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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, July 26, 2016

Justin's birthday!

What a crazy celebration it's been! Not wild crazy but out of order.  I will explain that later. Justin is now 29 years old, and this year I was here to be with him for his special day. Actually, it is the mom's special day, truly, but I will not buck the system on this. Justin weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces and was 19 1/2" tall when he was born, was the length of his father's arm from elbow to finger tip. He is not that any longer, now being a full grown man. I consider him to be my boy but to everyone else, he is man.
Justin and his long time church friend, Robbie, December 2015

Justin has chosen to dine at Carrabba's for his birthday the past couple years when I've been in town to celebrate with him. This year was no exception with those plans made for tonight. However, I also had a Board meeting to attend where important matters regarding our upcoming repaving project and its ramifications would be discussed. Oh, oh....what to do, what to do??

We talked about it and came up with an alternative plan of us having his birthday meal on Monday night instead. It worked out better this way for his friends whose work schedules allowed the actual birthdate for them to celebrate Justin. When I said something about it, he said, "I was keeping my birthday for you...." Aww! Love that guy! Anyway, I enjoyed having him to myself at Carrabba's and he will love his sushi dinner with his friends over in Mandarin tonight.

The other day he reported his work boots were breaking down and I offered to replace them for his birthday present. He was fine with that, gave me the size to get, etc. When I asked him about going to buy them, he told me he changed his mind. Oh, oh! That meant I had no presents for him other than renewing his license plates for him. So thankful for Amazon Prime membership and wish lists stored there! Two of his gifts arrived today and another is coming this week. He is happy to have the items he listed which will be a blessing for their tailgating during football season---weights for their canopy plus a fabric fold-out table with cup holders, much like my fold-out chair for the beach. Cool!

At this writing he has likely finished his meal at the sushi and mongolian buffet place, and the players are out chasing Pokemon GO creatures. Yes, they are 30 year old and 29 year old men, chasing Pokemon characters. Hey, it's his party, he can play what he wants to! 

I had my own fun today, starting with water exercise class and then immediately changing clothes to head to Mandarin for the Over 50 Lunch Bunch gathering. This time we went to the Golden Corral where I haven't eaten for perhaps 9-10 years, if memory serves. I think I ate at the OP store with the Ross's when Christopher was in grade school, a fund-raiser for his school. That is a long time ago! At first I was not going to attend but since Terri was picking up Gretchen for it, I agreed to go. Only 10 of us this time but it was still nice. Such good food and only about $8 per person. Not bad for all one can eat, plus cotton candy to go! I had my funeral meal of meatloaf (delicious!), mashed potatoes (delicious!), green beans, and a piece of fried chicken. Plus a couple cubes of Rice Krispie Treats which were intended for the chocolate fountain. I ate them plain, thank you, also on my funeral menu sans the fountain. 
The right side of the table is Linda Henry and her friends, and on the left are Julaine and Fausto, Gretchen, Terri, with me on the end.

Then, tonight was the building's Board meeting, conducted on the sundeck. It was hot but the sun was already behind trees. Rosemary brought a cake, plates, napkins, and forks to celebrate our Association president's birthday which was most gracious for her to do. She is the same lady who offered to drive me to my car during repaving. Sweet lady!  She gave me a nice big slice to take to Justin, and that was before she even knew it was his birthday, too! 

There was thunder in the distance so we needed to move things along. It was a contentious atmosphere from the attendees and the weather! The rep was there from the management company with whom many people have issues. It was a bit embarrassing but I guess I understand some of the frustration. Because no one from the building had agreed to serve on the Board as treasurer or secretary, it had to be outsourced, and apparently many are disgruntled about that. Losing our long time maintenance lady, Connie, really hurt many people, and certainly the building as a whole. But being abrupt and belligerent won't change what's happened. As the storm neared, I'd had enough and went upstairs, since the meeting was nearly over. No sooner did I get in the house and the heaven's opened! That was close! I hope Rosemary saved the cake.