Dinner with friends

This morning, I chatted with Linda J. before she left for work but after she had done a workout. I love beginning my day in conversation with my friend, and sometimes with a couple of my sisters as their days are getting underway. And then, to the pool for some more conversation!

Last week I didn't go out one day for some reason (probably because it was cloudy!) and one friend sent me a message later saying she missed me, and telling me how quiet it was that day...They doze in the water exercise class when I am not there, I guess. Maureen M. is one of my new pool friends, but not so new as her family has come to the pool for years. Now, her youngest is old enough to not need all her attention so she can enjoy time with the grown-ups. We enjoy her as well!

My other friends, Hugh and Maureen O., left Friday for a drive to Chicago to help their son and daughter-in-law with a move. Denny is not doing well health-wise so extra hands are appreciated, especially those of his parents who are so gifted. Hugh is my go-to guy when I have a problem here and Maureen keeps every one organized around the tables at happy hour. I tease that she was in charge of the deck chairs on the Titanic!

Before Hugh and Maureen left, I asked them to let Denny know I asked about him. A couple years ago they had told me about his health problems and such, so when I finally met him (his friend and he came down to see the shuttle launch, on his Bucket List!), he thanked me for my prayers.

 

Today I got an e-mail from him, telling me again how much he appreciates my good wishes and prayers. His parents speak highly of me, he told me, and his sign-off handle is Prayer Warrior. He is my age and has suffered for many years with various cancers and such. I am glad his folks are there to help him out, but I am also looking forward to their return!

Back to the pool---after our exercise class 9 of us stayed to have lunch, ordered from the dining room. Laura, the young life guard and waitress, took care of us, as Marlena was 'off the clock'. Lee had come to class and I was glad to see her again. I know she would have liked to talk but with many people around, it is not very easy. Perhaps tomorrow in the afternoon we can get together. She missed pool time because life had given her some *&%# recently. Oh my!

Marlena was coming up in the afternoon to do some tidying so I had to excuse myself to get back up here to get things ready for her. She is coming back again just prior to Mom and Lynn's arrival to do the bathrooms and whatever needs doing but for today, dusting. Justin is also taking care of some of the making ready for our guests, as we yet wait for the new air bed to arrive. I got a notice that it will be delivered 8-3-12, which is plenty of time in advance of their arrival.

Justin was working with his father today, doing lots of errand running and such. In an air conditioned vehicle instead of mowing lawns and trimming hedges all day, should be a breeze! He gets tired when driving like that, though, which is typical. 

Justin was not coming straight home after work as there was going to be an office celebration of sorts at Whitey's to rejoice over some contracts being signed. Yay! Prayers answered!!! He half-way expected it to be a surprise birthday party for him under the guise of this celebration....but, no, it was not. 

Instead, then, when he got home, we went to Aron's to have some dinner. Justin was hungry for some calzone and the nice waitress knew in advance that I was having the small Stromboli. Love having things like this happen---dining with friends!

Take me out to the ballgame!

Thanks to Terri T. and her organizational gifts, Good Shepherd members were able to attend a Jacksonville Suns Game on a discount night. Whoo hoo! Some of the refreshments were offered at reduced prices but sadly, or gladly, I paid full price for my giant sized bratwurst and not one, but two blue cotton candies. Yummy! Two bottles of soda, too! It was hot there!

Here is a view of the group showing Jacob in the foreground, Donna and her son, Tim, Janet and Jim. Behind them are Tamara, Mark, and little Jordyn. Zach, their son, was down further with his glove, in hopes of catching a stray ball.

...and there she is! Big as life with my two Judy's, one beside me and one in front of me, plus Ethel and Darwin, and then Frank 'n Sue. Kristin is next to Judy J.

Here is the front row of our group: Judy C, Ethel, Darwin, Sue, and Judy J. Some are thinking they are going to catch the errant foul ball or avoid being hit by one!

Balmy Monday

This morning the sky was overcast but not darkened entirely. It did not seem that it was going to be a rainy day but more like I wouldn't get out to the pool. Thankfully, that changed and I did go out. Two ladies who walk for exercise were already in the water, not being scared off by the early morning clouds. Kathy lives in my building, for 25 years already, and Susie is new to our water exercise class. She was a Realtor for years and we have many friends in common. A delightful lady!

Susie, me and another lady named Mo (Maureen) had planned to go to Great Hang Ups and then to lunch in Green Cove Springs on Thursday but Susie told me she forgot about having Red Hats that day. Shoot! The good news was she had gone in search of Great Hang Ups herself, found it, and met my ladies!!! She said they spoke fondly of me (aw, shucks!) and they treated her well. Susie has several items needing preservation and thinks Julia can help her with that.

The other day I had been in the shop and grabbed a couple of Julia's cards to give to people but actually taking folks there in person works better yet. I had taken my friends Mary and Lee, and now they are hooked on Hang Ups! It's just one year this week that I met Lee. Wish she would come out to play, I haven't seen her in two weeks!

My sister, Lynn, called me to report she'd gotten Internet service at her home (finally!) and had some questions in regard to updating the browser. Sadly, my IT guy was at work but I sent him a text message and he was able to respond. Yes, she could go ahead and hit the ACCEPT button. We from the pre-computer generation are hesitant about pressing buttons when we aren't sure what they will do. The First Generation people do not understand that and we "pre" people cannot explain THAT to them! We are a horse apiece in that regard!

Before coming in from the pool, I sat and visited with Gus, who came out there to enjoy the weather. Earlier he had shared his sorrow over his daughter's dog dying the day before. Gus often kept Sheba for his daughter so I knew her. Sheba had lost most of her vision, and he told me that she also had cancer. Stephanie and Gus had taken Sheba out on the boat with them Sunday and enjoyed the day. When they pulled back into the dock, Sheba went to lie down under a bench, and just died. Gus and Stephanie took it hard, and he stayed the night  with his daughter for both their sake.

It was hot day today but the pool water and such cooled me off just fine. Once inside, I put my nightie on until I was sufficiently dry. Work was done on the newsletter for a little while and then I heard thunder. Oh, oh....I hadn't gone to the store yet to buy the things from Justin's list. Quickly I dressed and as I headed toward the parking lot, the rain came down. It seemed to evaporate when it hit the hot pavement, steaming, almost sizzling and not leaving a puddle. Plus, the sun was out!

Thinking this might be a drenching storm, I opted for Winn Dixie rather than Publix for the groceries. I chose some delicious looking steaks for using on the indoor grille, which were on sale, plus the veggies Justin requested. I got several items, including milk, and baby aspirin, of which I take one at bedtime.

When I got home, I had to unload the car, getting most of my purchases upstairs myself without the help of my neighbor. However, when putting things away, it appeared the milk and aspirin were missing and were not in the car either. Rats! I called the store and sure enough, the bag never made it to cart, was left at the check out by the bagger. He had loaded my cart and unloaded it to the back of my car so I never touched it. The man I spoke to told me they reshelved the milk for me but the aspirin were at the counter, with my name on them. 

Justin stopped in for the items on his way home from work, but they had reshelved the aspirin, anyway. I had to read him the item description from the receipt so he got what I paid for. He was not happy with the choice of milk because we often lose milk from WD or Wal-Mart due to premature spoiling. I told him how to avoid that happening---drink it!

I noticed when putting my fudge pops into the freezer that I accidentally bought No Sugar Added type. Oh man! Upon trying one, it was not bad, not bad at all! How I wish the closest store was a Publix, though, so I would be more confident shopping.

On Sunday night, Justin and I ended up watching "The Blind Side" on one of the cable channels, even though we both own copies of the commercial-free DVDs. Such a good story and well done, with Sandra Bullock nailing her portrayal of Leigh Ann perfectly. Justin and I do not normally sit and watch a movie together which made it extra nice for us. When we eat at home, we time our dinner to coincide with Jeopardy! and then switch over to "The O'Reilly Factor" when the other show is done. After clearing away the dishes, we generally retire to our own quarters, so I appreciated getting to sit and watch the movie together last night.

The steaks turned out wonderfully on the indoor grille, though Justin had his doubts about it. He is going to make the 3rd steak in the broiler tomorrow night as he will be home by himself. We wanted to experiment on ourselves before he tried making steaks when his auntie and grandma are here next month. I made two ears of corn, using a method suggested by Gus, and it worked perfectly!!! Also, I made a batch of mustard/mayo potato salad which Justin liked. He prefers German-style so I promised to make some soon---perhaps when our company gets here!!!

Interrupted sleep once again

Last night I went to bed somewhat earlier than I would normally, because my eyes were too tired to be on the computer screen much longer. After many hours in the pool and alongside of it that day, I was weary! One of the cable channels had "Sleepless in Seattle" showing, so I turned it on. I remember the last scene in my awareness being when "Sam" was explaining to his sister and bro-in-law about seeing this woman first at the airport and then again in the street near his home...and, snore....I was out!

Hardly any time had passed before I was awake again, which really irritated me. Ugh! I strongly dislike falling asleep early and then end up having only a power nap instead of a 'sleeping straight through the night' night. This time, however, it was quiet in my room. What the heck??? It was the quiet that woke me up, the TV shut off! Rats!, no power again. And my phone was nearly dead off the charger, so I couldn't even call JEA to report the outage.

From outside, almost immediately were the sounds of my neighbors, asking the same questions as the other night---what happened? how long? and did you call it in?? I could see the beams from the flashlights above and below my porch and heard one lady indicate she had called it in. Lights were on at The Club and a wedding reception was wrapping up. I fetched my flashlight from the laundry room, going simply by feel, but first running my foot into the dehumidifier which was parked in the hallway. Justin had prepped it for return to my upstairs neighbor and I didn't realize it was there. Ouch! Next time, and I hope there isn't one, I will get the flashlight first and then go wandering the hallways!

It was not possible for me to go charge the phone in my car this time because Justin had it for the night. I was defenseless phone-wise. However, I did have the laptop plugged in before losing power and was able to light my room as well as listen to "Seinfeld" until such time as we were re-activated. Around 2:30 a.m. or so, I heard my phone sort of chirping and when I turned over, I saw the face lit up. The rest of the house was dark yet but my phone was up. I stood up to see it better and was going to go into the bathroom when suddenly Justin appeared in my doorway, wondering what was going on. His ceiling fan started to go around without any actual electricity. Just as he began to speak, ta da!, the power came back on! We were so happy!

He went to check the A/C, of course, while I went into my bathroom. I heard him say, "Oh, oh...." and I asked what was up. Justin said that something seemed to be wrong with the A/C and the hall lights, as neither were working---yet. He asked if I had not heard the clicking sound from the unit and I told him I heard nothing from the bathroom. Justin wondered if the water pumps were affected from the outage, which are needed for the A/C units. That would have no affect on the hallway lights though, as we tried each of the three switches to see if we coax light from the fixtures. Nope.

                                               

At his suggestion, we simply turned the A/C to off, and he pulled the string on my ceiling fan to a higher speed, doing the same in his room. Earlier, he had dampened his sheet which kept him cooler and figured with the three fans in his room, he'd be okay. I was nervous, however, that something more was amiss with the electrical system of my house so had trouble falling asleep for a while. After an hour or so, I went to the hallway, flipped the switch, and discovered the lights were healed. I turned the A/C system to ON and away it went, as if nothing had happened. Over 165 families or households were affected last night and I know everyone was so glad to have their electricity and air conditioning restored. Now, to sleep!

Due in no small part, I am sure, to the 'sleepus interruptus' experienced, another wacky dream came from my subconscious. The dream scene opened in my church, in a less than orthodox service, particularly upsetting to some. At one point, a young woman, perhaps an older teen, went up front to the lectern to do a reading or something. From around the church, I could hear whispering and keys rattling, mine included, as several made their way to the doors. We were NOT going to sit still for this!

As we gathered in the parking lot, trying to figure out what was going on, a procession came around the corner from what appeared to be our church. There was a line of clergymen in their black robes, coming two by two, along with large carts loaded with what appeared to building materials. 

As they got closer, I heard the pastor say, "I don't think they know what they are looking at...." but I recognized the church pews in pieces, being hauled off in the carts. In one cart was Pastor H., seated in a wheelchair but straight as an arrow, even though the chair was on its side in the cart. He was almost like a statue in the chair, as it paraded passed us. Various portions of the sanctuary appointments came through in the carts with no one intervening or asking for explanation....and then it was morning! 

Wow, that left an impact on me. What in the world??? 

Back to real life---Justin and I had already decided last night to ride together to church this a.m. as I chose not to go to Bible study. The class is shorter in length due to summer hours and includes the children with the adults. That is a tough mix and I simply cannot be a good sport about coloring pictures or writing sentences about what the prophet might be thinking. 

                               

One of the older men who did attend today reported having coloring markers at the tables as well as some wooden building blocks for object lessons, but I think only about a half dozen were in attendance. Ethel stopped at my little podium and asked, "Where were you today? We needed you!" but I defended myself saying,"Judy and Gretchen weren't here either..." I really needed the extra sleeping time today and look forward to a return to adults-only Bible study. I wonder if that's what prompted my curious dream....

Dreams vs. Nightmares

This morning I could not wait to wake up---oh my! I was in the midst of a dream (or was it nightmare?) which left me greatly upset. This time not involving Timmy, but instead, Justin.

It seems, in the dream, that Justin and I were visiting some people, not sure of the relationship, in New York state. I was helping the lady of the house get things ready for dinner, wiping the table after it had been set and some folks already seated. Certainly no one would mind my doing that, right?

Justin and I and a third family member traveling with us, possibly my sister, Kerry, as a teenager, were going to be leaving that day but only Justin knew the time and other info. I asked him what time our flight was, and he answered without conviction. He was unsure!!! I commanded him to get on the phone with the airline and find out, as I was flying madly about without an airplane, to get us out the door. 

He sat almost calmly at the table, with the man of the house sitting next to him, on the phone. I asked what was going on and he said, "Well, our flight is leaving now but the lady is connecting me with Project 4..." What is that??? No one else knew, but when he hung up, he said, "We are on the next flight, upgraded to First Class!" Cool! 

When is the next flight? In 45 minutes!!!  This was never going to work (there is an episode of "Seinfeld" about just this thing!!!) but I was going for it anyway. I had everyone in this household flying about, with them offering to drive this trio to the airport. I have no idea where in NY state we were but certainly we were not going to make it. Not for lack of trying, but it seemed as though it was me, alone, who had the extreme sense of urgency about this. The last 'scene' I recall from the dream/nightmare was attempting to carry the luggage through a maze-like home, not even having my shoes on my feet. I yelled, "I will find my shoes in the luggage in the car!!!" and then I woke up. Whew!

On the bright side, someone bagged up a couple poppyseed-filled doughnuts for me to take along! I wonder if we made our flight....Lesson to take away, make sure you know exactly when your flight departs and get yourself there in time---with doughnuts!

We need to look to the Lord

What a story to wake to this a.m. Dead and wounded in a movie theater, including little ones. Every network, every radio program, covering the news. After a certain point, one must look away....and look up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0th-KRASl20

What a day!

Mid afternoon yesterday, a sudden and dramatic thunderstorm came up. First there were low rumblings of thunder and then POW!!!!!, such a crack of thunder and flash of lightning that it caused me jump, giving me a leg cramp. At least, it felt like a cramp---maybe I was struck??? Anyway, another flash and clap followed, speeding my decision to quickly get off the 'desktop' computer and away from the window. 

It seems the major crash and flash took out our electric transformer, right outside our front doors on the pool side of the parking lot. All night long we waited for electricity to be restored, but it seems that the JEA people were stymied by the project. We were without power for 11 hours--- it would prove to be a long night!

My next door neighbor, Patti, not expecting we'd be out of power so long, had the Clay Fire and Rescue guys come, about three blocks, to carry her hubby in his wheelchair up the stairs. His nurse had taken him to therapy and then dinner, expecting by the time dinner was over that the electricity and elevator would be back. The firemen did a good job of it, and were glad to 'only' have to carry him two flights and not three, as they expected.  Later, Patti thought maybe Jack and she should have gone to the hotel on the property, ground level, but who anticipated this?

Here is a shot from my balcony railing, looking down at the opened transformer. There was no obvious sign of having been struck by lightning so perhaps the better description might be 'affected' by the lightning. As you can see, it was still daylight when this was taking place. 


Strangely, earlier in the evening, all the JEA folks had left the area (not yet on the property of The Palace), thinking the outage was fixed. Tracy called them later and got a live person to report to, indicating we were yet without power. The lady put Tracy on hold, then came back, confirming that yes, indeed, we were without power. NO! It seems no one from JEA realized the outage was more widespread, treating a fallen branch on Astor as being the culprit. It took many more hours and several trucks later to get the roof off the transformer pad, a crane to remove and then replace the transformers, and far too many of their workers seemingly standing about, not doing much to help. I am sure they are specific to their tasks, and I would have been great as a stander-arounder. In fact, I was!

More later!