This morning I was greeted by this lovely and expressive sky. It reminds me of a herd of seahorses galloping toward the south. Others on Facebook said they looked like dragons. Yes, I can see that, too.
The water exercise class had to be conducted in the teens' pool as the pump had failed on the adult pool. Evidently this was discovered on Sunday late morning so I am glad I didn't venture out after getting home from lunch. The new pump was on its way, but until then, we were in the other pool. Good thing it was a smaller class today or we'd have been crowded. Kristy, the lifeguard, moved a speaker close enough to allow for music to accompany our exercises, which I am sure all The Palace got to enjoy, too.
Some of us decided to stay after class to have lunch, moving back up to the other end so Marlena would have less 'traveling' to do with our meals, etc. As we sat around the table waiting for our meals the sky kept getting darker and darker. When we heard a clap of thunder, we grabbed our stuff and headed into the cabana. In another minute, big fat raindrops started falling, and the wind blew some of those drops into the cabana. Good thing we were in our swimwear! Kristy grabbed a patio umbrella and ran out to greet Marlena as she came from The Club with our food in boxes. She didn't even know it was raining until she came out!
I was just having fries today, ordering a double. I got enough for four people! The last time I had fries they were steak fries and a double order was enough for a meal. These were regular fries so I had a bounty! The other ladies had salads, of course, two of the meals coming with tempura shrimp. Debbie had the grilled vegetable salad, her favorite. And a double order of fries rounded our choices.
I sent Justin a text message to ask if he was getting wet and his reply was 'no'. It's so funny the way storms happen here, with one area not getting a drop while we could not see across the river at one point. When the storm let up we ladies headed out, in full sunshine. Before we did, however, we saw the pump people go past the cabana on the street side, and soon The Club maintenance man came through. The adult's pool would be up and running for class in the morning!!!
This afternoon my plans were to go to the Thrasher Horne Center for a check presentation from the ATT Pioneers to St. Johns State College, establishing a scholarship for PACE. Terri is the president of the Pioneers in this area. In the meanwhile, Justin actually did get rained out, rather, lightninged out, from work. Now he'll have to work on Saturday for a few hours to make up for it. His friends, Ron and Sarah, are supposed to have their baby today, with Sarah being induced so Justin wanted to use my car to drive to the hospital. Kay, my neighbor, was attending the event, too, so she drove us to the PACE event.
Terri Thompson, President of the ATT Pioneers, and Destini Shaddrick, Executive Director of PACE Clay.
There were about a dozen people there including some from a Pioneer luncheon where earlier they'd presented a check to another charity they'd raised money for during the golf tournament, TPC, in the spring. Terri's boss came and representatives from the college. One of Kay's friends from the Rotary club to which she belongs has been instrumental in getting our young friend, Tay, into St. Johns State College. Ann has assigned a person from St. Johns to serve PACE which will be an awesome advantage for the girls wishing to move into higher education.
Tay looked so nice, wearing all black with a cotton jacket over her outfit which she wears for work. Another friend from Rotary got Tay a job in a flower shop, the same shop we use for our church bouquets. How about that? The main part of the event, aside from the presentation of the check, was the photo portion. Many different groups were photographed, and Destini requested a photo of only Tay and me. I was so touched. And I was honored to be included in this momentous event for the girls at PACE.
Kay and I offered to drop Tay at home so Destini didn't have to run over there, as it's on our way. Kay offered to take Tay to the store if she needed anything so we stopped at Dollar General so she could run in for a few things before we dropped her at her sister's house. Tay is having some transportation problems for getting to work and potentially to school so we have our thinking caps on to see what can be done to help her out. Perhaps Kay's Rotarians will have a workable solution. It seems no buses run where she needs to go.
When Kay and I got home, I saw that my car was still there. Justin was going to get a haircut before going to the hospital but he changed his mind and plans. The baby hadn't come yet and a friend knows someone in beauty school who needs people to practice on, so no haircut either. He ordered pizza for our dinner, complete with garlic knots, so we were all set! Justin and I watched 'Wheel...' and then Jeopardy! before retiring to our rooms. It was a very good day, and humbling as well. So much for which to be thankful!
