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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!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

I turned the A/C on again!

It's warm in here, and this only hours after I covered up with my baby afghan from the bottom of my bed. My guess is that the temperatures dropped during the thunderstorm and have since come back up again. It was in the mid-90's today, and no smoke, or very little around here.

The water exercise class had four in it today, a very manageable-sized class for Marlena, especially since one of the ladies was a first timer this year, but had come a few times last year. I am sure I mentioned in this blog that I am the youngest in the class, usually by well more than 10 years, and am younger than Marlena, too. This does not mean more fit, it means I can usually catch on fairly quickly to what Marlena is telling us, and usually hear her the first time she says it. It is downright comical sometimes, which only adds to the fun.

Mary Lew, whom I have described in the past as a 'low talker' and whom Hugh calls "the mumbler", really made us laugh today. Marlena demonstrates the exercise we are to do, using a chair on the edge of the pool to show us what to do. She was telling us to do the frog leg routine, which we do every time, and of course, since she was standing up and not in the water, could only show us using one leg, obviously. Mary Lew asked, "Oh, only one leg at a time???" And, without guile, Marlena exclaimed, "I can only do one leg at a time from up here!" and we lost it!!! I mean, really??? The one man who comes, Randy, who always wants me to sing 'the old standards' in The Club, got into the pool today with his phone in his pocket. I believe it's shot but he was hoping it would dry out enough to work again.

Mary Lew wanted to eat lunch at the pool today so Marlena took our orders from The Club menu and delivered our meals poolside. The lunch Mary Lew got included soup which Marlena brought in a to-go type cup with a lid, like for coffee or similar, plus the foam box the meal came in. She gave Randy and ML their meals, told her that was her soup in the cup, brought them a glass of wine, and left. I ate my burger (served on a wheat bun.....) and fries, listening to the two of them chat. It seems they picked up where they left off last year, arguing about who is older. I stayed out of that conversation! ML finally announced that Randy and she decided she was nearly a full year older than he. At long last, they figured it out. I asked them if it took this long to do the math. Another good laugh. They were asking me if I knew of a Woody Allen movie that took place in New York---I thought they all did.....

About the soup----ML had finished her lunch, having ordered the soup and half-sandwich, when Randy discovered the covered cup between them. "Did you order this?", he asked. "No, that must be yours..." she replied. "Is it wine? I told her I did not want another glass..." "It feels quite hot..." I said, "Mary Lew, that is your soup, it came with your meal." Marlena had specifically told her this was her soup but she forgot or something. Time laugh again and get back in the pool, Kim.....

My friends, Rick and Fran, showed up as I was finishing my meal and I was so glad to see them. Fran was unable to come to the pool much lately since the smoke affects her badly, which she found out Monday playing tennis in the heat and smoke. Rick is a pharmacist and we share many things in common, including politics, so we have some fun conversations. I am going to make up a list of books I have for Rick to borrow as he fluctuates between novels and non-fiction. He is presently finishing "Heaven is For Real", a book on the side of my bed, borrowed from Judy J. He is not really impressed with it, but wants me to read it first so we can discuss it. Rick thought it would be somewhat special since it was a child's experience 'seeing heaven' but then realized when getting into the book that the father was a preacher. He feels that since the father is the writer of the book, some of the experiences might be "enhanced" rather what the child actually says he saw. Now the pressure is on for me to read the book!

When I got out of the pool, I checked my phone and saw that I had missed some calls. Only one left a message, my Justin, who was amusing himself with his video game again. He was calling to tell me where he was in the game, the location, something he saw when in Rome, and thanked me again for taking him to Italy. I love it! Those messages are to be kept if at all possible. This evening he called again, this time asking me to guess where he was. I said, "Let me see----Trivia?" and he laughed, saying, "I meant in the game...." Silly me! This time he was near a bridge where a pyramid was built into the wall (I acted like I knew....) "You know, where the car was in our way?" Yes!!! I do remember, because our bus was sideways under the bridge, unable to clear the turn due to an improperly parked car. He honked and honked the horn, and finally, a group of guys came out of a bar. They did not own the car but our bus driver, one of our passengers, and the bar guys, picked up the car and moved it out of the way! Thanks, Justin, for this reminder of another fun experience! (But why don't I remember the pyramid????)


Earlier this evening I gave Lynnie a call to tell her that a local network station was showing "Beach Blanket Bingo". She was yet in the car, driving home from the Wellness Center where she had her orientation session. How wonderful that she is going to go there and think of all the people she will meet. Already she knew a few faces on her first night...gotta love that! Linda J. goes very early in the a.m. before work for her water fitness class and such but I know some other ladies from FG who attend this center as well. It can be fun to go with someone, even if you work independently. Lynn got home while talking with me but her program guide did not show the movie in her listings. Too bad! I thought she might get a kick out seeing something from when she was a girl. Oh well, she was going to watch her recorded "Jeopardy!" program. One of the reasons she was joining the fitness center was so that she did not watch so much TV. Funny, but Linda J. told me the same thing last night, that she was dedicating herself to reading more and watching "the box" less! Gotta love that!