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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!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Breaking up housekeeping

Even though it's a bit chilly by Florida standards today, the sun has nicely warmed my room. That's the good part. Unfortunately, I believe the workmen upstairs are trying to break up a cast iron bathtub or tear something apart which they tore out, using a sledge hammer. Wow! It made such thunderous BANGs when he hit it, the blades were shaking on the ceiling fan. Remember when AJ said I should tell him if something fell off the wall? He was not kidding! Nothing did fall off the walls but I can certainly hear stuff, cruddlies, falling from above onto the ceiling of my bathroom. It's hollow over the bathroom to allow for the dreaded plumbing which also allows for extra storage for loose cruddlies.
                          
The noise of the sledge hammer and the saw was so terrific that I took my little laptop to the living room for more quiet. It worked! I think they went to lunch! Whatever was so noisy earlier has ended so I am back at my desk in my warmer bedroom. 

The other good news is that the water for the building was turned off for a couple hours this a.m. to allow for a control valve (yes, like mine!) to be replaced upstairs. I feel better knowing they have a new, modern device for preventing the flow of water. Once the water was successfully restored, I sent out the e-mail at Connie's request alerting everyone it was safe to flush the toilets again. We did not need little red bags to go potty in, like on the stranded cruise ship. That had to be wildly inconvenient!
                                  
Yesterday was St. Valentine's Day and I celebrated hardly at all. I did, however, have "breakfast on belly" as we used to call it when the kids were little. Justin made me a breakfast sandwich of grilled cheese with Spam on it, served to me in my bed. 

Last night he made dinner for us, chicken Marsala with gnocchi. His remark? "It's not Carrabba's...." No, it wasn't but it was decent nonetheless. We ate in my room because the TV is not hooked up in the living room since Justin switched the Spanish-speaking box with the one from that room. 

We had spent the day together, complete with Bible study at Victory. I love this time together in the Word. It was a marvelous class, with it taking nearly an hour to cover the first half of the lesson for that day! We tend to digress in this class, and Pastor H. is a lively participant in the digressions. 

Justin was soaking it all in, and once or twice, added his two-cents to the conversation. Part of the discussion was about the Pope resigning and how this affects the Roman Catholics, and the world in general. Over a billion people are Catholics. Also one lady told about her neighbor who was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, and now resists anything resembling church. She might arrange her schedule to join our class one day, according to Judy.

We went to lunch at the Ale House in Mandarin, originally intending to eat at Bonefish Grille, which was not open for lunch. (I dodged that one!) Thursday is meat loaf day at the Ale Houses and it was quite delicious. And huge portions. Half came with me, plus the green beans served with it. Justin had a bowl of clam chowder into which he squeezed some lemon and added Tabasco sauce. I did not teach him that! 

He has begun dieting and last night reported losing 10 pounds already in a week's time. Good for him! He's getting his 'beach body' back for when he moves that direction again next month. The closing date is approaching, and then the painting  and new carpeting take place, before they all move in. 

To facilitate his move, we stopped across the street from the restaurant at Wal-Mart where he bought yet more plastic bins to put his stuff into. One cannot walk across his floor but something MUST go into the bins at some point, right? 
                            
The other night he announced to me that he will never, ever purchase another souvenir on a trip. He said he would never buy another 'violin' from a street vendor in Jamaica or the little native statues which are now displayed on my shelves. He must have encountered something in his room that set him off! He loves the things we got on "our" travels to the Mediterranean but some of the other stuff he got when he was little has to go! Just like that (finger snap). 

He made me laugh when at the store yesterday, making the pronouncement that he is fond of organizers. Oh heavenly days! As I mentioned earlier, one could not navigate the floor in either of the two rooms at the end of the hall, yet he is fond of organizers. So am I, Buddy, so am I! I am so going to miss him terribly when he's gone.....sniffle, sniffle.