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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, April 19, 2011

Chapter One of this epic

Last night I told Judy J. as she drove me home, that I am like Pig Pen from the Peanuts (I think this was his name!!) who was followed around by a cloud of dirt. At least my house is like Pig Pen. Sometime this week Patty is expected to come by to do the dusting for me and then I will shut up about the dust---for a while!

Oh my goodness---I just bosom-dialed my mama! The maintenance lady, Connie, called to ask if she could use my restroom because the ones at the cabana were closed for servicing today. Of course she may, as I have offered and she has accepted in the past. Somehow, as I put my phone ‘away’, I accidentally called Mom! I could hear a voice saying, “Hello? Hello?” coming from somewhere and I figured out, it was my phone. Fortunately it was Mom but how in this world did THAT happen? She was not even the last number I called or the last call coming in.

I really need to be more careful and clear the calls before I put the phone away. It was nice to talk to her this a.m. but she did not want to tie up the line since she was expecting Linda to call her about Bible study. It is snowing again, making Mom quite depressed, so she cannot walk to Bible study. The other day she said if the snow stayed she was packing her bags but today she backed off that statement, saying she did not know how she would get to the airport if the snow was so bad. It really is a matter of perspective, it seems.

Back again…I had to run to the Island for a bit to get Justin’s signature on some paperwork for the accountant. His tax refund came to my house and needed his signature as well so I could deposit it in my bank. However, my bank would not take it without Justin’s ID to compare the signatures. I explained that I just got his signature on the tax paper and offered that but they need a photocopy of his drivers’ license or he should come along with me to deposit the check. So, a photocopy of his license will suffice, even if he is not with me, to deposit his check into my account. I called him and he immediately made the copy to give me this evening at Trivia. Oh, fuss and bother!

It took a while today but finally the sun is out, the fog has lifted, lasting only about an hour or so this a.m., and warmed to the low 80’s. Some kayakers have left their boat and seem to be fishing from the far end of the breakwater. Now that I look, it seems like a bit larger boat than a kayak, it’s hard to tell with the reeds blocking part of it. My phone has busy with more than my bosom-dialing Mom. I made an haircut appointment, it is the full moon, after all, and then completely forgot to go to it! Guess the business at the bank flustered me or something---I just came home! Barb the Beautician is going to call me back to let me know when I can reschedule and actually come this time! (I just saw the Coast Guard rescue chopper heading north up the river….I hate seeing that)

Also, I am in the process of getting someone here to wash windows for me. Last week, the owner of the company called to schedule and since I cannot do it on Thursday mornings due to Bible study, have to ask for special treatment. This comes with a price but I will not be on regular monthly schedule like my neighbors are…too cheap for that. Therefore, it will cost me more for them to come at a separate time. The Association is sort of enforcing the practice of having licensed and insured people do our work so I had to change companies. Plus, these fellows will have a 40’ ladder along to do my sliding glass doors from outside…gulp! I hope they can do it without much troubles…I really need them done.

Sunday after attending the Art Guild show at Hang Ups, I stopped at Publix for a few things. The young man helped me to the car to off-load my purchases and was quite chatty, which I like. I mentioned something about Easter and he asked me when it was. This surprised me, because certainly he has noticed the candy and all that stuff in the store, right when one comes in. I told him Easter was the next Sunday, and that today was Palm Sunday, showing him the palm cross which yet adorned my blouse. I told him Palm Sunday was the day that Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem and the folks laid palm branches and their cloaks in His path, singing “Hosanna” as He passed by. The young man looked at me quite strangely and then said, “Well, we don’t get to church very often, so I don’t know about that…” I was wishing I had something to offer him but didn’t think fast enough, remembering later that I have Outreach flyers in my glove box. How can he not know about Palm Sunday?? This left me kind of sad, but I only remembered it today.

Chapter Two--Unforgettable

An osprey just carried a fish to the window to show me….very nice! At least he’s not like a cat bringing mice to show me! The weather person just reported the air temperature is 88 above zero, which will really help with warming the pool water.

Yesterday Justin called me when he was working and we had a long chat. He was telling me B & B Movers was moving their office again, and he asked me if I was going to use Sabin’s condo in Turkey. Sabin owns the moving company and moved us many many times over the years. He offered me his condo if I travel that direction again, but I have no intention of doing that, greatly appreciating the offer.

Sabin had told me earlier this year that his brother, now living back in Turkey, had asked about me. Justin then used the phrase that always make me laugh, “You remember me, eh?” with an Italian accent, referencing something that happened to me a few years ago.

In 2004, I had gone to Epcot by myself while Justin and his friend attended a Magic Card event, and I dined at the Italian restaurant for lunch. I had a lovely conversation with the young server, Giovanni, talking about jet skis and my planned trip to Italy later in the summer and so on.

So, go forward the two months to when Justin and Alayna were with me, and again dined for lunch at Italy. We joked a bit about whether we would see Giovanni or not, hardly expecting to since they have a great many folks working there, various shifts, and so on. Toward the end of our meal, here came this dashing young man up to our table to greet me, “You remember me, eh?” YES!!!! I remember you!!!!! Alayna about dropped her teeth, a young, teen-aged girl seeing this handsome Italian man, talking to her auntie. I got my picture taken with him this time, for posterity. We still can’t get over it because really, how many thousands of people have passed through that restaurant in two months’ time??? And he remembered me???

I reminded Justin about how the waiter on the Galaxy cruise ship we sailed on in 2006 for his graduation trip, remembered me. This is even stranger than Giovanni, since this cruise ship goes out so frequently with, again, thousands and thousands of people a year. Justin and I had taken the cruise in 2004 with the same ship, the Galaxy. I recognized one of the waiters but he had not been our waiter at all, and after all, two years had passed….Well, about mid-way through the 2006 trip, the waiter came up and greeted us, saying, in his accent, “You wear your hair the same!”. Unreal! How in the world???

Yesterday, then, Justin went on to say, in his inimitable fashion, round about-style: “You know Spanish people think all white people look alike and vice versa? And Asian people think we all look alike, and vice versa”? Cautiously, I agreed, wondering where he was going with that. He said, “Well, there are Spanish people, and Black people, and Asian people, and white people---and they all look alike. And then there’s Kim—people remember you!” Now, was that a compliment or what? Tough one….We still laughed about it, no matter if it’s complimentary or not.

After we hung up, I remembered another situation, when visiting Pompeii in 2006. Twila, Jean, and I had taken a cruise with Jean’s family in 2005 and revisited the ruins of Pompeii at that time. When Justin and I were there in again 2006, I got tired so I came down before Justin did and was looking at the shops near the base of the hill. The bistro nearby was where the cab drivers and bus drivers waited for their return passengers. Sure enough---I recognized the driver from the previous year’s bus trip to Pompeii with Twila and Jean. I looked at him, and he looked at me, but then, he did a double take and gave a little wave. When I mentioned it to Justin he said, “You remember me, eh?”