“That would be us…”

At lunch today, Justin and I were enjoying our Bubba Burgers and fries. It was his first visit to a BB restaurant, the franchises in our area owned by my neighbor Jeff and his wife, Kathy. We splurged, and should not have, on an appetizer of fried pickles which promptly filled me up before the meals came. The fries are more delicious than just about anything in recent memory, and I long for the next visit to have more!

Justin is going to his friend’s house for movie night Friday but had not heard yet if dinner was being provided. He told me he still has a gift card for Taco Bell to use up, so checked on-line to see the burrito special for the month, just in case he had to get his own dinner.  An app on his iPhone takes him to a restaurant coupon page, and he read off a few that would be of interest to me. One was for Sweet Tomatoes and he rattled off the ‘deals’ offered for lunch and dinner diners. One he read was Dinner for Four, two adults and two children for a certain dollar amount. I think I simply acknowledged the good deal, but then he said, “That would be us….” It just struck me, the sadness in his voice. Yes, that would be us….

For his birthday this past July, I gave Justin a copy of George Washington’s “Rules of Civility” which includes, besides the Rules, a couple of Washington’s speeches. I would guess his friend, Jesse, upon seeing the tiny book, thought it was a dud of a gift; however, Justin loved it. In fact, he mentioned it to me again on Tuesday as we walked over to vote.

Justin said it was difficult for him to know what to do when a woman and he approach an out-swinging door, or pool gate, as the case might be. It is awkward for him to reach around the woman, who is already in front of him, to grab the door knob or handle, then stand out of the way for her to pass. If there is anything he strongly dislikes, it is feeling ‘awkward’. I was not sure what to tell him about the manners involved in such a situation, other than to ask the female to stand aside while he gets the door. And she can retain the option of getting the door herself. Not sure that helped him with his dilemma but I do let him get the doors for me if he wishes.

I don’t know for sure that the Rules of Civility covers the out-swinging door issue or not, but he also follows a website or blog which deals with the art of being a gentleman. I cannot tell you how great this makes me feel, knowing that it matters to him how he treats people. The site gives advice such as ‘What does a gentleman wear to a funeral?' and other things on that order, which he often quotes to me, and, hopefully, to his friends!

One time, he told me how he took his buddy to the side and reprimanded him for not being more complimentary to the young lady who had made their dinner. She is this guy’s ‘intended’, seemingly taken for granted by her beau, but Justin tried to set him straight on this. What a sweetheart he is about these type of things!

Yesterday, I was at the dentist for a cleaning and check-up, the office located in our ‘old’ office building. I am no longer an owner but still have an attachment to it. Peggy, my dentist, is also my friend, and the hygienist lives in The Preserve, where I used to live. I told the hygienist that I would not be surprised to see Justin peeking in the window at me while I am in the chair. His father's office is back in the building again, on the far end, but Justin tends the shrubs and grass, etc. for the entire property. She and the dental assistant who has been with Peggy for over 12 years both told me how much they love Justin. He always has a smile for them in the office and greets them warmly. “He is always so polite!” What mom would not like to hear this???? By the way, I had a good check-up, a shiny smile and no cavities!

What a good looking morning!

When I opened my eyes this morning, I wondered what was that white stuff floating on the river. Suds? Algae? Ice bergs? I went to the river room to look out and determined it to be clouds. Clouds! And not in the water but actually reflected on the very, very still water by a not yet risen sun. It was too dark at that moment to take a photo, would have not looked like anything. This photo, taken by my neighbor, shows the sky once it lightened up.

Another dream

When I woke up this morning, I thought it was 9:00 am. Wow! Did I really sleep that long? It was 11:00 pm when I switched over to watch O’Reilly with my eyes closed, often my habit. In fact, more than once, I have awakened between 5 and 6 in the morning to find myself in exactly the same place in his program where I fell asleep the night before! Love when that happens! The actual time was 7:00 am so I did not miss much of the news. 

I don’t remember waking up in the night or in the very early morning hours. Usually I get up, take a short walk, and go back to sleep, which is when I have most memorable dreams. As far as I know, I was not 'up in the night' , yet I had such a dream this morning and I think I know why.

In the dream, people were there that I have not seen in a long time, such as Mark V. who had been my Elder at church years ago. I was getting custody of a young lady who was moving in with me, my ‘home’ being the one I grew up in.  The people who were helping, mostly faceless, were moving things around in the basement, sweeping floors, shuffling stuff around , and finding things from my past. The basement looked a whole lot nicer than it really was, which I was glad for the sake of the guest!

At one point, Justin and I were sitting in some stadium-style seats and he was showing me a book he found, a pictorial done of one of my favorite movies, The Way We Were. I never had such a book but I used to have some movie stills (not sure if I still do or not…). Justin asked me if I knew what it was and I pointed out immediately the stars of the film without even looking for them. Hmmm….

A sofa needed to be moved, a rather new sofa, red in color, like the one I had at the lake house. Mark was helping me with that, and I was horrified when I lifted the cushions off to find all sorts of food schnibbles and a whole mess of Legos. Oh, oh! Timmy would have already been gone several years before I got that sofa so why were there Legos under the cushions? As I cried, I joked with Mark, asking if he wanted a snack. That sort of sounds like something I would do! I think the Legos were eventually associated with my little nephews. (At church this past Sunday, I told a young couple with little ones that I would get out some old toys I have on hand for their kids to play with at the Super Bowl party) This might be why I was thinking about Legos and such.

                                      

Also, today, Justin and I are going to clean out the game/linen closet in my room and I know some decisions will need to be made in regard to the games and such. Do we keep them even though no one plays with them, or if their pieces are missing? The ‘reason’ for keeping them would be because Timmy had played with them and it’s extremely difficult for me to part with those type of things. But in late 2010 when my hand was forced by The Great Flood, I did whole lot better letting go of things. Perhaps today won’t be so hard, either. Perhaps….

We've got company!

Tomorrow is the big day here in Florida, with those who have not already done so will hopefully be at the polls for the primary. I heard a reporter speaking from the campaign trails say he could not turn on a TV anywhere without being bombarded by ads for the two front runners. It is a battle of wallets over ideas right now, and because I do not watch much regular programming, I have been able to avoid much of that. The candidates have been making appearances in the area with Justin being able to press the flesh with Mitt Romney this morning. He was impressed that his hands were rough and that he did not wear “mom jeans”.

While I was talking to Mom on the phone Sunday evening, Justin came scooting into my room to report that Mitt was coming to Jax and would speak somewhere off of Phillips Hwy. I asked what he was going to do, and he said, “I think I have to text my dad and tell him I will be late!” The speech was scheduled for 8:15 am so he would not lose the entire morning if he went.

I had Bible study which I would not miss but he was willing to go by himself. It turned out that his father would go with him, leaving from the office and then visit a jobsite at the Beach. That works! When I heard him leaving, I hoped he was dressed warmly because it was pretty chilly outside. Usually, if he knows I’m up, he will come into my room to say ‘good-bye’ but when he leaves so early, he does not. Later, he reported his feet were absolutely frozen from standing on the cold concrete with thin-soled shoes!

At Bible study, the group was about half in number, still a group, though! One lady, Betty, is traveling in IL to see her son who is terminally ill with cancer. A couple ladies did not let anyone know that they would be absent and our hopes are that they are okay. Probably just doctor appointments or something. Twila had a house she was getting ready to rent so had to work when her helpers were available. Only four of us went to lunch which was kind of nice, allowing for us all to talk together at a round table.

Fred, the manager, stopped by our table before our server had gotten to us, asking me if I was going to have potato soup today. I had to chuckle that even he knows my likes and dislikes. Instead, though, I messed them all up by ordering a burger. I said, “I hope you didn’t dish up the soup already!” and he said they had not. Funny! Also, the waiter, Jason, our regular guy, asked me if I was having a blackberry tea with Fire Fly in it. I just had Diet Coke so he had to catch the Hostess to stop her from ordering my other usual. I probably threw off their entire day by changing it up! One good thing was the restaurant being quite busy, love to see a thriving business!

Undercover work

Yes, I am under the covers writing this wrap-up (ha, ha!) of the day’s events. We are having some cooler temperatures overnight, waking on Saturday to temps in the low 40’s. Layers are the plan for the next couple of days. But, after dinner tonight, under the covers I went!

This morning, I arrived late for Bible study and not by accident, just by dawdling. I had some stuff to do when I got there, with things being switched up due to the remodeling of the Fellowship Hall. The subject is “Prayer”, the hows and whys of doing it, and the what. It was Favorite Hymn Sunday and a couple I requested were used. Robbie also played “Behold a Host Arrayed…” for me during the offertory. When he called me Wednesday about choir, he asked me if I had a hymn that I would like to hear during the offertory and that is the one I chose.

After worship we had Fellowship Sunday, held in the classroom building where a few minutes later another event, Family Connects,  was taking place. I enjoyed a tuna sandwich, actually a quarter of a sandwich, and an oatmeal butter scotch cookie. Judy C. makes the best tuna salad sandwiches! She and I were going to the movies but not until 2:15 so we had lunch at TGIF, next to the theater. I had my usual there, Jack Sesame Chicken appetizer, which is just right for me. Judy had regular chicken tenders and it was a huge portion, besides having a large house salad.

We got into the theater while it was still in cleaning mode so had our choice of seats. It was fine to sit and visit before the previews came on, and people began to arrive. The movie of the day was “Red Tails”, the story adapted from the historic Tuskegee Airmen, all black flight teams. It showed how they rose in value from taking out supply lines to escorting bombers on missions, protecting the ‘heavies’ from German attackers. Quite some flying and bravery exhibited, and even a love story woven in for good measure. It was good, but I sure wish I had not seen/heard the review the other day which somewhat tainted my appreciation of the movie.

When I got to the Mall, I had to drive up and down the aisles to find a ‘close’ place to park, and finding none, had to walk a distance toward the theater. No Rock Star parking for me this time as I had last week! About four rows from the theater, I saw a car I recognized---Justin’s!!! He had left early this morning to attend Victory for the 9:00 a.m. service and then was meeting his friends on that side of town to go to the movies at Tinseltown. There he was, parked like a Rock Star! I sent him a message to let him know I was there, too, in case he was having lunch or something. Jesse and he ended up coming alone to this side of town for an 11:15 movie. They saw “Red Tails” also and enjoyed it, being Star Wars fans and all that.

When I got home after the movie, still in the light of day, his car was parked in the lot. He had gotten home early, did the vacuuming he did not do on Saturday, and seemed to be busy in his room. There is a video game attracting his attention which is causing some of the delays in progress. In between games, though, he made another batch of his stew, using the rest of the cabbage (“I can’t believe how much I like cooked cabbage!”) and, as I write, the house is filled the aroma of stew---again!

Making up for yesterday

It is a very pretty day today, entirely opposite of the weather yesterday. It was drizzling most of Friday, or at least felt wet in the air, overcast until midday. Eventually the clouds broke and some blue shone through but it certainly remained conducive to napping!

Click to enlarge the photo

As I write, shore birds are feasting along the edge of the river. This morning there was a giant flock of birds outside, more and more coming but none leaving. It was quite interesting to watch them enjoy their breakfast. I never did notice when they left, perhaps Tracy, who lives downstairs from me, did. Randy, upstairs, thinks they were dining on mosquitos as he had a wall full of bugs after his exterior door was open last night. My friends at breakfast Friday reported the red buds blooming along River Road, which usually marks the coming of spring. As Randy said, “It’s been a great winter!”

For the past couple of weeks, I have been experiencing some aches and pains and pulsing muscles periodically in my right arm. My thought is that I have strained something when carrying in several heavy bags of groceries. Not wishing to make two trips to the car, I carried all the cold items up at once. Where is Connie when I need her? She usually offers to help if she sees someone come home with bags in the car. I had milk, juice, plus other refrigerated items, leaving the other stuff in the car to tote when I picked up Justin from work. They were heavy, that is for sure. And since that day, it seems to me, my arm has been goofy. Not all the time, and not incapacitating. I have to chuckle a bit since my mom had troubles with her arm when I was in WI, and wondered if I caught something from her!

It occurred to me that I have many more aches and pains particularly since I stopped taking my arthritis medication. Ya think??? I knew I had more left on my prescription at Wal*Mart, which they confirmed and filled for me. Of course, my arm feels like its old self again before I even took the first one.  As I told Justin, I make myself use it rather than favor it. I wish I had a tennis ball or one a bit smaller to sit and squeeze in order to strengthen my hand and arm. I sure do hope I don’t have carpel tunnel syndrome. It’s been years since I’ve pressure washed anything so all I can do is ‘blame’ the groceries and my laziness!

My idea, besides taking my medication, is to just get back in the pool again, and I even went so far as to consider joining the fitness center on Wells Road for the pool/Jacuzzi privileges. Carol W. thinks they have a plan just for that now, instead of paying full dues, which I would dearly love to avoid. This might be something worth checking out, as it will take a long time to get the pool temperature here up to the way I tolerate it. Like the lady said to me last summer when Lynn and Linda J. were here: “Oh, waa waa waa!” I am a big baby when it comes to the water being warm enough!

A couple quiet days

Other than dashing from my bed for “Breakfast Club”, the rest of my weekend is somewhat quiet. Thursday was active with Bible study and lunch with Justin, picking up his new glasses, a trip to the bank, Winn Dixie, and then home. We had planned to get his new cable for repairing the hatch latch (love that!) on his car, but he had left it behind so we opted to get that part another time.

Thursday we had a Tea Party event at La Nopalera, going with my friend, Peggy. I thought parking would be an issue, as I have had ‘problems’ there in the past so we left home quite early. Peggy asked me to save two seats, as we expected a full house. It actually did turn out to be a good-sized group but at first, Justin and I were alone in the room. We had great service that way!

The conversation was lively, no speaker scheduled due to the debates taking place later. The ‘powers that be’ are yet deciding upon the changing of the boundary lines for the districts so the leader urged us to keep up with this. There is one man from Clay County government thinking of throwing his hat into the ring if and when the boundaries are re-laid. The woman in whose district Justin and I  reside, being on the ‘wrong’ side of Hwy.17, is fighting the redistricting tooth and nail. Hers is a gerrymandered district from Jacksonville to Orlando. This will hopefully change and we will have a new or different representative.

Justin and I listened to the beginning of the debate in the car as we drove home from La Nop, hearing the UNF Chorus singing the National Anthem. Imagine that---sung without any screeching! One of my friends who is in the music business wrote on Facebook about how well her students and fellow teacher did with the Anthem on national TV. I let her know how I told Justin, when the anthem was sung, “Now that was just beautiful!”. And it was! We sat together in the family room to watch the debates, both of us thinking all did well. I am rooting for my guy who is still in the race but Justin is leaning a different direction. UNF showed nicely on the TV but I only saw one person in the audience that I recognized.

Friday morning was my breakfast with friends as The Club for which I took my car rather than walking in the rain. Not that I was concerned about my hair, but rather, about sitting in wet clothes in a cold restaurant. We had four people around the table but no game playing, so my name for the gathering is catching on! I am cool with that, too, love the visiting!

Oh, I have to back-track a bit---I had gotten an invitation to partake of birthday cake for the owner of The Club, as a surprise, but it was Wednesday night. Since I have choir rehearsal at that time, I had to send regrets. About 6:00 pm, just before Justin and I were having dinner (I made scalloped potatoes and ham for us), Robbie called to cancel choir. Oh, an unexpected free evening! We ate our dinner early anyway, since everything was ready to go, and then later we watched Jeopardy! When it was over, it suddenly occurred to me that I could have gone to the birthday event. Since it was now 8:00 pm, I assumed the whole thing would be over as Happy Hour usually wraps up at 7:00 pm. Rats! But, at Breakfast Club, one of the ladies told me that they did not even serve the cake until just after 8:00 so I could have made it! Double rats!

Back to Friday: Justin went to work on Fleming Island, using his own car, with my driving to work days over for now. It turned out he spent about four hours in the car, making two trips to St. Johns County for getting a permit. He said,”Driving is exhausting!” and he is so right about that. At least for the eyes and the brain, and maybe even the butt.

Thursday we bought the ingredients needed for Justin to make a recipe he found on-line involving pork, apples, and cabbage. He wanted to make it for Friday’s Dinner and a Movie, but this is not going to happen until Saturday evening. Since he was not cooking on Friday, he made plans to go to Mandarin for Game Night with his pals. But, I did not go hungry as he brought home some leftover food that his step-mother had given him. He had four half-sandwiches and a partial Caesar salad. The chicken salad sandwich I ate was fantastic, and I would have eaten another but half was enough! I think there were grapes cut up in the chicken, and perhaps even chopped nuts. Man, that was good!

Saturday as I mentioned I have three ladies coming over to watch “Midnight in Paris” and have dinner. That’s all I have planned for the day unless something else happens…you never know! Sunday is church and Bible study, and in the afternoon, another movie, “Red Tails”, which I understand is poorly directed. The movie is a good enough story to hold its own, but the directing is shoddy. One critic asked, “Did Lucas have a stroke or something? What’s happened to him??” I will try to not notice the flaws and take in the great story!  

The biggest news is that today is Mom's birthday---she is 87! Her plans for the day include going to dinner with a bunch of people from church for their Dinner Club. I hope she has a perch dinner to celebrate. When Justin came home from work, we sang Happy Birthday into her answering machine which will have hopefully sung her to sleep! Happy birthday, Mom!