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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!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

I am getting bug eyed….

...from watching TV and/or looking at my computer screen today, but I cannot look away. For a couple hours or so this late afternoon, I had some company, the first one being Patty from the pool, who works for The Club. She was coming over to take photos of her boss’s condo for advertising purposes as it is readied for rent but popped in to see my house on her way down the hall. While Patty was here, Judy C. arrived for our meeting. I had printed off our report, actually my report, for her to review, which she did while I was talking with Patty. I had us set up in the river room where a breeze kept us cool. After Patty left, Judy and I got busy going over the report, which she had already previewed in part on-line when I e-mailed it to her. Quickly we got through it and moved on to other topics, including her recent trip to Charleston.

Judy is friends with a mutual acquaintance of mine, Amber, whose spouse used to work for us years ago. Frank used to ask Timmy, “Dress yourself today, Timmy?” when he would come out in one in his goofy outfits. Amber was one of the first ones to show up at our house the morning after Timmy died, supervising the kitchen and keeping Justin company, doing whatever she could for us. Except attend the funeral. Now she has suffered both a heart attack and stroke within the past month, but is coming along nicely in her recovery. I had seen her last at La Nopalera having lunch with Judy, several months ago. I hated to hear she was having such a tough time of it lately.

Judy had already eaten a late lunch so dinner was not even suggested, so when she left, I got out some bread and sandwich meat from the drawer. I was hungry for a roast beef sandwich but when I opened the package, phew!, did it stink! And it felt very very slimy. I grabbed a large Ziploc bag to put the meat package into, sealed it up, and deposited it in the trash. I wonder how long it will last in there before the smell escapes into the room….AND I discovered the tiny ants were back again. After Thursday night, I thought they had moved on, but bought ant poison anyway for just in case. Good thing I did because they were back, even inside the dishwasher. Tomorrow I am going to check the back of my car to see if the ants are coming in with my soda cases or something. What a coincidence that both times I had ants was when I carried in soda cases. Jessica, my neighbor, had a plague of ants in her car one day so that makes me wonder if that’s what I have going on as well.

After I finished my report today, I decided to clean out my purse. I pulled out all my receipts and pieces of paper that have accumulated in the pockets, and now are on my desk. Last Tuesday I wrote down the questions and our answers from Trivia for whatever reason, if not to see how many I personally had right. They were still shoved in my purse, too. One we missed because Cary thought his was correct but it turned out my suggestion would have been right. But that is what happens with team play, a chance we take. Oh well, the food is always good, no matter if we win or not!

This a.m. I got busy with my silver remover, which truly confirms for me that pool season is over. No one told those out there today, though, as the temps soared back up to 88 above zero. Last night I sat out with my neighbors on the sundeck, and Maureen commented about my smooth skin. I thanked her and then she mentioned highlights and yes, the silver, poking through in my hair. I explained the highlights were not put there by me, something folks simply cannot get over, but now, they are gone. We were introduced to a couple who are now renting on the 5th floor, owners of Bubba Burger franchises in our area, including one on Fleming Island. They told us that when they are ready for a trial run, The Palace will be invited to be ‘customers’! Nice!

In watching this program tonight about the terror attacks, I am seeing repeated evidence of the ‘normalcy bias’. These are excellent examples of people continuing to do what is normal despite the world crashing down around them. One segment, a reenactment featuring actual survivors, shows them continuing to answer phones, introducing the name of the business and such, while their coworkers are battling to get the emergency doors open and the room is filling with smoke. I have heard of other examples of the normalcy bias in the attacks, such as those who went back up the stairs to their office to shut off their computer or to turn off the lights----but never come back. It is a defense mechanism people fall back to when stressed, struggling to do something that is familiar or customary, regardless of what is going on. Like grabbing your purse before sliding down the chute when a plane does an emergency landing.

Tomorrow will bring Bible study, worship, lunch (I hope!), and then home for football. I cannot wait to watch the pregame stuff, the flyover, and see the special events planned to commemorate the anniversary of the terror attacks. I cannot wait, either, to receive the text messages I expect to get from Justin, who will likely be choking back tears. I won’t be…I will let them flow!

The sunrise today

Here is the sunrise on this momentous morning: 9/10/11!