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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!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Oh, I wish I did not have to go outside tonight!

But I must do so. Good thing my coat is in the car already, getting nicely chilled for when I leave later on---excellent plan, Kim! Oh, well, by the time I get to church, my car will have sufficiently warmed the coat through and through, especially with my seat warmers going. Today as I drove MamMa to the Mayo Clinic, I warmed her seat for her which she really appreciated. Tracy met us out there and I handed Willie Mae off to her and came home. On the ride back, I stopped at Wendy's on Baymeadows for a soda and saw they now serve hand-cut fries. Yummy! A half order would have been enough as I ended up disposing of the unfinished order. Justin used to like to dip his regular fries in a Frosty ice cream treat from Wendy's, and I wonder if he would like these new fries that way as well.

Tracy gave me such good directions and Cassidy dropped off the paperwork for MamMa (Willie Mae), her great-grandma, after she returned from taking her to the same place for other tests this a.m. plus a parking voucher so we did not have to pay the fee for the valet twice in one day. Nice! We drove right up to the place where we needed be, got inside and to our proper floor and dept. with no troubles at all. The Mayo is a huge enterprise, and was so nicely organized, it made me feel quite comfortable, if that's possible, in a hospital. MamMa and I noticed the abundance of poinsettias situated throughout the waiting areas and lobbies, and figured it is likely a substitute for the highly controversial CHRISTmas trees about which people fuss.

Earlier in the day, I was visited by Dick the Clock Man, who came to clean my clock in more ways than one....not really, he is a delight. He cleaned some of the inner workings, which were gummed up, polished the brass, and made it work like new again. The last time I saw him was at my lake house after moving there in 2004. Dick mentioned that if I ever decide to move out of my apartment......I should let him know. I said, "Let's talk!" It is about 1000 sq. ft. larger than what he lives in now but man, was blown away by the view and room sizes. Most people are, and he especially likes it because he is a photographer as well and would love to photograph the birds and other wildlife seen from my windows. Hmmmm......

If you are not already aware, north Florida has record temperatures going on, lows being in the 20's overnight and highs only teasing 50! All the trees and flowering bushes are wearing white covers, looking very much ghosts out on the property. Last winter, January of this year to be exact, we had similar temps and Connie, the maintenance lady, told me mine were the only plants to make it through the freeze. I hope that remains so this time, too. I watered them with hot water, not directly on the greenery but into the pot. Did that help? Not sure, but worth an effort again.

Last evening I was the designated driver for Judy C., Twila, and Jean, as we headed to a different part of town to Fran's house. I had printed off directions via a website but others at Bible study were making other suggestions than what I had gotten. Oh, oh....now I am nervous! I called Mike K. to ask him about it and he told the directions I had were the best ones for coming from OP. We did well, up to a point, and then, not so good. We tried various people's cell phones for help and not even Mike answered his at first, so next was pastor, who has been there before. He was going to pull out the map, from the atlas, and call me back, but Mike called me in the meantime and walked us to the door! We were the last ones to arrive but only late by about 5 minutes. It would be easier in the light of day, but the darkness for sign reading was not our friend. When it was time to leave, Terri T. lead us back out and pointed in the right direction for our ride back to my house where the ladies had parked their cars. Having not had a good night's sleep the night before allowed me to drop right off, or rather, shortly after climbing under my covers, and I slept until nearly 7:30 a.m. today. It was too cold to get up!

Justin sent me an instant message this late morning, asking me if I made it safely to the party and home again last night. I reported that I did make it, but not without needing help. He got busy on the Internet and found me a new cell phone that would come with a GPS built-in, adding $6 to my monthly billing (I would really like to go less on the bill, but cannot be limited in my talking minutes). It was also my hope the phone would be free but that hope was not met either. The cost of the phone, however, is substantially less than buying a a stand-alone GPS for the car, and it would go with me everywhere. His sales pitch to me, ever the salesman, was that I could even do my blog on my phone. Oh, good! Just what I need, another weapon at my disposal! He went on his lunch break to 'touch it', to see if is what I would like, and it is right for me. I may, just may, have to carry it in my purse or elsewhere than where I do carry it, because it is a soft screen phone. I would REALLY like to have access to the GPS and now have to decide if that's what I wish to do, since my present phone is only a little more than a year old.

So, tonight, I am off to the long-awaited meeting from the SoWE event some of us attended in late October. It will be good to this behind us and the items discussed, if there will be any addressed, we just do not know. We ladies consider it our privilege to give this report and can chalk it up to making an attempt at the very least. Attending that 'conference' was such a wonderful experience that I am considering attending the national Worship Conference in MN this summer! Judy R. might go, too, for part of it. This visit, then, it can encompass Lori's 60th birthday party, and our plans to attend the Winona Shakespeare Festival for which Judy serves as usher, and front office. Sounds like a plan to me!

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