…had to write this down before I forgot. Justin told me yesterday that he wants to go to Epcot with me. He did not just say, "I want to go to Epcot...", he added the "with you". We already have the tickets so it's not only that I would pay, since I did that a long time ago. No, he said he likes going with me 'because of the way we do it'....no rushing, no hustling from Point A to Point B. We can meander, take in a sight or activity, and move along to the next. I remember going once with Justin, plus our friends, Rick and Jen. Only the four of us, as we made our way through the park at a nice, leisurely pace. At one point, when crossing a bridge (why I remember that, I am not sure!) Justin piped up saying, "This is the best time I have had a theme park in my life..." He was probably going on 17 at this time and had been to parks all over the place during his lifetime, but this visit was the best time. It made me happy and sad at the same time, not realizing when it was happening how 'unfun' it used to be....at the Happiest Place on Earth!
Once I went to Epcot all by myself, after dropping Justin and his friend, Ryan, at the Magic Card tournament. As I entered the park, during the International Flower Show, I just stopped and looked around in awe, realizing I had already gotten money's worth barely through the turnstile. Wow! Such a wonderful display of flowers and colors! It was in May, not too hot yet. I meandered through the park at my own pace, going to the bathroom even if I didn't have to, but just because I could!!! Want a soda? Sure!!! Sit down and soak up the sights??? Sure!!! Strike up a conversation with a stranger? Sure!!! Enjoy myself? Absolutely!!!
Back again…just got home from Bible study and shopping, as I needed some things from Publix. Somehow it costs me more when my Justin is with me! He needed ingredients for making some type of lemon and chive rice dish, sticking to his no meat diet fairly faithfully. Jesse and he DO eat fish but on the weekends, have their fill of the other meats. This is supposed to curtail their fast-food dining, to save money. I wonder how that is working for them…. He also got a container of carpet freshener to use in his living quarters. I would love for him to have the carpet replaced or ceramic tile put down but that’s not up to me. For two bucks, I CAN spring for a thing of carpet freshener!
Boy, do I need my windows washed! They look horrendous, with webs forming in the corners, although I will never figure out how the bugs or spiders get all the way up here! There is a company that does the windows for others in my building, are licensed and insured (now of high importance!!!!) and will clean the sliding doors on the outside. That is something I really desire---they have not been washed since the building was painted and I slipped the painters a few bucks plus a bottle of Windex to take care of it for me. Especially after they were the ones who got them all messed up with the pressure washer!
Here is a Twila update---on Monday she was moved to a rehab center in OP, the same one where she went after her hip replacement surgery. Well, that did not go well, as it seemed the facility was not geared to caring for a cardio patient. Tuesday she ended up going by ambulance back to Shands and spent almost all day in the ER, as they had no rooms available until evening. They kept her all day, then, on Wednesday, while her granddaughter, Twila, was trying to find another rehab center in OP. She did find a place located not far from the first one and supposedly was moving in there today. I have not gotten confirmation on that yet, but hope she did get moved and will be happier there.
My friend, Judy J., lost her brother on Tuesday early, after his long battle finally ended. She was right---it seemed Ed was waiting for his son to get there before he breathed his last. Judy had planned to start her drive back to Florida on the weekend, but the plans for the service were determined by the availability of the national cemetery. In checking the obits in Detroit, I see the funeral service will be on Monday, so I won’t see her until next week. She has been gone nearly a month now, I miss her! To help me not miss her, Justin will throw out a “you know what they should do….” which is one of her trademark sentence starters! I love to ask her who ‘they’ is! We usually go to eat somewhere once a week, and I am getting hungry….I am sad for her because now she has no siblings left, she is the last one. Lots of loss in her family.
Today after Bible study, Justin and I had lunch at Mimi’s Café at the Town Center Mall. He had recommended the grilled cheese sandwich there, made with a variety of cheeses, dripping out of it…oh yummy! I could eat only half of it, however, as it also came with a cup of corn chowder which is absolutely the best I ever had! Even better than at Sister’s Tea Room, if I remember it correctly. We had talked about getting an order of bread pudding for dessert but Justin suggested I get a container of it, cheaper, at Publix, since I would have been taking it to-go anyway. We did find it there, but instead of being just an order of bread pudding, I had to buy a round pie pan, like several days’ worth of deliciousness.
He told me more about his fun weekend at the wedding and Orlando, said he even ironed his own clothes. “I guess I can do it myself…” he said. A couple years ago his grandma and Auntie Lynn had bought him an iron and ironing board (surf board) for his birthday but the legs gave way on the board. They guys would prop it up between chairs to iron their clothes. Oh, and he did locate the missing dress shirt, the pink one he was looking for, finding it caught inside another shirt in the ironing basket. He was still glad to have the two new shirts I bought him last week. At one point, at the ice cream social following the rehearsal, he feared being put to work because his outfit looked like the resort-wear sported by the staff at the event! Justin also informed me that he ‘danced his pants off!’ at the reception. Oh my, I hope that was only an expression….
At lunch, I told him about there being a musician doing the service at Victory on Sunday, sure he would get the e-mail sent out by Pastor that comes before the weekend each week. Usually he helps with the assembling of the service folders when arriving at Bible study, but he was on the phone with his Grandma K and came in just as class was beginning. He did not get a sneak peek, like we usually do.
At first, I wasn’t going to mention it because I feared he would not attend church, having missed the two previous Sundays when he was in Orlando. As he sat there, pondering that the musician would be there, he said, “I don’t like that.” This I already knew, he has told me this in the past when discussing 'praise bands' (What’s the point of that?”). According to what I saw in the bulletin, it looked like it would not be only a concert but perhaps following the liturgy. He could not/should not come to GS either this week as we have an abbreviated service to allow for the Listening Sunday event. That would not be good, either. Not sure what he will do, since the 10:30 service is the only one that day.
Justin will be here in the morning, but not terribly early due to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day tonight with his friends. He was sure they would not be out too late since Jesse has to work in the morning. Justin is coming to clean my floors, for one thing, thinks he will try the dry Swiffer to see if that cleans up some of that nasty dust and the bunnies that I complain about all the time! He wonders if I should get one of those gizmos that eats dust particles but I fear it would make a noise that I would find annoying. His answer? Run it when you are gone!
