reported a bagpiper on the lawn at The Club so we all went out to see/hear him play, in preparation for a wedding later on.

*WARNING

After Stephanie left, Justin and I got busy making sense of the boxes and such in my river room. Most of them were toys and Timmy's things----boy, I was glad Justin was here to do this with and for me. It was much easier than I anticipated to make decisions regarding the toys and such than I would have thought. We had different 'piles' of toys, sorting according to what was kept, what was going to the yard sale at Christ, Keystone Heights, trash, or given to kids we know. At one point, Justin came upon a bin of what seems to be miles of race track, all the snap-together pieces. Since Justin had no personal attachment to it, thinking it was a shared gift for Timmy and himself, he suggested we give it to a little boy we know. We decided on Daniel. So two bins of such type of toys are going to Chappell's, loaded now in my backseat. And the back of my car is loaded with boxes to go to the yard sale which I will hand off to Mike Chappell today at church.

*

At one point I opened a box and the tears started to flow. There was a packet of greeting cards and such, and before I started to look at them, Justin said, "I think you better sit down to read these..." One was a lovely note from Carol D., reminding me that Timmy had learned to sing "B-I-B-L-E" in Sunday school and that we all have the comfort and knowledge he is with the Lord. Another card was from Suzanne, and at the bottom of her card she wrote, "I cannot express any better than this card. I love you", a thinking of you card. And we found the silver "My First Tooth" compact that was a baptism gift from Carol's parents, the Zelenaks. It is taped shut now because it contains hair clipped from Timmy's head at the funeral home. I have now placed that container in his flower memory box on the hallway table under his portrait. Justin was hugging me, comforting me, and I said to him, "I am holding you to your promise..." and he nodded. He promised that he would bury me, and not the other way around. Of course, we know that is not something anyone can really promise, but for us, it works, you know? He is such a sweetheart!

Made it through the day...

...and even managed to get a haircut! Barb, the hairdresser, thought it might help to lift my spirits. I know everyone keeps telling me it is not my fault and to quit worrying about it but really, I cannot help it. Hopefully tonight I will get some sleep as I am dog tired. Did not do much physically today but I am emotionally spent. Martie, Judy C., Judy J. and Penny all offered to come help me go through the boxes and bins and such but I feel like I really cannot do that until the rooms are reclaimed. I might be thinking foolishly, especially since there is a yard sale planned at the church in Keystone Heights. Either donate stuff there or to Quigley House, but just basically go through and decide!

*

First thing this a.m. I went down to Gus's to check on his books and such. There was a packet of photos that got wet so I brought them upstairs with me to pull them apart and dry them. As I got them separated, peeling them, I discovered a CD in the envelope with all the photos on it. Bravo! Off I went to Walgreens to get the photos printed, picking them up about an hour later. I believe there are more pictures printed than are on my table but that's okay, he can sort them out. I feel better knowing his pictures, his memories are restored. Also, I ordered two of the books that got wet from Amazon and they will be here in a couple days. Now what can I do to help Tracy? Oh, no, she sent me a bouquet of flowers with a note "Big hugs". I have been rewarded for flooding her place. But won't do that again soon, I hope!

*

Maggie took care of laundering the two loads of wet towels from my place and Gus's since for some reason or another, I have no cold water running into my washer. We did nothing with the washer yesterday in the commotion so Butch is coming tomorrow to check it out. Perhaps it is dirt or something plugging the filter on the hose, and I pray nothing terrible happens while he is looking at it. I am so gun-shy right now, I am almost afraid to use the bathroom for fear of a pipe breaking. Others who have had leaks say the same thing, at first every sound is potential for a disaster.

*

After my haircut I came home to work on the newsletter, surprising myself that life actually goes on. Tracy and Cassidy took MamMa to La Nop today and then were going to get massages. They offered one to Maggie but she refused. Later she thought that might have been a good idea. Hmmm.....that gives me an idea! Everyone who pitched in did great and I am so appreciative of the help. Today Ellen gave me a present of Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits and a lovely card, expressing her sympathy and referring to me as sunshine. Not today I am not, not today. Good night all!

What a nightmare!

Today was supposed to be simple fix, and a new bathroom vanity with sink in place. Or so we thought! Butch assured me I should go to Bible study, that he could handle it, etc. and I knew he could. He is THE MAN when it comes to the plumbing in this building, even though he is not technically a plumber or electrician. He is a handiman who can do about anything. When I left he was removing the ceramic tile from around the vanity top. On the way out I spoke to Connie about getting a key for Gus's unit as he was in CO, since the cut-off valve for the 'stack' with my unit is in his foyer. Who knew?? We all do, but Connie had to get the key from Hugh. As I walked away, I said to Connie, "I am sorry for making extra work for you...." and she said it was no problem. Little did we know!

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During Bible study at Victory, I got a phone call from Maggie. I stepped into the narthex to take the call. She said, "Are you at home?" and I said I was at Bible study. "Did anyone tell you what happened?" Nope! It seems that Butch had shut off the water in Gus's unit for our stack as well as shutting off the main. Hugh was with him when he did this. Butch went upstairs to remove the offending valve and pop!, the pipe snapped and water was shooting everywhere. It seems there was yet another cut-off valve in Gus's unit which no one else knew about until today. Meanwhile, water is flowing into my guest bedroom, where Lynn just stayed, and also down the inside of the wall to the units below mine. I am so glad that I do not live on the 5th floor!

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By the time I got home, folks were busily mopping, sopping, hustling, wet vacuuming in all three units to try to get the water up. Tracy's, just below mine, got the worst of it, with inches of water on her hardwood floors in nearly every room, and water running out her doors. I feel sick just writing about it. It was great the way everyone pitched in to help, and I even sent Justin a text asking him to come over. He was helpful with the heavy lifting and such, and giving hugs to highly distraught mama!

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On the way home, I had the presence of mind to call my friend, Aaron, who does water remediation and he was geared up to get over here and start working. In about an hour he had fans and blowers and dehumidifiers going in the units. Conversations and such have taken place with the various insurance companies and now we wait and see how the floors and such respond to the dehumidifiers. Tracy and Cassidy are staying at the Holiday Inn, since their house is non-habitable right now, with all the fans and such running, and their kitchen torn apart. They can certainly use my kitchen for cooking and their insurance pays for the hotel.

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There is so much more to tell but I am incredibly tired and hurt all over from hauling boxes and bins, more work than I do in an entire year. Tracy insisted on us going to La Napolera for margaritas and dinner, and I grabbed the bill. After all, it's the least I can do after this terrible ordeal. I am so tired, must go to sleep. Please ask the Lord to allow Tracy's floors to be okay for the most part and say a prayer of thanksgiving for my wonderful, helpful neighbors who came to the rescue today, and for Connie, too!

More photos coming your way

Here are some of the photos taken the day after Lynn and Linda arrived, last Thursday. We had fewer folks for this dinner due to schedule conflicts with the dinner at church the next night. Somehow the dinner turned out fabulous with only seven around the table! Plenty of leftovers, too!

From left is Lynn, Janet, Linda, Judy C., and Judy J. Martie is absent from the photo but came later. We had Smithfield ham, macaroni and cheese, Southern baked beans, and key lime pie. Judy J. made us a cream puff ice cream sandwich with chocolate sauce over the top. Yummo!

This is another view of our table, showing the delicious food on the table. For the benefit of my guests, I had turned on the A/C, which I am sure made them so much more comfortable!

Linda had to tackle the wine bottle that Martie brought since I did not know how to use my fancy, schmancy Pampered Chef cork screw. It put up a terrible battle, but Linda beat the bottle!

Martie looks so lovely in her turquoise top with scarf! Oh, such laughing we did that night, and later she said she cannot remember when she's laughed so hard. We had to sit on towels!

Linda seems to be off on some kind of mission, heading away from the table. As you can see, it still bright outside and we are ready for dessert! The fun went on until nearly 10:00 pm, long after our pie and cream puffs were consumed!

Mystery Dinner

Friday night at church, the Fellowship group put on a Mystery Dinner. No, not with a murder or other crime to solve. Instead, the diners had to try to cipher what the menu items were and order food for three courses. The Mystery portion was the vague descriptions of the menu selections and hope that eventually food would be served! If a person ordered incorrectly, they might get three types of food but nothing to eat it with, or dessert with green beans and only a knife. It was an absolute hoot and the food, well, out of this world!

Lonnie ordered from his menu, thinking he would beat the game. The good news is that got his silverware, but the bad news was he had to turn it in before the next course was served! He had to 'bribe' his server for another fork, but at least he got food from the 2nd course forward!

The kitchen gang played a trick on Jim B. as he was presented with this giant ham bone! At least he had a fork and green beans to hold him over. Eventually, he did received his "heart stopper" ham, but not until we all had a good chuckle! The Scheetz's took the bone home for their dog.

(Click on the photo to make it large enough to read the menu)

Oops! Jayne also ordered wisely and ended up with only silverware for her first course, which was removed before the 2nd course arrived. Guess she had to pony up to her server in order to get a fork or spoon to eat with. Next to her is a copy of the menu which has vague descriptions of what the foods are, such as 'golf balls' for the deep fried mac 'n cheese balls, 'hunter's tool' for a knife, and so on. Cute!

Lynn is yukking it up with John and Suzanne at the table before we began eating. Folks were still getting settled in, as you can see in the back, righthand corner, Linda is working the room, saying "Hi!" to folks.

Suzanne and John sat with us, but later, John moved to the table behind us to sit with the guys. No problem because then Carol had room to join our group of ladies. At one point, Carol misordered and ended up eating her course, including green beans (catepillers), with her knife!!!

At the next table sat Donna, Bonnie, Ellen, and Lynn K., with Twila and Jean across from them. Judy is walking in the background.

Linda is enjoying her apple dessert with her scalloped potatoes. The dessert and other foods were all mixed up on the menu so some were able to live life to the full, with dessert being served first! Such great fun and a wonderful social event. I tried to post a photo of the two Mikes who did the majority of the cooking but the photos kept coming out sideways when I posted them! Oooops!

Biding our time

We ladies are watching Fox and Friends before getting ready for Bible study. In about an hour we will be leaving for church, where we are studying "IDing Worldviews" or something similar in name. This will be our third week in this topic, but only our second in a row. Sometimes it is hard to get a rhythm going in such a study. Hopefully we will manage to do so but I believe next week is the Pastor's Conference so we will lose our rhythm again.

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Wow, lots has happened since I began this posting! We went to Bible study, stopping at Sonic for Route 44s for Lynn and me, and a water for Linda. The class was great, with a new attendee, Joseph, who used to be in the Bible information class with some of us on Tuesday nights. Apparently a job took him away from us at night, so now he is coming on Monday a.m.'s! In the class we talked about the worldviews of naturalism and tapped the surface of Darwinism. All these 'isms' are hard to keep straight.

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Joseph asked me to drop him off at Publix so we did just that on our way to Longhorn. We had 9 at the table today and all enjoyed our time together. Jackie and Gretchen got their hugs delivered and sent some back with Lynn for Mom. Lynn and Linda enjoyed the seafood chowder and salad lunch special while I had my usual chicken tenders. From Longhorn we went home to go to the pool as the temperatures were expected to be about 92 today. 

It was warm but not insufferably humid, however, the water still had too much shadow and was chilly to me. Somehow we managed to enjoy it and especially more when Maggie O. showed up! I am so glad Lynn and Linda finally got to meet her, having read so much about her. Maggie had brought lunch for Ellen and she which they shared at a table in the shade. 

We had a good visit with all the ladies at the pool and even managed to secure a few sodas and a water when Danny came down to the cabana to set up for a private party. Maggie the Younger came down from the condo (Ellen's daughter) and joined Jessica and Beckham at the pool. Such a handsome boy Beckham is! The two ladies had been at Beckham's baby shower and now got to see him in the flesh. People came and went, and eventually it ended up being L, L, E, and me around the table. And then Justin came!!!! He had to say his farewells to the two houseguests, saying he will see them in December. That seems a long way off, does it not? Not!

Where is the time going?

Saturday went by so quickly and yet, not so fast. Hmmm.....Might be because the ladies had bad night's sleep due in part to their sunburns and not being able to get comfortable . Linda's case is worse than Lynn's and had lathered themselves with aloe lotion to ease the heat. But what fun we had!

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Lynn reminded me that we were having breakfast at Grumpy's that morning so we got ready quickly to head over there. She treated us, with Lynn and Linda having apple pancakes, and me, my usual of a fried egg with rye toast and crispy bacon. I did not care for my toast somehow but the bacon and egg were good. Kathy B. and Brian came in and met her daughter and son-in-law, Kelly and Kevin. Kathy and Brian were not at the dinner on Friday night even though they signed up but I did not inquire as to why. She did remark about my interesting highlights in my hair, some put there by the sun and some by old age. It will be weird when I return to using the silver remover when summer is over to see if folks notice that!

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As we drove to church to set up for Holy Communion, I assured the ladies that the kitchen would be cleaned up from the dinner but as we walked into the Fellowship Hall, there was Judy C. doing the wet mopping! I told her we would wait and I would do the church stuff setting up first and in the meantime, she put the communion-ware into the Fellowship Hall for us. Lynn helped me get things ready and we enjoyed chatting with Judy while doing so. That Mystery Dinner was an absolute hoot and Linda is planning to take the idea home with her to use at First German for a fund raiser or just plain fun, like this one was! Jim B. sitting there with that giant ham bone on his plate was hysterical!

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Once that opportunity to serve was completed, we went to Chamblain's Book Mine near Roosevelt Mall to check it out. Mary Lew, my muse from water aerobics, had told me all about it and since my two guests are such readers, well.....WOW, what a place! If there is one book, there had to be 100,000, even display on ledges over door ways! Early on in our visit, I had found a book of the history of the Jacksonville fire which was in 1901 but once I figured out the pricing, it was not such a deal after all, still $40. It would have been great to page through and look at the photographs of what once was, and then pass it along to Brenda N., a Jax native who soaks up the history. She suggested recently that the two of us visit the 18 churches written about in the book, Saints Dunstan and John. It is a great idea, of course, but I wonder if I could pin her down for the entire day!

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Only Linda bought a book and then we went to Steinmart. We all found something there to buy, with me finding this great purple/gold/ruby Aztec print jacket, lightweight fabric for winter. Here the ladies have ruby sunburns and are looking at winter clothing! I also picked up a box of CHRISTmas cards already, half-price, and absolutely lovely. Why not? It is time to make decisions regarding our Ladies' Advent Service while the temperatures are still in the high 80's!

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When we arrived back home, Linda in quite a lot of misery from her sunburn and from walking, we changed clothes and went to the pool. When asked if they preferred staying in, Lynn declared, "I did not come to Florida to sit in the house!" so good, off we went. Linda took her book and remained in the shade while Lynn cooled her burn in the cooler waters of the pool water. More folks were out there than I expected and we had great visits with other bathers. Our lunch was enjoyable from the cabana and before 4:00 pm, we were back upstairs! We found the Badger game to watch at first and then turned on something else to entertain. For dinner I reheated our leftovers from Thursday's feast, which amused my neighbors who were at the pool. When they asked where we were going for dinner, I told them we were eating in and they laughingly asked, "Are you using your kitchen????" Leftovers, hello?

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For our evening entertainment we watched "The Lake House" which made us cry, I had forgotten the twists and turns of the movie and then I went to bed. I had had a good night's sleep but was weary nonetheless. I pray the ladies do too so we are fresh for church and Clark's afterward!

My company is here

Lynn and I are enjoying an adult beverage at the Bahama Breeze on Thursday at lunch. Lynn's was margarita take-off and mine a strawberry mojito, almost like a salad in the glass!

Linda and I posed with our adult beverages at Bahama Breeze before our meals were delivered.

Somehow or another I neglected to post on Thursday, possibly because we were so incredibly busy around here! Lynn and Linda arrived safely but later than I expected since their itinerary changed. Man, it was great to see them waiting at baggage claim!!! When we got home, we talked a little while before everyone set off for their rooms, since we were all a bit tired. Linda hoped to be up early enough to watch the sunrise but she overslept and missed it.

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Thursday morning we went to Bible study at Victory with Justin and then had lunch at Bahama Breeze. Oh, how I loved my lunch of braised beef with yellow rice. It is my new favorite meal at BB! From BB we stopped at Publix so Linda could buy what she needed for her mac 'n cheese and then headed home to start cooking. Lynn mixed up her key lime pie to put in the freezer before we went down to the pool. Linda's and my contributions could wait until later to be put together. And off we went to splash around for a bit.

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We had a scant seven people for the dinner for various reasons, not the least of which was the church dinner Friday night. Regardless of how many ladies we had, the food was amazing, Paula Deen recipes, and much much laughter. Even a few tears..but more laughter. Judy J. made us a lush dessert with cream puffs, ice cream and Saunders chocolate sauce over the top, which went nicely with Lynn's more tart pie. Talk about refreshing!

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Friday morning the ladies were up in time to see the sun rise and have some morning coffee before we headed to The Club to eat breakfast. I had French toast and the two ladies had omelets and potatoes. From there we went to the Island to get a pedicure for Lynn and me, Linda abstained. Our next stop was Great Hang Ups where Dee showed Lynn and Linda my water color vignettes, as yet unframed. While we were there, another lady came in for her photographs which Dee had reworked for the client's mom's 90th birthday. Peggy was so delighted with each board of photos, and there were tears all around. Poor Linda could not even see for awhile, until Dee went to get tissues. Each board of history was more lovely than the next and so perfectly captured the story of the client's mom. Fantastic, but we needed rehydration which we got in the form of pina coladas at the pool. Now my lady friends/sisters are red over pasty white from too much sun in the pool, and at the pool. Maggie and Ellen came out a bit later which was great fun, as Maggie discussed recipes with Lynn and Linda. She loves to cook as does Linda. We made some friends with visiting folks from Detroit (talk about pasty white!!!!) who were here for a wedding being held tonight. Who has more fun than us!!??!!

Biding my time....

.....until I leave for the airport to get my guests. Linda first text messaged me and then called to report their arrival in Chicago. At my urging they were going to get something to eat as it will be late when their plane lands in JAX with not many options on the path from the airport. Linda said she does not like to eat so soon before going to bed so I hope they get enough supper to tide them over until morning!

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My kitchen is laid out with breakfast-type foods at the ready, the coffee maker cleaned and prepared to brew some coffee in the morning, plus the mixer and equipment for Lynn to make her pies when she gets up. Her key lime pies need to be frozen so must get them ready before we leave for Bible study. I have no worries that Linda and she will be early risers regardless of being on vacation. Which is why I have everything ready to go! Linda is pretty comfortable making herself at home and I am sure Lynn will as well.

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The Palace cats are meowing something fierce downstairs and sounds really loud up here. The remodeling noise has subsided for the day, replaced by the sound of the fountain and the cats. Yesterday, I mentioned Jeff apologizing for the dust which prompted me to grab the Pledge today to wipe some of the surfaces before the ladies arrive. Justin did the chandelier for me Tuesday. Fewer ladies than usual are coming to the dinner tomorrow night, due in part to us having a dinner at church the next night. No worries, we will have a great time with whomever is here, and have more for us! Good thing I reminded Martie because she totally forgot about it.

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Today I picked up my Smithfield spiral ham which is touted by Paula Deen (my end-around to get out of cooking!). As I told Jessica earlier, I feel like a darn fool in the grocery store, this time Wal*Mart, because I don't know where anything is anymore. I had to ask a man if they had hams, which he showed me. And then I had to ask another man where the Half 'n Half and heavy cream were located, and he took me there. A lady in the produce department told me to look in the juice aisle for key lime juice but there was none. Eventually I got the right juice at Publix, which is where I should have started anyway! The reason I went to Wal*Mart first was to get some movies, managing to find one I was looking for, "Letters to Juliette" which just came out of DVD and "Amazing Grace", but struck out there. In the $5 bin I found "The Lake House" with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. It is such a great movie, involves a bit of time travel and a story about architecture, and a house on a lake! Go figure! Perhaps Blockbuster will have Amazing Grace for us to watch.

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One cannot watch movies without popcorn so I bought some Orville's to make, the teeny packages plus some pretzel crackers. Justin carried up some of the bags from my car this late afternoon when he was done working, and was rewarded with a jug of laundry soap. The 24-pack of Diet Coke was so heavy for me to carry up so he did that for me, plus the 24 pack of toilet paper (garbage in, garbage out!), and my laundry soap. Want to make sure that the ladies have plenty of soap if they need to do a wash, as George Castanza would say.

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Earlier this evening, I heard Travis calling my name. I had my doors open so he could just holler through the screen at me. He had brought me a glass that I had sent tea home with Jessica and I gave him back the bowl from the chicken soup. Later, I was emptying the dishwasher as my microwave was cooking my supper and Jessica came by. She was carrying the baby's bathtub to her car for the long weekend trip she is taking with her mom. I told her about Lynn making the pies tomorrow and she went upstairs to get me a zester for the lime. I don't have one for some reason.....Jessica came into my river room and saw my artwork and said, "Wow, Kim, I didn't know you did anything!" She sure didn't mean it the way it came out. She is also interested in scrapbooking so when summer is over, we are going to get busy working on her baby book and finish my Alaska pictures!

Getting things ready for my company

Boy, is it ever busy around here! And that is not me being busy....there are workers on the patio just below mine installing new ceramic tile and the saws are making quite the racket. I imagine that little Beckham is not at home today as the noise might affect his napping. My poor kids had to put up with telephones ringing, and being loaded and unloaded from the car to run to the Court House for building permits, etc. Or spent time on job sites where it was noisy and a tad bit dangerous. Beckham would not last very long at all hangin' with Miss Kim! A few hours ago, when I was coming back upstairs from the mailbox, I saw Jeff outside his unit. I asked him if he was out riding his bicycle and he said he was trying to clean up from all the work going on inside his house. He apologized to me for the dust and I said, "There's dust?" I really had not noticed and it was too late now, since my doors had been opened all day!

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Justin came over after work and got a few things ready for the ladies. He arrived as I was talking on the phone to Butch, the handyman, whom Justin often thinks is Connie. Ooops! I am not sure he's met Butch when he's been here doing work for me. A couple weeks ago I had spoken to Butch downstairs, as he was doing work for someone else in the building, and asked him to change another valve in my secondary bathroom vanity. His schedule was full at the time and told me it would be sometime in September before he could get to it.Well, that's now! I had gone into the bathroom to check on the towel situation and make sure all was good for whomever uses that bathroom, and discovered the towels were soaking wet. Yikes!!!! Sure enough, the valve I asked Butch to replace was dripping, and the floor of the vanity was sagging. Guess I will be replacing yet another bathroom vanity, not grudgingly, because it holds a dated sink style and faucet set. It will be my last updating of bathrooms, I think, as the other guest bath was redone last year. Lowe's sells the vanity and sink combo sets and I think the faucets might come with it. I cannot recall if I got them separately or not. I just have to pay for it and Butch will pick it up on his way to my house. He also has to saw a hole in the other bathroom's vanity floor to accommodate the shut off valve as he did not do that when he installed it. Found that out the day I had the leak from Jessica's ice machine a few months' back.

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Justin helped me figure out something on my computer which I had accidentally 'moved' from where I wanted it. The fix was simple and I did it fine once he told me what to do, a cut/paste situation. He was not able to help me change the color of my text in this blog though so you all might have to get used to the blue that shows up. Since Saturday, I have been unable to coax the program into doing what I ask of it. Even the helpline was no good to me. Justin also helped me get the guest bed set up and dressed, pushed the boxes and such to the side to make the room look more presentable. Hopefully my guest will only spend a few hours of sleeping in there and it won't give them bad dreams. Justin also dusted the chandelier so it looks nice for the dinner on Thursday night. Whoo hoo!

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Justin and I went to La Nopalera for dinner tonight and had a dilly of a time finding places to park. The parking lot was absolutely packed, with cars making spots where there were none. Around and around we went, waiting for people to leave and then, just as we had decided to go to the store on Hwy. 220, a couple places opened. The seating was immediate which is odd for the full parking lot, but Justin thought that most of the people were in the bar area. I thought maybe in the party room on the far end of the bar where the Ladies' Group sat last June. They were out of strawberry margarita mix so I had mango instead and Justin had a regular one, which was so tart it spun his head around. I am not a tartness fan which is why I like the fruit flavors better.

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In my parking lot, I met an acquaintance who used to be part of our monthly dinners. It surprised me to see her and I hoped it was not me she was coming to see, as we were leaving. Nope, she was coming to see Randy, our newest resident in The Palace. He only moved in here last week when Kerry was here and already had met someone! How funny that it happens to be someone I know. Saturday Randy had come out to the pool and I introduced him to a few more folks. His cable was not hooked up yet so he said he was going to watch the football games elsewhere. I had told him that he was welcome to watch TV at my house and I would not bother him because I watch most of my TV in my room. Randy asked me I enjoyed a glass of wine and I had to tell him I did not but that was fine, I did not need wine to watch TV. He went to the River House to watch their flat screen TV for the college games, as he was wearing one of team's mascots on his shirt. It was a nut of some kind, but I cannot remember which team. Perhaps Ohio? I stink at this!

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Speaking of stinking....last night as I took a potty stroll, I remembered stepping on something in my doorway to the bathroom---vaguely. This morning, I saw a chubby worm-looking slug on the floor, sort of squished. Ewww! As I got myself positioned back on my bed, I looked up at the crown moulding over my TV armoire and saw a dark spot that was not there yesterday. Sure enough, it looks like bug doo doo and I am guessing this squished one came from there. Justin will have to get the ladder in to reach up there with a stick to wipe that spot. There is no way I can reach that from down here, this ceiling is so high. But I really HATE stepping on things in the dark. Good news is that the pest control people are coming to spray our units next week Tuesday!!!