Because I felt like it!

I decided to post this photo taken at my nephew's wedding, where my son, Justin, niece Alayna, and nephew, Dustin, participated in the ceremony. They posed with their grandma, my mom, Kathy, in June of 2009. Nice, yes?

Oh, marvelous!

Just as things are ramping for the pending visit of my sister, Lynn, and my lady friend, Linda J., I will also being making some plans for the arrival of Irene. Now, she is a tropical storm but there is some likelihood that she will develop into a hurricane further downstate. This might, at the very least, rain on our parade, so to speak, with some contingency plans needing to be made in case the power goes out. Lynn has been through this here with me in the past, ala Tropical Storm Faye a few years ago, and my guess is that she is not in a big hurry to repeat that experience. That time, her daughter and family were also here, so we had two little boys to keep busy when house bound, and thanks to Justin, they were troupers! He brought them Play-Doh, coloring books, and even got out old toys of Timmy’s and his for the boys to play with. We got through it, but sure would have liked better weather and steady electricity, make no mistake about that!

Speaking of Justin, he was coming over this afternoon to watch something with me on the Internet but has since changed his mind. He told me last night that he is going to work around the house instead after church, not certain if that means in his ‘bungalow’ or in the main house, or on the property. Jesse and he do the yard work at their home, as well they should, so maybe that’s what he has in mind. The other boys go to play volleyball at the beach on Sunday mornings so perhaps he is actually going over there after church. Since he is not coming today, I will go outside once I get home.

Tomorrow we are meeting when he is done working so he can help me with grocery shopping for the ladies. The help I need is actually after wards but he knows he will reap rewards himself by going with me!

My house is nice and sparkly!

The cleaners just left and I am quite pleased with their work. The floors are particularly nicely done, and I will do my best not to be too fussy about the dusting. It was a husband and wife team who came, the owners, so I got their best team! The closing act of their efforts was them using a steam cleaner on the floors as they worked their way out the door---nice touch! It smells good, smells clean and gives a sense of being ready for guests! This is a service I purchased on-line at a tremendous discount via LivingSocial.com and she gave me a code to enter when I reschedule, if I do, so I continue to get discounts. Nice again!

Now, all I need is to shop, and then pick up my sister and friend from the airport! Easy enough---as long as I don’t have a flat tire like that one time. Of all things!! In a few minutes I am going outside to enjoy the evening after having been in the house all day. The morning was spent making things ready for the cleaners and the rest of the time, listening to the roar of the vacuum cleaner.

A little frustration is being experienced by me as the radio program Justin and I ‘watch’ changed its services today and in so doing, messed up the password situation. I believe Justin was able to log on from his phone, as he listens instead of watches when at work, but I cannot from the laptop. Customer service has been contacted and I await their help.

Customer service at our Synod’s publishing house came through like gangbusters for me today, which makes me so happy. When the gas powered computer died, it took a CD that was loaded inside of it, with it. Oh oh…since the power button is broken, Justin cannot open the drawer where the disc is loaded, nor would it open with urging from a screw driver. He figures with all the moving it around and such that the disc is likely scratched or roughed up anyway. The nice lady at NPH told me she would simply send me a replacement disc…just like that! What I was asking her for was the ability to access the last four month’s worth of newsletters on the disc, if possible, but ‘Cheryl’ said she would just send me a fresh disc. She said, in her e-mail response to mine of thanksgiving, “I like to make people happy!” She knows me well, as I like to be this way!

Marian's birthday

Last week Tuesday, I drove to Palm Coast to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday with her. Marian resides in a nursing home, a lovely one at that. As I mentioned in a previous posting, Marian rather enjoys living there and participates in the activities conducted for the patients' entertainment. Most of the them are elderly, but Marian is 'only' 63. Her husband, Biff, lives in an apartment now, having recently moved from assisted living, and was there to help celebrate her birthday.

Here are Marian and I, posing for the camera, with Biff as photographer

Marian takes medications which cause her to become drowsy so Biff sat nearby during the bingo game to keep her awake and help place her tokens. I took advantage of the snoozing to keep up with my own cards, but alas, I did not win once!

Marian and Biff waiting expectantly for the games to begin!

The remains of the day....

....or should I say, the remains of the pillow?

On Monday, I decided to wash my sheets and air my bedding to get any leftover germs or viruses out of them, including the little pillow that supports my head when I am lying down to use my laptop. The pillow prevents my head from poking through the wrought-iron spindles on my headboard. I had written in the past about how tired that pillow was getting, but I figured it could endure one more washing.....I was WRONG!

Imagine my surprise when I opened the machine and saw that mountain of 'suds' looking back at me! From outward appearance, the stuffing in the pillow was a solid piece of foam, but evidently, I was mistaken! The Publix bag was filled with foam (the pillow cover is next to it) and that was only part of what I could rescue from the washer, with hopes that the balance would accumulate in the dryer lint bin. Oh no, that was not to be! I had to shake each and every piece of laundry and cause a snow storm in order to get the rest of the foam. What a mess! At least it was a clean, white, and dry mess this time!

"What a great laugh..."

A quick recap of the week’s events---on Sunday, my first day back amongst the living, the afternoon was spent at the pool. There I conversed with one of my newer friends, Lee, who is single and not employed (i.e. ready playmate!) and is interested in art. Yay! Monday and Tuesday I enjoyed some company with Jamey who might soon be my neighbor. And today, I met and enjoyed the company of a lady named Mary, whom had already been coming to the exercise class with another lady, named Dale. We each felt like we had met before, and by figuring things out, decided it must have been at a musical soiree at the very same penthouse Jamey might move into!

Mary was discussing an interesting sounding book with Randy, our sole male exerciser, concerning the topic of stroke recovery. It is not really about that, however, but more about what the author, who experienced a stroke at the tender age of 37, learned about herself during the recuperation. It sounded right up my alley, that left brain/right brain stuff, which side controls thought, which side controls ego, and so on. The author could sense, being unable to communicate, what people were really thinking or feeling when they came to see her. Pretty revealing stuff! Yes, Amazon is bringing it to me hot off the press, even though my new ‘mother-earthy’ friend suggested I check it out at the library. She is too new a friend for me to explain my issue about used books!

After class we sat and talked for a bit, and then she said she had to go to the bathroom. As she got up, she said, “Hey, I don’t have any clients until about 3:00, wanna grab some lunch?” Of course, I declined---NOT!!!!! Madly I raced upstairs to change clothes and then we met in front of The Palace to ride in my car. I wanted her to meet and talk with Dee and Julia so we chose Koko’s for our lunch place. When we got to Hang Ups, they were just fixin’ to have their lunch, being delivered by Blair, Dee’s hubby, so we excused ourselves after a bit to have our lunch next door. But at least they met each other and Mary had a chance to look over the shop.

Our lunch and conversation were both delightful, and we made our way back to The Palace. We share having lost a loved one, hers being her husband almost a year ago, on Labor Day. They had been in business together in floor covering sales and installation, as well as her pain management practice. Her spouse of only 11 years just woke up dead one morning. That is a tough pill yet to swallow, as I am sure it is, being less than a year into her loss. Later on, as we were talking, I told her how much fun my sister, Kerry, was having on Labor Day last year, one of the finest in her life, while Mary was mourning the loss of her hubby that same day. It really makes you think….My sainted grandmother, Lily, used to caution us kids, as we laughed and laughed, that some day we might be crying. Talk about raining on our parade!

But, back to the water exercises---we had such a great time today, my two new friends and the old ones as well. As we did one of our more floaty-type of routines using the weights, Mary remarked how her butt floated up all the time. She is not heavy at all so it must be her make-up. Anyway, I told about how I had to use a concrete block on my weight belt when taking diving lessons, because I bob like a cork in the water---NOT in my make-up, but from being chubby. Mary said she always had this problem, claiming, “I was never able to pick up the penny from the bottom of the pool……” which prompted me to roar with laughter at the prospect. Mary said, “Oh, what a great laugh!” Thanks, Mary!

The conversation, all the while we are working out, turned to physiques, with one lady reporting that she has actually bought jeans with a padded seat to add more shape…Oh no she didn’t!!! I ordered her out of the pool, NOW!!!, in horror at the thought of someone having that need or desire. Like wearing a padded bra, for heaven’s sake, what?????

Later, when we came back from lunch, Mary had a few minutes before needing to get back to work, so she came up to see my place. 'Blown away' does not adequately describe her reaction, as she has seen many foreign countries and enjoyed my story about meeting Jeanne in Santorini, and re-meeting her in 2006 and 2007!!! She loved the chandelier and its story, as she tried to look at everything. (When my sister, Lori, was here a couple years ago, she said she needed time to take it all in…I love that!) Also, I told Mary about the waiter on the cruise ship who remembered me from a cruise two years before (“Oh, you wear your hair the same!), and how Justin is so thankful his rose-colored glasses mama secured a taxi and its driver to take us to Pompeii so he could find the address of a house he read about in Latin class.

It was a good day!

A great week for friends

No more Grumpy Gus for me, no siree!!!! The past few days have been phenomenal, people-wise, for me, that I can barely contain myself! Kindly forgive the overuse of the exclamation points, but I have extra excitement these days. (There is a “Seinfeld” episode regarding overusing exclamation points….of course, there is!)

At this moment, I am so tempted to open the doors and let the breezes go through but Justin is coming this afternoon after work to make some things ready for guests and he needs the A/C to be operating. Believe me, if he was not coming today, those doors would be open.

Okay, where to begin??? Let’s go back to Monday, my crotchety day, when I mentioned in my posting about the hotel guest I met at the pool who only stayed out awhile before leaving. As she was going up, I invited her to come back the next for the water exercise class on Tuesday, and sure enough, there she was yesterday morning. We properly introduced ourselves, and she to the others, and we proceeded to become fast friends. Conversation grew to include my telling her about the empty condos in my building, giving her Pat’s phone number so she could show Jamey and her husband the penthouse unit, starting out looking at mine first! My home is in serious need of dusting and vacuuming but what the heck…let ‘em come! Pat met us here and, being invited by Jamey, I joined them in looking at the available unit. And they loved the views, both mine and the one upstairs.

She is probably younger than me by a few years but that won’t matter. Like we used to do in our Eagle Harbor years, I sold them on the community first before they toured the two units. They were staying at the River Suites so knew the property already, and had dinner at a few places in the area, this being their third trip to JAX to scope things out. Jamey’s hubby is planning to retire in a couple years and wants to fish. I told her how Kerry fished right off the bulkhead in the early morning, catching something every day she tried, and about how the fishing boats love the area straight out from The Palace. Pat told them about the marina just down the road where he could dock a boat.

They loved the amount of built-ins that unit has, perfect for displaying treasures, books, fine china, and so on, plus the ‘office’ will be perfect as a workroom for Jamey’s quilting. The extended open patio, though, is a deal maker for sure, and she told me today how she found disappearing curtains perfect for outdoor use, about finding a ‘sand box’ thing for their dog to use so they don’t have to walk it outside, and furniture for the patio. I’d call it ‘done’, wouldn’t you?????

She was able to extend her check-out time today so she could join us again for water exercises. Jamey was welcomed by those who had not met her yesterday and she told them how she had fallen in love with the condo upstairs. Nice! When it was time to part, she hugged and hugged me, like long-time friends, and we had already exchanged our information for staying in touch. No matter what, we can stay in touch! One of the other ladies in the group, a newer face to me, Mary, was able to give Jamey a quick ‘release’ on a sore muscle, as she does pain management for her living. More about Mary later, though. Jamey was carrying something too heavy a few months ago, and hurt a connective tissue in her shoulder that therapy was not helping. Mary fixed her up with a few firm pressures to some points in her arm. Hope that does it for Jamey, another ‘lock’ to get them to move here!