Friday is elusive

Hard as it was to get out of bed today, I did it! The first order of business was to meet on the 2nd floor sundeck with the Board and other owners to hear a presentation from the consulting company. The nice man risked life and limb by meeting with us, and went away intact. The biggest decision we owners will need to make some time later is which tile to choose to finish the job. The major portion will be the demolition of this decking, which we will simply observe, and later, complain about! And, oh, yes, write sizable checks!

After the meeting, where Ellen treated to brownies, I went back upstairs to make sure all was ready for when Amber arrived. I had sent her a text message this a.m. to remind her of our 2:00 date. I had found a more youth oriented Bible story book on my shelf (who knew??) which might be perfect for her granddaughter who comes to church with her. 

Amber did eventually appear but much later than the expected hour. She has a little trouble with focus sometimes and today was no exception. At a certain point she had to say 'enough' because she was overloading. We got through The Fall into sin and part way through Cain and Able. Her medicine causes this and I offered to meet earlier in the day to avoid her being groggy from the medication. Whatever she needs, I can adjust---it is just that important!

Somehow we got on the subject of places I have been (she asked, I didn't bring it up!). Can't remember how it came up....anyway, after we closed the Bible history books I pulled out one of the scrapbooks to show her. I don't have the trip to the pyramids and sphinx scrapbooked yet (what am I waiting for??) so could not show them to her. She did enjoy seeing the other photos in my album but then had to leave. Next week will be better, I am sure of it!

I wrapped my gift for Saturday's wedding shower and then took my rest. Rita is going to make sure Jenna gets her present from me, since I will be busy with the funeral and luncheon. 

Justin had come home while Amber was here but was resting up after a hard day at work. Soon it was time for The Five but Linda was otherwise occupied, not available to chat. Tommy and she were going to check out some new kittens, black and white ones. Right now they are too young to take home but Tommy is very excited about his new pets!

When the show was done, it was off to Victory for trivia night. On the way over I called Mom just to chat. Traffic was horrendous, mostly in the other direction. I did see an overturned semi trailer on the opposite side but it was off in the ditch. While I talked with Mom, Joanne beeped in. Since Mom was making her dinner, I left her to talk to Joanne. It seems she was stuck in the traffic mess, and evidently we passed each other without even knowing it. So good to catch up with her again as it's been a long time between visits.

                       

Stephanie, Erica, and I were a team for trivia but did not fair too well against our competition. At least we had a great time! The snacks were bountiful and yummy, with a nice gathering of folks to play. We had six teams or approx. 35 people showing up to play. It was great great fun! I am going back for worship on Sunday, with Justin in tow. 

We are going to have lunch after church at Bahama Breeze but Justin will be going off with his friends instead. Football, you know! I can watch at Bahama Breeze and listen on the radio on the ride back home. He will be with his friends and get dropped off when they all go to eat at Jesse's mom's house for dinner. 

It all works out!

"You're so busy!"

As I listen to the radio, the weather 'sound' comes on, warning about a pending storm. It looked grey/blue to the south when I came home from lunch, but the storm seems to be coming from the north. That is where Justin is working today so I hope he is doing okay. He is making every effort to keeping things moving along quickly as we have plans tonight. 

At long last Brenda N. and I were able to get together on her lunch break, meeting at Steak 'n Shake next door to her office. I had not seen her since she took custody, with her son, of her granddaughters. This happened only weeks before school started here, so they had to hustle to get the 2 girls enrolled in school. She filled me in on what it was like trying to do this without any help from the mother of these kids. Yikes!

When we met at the table, where I was already seated, Brenda commented about hard it was to get together, her saying to me, "You're always so busy!" Hmmm....As we were talking and eating, a call came from my friend, Carol, who asked me, "Where are you now???" and when I told her, she said, "You're always doing something..." I think, but cannot perfectly remember, that my mom said something similar to me on the phone the other day. Why do I not feel so busy? 

                                               

Our congregation lost a member yesterday and, that day, actually WAS busy! I was notified of Andy's passing before his wife did, when I got a call on behalf of the family for the Prayer Chain. I delayed making my calls until I was sure Pastor and rest of the family were with the widow, to tell her the news. She was exhausted and had stayed in bed to rest, but two of Andy's sons were with him when he left this life. 

The phone and I were busy much of the day, then, as well as sending e-mails and such on behalf of this family. At one point their daughter-in-law, LuAnn, told me, "This is the most we have talked all year!" and I said, "Shame on us!", and we laughed. We will have to change that, won't we??? Carol and I talked several times before today's call in order to get the ball rolling for the reception following the funeral service. 

Andy's funeral will be on Saturday with the committal service at the Nat'l. Cemetery Monday. Carol's call today was to ask me to bring a salad of some sort for the luncheon. She said, "Normally I don't ask you to bring food....." and trailed off. It was funny! I can most certainly bring food, and will gladly do so. I love my friends for making me laugh! And I love Publix!

                                               

This is an awesome week, aside from the fact that Linda went home (I need a moment here, please....okay!). Today was Bible study, a fabulous discussion continuing regarding infant baptism and that of adults. Then my lunch with Brenda. 

This evening Justin and I are going to see a live-streamed comedy tour from Texas, with dinner prior to the show. I might get another taste of the pretzel sticks with beer cheese dip (TGIF) or go to 5 Guys, depending upon how much time we have. 

Friday afternoon Amber will come for Bible history class and that evening I am back at Victory for Trivia Night. That is so exciting for me! Saturday I am going back for a wedding shower for the son and daughter-in-law of Marilyn. Terri T. is also going so I might see about sharing a ride. 

                          

Since I saw the service folder for Sunday I am considering going to Victory for worship but we shall see about that. They are using the Morning Praise order of service. Decisions, decisions, decisions....I will have to check the football schedules to see how the day might play out. Get it? Play out???

KimFest

Sitting here in my window with the sun on me, and I am hot! Perhaps my outfit helps me to be so warm---jeans and a long sleeved knit top. It was only 74 this morning when I got dressed but it has heated up nicely to the high 80's. Guess I could change my clothes....or turn on my ceiling fan!

                                                  

We could have used the sun yesterday but it stayed pretty much overcast the majority of the time. Intermittent showers or a mist in the air made for a sleepy day, with Linda finding herself sort of foggy the balance of her stay. She thinks she slept too long but I wonder if the weather influenced the grogginess. Breakfast at Grumpy's was enjoyable and quite delicious---both of us having fresh strawberries on pancakes. Oh my!

Linda wanted to take a peek in the Tuesday Morning store where I had never been. Years ago my mom went with Louise B. and she told me I was never to go there. Mom knew I would find many things to buy, and we certainly can't have that! For all these years I obeyed except yesterday, when I did not. 

Fortunately I came away with only a few items, none of them decorator pieces for myself. Got, of all things, my CHRISTmas cards, which are just gorgeous, at half price. They were so new to the shelf that they did not yet appear in the computer for the lady to charge me for them! No worries, she managed...How odd to be buying CHRISTmas cards at this time of the year!

                                                  

Linda bought pink earbuds to use with her iPad on the plane, plus picked up a gift for her friend. She used the bubble wrap which protected the hand-painted glasses to pack up her purchase for the trip home.

*****

The other night when sitting around the pool, Linda and I were discussing how to go about getting us together with Judy R. sometime. Judy had sent me a message saying she wished she was with us, and was waiting for an invitation. Somehow, Linda and Judy have not met in person, save for a glancing introduction at the Women's Leadership Conference in 2007. We sure dropped the ball on this one! 

Anyway, as we pondered aloud how to make this happen, whether in WI, MN, or in FL, Lee piped up with a brilliant idea---KimFest! She suggested I invite all my friends to come here, and those who are not local could stay in the hotel on the property....and have a KimFest!!! We could have t-shirts made up (or not!) and just have everyone get to know each other at one big event. Great idea, Lee! Now that I think about it, I could probably rent the pool and cabana area like the big wedding event a couple weekends ago! Or not! I really like this idea....my gears are turning!

Lee at the pool (excuse my cell phone camera)

Justin had a short day yesterday due to the rain so he was here to say 'good-bye' to Linda as well as help load her suitcase in my car. Now he will have an extra long day on Friday to make up for the missed yards. Usually they can work in the rain but some areas were under water which won't allow for the mowers to move through easily. 

A couple weeks ago, I made an appointment to have Justin's teeth cleaned, since it had been three years between visits. Yikes! He and I joked about the TV show where the genius men still have their mothers go to the dentist with them....and I went with my genius this morning! 

                   

Primarily I went along because of having to pay the bill. There is some insurance available to him which certainly helps with this, as he has 9 cavities!!! Two of them are sizable ones, with one of those two a possible root canal. Oh, for goodness' sake! Next week he has an appointment to tackle the two major ones and hope to avoid the root canal. I had not bargained for that much expense! But he has such a lovely smile....

The day has arrived....

Later today I must take my friend to the airport, but for now, we will simply enjoy this sunrise. Not much sunshine at all today, which is entirely fitting for my mood!

The fun draws to a close

Please don't tell Justin this but my camera phone stinks! My pictures are never as good as those from other cell phone cameras. Terri T.'s pictures are usually so nice and clear, but mine are less than that. Oh, well---these will simply have to do!

As I may have mentioned, Saturday we enjoyed the evening poolside. We had a steak 'n shrimp dinner served from the cabana. What a glorious night it was, too! Lee was part of our group, joined later by Andy, whom Linda and I had encountered Friday night during the poolside Happy Hour. During the winter, I had breakfast with Andy in The Club when no one else showed up for the Breakfast Club. We became FB friends and had not seen each other in the flesh since then. 

*****

This afternoon when Linda and I got back from Bible study and lunch, Connie greeted us with some deliveries. One we had been expecting, and another was something Justin ordered. Tommy had sent the box via UPS, containing an ornately decorated cheese head Linda made up for Justin. There is a banner on it which states "Owner" plus other embellishments. As she told Justin, it is decorative and fragile, no jumping around with it on! I will post a photograph of it later.

Besides the cheesehead, the box contained a couple things for me!!! Linda had commissioned two cobalt blue goblets, painted with white daisies. Her sister's friend does the painting and I LOVE LOVE LOVE these glasses!!! Besides the color being perfect, it's so cool how Linda knows so well what I would like!

The air temp was great today so we two ladies decided to 'suit up' and head to the pool. Because the teens' pool is more shallow, it stays warmer and has full sun most afternoons. Linda and I eased our way into the water and managed to kick around for an hour or so without freezing. She has to be careful with her skin, and had not applied sun screen so we got out for a while. We moved up to the adult area to sit for a bit and chatted there until we heard thunder in the distance. It was a false alarm but neither of us were wearing our running shoes.

Since nothing else was planned for the day, we both got into our comfortable attire (i.e. nighties) and settled in to watch GBTV on the Roku. And took a snooze! Linda teased me about how I could simply turn over and immediately begin to snore! Out like a light! She sat in the wing back chair which Justin carried in here for her use. I was refreshed in no time at all!

During The Five, I had to excuse myself to go up to Travis' condo to see if the water was leaking. Herve seems to have found the spot where the water was getting in around his sliding glass door. On Sunday we'd done a pre-test without Travis being there, which was successful. This time Travis was there, and witnessed for himself the water coming up under the tile, water from the hose Herve used to test the upstairs doors. 

I told Herve I was optimistic about the repair and he said something like "that's standard with you"...I gave him a big hug in celebration of this part of the problem apparently being solved. Now, the floor leaking in 404 needs to be addressed, and I will be just fine!

For dinner we ate a prepared meatloaf Justin had purchased at Publix a couple weeks ago. I made two giant baked potatoes plus reheated some leftover potato skins from Chili's. We ended up with a chunk of the meat left plus the equivalent of one baked potato. They were huge! Linda and I should have shared one.

Tomorrow our plans are simple but include breakfast at Grumpy's! We would have the option of the water exercise class, if it's warm enough. Or, we could just stop by after our nice breakfast to visit with the folks....