Flowers delivered to me, as well as to our other neighbors who pitched in to help with the water mess, from Tracy and Jeff
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I have slept through the night, starting relatively early with that. Saturday was a busy, full day, exhausting to me but much was accomplished.
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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.
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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!!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
