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 5^th 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!

‘Good night’ in the middle of the day

Every bit of me wants to go and lie down on the bed for more sleep right now, before my clock strikes noon. Ugh! It was quite late when I went to bed finally last night after the fabulous Packer victory over the N.O. Saints. It took me a while to go to sleep and then took much to keep me asleep, as I think my upstairs neighbor’s cat knocked something over in the bathroom or bedroom which jarred me awake. It only happens on rare occasions but my senses are extra keen (yes, the water thing….) so my heart was racing for a period of time.

The good news was the Hallmark network came in on my TV (it often is not there….) but the bad news was it showed that wretched program with the four woman living together in Miami. I cannot think of the name of it, but it is vile! Oh, it just came to me: Golden Girls. Yeah, right….Switching to Fox News brought a replay of the job spending bill speech so I found “Friends” reruns to fall asleep to.

All the while I was in bed, the smell of smoke was in my rooms, as once more fires are smoldering and sending their smoke across Jacksonville and down the river. My neighbor, Randy, expressed this a.m. his dismay that now that it is cool enough to have doors and windows open, we get smoked out! I told him it was like sleeping in the woods around a campfire…as if I would know!

It seems to me that I never mentioned how Linda J. had the privilege of teaching Randy how to play cribbage when she was here. He had asked me if any of my houseguests knew how to play. When I told him Linda knew how, he said he would come down to play. Well, on the Sunday that Linda had suffered from the heat, Lynn and I had gone out to the pool, nice and cool out there, while Linda rested. When we came in, we put our night clothes instead of redressing, and enjoyed leftovers from our picnic for dinner. We ladies were casually dressed, watching “Julie and Julia”, when the doorbell rang, and there was Randy with a bottle of wine and his cribbage board! Linda and he were going to play, while I had my laptop at the table and Lynn worked a puzzle. When he heard I did not drink wine, he ran upstairs and came back with a bottle of whipped cream vodka. I have not tasted it yet, but Justin said it is delicious mixed with root beer, supposedly tastes like a float! Randy said someone brought it to a party at his house and left it there so now it’s mine!

So, there we are, seated around the table, and Linda ready to play. Only, here’s the thing, Randy does not know how to play!!! He was there for instruction. Linda was in a leadership role, quite a reversal for her student, I must say. His board was supposedly hand-crafted with brass insets between the rows where the pegs go in. It turned out to be an interesting evening after all. Not long before this visit, I had told Randy I was sorry that he rarely got to see me in my clothing, as he visited me when I was sick and had the hail storm, and also sees me in my swimsuit more than fully clothed. But that night, it was three of us in our nightwear---and he survived!

Pool exercises in the winter

This was taken with my phone camera which is why it is not entirely clear---but you get the picture (ha, ha!). The brave ladies showed up for water exercises, but I sat out because the air temperature was only about 72 when I went out. In the foreground, left, is Sloane, a new lady, and to her left is Mary, my tall friend, about whom I wrote a couple weeks ago. Nearer to the right with sort of red hair is Mary Lew. The ladies are on their noodles doing the routines such as pushing the folded noodle under the water, and such. On the edge of the pool are the bar bells which are used to help strengthen arms and shoulders. It is quite the workout for $5!!!

Back on track

The fall routine is in place again, with choir rehearsal resuming this evening, and practicing for Reformation. Already??? We are not going to be caught off-guard and be unprepared as the host congregation for the Reformation service. Robbie, The Maestro, has suggested having some folks from Christ, Keystone Heights, which is also served by our pastor and staff minister, sing with us. Not sure how that will be ‘orchestrated’ as far as rehearsals go. There may be a man there who can lead a choir at least for a single anthem or so. Victory's choir is taking a sabbatical this year, which I am not sure what that all means, but that is what Robbie told us tonight. Perhaps just for Reformation. Another hymn we are singing is “Isaiah, Mighty Seer in Days of Old” in a couple weeks as part of the liturgy. I sang this many years ago at FG and I am sure that with practice, it will come back to me. Love Robbie’s touch on and with the services, the subtle touches enhance worship.

Another thing I love is watching the debate from the Reagan Library, as the folks are assembled beneath the body of a retired Air Force One in the library. That is some library! And some jet! I could not find the debate on TV but did find it live on-line so am watching it there. Anti-science? Are you stinkin’ kidding me?? Oops, never mind, I got caught up in the debate, which is why it is best I watch these things alone. Anyone passing my door would think there is someone watching with me as I holler at my computer (or the TV as the case might be!). One of the candidates is a believer in ‘man-caused climate change’ and while he would likely NOT be the one on the ticket next fall, he would certainly not get my vote.

This a.m. it was quite chilly here, with the high temp getting only to 80 above zero later in the day. At pool time, it was 72 so I opted to go out about half way through the class to cheer the brave ones on. My new friend, Mary, was there as well as new participant, Sloane, a neighbor of Mary Lew’s. There were enough people in the class without me. Just as I came out, the sun came with me, which is what Marlena told them was my job. Some were going to have lunch poolside but Brenda N. called me to meet for lunch so that is what I did. We met at Steak ‘n Shake, next door to her office building and had excellent service this visit.

Once home, I got busy on the computer working on my report about the Worship Conference. Strangely, I am having troubles organizing my thoughts, they are a jumbled mess. Sort of matching my desk, in fact! In the process of sorting through my brain, I am rereading the handouts and such from the workshops. The most difficult part is picking out only a few things to highlight when so much good stuff was presented. The last two newsletters had articles about the Conference but that is not ‘nutshell’ enough for the report. So my brain is going in different directions---spelling out in an article about a certain workshop and then picking/choosing important tidbits to make a less comprehensive report. Wish Judy and I could do this side by side, that would help organize the thoughts, I believe. She is very organized!

Saw the sun for a minute

Just before I rolled over this a.m.,the sun was caressing my face. Now, where is it? Gone, and it might remain hidden the rest of the week. A lady I spoke with at The Club yesterday said it was going to be stormy all week, which she is sad about, as her son is getting married in St. Augustine this weekend. Rats! I know the couple whose son is getting married from my Eagle Harbor days and usually see them at special events only at The Club. Gail and I had a serving of cotton candy together just as the man was getting ready to haul the machine off. In my humble opinion, the cotton candy machine, snow cone machine and ice cream sundae bar should have stayed in place until after the kids’ water games were over. Surely they would be ready for a special treat after working so hard to win their ribbons.

Tonight I will sleep on freshly washed sheets, always allows for a good night’s rest. Last night I had tough time falling asleep, likely because I did not have enough exercise in the pool. That’s my story and I am sticking to it! The water was chilly and it seems I can stay warmer by keeping my upper body out of the water while moving my legs but sometimes I stopped peddling and only stood while visiting. This evenings’ rest will be welcome, for sure!

When I got out to the pool, Gigi was situated at a table nearer to The Palace, and told me Frank, her hubby, stayed home that day to putter in the garage or something. His loss! Marlena had told our group on Thursday that she would reserve a table for us, since some of the older folks did not like to come to pool events when they cannot find a place to sit. ‘Our’ table had a reserved sign on it, plus she taped one on that said VIP. Gigi did not like that very well, wondering why she was not a VIP and who was, until I told her it was my table! After a certain point, I had Mary Lew remove the VIP sign, (we don’t want any trouble, right?) and invited others to sit around this table. Maggie O. came out for the sun and fun and lunch, which we enjoyed at The Club instead of from the cabana. The buffet was quite nice, and only a few dollars more than the cabana food would cost. I did not even have an adult beverage yesterday!!

As I got situated in the pool with my Diet Coke in a can cozy, Maggie remarked that she was thinking about me that morning, thinking about how much I enjoy my Diet Coke, and how that made her happy. Now, isn’t that nice? I love that!

When I look out my window, I see about a hundred love bugs flying around wwaayy up here. What is up with that? Once in awhile the bugs land on the window but do not stay very long. I would expect that birds would be in search of this good eatin’ but none have been swooping or anything, as far as I can see. The car wash places will so happy to see the squished love bugs on the front of cars…good for business!

During the children’s games yesterday, I brought a few folks from the pool, some regulars, to see my home. The ‘man’ in the group, Zach, was telling about being Italian and bragging about how clean he keeps his home. (Seinfeld episode: “He’s thin, he’s neat, he’s single…Not that there’s anything wrong with that….”) Zach is not thin, but he is a hairdresser! For real! None of us wanted to sit down there and hear that relentless whistle for the games so I gave free tours. They were blown away by the views and the glass pieces, and were most complimentary of my taste. Marsha told me that it is so homey, and this is a high, high compliment to me. No one can believe the amazing views, front and back, and I hate it that it is taken for granted by me sometimes.

Last week, when Lynn was here yet, Zach came up to me in the pool and told me once more how much he loves my hair. He did suggest that I make all my bangs blonde and not just the one section, “not anything too out there…” he said. I explained that I did not make my hair blonde, that God added the silver and the blonde, not me. Zach was astonished, thinking I was quite clever adding a touch of non-color to my hair. Yesterday he was exclaiming that I was the prettiest woman in The Palace, which Gigi fussed about, because she did not hear him say “The Palace”. She is his client, after all! It just was not her day yesterday! Of course, I declared that Pat is the prettiest woman in my building, a former Miss Orange Park and all that, but I appreciated the attempt to flatter.

Well, my desk is getting loaded down with paperwork and I am making zero progress in plowing through it. Part of my project is to put together a report to present regarding the Worship Conference but I keep tap dancing around it, much to the chagrin of my downstairs neighbors! Gave up clogging for tap shoes!

My noodle wins the games!

Click the photos to enlarge them....if you wish.....

I absolutely refused to play the water games this year, after telling Mary Lew and Marlena all week that I was not participating, They did not believe me, but I showed them! Stubbornly, I sat poolside while my noodle raced across the pool. Mary Lew thought I should be credited for winning since it was my noodle, and I said, "Why not? Race car drivers don't actually own those cars they drive!" She said, "You're the only one who would think of that!" Not sure if this is true or not, but I am correct!

Showing up as an 'also ran' in the yellow hat is my neighbor, Pat. The teal noodle, mine, can be seen in the top photo, off to the left of the frame. Whoo hoo!!!