After a lovely night's sleep, undisturbed as far as I remember, I am now hearing the breezes moving through the palm branches outside my door. The slider is open in the river room, has been since I got home yesterday afternoon, allowing the outside to come in. It is a bit chilly for me outside the bed but under this comforter, it feels great. My up-north family and friends sometimes sleep with their windows cracked open well into winter but this is as far as I go with the fresh air thing.
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Kathy picked me up at the airport, where I was right on time. But she just blew me away by meeting me as I left my concourse, standing in the common area. I cannot tell you the last time anyone has met me at the airport in such a fashion! It brought back the memory of my meeting family at the airport where I would wear a goofy hat or sparkly deely boppers on my head. How else would they find me in that mob of people?? Kathy came in regular clothes but I knew her immediately!
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We had a slight delay in finding the correct baggage area, it seems the baggage came out on the far end of the other side from where we normally get ours, so by the time we got there, the belt was fairly empty, and a handler was pulling the bags off as they came through. I spotted mine on the floor near his feet and gathered it up. Kathy came with her car instead of mine, saying mine did its questionable acting up thing I told her about. Her son-in-law and she switched the cars out yesterday when hers was done at Pep Boys and parked mine at home. I was sort of glad that it did happen for her so it proved to me that I was not imagining things.
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On the way back, we stopped for me to pick up my tax return and then we went home. She asked if I wanted to get something to eat or anything but I said I just wanted to get home to sleep! Kathy helped me get my suitcase upstairs and I was just amazed to see the yellow coating on the tile floors in my courtyard. Normally Connie sweeps or hoses the common areas on Fridays to make all things are nice for the weekends so either she did not do it, or this accumulated overnight. Justin had come over to my house to clean out the fridge after the Easter feast and I was not sure what kind of mess I would face. Ta da! My kitchen was clean and presentable, the empty dishes stacked nicely in the sink. The lovely bouquet that Ron and his mom brought me Easter Sunday looked a bit sad, petals falling around it onto the table and such. Too bad I could not enjoy it longer but that is the nature of cut flower arrangements.
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After she left me, I got busy with my washer running to take care of the laundry from the closet floor first before the contents of my suitcase going in. And then, I had to tackle the problem of having a sickly car. I was going to pick up Pastor Deutschlander from the airport tomorrow morning but now Judy J. will be the one, as was the original plan anyway, and then drive him to the pastor's conference in Keystone Heights. And I will miss the conference talk which is what I was interested in hearing. Rats! My friend, Jen, is picking me up at the repair shop, Aamco Transmissions, in the morning when I drop it off for its going over. Pep Boys, my first contact, told me they do not handle transmissions so I called the experts.
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Justin called me to say he was absolutely NOT available on Monday, that even the slightest delay in his being on time for helping his father would bring wrath, so Jen was glad to pitch in. Once more, frantic moving is taking place, cleaning out the double garage on the property where Justin's father/boss lived, finding places to store the stuff and the worse job, finding bodies to help with this project. The days are running short for getting this completed and tensions are high, so I do not need any part of that. Who knows? Jen and I might even enjoy a lovely, casual breakfast while Justin and his father are hustling like nuts...Justin had asked me to go to church with him this Sunday but now that my car is misbehaving, I do not wish to chance a trip that far or on such busy roads. So Judy J. is picking me up for church this a.m., my go-to girl!
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This a.m. on Fox and Friends there was story about a WWII veteran returning to college to earn a degree in psychology at the age of 84, so he can work with returning soldiers from the Iraq/Afghanistan conflict. His fellow students are the ages of his grandchildren, he laughed, so no girlfriends to be found on his campus. But, you know, good for him!! My driver to the airport yesterday morning, "Frenchie", told me about his years of service in the Navy, passing through Jacksonville but not stationed here, and so on. He liked his time in the service, 22 years, and then he moved from Manty to Sheboygan where he worked for the streets department. Now he does this shuttle driving for his living, although this is retirement for him. His face was a relief map and he was fun to visit with, although he was definitely a man who knew his mind. Sort of a gruff guy, but in talking, he mentioned about his friend/neighbor passing away and how he promised the man that he would help his wife with things like snow and mowing and such. "...and then he died." Don't tell me you have no heart, Mister, not when you do things like this!
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My niece, Alayna, had the privilege of hearing and seeing some Viet Nam War veterans speak at her school on Friday and she is shown on their local TV news, sitting in the audience, paying rapt attention. She is gorgeous, what can I say? The TV station ran the story, and my sister, Jill, sent me the link so I could see it, too. In watching the footage, one part brought tears to my eyes---a young man was walking amongst the displays and such, and when he passed one of the veterans, he reached out and shook the guy's hand. The guy's hand was in his pocket, so the young man had to have initiated that gesture and it moved me. Alayna had mentioned on FB how much she enjoyed their talk and presentation, ending her posting, "God bless 'em". Yes, God bless them!
