6/27/2021

 

Weekly Update 6/27/2021

Monday was the summer solstice, and I wanted to spend as much time sunbathing as I could. I was not the only one, and the pool area was crowded. I was able to get in the water and swim a bit, but not as much as I would have liked to. I’m probably as suntanned now as I’m going to be.

Tuesday, it rained all day. I went to City Hall to volunteer at the archives, as I normally do on Tuesdays. Generally I park near Forsyth Park (where there are no meters) and walk, but it was raining. I bit the bullet and parked in the garage across from City Hall, and had to pay for that. It was still raining when I came out, so I decided I was past due to get a pedicure, and today would be a good day to attack that chore. By the time I was finished with that, the whole day had gone by, so I sat down to try to buy some more tunes from the itune store and load them on my phone. It was a struggle, as I rarely do this and I forget how, but it didn’t take me too long. Now I’ve got a little Harry Belafonte, some Kingston Trio, Bob Seeger, Don McLean and some Everly Brothers, among other favorites.

Wednesday was DH and Thursday was Green Square. I stopped at the clubhouse on the way home because I can’t get the thermostat to work with the a/c. I always told myself that when it was uncomfortable to sleep, I’d turn it on, and I was ready this week. There are not buttons, like the normal (for me anyway - ON and OFF), just a touch screen. The 12-year-old kid who came to help me was very kind and patient, and I wrote everything down. Because, of course I won’t remember. Then I went to Heidi’s house. She had surgery on her wrist, so come of the Creekside group were going over there to see how she was doing, and to take some food and drink. It was good to see those ladies, because I’m not able to get to the Wednesday “meetings” because of DH.

Friday, I met Jane and Helen to visit PinPoint Museum. It was a lovely day, and Helen had never been there. We also went to lunch at the Driftaway Cafe. It was the same day as I’d had not long ago with Jan. This is becoming a very nice way to spend a day with good friends.

Saturday and Sunday were spent being lazy. I went to the pool each day, but there was always someone else there (who owns this pool anyway? I can’t swim my laps if other are there!) Sunday, I chatted with some other women. Well, kind of. They mostly complained about management. We are in a transition period now, between the old owners and the new ones. Sometimes, being hard of hearing works to my advantage – I could tune them out and excuse myself because “I can’t have my hearing aids in the water”. I like that I’m able to meet people here, but I really just want to swim my laps, and leave the complaining to others.

But – the most exciting news this week: As I was watching tv Sunday afternoon, the phone rang. I could see it was Emily on my caller ID, so I was expecting it to be news of Baby Venuti. Emily had some news of her own! She is engaged to Aaron! He asked her to marry him and gave her a ring. They have no firm date, but probably not for two or three years yet. I am very excited for them. But, wasn’t it just yesterday when I was putting her on the school bus to go to pre-K, or taking her to McDonald’s for lunch?

6/20/2021

 

Weekly Update 6/20/2021

This has been a very lazy week. It’s summer in the South, and things slow way down. Tourists are still coming, and DH has been busy, but July and August should be too hot to be inviting to visitors, so even busy times there may be coming to an end. On Monday, Friday and Sunday, I did nothing but go to the pool and eat. I got a much needed haircut and Kay visited with me on Tuesday. I met June and Deborah for lunch and Rummikub on Thursday. And Denise come to see my new apartment on Saturday.

No baby Venuti yet.

6/13/2021

 

Weekly Update 6/13/2021

There wasn’t much gong on this week. I met Kay for supper one evening. I met a friend at DH (she was working at the gift shop in the morning, and I was volunteering in the afternoon) to share our sandwiches between our shifts. I met the Green Square ladies at a place on Liberty Street, Franklin’s, for breakfast. I went out to celebrate June birthdays with friends on Friday at Cohen’s Retreat, a very nice restaurant outside of the downtown area. I visited Sylvia and Charles on Sunday, and they forced me to eat pie ala mode. So, I’ve been eating nonstop all week.

Franklin's deli

The Ladies at Cohen's Retreat

I went back to my local berry-picking farm on Friday and picked a half bucket of blackberries. I’ve been eating them on cereal and making shortcake. But I actually froze a lot of them to eat another day. I’ll have to go back for blueberries soon.

On Saturday night, I drove all the way to Tybee to the Post Theatre for a Rolling Stones Tribute band concert. It was WONDERFUL! By the end of the concert, most of the audience was in the aisles dancing. It was hard not to move because the music was so great. They played all the old songs I remember, and some newer ones that I’ve never heard. I like the oldies best but they were all good. It’s too bad that now it’s an hour’s drive for me to get to Tybee because I’d like to go to more of these type of concerts.

I wasn’t able to watch as much of the French Open tennis as I’d liked to, because YouTubeTV didn’t renew it’s contract with the tennis channel. So I pay a million dollars to watch MOST of the channels I want, but not all. I did get to watch the finals because it was on network tv. I didn’t even know who the two players for the women’s championship, and I don’t really like either of the men’s finalists. But I watched some pretty good tennis.

6/6/2021

 

Weekly Update 6/6/2021

Monday was the Memorial Day Holiday. I had not one, but two, picnics to attend. At noon, I had been invited to grill with neighbors in the common area near my apartment. Everyone brought a dish to pass, and I’d made a jello cake. There was more food than all the residents in AP altogether could eat! Later in the afternoon, I joined friends at Heidi’s house for a picnic there. Again, was too much food! The weather was just perfect, and Heidi has a lovely home with a large yard and a huge porch. That was delightful. But after all the eating, I felt as if I shouldn’t eat again for a few days.

Tuesday, when I went to volunteer at City Hall, I arrived just as they were removing the Masks are Mandated banner that’s been hanging from the balcony at CH for several months. I still needed to have my temperature taken, and I needed to wear a mask in the building, but at least things are moving in the direction of back to normal. Wednesday, at DH, the mandate was also lifted. I was so happy to be able to see the people’s faces again. I did tell all the ones on my tour that I had my mask in my pocket and would gladly put it on if anyone was uncomfortable. No one took me up on that, and I believe they were all as happy as I was to be able to show our faces.

I haven’t been to the pool all week. Every day, the forecast has been for rain. Friday, we had a very loud thunderstorm, and there was a particularly clap of thunder that really made me jump. I never lost power, but the alarms in the hallways of the building were blaring. My neighbor came over to check on me to be sure I was ok, and she told me our building had been hit by lightening! That doesn’t seem likely, since the lights did not even flicker, but it was loud enough so that I knew it was close. The wind blew a lot of the rain onto my porch, and I used that as an opportunity to scrub the floor. Another storm raged through on Sunday afternoon, too, but not as bad, and it didn’t last long.

Before the heavy rain on Friday, I went to the Food Truck that came to AP. It was The Big Cheese, and the only thing they served were grilled cheese sandwiches. There was a huge variety of what you could have with the cheese – fried bologna, tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette, avocado, turkey and pesto, and lots of other choices. On Saturday, after I ran some errands, I decided to stop at Culver’s Restaurant and try their frozen custard. It seems as if I haven’t had really good frozen custard like Abbott’s since leaving Rochester, and I wanted to see how this compared. It was GREAT! I got the vanilla, which is what I usually had at Abbott’s, and this was smooth and creamy and wonderful. I look into my crystal ball and see many, many more visits to Culver’s.  

Sunday evening, DH hosted it’s annual Garden Party for docents and contributors. It’s also a time to honor the JIs (Junior Interpreters) who are graduating from High School. There was a lot of food, and all of it was good. I enjoyed meeting people that I haven’t seen in a long time, and getting caught up with many of them.

This past week was a time of non-stop eating, and it was all good. Maybe next week I’ll start a diet – yeah, right.

Just on last thing. Emily is getting to be quite to photographer. This a picture of Sarah’s belly, with her hand resting on the baby, and also Sarah’s great grandma’s hand. She is 96 years old! This photo will be a treasure for years to come.