Things that make you go...hmmmm....

After a short night's sleep, I got up, showered, and ready for church. My eyes were asking for more rest but it was not to be. (Heard water running late last night. Turned out to be a toilet running in the unit above me. She made it stop, but I was unsettled after that!) 

I found my 'gang' in the church office, assembled for Bible study. There were no handouts this week for the study, a look at Job. Bill B. likes me to sit near him so I can help him figure out what page we are in the Bible. We had blank half-sheets for taking notes if we wanted to, plus we had to write a statement, in breakout sessions, about what we could say to someone suffering a terminal illness, based on Job 19. Of course, that made me cry just a bit, as it's the "I know that my redeemer lives..." portion of Job. "How my heart yearns within me..." Our break-out group consisted of Bill, Sterling, and me. Because I am the one who lived in FL the longest, it fell to me write the statement of comfort we could offer some one who was suffering. After I read ours, Bill said, "That was nice!" Thanks, Bill....It's good text, not too hard to work with.

There was an abbreviated Holy Trinity service today, with Holy Communion, of which I am glad we all were able to partake this week. Last week, only the confirmands and their families were invited to the Lord's table. Hmmm...The original pastor of GS was here to speak to us at the close of the shortened service, called upon to "mentor us" for three years. Hmmm.....

Judy C. was joining her son at our sister church this afternoon as they were having confirmation today, so I was on my own for lunch. Terri T. was in Tampa (as was Justin) for the Kenny Chesney and friends concert. No worries, I had 'friends' of my own at the pool. The water was cold at first, and many oohed and aahed that "Miss Kim got in the water before July!". My left leg cramped up when doing my version of laps so I parked myself in the shallow end and did my bicycle moves from the side of the pool. Kept moving for nearly an hour, until I just had to warm up out of the water. 

I sat with my neighbor, Pat, for a while but she was quite busy with real estate calls and never did get into the water. We had a nice visit between phone calls and we were both reading our books, too. She had the hot dog for lunch, which I had tried yesterday, and I had the hamburger which was actually a double patty burger. Just delicious! It surprised me when it came with two patties but the new cabana boy, Julius, told me it is faster to cook two smaller patties than one thick burger, which makes sense to me. I could order the kids' size burger, single patty, but this was so delicious and did not shut me down. I ate every bite of it. I guess I did not realize last season's burger patties were so large! The side dish was orzo salad of which I asked for only a smidgen. Delicious too! 

Justin had left right after work Friday for a weekend in Tampa. Jesse and he were driving down in a car belonging Jesse's mom's gentleman friend. They were meeting others down there, classmates of Jesse's and Ron's, and having the privilege of using a condo to stay in. They were going to see/hear a concert of country singers and Justin is a huge fan of Kenny Chesney's music. I was a little 'aware' of the fun boys this age can have but tried not to lose sleep over it, and trust at least one of them (mine!) to use his head in all things.

While sitting at the pool, my phone rang, and the number showing was Jesse's mom. Oh my goodness! I almost hated to answer it, for fear of what I she had to tell me. No worries, though. Her answering service had given her a message with someone else's name, but my cell phone number. She knew the name and number didn't match but called anyway to find out if I knew this other person. I did not, and expressed my concern about seeing her number come up on the phone. Her son ended up with a broke hand at their last party, 'wrasslin' with a guy, which now has him unable to work or even ride his transportation, which is a motorcycle. When in your mid-20's, one does NOT need to practice the wrestling moves one had in high school! It affects ones livelihood and mobility, all for being a hot dog! Was relieved, however, that this call was not about something wretched happening with our sons!

Justin came home after dinner, having stopped with Jesse in St. Augustine for wings on the way home. He filled me in on their weekend, told me about the good night's sleep he'd had, being able to sprawl all over a king-sized bed with a Tempurpedic mattress. He sleeps on a day bed here, not sprawling at all! I told him how the former pastor had asked me "how's Lamby doing?" which Justin wishes he could live down. Oh no, he will always be Lamby to those who knew him then!! He went from being my precious lamb to Lamby, and now, in the words of "Lord of the Rings"---My Precious!

Summer has returned

This morning, I heard voices and noises from the river side of the house. I looked out the sliders and there was a boat directly below my windows. The two fishers were casting nets over and over into the water but I could not see them remove anything from the nets. I think they were gathering bait fish, according to Suzanne, my friend who fishes. Later in the day, I heard more noise, and saw this scene, people walking with nets, seemingly from the boat anchored in the basin area. Not sure they got off this boat though as it appeared not big enough to accommodate yet more people!             

 At long last, I made it out to the pool yesterday afternoon and enjoying my first cabana hot dog of the season. Chef is using a different brand this year and told Marlena (in red top on left in photo) to 'run one past Miss Kim' to see if it is as good. It is! It is an all-beef tube steak and I liked it just fine! Two new people work in the cabana and as life guards for me to break in. The cabana boy, Julius, will have to learn my likes and dislikes but he said Danny trained him so he might already be aware of my being special needs in the cabana! The water is not quite warm enough yet for me to take a dip but I might give it try on Sunday after church. My knees are begging for it!

As I sat outdoors and watched people go by, I also read several chapters in a book removed from my stack on the dresser titled, "In The President's Secret Service". I have owned this for about a year now and wanted to take a soft-covered book outside rather a hard-covered (i.e. more expensive) book in case it got wet. What an interesting, and, at times, sickening, read this is! After I read about what a creep LBJ was and how he behaved publicly and privately, I nearly tore the pages from the binding and into the pool! CLASS: you either have it, or you don't! Titles or office make no difference, it seems. 

As I delivered The Palace Press Friday to Gus, it was still raining a tiny bit after a shower. These peace lilies just glistened in joy from the rain washing them, and I could not help but photograph this scene outside Gus and Mike's units on the first floor courtyard!

My kind of Friday!

Up at 'em early this morning as the window repair guys showed up before noon, just as promised. Right after 8:30 a.m. they called to let me know they were on the way so I had to get myself up and dressed. This was WELL before noon! Just as I finished, the doorbell rang. That is prompt!

These fellows have been here a couple times in the past, being the only ones I know of with parts for this brand of window, no longer in production. I was glad they still had the part needed for my window and I am sealed back up again should another storm develop. 

They had to remove the glass shelf from in front of the window and then try to put it back in again. I wish Justin and I had remembered to pull it out the night before but that would not have made it easier to put back in. The one fellow, older of the two, said the shelf should have been cut 1/4" shorter for ease of handling and I told him that a man did the measuring and ordering for me...in case there was any doubt...

The Windex will be made busy as I remove the hand prints and marks from the repair, and from the glass. Then the job will be to put the decorative pieces back in place, once they are cleaned up again too. Dust, you know?

My friend, Stephanie, has an eye emergency, as suddenly she experienced retina problems while sitting at her desk at work. This was Wednesday, saw the eye doctor on Thursday, and was scheduled for surgical repair on Friday. Now she just needed a ride from Southside to Orange Park and back again. Facebook (and Friends!) to the rescue. I offered to be her helper, with her other friend/neighbor who is also from Victory, to bring her over. Emily will drop Stephanie off, and I will pick her up when she is finished. It might take a couple hours, Stephanie thinks, as she has had this procedure in the past on the other eye. This time she has four tears, something considered hereditary. Pretty scary stuff!

                                      

I figure I will estimate the time of her drop off and then go to Walgreens before picking her up. It is so hard to find confirmation cards and before I head to the Hallmark Store at Fleming Island, I will check at Walgreens. Plus, they have Diet Coke on special this week. Woo hoo!

Today marks the 38th anniversary of my high school graduation. I remember when my uncle was going to attend his 50th class reunion and being astounded that he was still alive for it! Now, it's not so astounding!

Life returns somewhat to normal

Oh, how I hesitate to make that statement! Not superstitious ordinarily, but I simply hate to let my guard down. Right now I am torturing myself by running the dishwasher which, this soon after a leak, will give me pause every time it changes cycles. Much like the washing machine did to me yesterday!

I got freaked out when Jeff, my downstairs neighbor, called me on Tuesday. He said the midst of all the other confusion we had on Monday with the leaks and such, he had a sewer back-up in the shower and a toilet. Oh no! This has to be storm related, right? But then, why so selective? Rose, on the 4th floor further toward the north, reported the same issue so thought since I am on 3rd floor, in between, I might have troubles, too. I was running bathroom to bathroom, checking the situation. Oh, believe me, I would have called if I did!!!!  

He said he heard a glug glug sound and then swoosh, down it went. Just to be sure, though, he called the Roto-Rooter people to come clean out the P-traps on the exterior of the building, on each end of The Palace. On Monday I had made the comment about what Jeff's wife says when we have leaks here, "at least it's clean water..." but now, that might no longer be true. Jeff told me he took an hour to clean their shower after the back-up. Good thing he was home when that happened, since he is a pilot for Fed Ex.

Connie had told me some of the bulkhead had broken loose so I tried to see it from my patio doors. While I could not see down there, I did see next door to me that they must not have been home for the storm. The patio, an exposed one, was a huge mess---broken flower pots, tattered grille cover, tipped over chairs. I only hope nothing glass was broken on the house, like their doors! I should let Connie know what I saw, in case someone needs to go in there and check for damage. These folks, Ed and Karen, also have a home in Charleston, and are likely up there at the time. What a welcome home they will have!

Justin's workweek, besides being a holiday one, is messed up from the storm. He worked part of the day on Tuesday and part of the day on Wednesday this week. The ground is soaked, the mowers sink in and the grooming parts of the job---edging and hedging, can wait until things dry up. Sure will help with growing though, all the rain we had!

Tuesday, after he cleaned up and got dry again (worked in the pouring rain!), Justin and I went to lunch and then to Publix to restock the larder. He ate everything from my fridge and cupboards except the dishes. Well, that's not accurate, he did eat a couple dishes...No, he did leave some stuff behind because of having no eggs or meat, or other ingredients to make a meal from it. He said he would just come home after work, get cleaned up, and collapse, having no desire to go back out to the store. Justin did confess to ordering from Ming Moon at least once!

Since he got home early yesterday, which I did not expect, I pressed him into service. My bedclothes were being washed and I wanted his help with turning my mattress. Because I spend so much time lying on my bed with the laptop, my butt leaves indentations in the pillow top (NO! Really???). I like to rotate the mattress periodically to  spread the destruction around some. All he told me to was "Don't let it fall on you!" as we worked it around, avoiding the fan, and got it re-positioned. We did have to fix the dust ruffle under the mattress which was tricky but got everything put back into place. He also helped me dress the bed again, and then he laid down on it!

Before he got too comfortable, I asked him to please get my iTunes back on my computer which was lost when in the shop before my trip. Also, he got the Avast! security started up again, which had a cramp in it since coming home from the shop. I did not allow him to get cross with me, I simply stepped away from the machinery!

Another thing I was working on before he came home was trying to research my data usage on AT&T because I am exceeding my limits almost every month. Several times now I have gotten 'warnings' that I have exceeded them, and after a certain point, I will be charged $10 for 50 GB extra a month. Justin has offered to pay the extra, which we figure is because of his usage with movie and game downloads, etc. 

Finding the information about my account was like digging in quick sand, though, NOT a user-friendly site at all! Eventually, between us, we found a chart which showed the history of the account and when the usage increased off the charts, as it were. It does coincide with his moving back in, however, it also coincides with my obtaining the Roku device. Hmmmm....We won't know for sure until he moves out again, but he is fairly confident my package will be sufficient when he is not using it. 

                                  

Even with the larder restocked, the temptation to go out to eat dinner was great but instead, we ate at home. Rather than have leftovers, I made Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper and added cheese curds for interest. Oh, man, that was good! Justin said he loved the 'surprise' of biting into a squishy curd as he ate. Tuesday night I made us ribs with sliced potatoes plus whole kernel corn. Two nights in a row eating at home. No, make that three, since Monday night we had Ming Moon delivered!!!

Some special times

When I was in WI, visiting my family in Manitowoc, I also spent time with some friends. One night Rick and Laura took me to Time Out for dinner, where I had those marvelous beer-battered perch. When together, I returned a nightshirt Laura left behind when they had visited me in April. We went over to their house after dinner and I got the 25 cent tour of their home and property. My family remembers having been there years ago for a cosmetic party but I do not. It was a nice evening!

Taken on a previous visit, so you can get the idea (Marilyn is the second lady on the left with Mom in the foreground on the right)

Linda and I spent time together throughout the visit, but our best day was Thursday, before I left. First, Mom, Lynn, and I went to church to help assemble the newsletter. A group gathers and makes quick work of the project. One lady is a very dear friend of Judy J., who lives now in FL but was formerly church friends with Marilyn in MI. Marilyn lives now in Manty in the neighborhood where we built homes years ago. One time, several years ago, Marilyn called Judy to ask if she knew us, since we had signed the guest book and she noticed the Orange Park and Good Shepherd listed as our church. Well, of course, Judy knew us! How fun is that??? Judy told Marilyn how we went to church together, how she was my sponsor for working at Sprint, and how she helped us find a home to rent in Peters Creek, where she resides. Gotta love the WELS!

After we were done with the newsletter, I said 'good-bye' to the two pastors, and wished Pastor Rosenow well in his pending retirement. We ladies---Lynn, Linda, Mom and I---ate at the new restaurant opened only the day before, called "8th and York". 

After lunch, Linda and I went to her house for our action-packed afternoon of retreat. Yes, she and I watched a recorded woman's retreat lecture given by Prof. Daniel Deutschlander on "The Theology of the Cross". The session was two hours long and his first time presenting to women, most of which were lay people. Linda had already seen the first hour but was ready to see/hear it again. 

Talk about riveting! Wow! Linda often watches movies and TV shows, and women's retreat lectures with her eyes closed. She gets up at 4:30 a.m. so I would guess by afternoon, her eyes get heavy. Since he had no illustrations or visuals to show, it doesn't matter if your eyes are closed---just keep the ears open. 

What was so funny was the camera recording this lecture was in proximity to a table where some ladies were seated, and we would have sworn it was Linda and me. At the same times we 'reacted' to something the Prof. said, those ladies did too. Those little throat sounds of agreement, or the verbalized ones, softly agreeing or acknowledging his point. At first I thought it WAS Linda but then realized it was coming from the computer we were watching on! Love to know THEY were getting it, too!!!

                           

Linda made dinner for us, with Tommy cooking the brats on the grille set up on the front porch while the back porch is being redone. How delicious is a freshly grilled brat! We had cole slaw and baked beans, and yes, onions on our brats. I took seconds on the slaw, that's how good it was! Linda and I both had onions so we had to breathe on each other at Bible study that evening.

We were in downtown Shoto on Thursday night, attending a women's Bible study at the home of Kathy Wendland, who also conducts the Tuesday class at FG. Different topics at each study, and different ladies, too.  I got to see several I had not seen the rest of the visit which was awesome. The class was also awesome! We told Kathy about watching the lecture, and reported seeing/hearing her stand up during the Q & A session to thank him for giving the women 'the meat' they are so hungry for. Well said, Kathy, well said!

And that is how we roll!!!

Now...where was I???

Just before leaving my mom's house, I was cleaning out the file cabinet known as my purse, to make it lighter for the trip back home. In sorting through the numerous receipts and church papers, I decided to keep many of these items for reference in order to recreate my time spent away from home. Oh, the places we go! On Facebook one day my status update was in regard to what I do when in Manty: eat perch and go to church!

One of my young nephews had a birthday not celebrated yet with the family so we did that on Friday before I came back to FL. From Wal*Mart I bought him an Avenger mask, Captain America, I believe, plus an Avenger gun which dispenses foam darts. Boys love stuff like that. I also found a very nice pack of notecards for me, simple ones with a gold cross on the front. They have to be pliable enough to feed through my printer, I have a paper weakness....

That shopping trip to Wal*Mart also yielded a new swimsuit which I did not wear at all when there, although I could have gone to the Wellness Center with Lynn if I wanted to. Lori did go and enjoyed the workout. She was annoyed by a pre-existing itchiness on her neck and shoulders which she guesses came from sample shampoos she used, possibly aggravated by the chlorine. Lynn took her to Walgreens to get some Benedryl spray and some lotion to apply which knocked it down nicely.

One afternoon, Mom treated us, except Jill because she had to work, to pedicures for Lynn, Lori and herself, and a manicure for me. That was so nice of her! I had the cat bird seat, sitting at their feet, so to speak, getting my hands tended to while they were pampered on their toes. Since Linda was treating me to a pedicure, I opted for the manicure instead. Thanks, Mom!!!! 

Mom also had some returns to make at various stores so we went one day to Shopko, a smaller version of a Wal*Mart. I found several tops which I liked, and had them in Mom's cart. In wandering the aisles, I encountered one of my Facebook friends, Judy, and chatted with her for a while. (We had met in person last Christmas at the Lutheran High concert at the Capital Civic Center...she recognized me from my photographs. That's what I love about Facebook!) Mom and Lynn got into the checkout line, so I hustled their direction. Just as I got there, Mom was in the process of buying two of the tops I'd picked out. That rascal! Thanks, Mom!!!

Another night I had the privilege of dining with my family and the church family at The Charcoal Grille. The best steak sandwich and wonderful onion straws there, and Kerry even came along! The young woman who organized the outing was alone, as her hubby was called to Green Bay to be with his father who was recently diagnosed with cancer. The next morning, there was a prayer in church for this man's family, as the dad passed away before midnight. Wow, that was fast! Good for the dad, not so easy on the family, however.

One Wednesday, Bulletin Day, I went to church to help with the bulletins and the place was an absolute beehive of activity. The other office helper, Darlene, was there. Thankfully the church has a folding machine which was clanking away at folding the bulletins, service folders, and other church related materials. The building and grounds chairman, Larry, is a wonderful guy and is almost always at church. That day he was there working on setting up the softball schedule for the youth team for summer. I have known him seemingly all my life, as his sister was friends with, and a roommate to, my sister, Lori, as well as fellow church members. Larry is an uncle to my friend, Rick, who visited me here in April. 

We had extra bulletins for Ascension services on Thursday, plus did the ones for the church picnic coming up in June, which will also be their senior pastor's going-away party. His request was to use the picnic as his venue to say 'farewell'. He is retiring and moving across the state to live in his parent's basement. I wonder if he will become a blogger.....Haha! His parents need some attention, so his wife and he will move into their exposed basement to be on-site for care giving. 

Linda, Letty, and I went back to The Grille again for lunch after Bulletin Day, and once more, I enjoyed the steak sandwich. Linda had a massage appointment that afternoon so I went back to Mom's after our lunch. It was nice to dine with these church ladies. Letty is a pastor's wife, he now a retirement pastor, and she works at the high school in the library. Things were coming to a close at school as graduation loomed, and the end of the year. Let's eat out!!!

Twice an assortment of our group ate at Pizza Hut, just blocks from my mom's apartment building. We just love those personal pizzas! Twice I ate at Fork and Knife, a locally owned restaurant, and three times at Perkin's where I get the delicious potato pancakes. Mom treated one day---Thanks, Mom! Friday, the last time I was there, was with John and Mona, and after the first hour, John left, after paying for our breakfasts. We had words leftover!!! It's always fun to spend time with Mona and get caught up. She is a voracious reader but not the same type of reading I do. 

No trip is complete without perch being had at The Green Street, as well as at The Tower Tavern, The Four Seasons, Time Out Bar and Grille, and the Lighthouse Inn. Somehow we missed going to Late's but did get to have wonderful ice cream treats at Cedar Crest where my sister, Jill, is the bar tender. Do ice cream parlors have an equivalent to a barista? On one visit, Lynn had a marvelous banana split made with three different types of ice cream plus the banana, pineapple, and cherries, with whipped cream and nuts. It became her evening meal as well. Thanks, Mom!

Justin thinks this trip was a bit too long---it must be different for him when he lives in the same place I do. Otherwise, I don't think it would have affected him as much. I love it that he missed me!

Saying 'good-bye' to TS Beryl!

On Sunday after church, Justin and I got ready for the pending storm by pulling the TV away from the wall, rolled the carpet back, and got the electonics/electrical stuff off the floor in this vulnerable area of the house. We left the glass on the shelf in the windows in certain hope that nothing would happen. Yesterday morning, my neighbor, Jeff, observed that one of the windows had in fact broken one of its clips which holds it in place. I have a phone number for the man who repairs this brand of window, the company no longer being in business. Fortunately, the window was secured on the other corner and did not come out! Yikes!

Monday morning, the roar of the wind woke me just before 4:00 a.m. I had been awake yet at midnight so this was a short night for me. I listened to the wind and rain, wishing I could see outside to see what was happening, at the same being glad I could not. Before 6:00 a.m., as I lay on my bed with the laptop in front of me and the TV on, I heard it----drip, drip, drip. NO!!! It was coming from the wall behind my head, with no obvious water coming through. I got my phone list of my neighbors and started calling. Patti, next door, could barely hear it, and not as regularly dripping as what I heard. 

I called Misty upstairs and at first, she said no, nothing was amiss. Two seconds later she called back, frantically reporting wet ceilings in her m. bedroom and water leaking on the beds in the back bedroom. Oh, great! I called Herve, who lives above her, and he shut off his water, which was the default reaction to such a call. 

I called Jeff, my downstairs neighbor who is in charge of building maintenance plus my go-to guy for things like this. They would also be on the receiving end of water leaks, as we well know, so he said he would come up later to check it out. Tommy, the Condo president, did come up to press his ear to my wall to hear the dripping, and actually did hear what I heard. Yay!! I told him about Misty's leaks and what Herve had done to address it. But the dripping continued long after he would have shut it off. Hmmmm....Just as I called Jeff once more, the dripping stopped, almost abruptly, so I told him this good news. But wait, there's more....

                                                         

I heard it yet again---drip- drip, drip. Okay, where was THAT coming from? It was the living room this time, dripping from the ceiling and the doorframe to the river room, the French doors. Rats! We had not pulled the carpet back far enough, not anticipating the doors dripping, as they are somewhat down the wall from the corner. The two coffee table books propped against a vase were wet, splashed from the drips on the floor, the rug was damp, and the floor quite wet. I called Jeff and he said he was coming up, and Herve came with his wet vacuum and buckets. I told them I had plenty of towels to mop up. Herve helped me move the furniture some more, pull the rug away, and start laying the towels. The wet vac was not needed but we did use buckets to catch the drips from above. Rats!

                                      

The ceiling is wet and stained, the wall paint bubbled from the water running between the paint and drywall, and the picture hanging there was wet on its back. Should be okay, though, no damage to the photograph. As you may recall, this is the same area which has leaked in the past, most recently last summer when the power strip shorted out and singed the floor. The water here comes from the river room upstairs, which is glassed in like mine is, but the water comes from above their unit. Somewhere somehow there is a breech that allows the water access to the fourth floor ceiling and then, down to mine. Last summer it got as far as the 2nd floor but I caught it soon enough this time to prevent that. 

                         

Right in the center of this photo is the door frame with drips hanging down from it. Jeff is concerned about what is behind the drywall in the living room and I think I might have this corner's drywall be replaced with the type of green board used in showers! The ceiling can be repaired as well and already I dread the mess involved with this project. 

                                  

In this photo, the towels are all taken up already but the pails remain to catch the residual drips. Misty refused the offer of help and the use of the wet vac, having several able-bodied young people with her who can help mop up the floor in her river room, which will stop or slow the flow of water into my home. Water wants to find a way down, and does not care who is in the way on its mission! Even if it gets soaked into the floor boards on my living room floor!

After the chaos was over, all this excitement before 8:00 a.m., I calmed down and collected myself at my desk, printing off newsletters for my favorites at church who have no computers, plus other busy work. By later morning, the skies were beginning to change some so I took these photos, all at the same time, looking from north to south. This one is looking north....

                              

                            

                           

The center shot is straight out toward the east, and then this one looking south....


What an amazing contrast from dark to light there was! It did not last but at some points during the day, blue sky would be visible here, while raining torrentially just up the river or on the Westside. The forecasters did not have an easy job keeping up with the changing status of the storm, tracking the locations of the downpours and such. The flooding in regions was obvious to report on, but where the showers were, not so much!  

                                       

This shot was taken today, Tuesday, after lunch as Justin and I came out of Mojo's BBQ. There was a peek of sun making its way through the ominous clouds overhead. A welcome sight!! I am so thankful to have my helpful neighbors come to the rescue (Justin was gone to his friend's house overnight. When I told him what was going on, he offered to come home but there was no way he should be driving across the Buckmann Bridge!!). Randy even called me yesterday and again today to see what was going on. 

Joanne called me a couple times, having driven back from Atlanta in that wretchedness yesterday. She called again this a.m., being concerned about mold in my living room, but I explained my plans to have Mike K. come to check it out for me. She feels like there is a curse on her or something, since the two homes she has helped me buy had water problems! One was the lake, and this time, it's either rain or plumbing!!!