This afternoon Nancy W. and I were escorted by Kay, my next door neighbor, to tour the Pace Center for Clay County. This program is the one I heard about for the first time at the Republican Women's meeting a few months ago. I was enthusiastic about it and was talking to some folks at the pool about it. Kay happened to be out there, too, and she said, in her charming drawl, "Kim, I'm on the Board for Pace..." How about that? She arranged for our tour of their temporary headquarters which is in donated space.
We were taken to their community room where a director from the Center filled us in on the services provided through Pace for girls in 'at risk' situations at home or in school. It is quite a fine program in place for girls aged 8 to 17. A young lady came to talk to us about her experience there, having come into Pace that spring. She has already caught up enough academically that she plans to graduate next year at age 15! 90% of the girls from this program go on to graduate from high school which is a remarkable achievement. They go to school year 'round at Pace, so that helps the girls to get back on track as well. They have regular classes plus some virtual classroom work for them. All quite impressive.
We were to treated refreshments on our visit to Pace, including these wonderful cupcakes, made and donated by Yum! Bakery in Orange Park. I ate mine when I got home and it was delicious!
When I got home from the tour, I was awaiting the arrival of the housekeeper who would do my vacuuming. It turned out to be a man, the owner, who came. Fine with me! He told me usually used the broom first to get the big stuff up, which was funny to me since I don't really have 'big stuff' to clean up. He had a round brush on a long handle which he used along the baseboards besides his broom and vacuum cleaner. Then he had a Swiffer style mop with which he used a spray-on cleaner, doing all the hard-surfaced floors. In two hours' time he had his job complete, including doing my bedroom and bath. I would certainly recommend his services to anyone, and perhaps use him again.
Tonight our group was going to have a happy hour buffet at the pool, but the weather turned ugly. We are expecting a hurricane to come this way, Erika, and already the weather is affected. We decided instead to go to Dick's Wings on Fleming Island with Nancy and Bill picking up Nancy W. and me. We met Patty and Mark there, and later, Patty's daughter, Katie, joined us. The place was busy but the service was good. Many were there to watch the Jaguar pre-season game. Justin was at the game, sitting in the rain.
We were discussing the coming storm and I mentioned Linda's arrival on the same day that Erika was expected to hit us. No one really knew what to think about it---what will happen or not happen. As we talked, Linda happened to called me. She said Tommy wanted her to ask me if she should come a day sooner to avoid the storm so I conferred with my friends. They all said Sunday would be the better choice to avoid getting caught in it flying down here. She said okay, and Tommy changed her flight so she arrives at 10:15 pm on Sunday night. What a relief for me, because I was concerned she'd be stuck in Atlanta waiting out the storm, or not able to come at all. Now I'm even more excited---to have Linda come sooner, not to see Erika come at all!
