Was I so busy yesterday that I did not have time to post? Or, did I misuse my time and then became too tired to post? Let me think....The earliest part of the morning was spent in bed, catching up on my radio show over the Internet while watching Fox and Friends. Because I had plans in the afternoon, I figured I had better get moving to do my errands and such before I ran out of time. When I stepped outdoors, I could hear the familiar sound of cardboard boxes being taped and such. My "Turkish Friends" and downstairs neighbors were busily assembling boxes and proceeding to pack up the contents of their home as they are vacating while the repairs are being made. None of the workers looked familiar to me but I said a nice 'hello' to them anyway. As I later said to Penny, I think I should get my next move for free, since this is the 2nd time in a month people are using B & B at my referral!
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I went over to church to prepare the altar and sacristy for worship, stopping first at Sonic to get a Diet Coke. It made me ponder something, though, because only the day before at Wal*Mart, I saw 2 liter Diet Cokes on sale in the aisle, for a dollar each, and yet I paid twice that for 44 ounces at Sonic. The biggest difference is that the 2 liter bottle does not fit into my cup holders!!!! Ugh, the luck! Well, when I arrived at church, there were two cars in the lot plus one followed me in. What was going on? There were more cars for this than for Bible study on Tuesday night. It was Darwin, Ethel and Terri, all arriving separately, to do the cleaning of the church and the classroom building. I never do the classroom building or fellowship hall because cleaning the church is enough for me. Since I clean alone, I get a break. Some of the others, like Terri, have a team of helpers. Anyway, it was a delight to see them all working together and getting the Lord's house ready for worship. I tried to not make a mess getting the altar ready with really little to do as far as prep went.
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When I left them, I went to Fleming Island Wal*Mart to get my prescriptions, as well as getting the paint mixed up that I need for the hallway. No one was working in the paint dept. but I felt as if I stood there long enough, a nice man or lady would come along to help me. I was right----Danny Roy came through, hugged me, and then called on his walkie-talkie gizmo for help in the paint dept. Later I saw Kathy R. going through the end of the aisle and yelled to her, saying 'hi!' but held my position at the paint desk. Still no one came but when Danny walked past again, he yelled to a guy loading shelves down the line who came over to help me. Robert was a nice young man and helped me with matching my wall paint using a section of the wallpaper Mike had cut off for me---perfectly matched! I got my scrip and a couple gallons of paint and headed for home.
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As I was driving down Town Center Drive, I met Dee coming out of the Chik-Filet parking lot and we waved like nuts at each other. Now I was going to have to stop at the shop for a few minutes, since she had been gone for two weeks to the mountains. That was fine because I was also going to the dry cleaners to get my pillows, in the same plaza. We visited a while but then I had to get going since Penny and I were going to see the art show at the library. The poor little man at the cleaners, in a strong accent, explained to me that one of the pillows lost a lot of its feathers and gummed up the machinery, which was why it took so long getting them back. Oops! The young lady had checked them over for holes before she accepted them but somehow one of the pillows leaked anyway. Sorry....
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On the way home, Penny called and we made plans to meet in a half hour at the library. She arrived before I did but covered her face, she said, to not get a sneak peek at the art work. We did enjoy the hanging and managed to get the price sheet from the front desk inside the library proper, in case she is interested. One piece in particular that she liked was a boat on the water, similar to some I have painted, so we came over here to look at mine. Penny had never been up in my place for some reason, and just fell in love with my dining room. Me, too! I love my dining room and river room and family room and kitchen and bedroom.....It is fun to see these rooms through someone else's eyes. She is not the first person to tell me I have the best view in The Palace. I wonder why that is, I agree, but wonder why my view is the best.
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Unfortunately she could not stay very long, enjoyed the art work, but then had to run as she wanted to stop at her old house to pick up a few things yet. She has another week before needing to be out totally so has to step up the pace of getting the last of her items moved out. At 6:00 pm I went downstairs to order my dinner from Danny, and Pat came down to join me. She was trying to watch football and visit at the same time, which works for me. There was a table poolside decorated with a tablecloth and centerpiece, with some parents sitting off to the side. They told me it was homecoming for OP High and a group of kids were coming over to the cabana to have their dinner before the dance. Nice! Danny was hustling, making all our meals, some which were packed up to-go. Pat ended up taking hers to-go also as while we were waiting on hers, Maureen called to have us come to her place to watch the fireworks.
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Fireworks, you say? Yes! We had a notice posted in our lobby to let us know of a fireworks display planned by the wedding party which would take place at 9:00 pm. No holds barred by this father of the bride! Danny had to get wrapped up early from the cabana to get inside to help serve the wedding which was table-served for 150 people. Wow! Karrie, the owner of The Club was with us for the fireworks show and said it cost upwards of $15,000 for that. Complete with a fire truck standing by in case of a problem, which had backed into our parking lot. Not an easy task. At first we watched from inside Hugh and Maureen's river room but then went outside to watch from the sundeck. Part of the display was an illuminated heart shaped piece besides the air launched pyrotechnic show. It lasted about 5 minutes and the air was all smoky and smelled of sulphur, and I liked it! Karrie did not, she felt it was lame but I really did enjoy the show. Hugh kept insisting he put that show on for Maureen, which is so sweet. 55 years of marriage and they are still friends! Yes, they ran off as teenagers and got married, imagine that!
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After the fireworks were over, more folks had come outside, of course, to watch them, so we recessed to the sundeck rather than going inside again. It was a pleasant evening and even Butch, who was helping the downstairs neighbors with their packing, and later had dinner with Michelle and her friends up on 5, joined the fun. Some of us were afraid we'd never see him again after the water disaster but we have, and rejoice about that. They had had some champagne upstairs with their shrimp dinner and Butch was rather bubbly himself, fun to see. He shared some stories of his life in the Navy, serving many years in JAX and in Cuba. When Rose and Joe joined us on the sundeck, she got a bug to get us a piece of wedding cake. Hugh often jokes about it and last night, it happened! Pat and Rose walked over to The Club, much to the chagrin of Karrie, and secured from the bride's maids three plates of cake for us to share. It was absolutely delicious! Hugh took the plates into his house so he could wash them before returning them. Unbelievable that the ladies did this, and then Rose even starting dancing with one of the young ladies. I think she had had some fun before coming to the sundeck, if you know what I mean. The weather was so delightful that I did not need my jacket on at all, even though I carried it with me. At 10:00 pm I excused myself and went inside but could hear the fun continuing after I went to bed. Good for them!
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Oh, I am hungry this a.m. This might be because I ate so early last night, but I did have a taste of cake later on.....When we left Danny to go up to Hugh's, I gave him a hug and thanked him for a wonderful season as last night was my final time at the cabana. Next weekend I will be in Palm Coast for the worship conference and staying overnight at Bonnie's house (formerly the sec'y. at Victory, now working at Christ the King). Danny likes to send the balance of the pasta salad home with me, but I suggested he send it with the mom of one of the kids dining poolside, because she also raved about how delicious it was. I am going to miss the cabana and it's food, and I will miss Danny cooking for me out there. Guess I will have to eat inside until next summer!
