Raise your hand if you saw me at the web cam?
Let’s see….one, two, three….1432!
Very good!
I started out my morning with a wonderful breakfast at the Even Keel. See!
But, the food was second to the people watching as usual.
On my left were two little old women and an old man, probably in their late 70s or early 80s. Of course, some little old people can be trying; err, well, I suppose just like some little young people or even some little middle-aged people can be trying. But, I find that the older people are the best to listen to, because they not only have stories but they have lots of them. A bit of overheard conversation:
Old woman: “I want to go to heaven.”
Old man: “You do?”
Old woman: “Yes!”
Old man: “You’ll get there!
And, there were only three cups of coffee between the little old people and no signs of food.
Note to Self: The Even Keel is loitering friendly!
On my right were two women, who were definitely Nantucket, err, Ladies of Leisure, discussing bridge moves. One looked like she was the victim of Meg Ryan’s plastic surgeon; and the other wore a bright pink sweater over a bright pink plaid shirt. She had the collar flipped up! Obviously, preppy is never out of style in Nantucket. I am so catty. Meeeeeeeeoooooooooooooooow! Um, well, cut me some slack; I’m still recovering from yesterday’s Super Glue injury!
After breakfast, I went to see a realtor; however, she was out taking pictures of a house. I left my number, hoping she’d call me back. So, when the realtor going gets tough, the tough go to Sweet Inspirations to buy chocolate!
After I bought $50 of chocolate to alleviate house-selling anxiety, I sat on a bench outside the store for a bit, because I really had nowhere to go. While sitting there, pondering the best place to loiter, a young guy rode by on a mountain bike.
Every time I see a mountain bike on Nantucket, I scrutinize it. Why? No. It’s not because I think bikes are sexy, though I guess they are to some people. I remember an engineer that I worked with way back when at Digital. He was a really nice guy named Steve Heflin; he was the first (and probably the last) person I remember who described a computer as being “sexy.”
Anyway, my Dad’s house was robbed many years ago. They took my Dad’s girlfriend’s pearl earrings and my mountain bike. The earrings were replaced; the bike wasn’t. The ironic thing was that the bike was far more valuable than the earrings! What can I say? It was a totally sexy mountain bike!
Whenever I see a mountain bike there, I always say to myself, “Hey, is that my bike?!?!?!” Silly, but true. And, yes, I never got over it!
So, you didn’t think I’d go all the way to an island and not work on my loitering skills, did you? After loitering on the bench for 15 minutes, I asked myself, "Where is a place where it is legally okay to loiter?"
Library!!!!!
Here I am loitering at the Nantucket Atheneum.
http://www.nantucketatheneum.org/
So, what’s an atheneum or athenaeum? It’s a fancyschmancy word for a library, of course. Everything is fancyschmancy on Nantucket!
The Most Interesting Thing I Saw While on Nantucket Note: A man walked by the atheneum wearing two different colored Crocs. Crocs are goofy enough (and I do own a pink pair!); however, when you wear a green one and a blue one, well, that just takes the Goofy Cake!
Shortly after that, the realtor called me, and I left to meet her. She was very nice. I had dealt with her before when we tried to sell my Dad’s house after he died. I wanted to give her the job, but I had to wait for my brother-in-law to arrive for the final approval.
She was telling me about a client who was flying in from New Jersey, um, with his own plane. And, he was looking at properties for 2 hours, and then flying back. Um again, he would be paying cash for the house. After she told me this, I asked, “Is he single?” Yes, I did. She laughed. I did, too. Well, the loitering business isn’t too profitable right now, and the job search is slow-going, so you can’t blame me for still trying to apply for that “kept woman” job!
My brother-in-law (hereafter known as Kevin) arrived at noon, and I met him at the Even Keel, leaving my belongings at the realtor’s office. We had lunch (great clam chowder), and we talked about the house. I told him that I felt we should use the realtor, because there really wasn’t a lot of difference between realtors, and he said, “Okay.”
After lunch, we walked up to the house. I didn’t know what to expect after the last time I visited. I opened the door, we walked in, and we were welcomed by a very quaint living room. We walked into the kitchen, and Kevin said, “Wow. The place looks much better than I thought it would.” Just then, I noticed a kick-ass Kitchen-Aid mixer on the counter. I was like, “Whoa, a serious baker lives here.” It was much nicer than my 20-year-old mixer, and it reminded me of someone (♥George♥).
Kevin wanted to retrieve some things he left in the upstairs closet, but after 10 minutes of rummaging through its contents, he said, “Jean, I’ll have to come back and get my stuff.” The upstairs of the house was housing the only female of the four renters. When I saw this, I shouted “Eeeeek!”
But there was a bigger “Eeeeek!”, when I saw this.
Kevin reassured me that when guys live together, it’s accepted and a written rule that “It’s okay to be messy.” But, you know what? After seeing it as the REALLY huge mess it was back it March, it was SO good to see it as a home, a loved and lived in home, after so long.
Kevin and I walked back to the realtor’s office. The realtor and Kevin talked; of course, I had told Kevin previously that I had be at the web cam at 2pm.
He asked, “What’s a web cam?”
Yes. He’s a dinosaur where it concerns tech; but, he’s a very good guy.
So, at 1:58pm, Kevin said, “You need to go!”
The Realtor asked, “Oh, really?”
Kevin, bless him, said, “Yes, she has to step out at 2pm.” He could have said, “Well, she has to go in front of Arno’s and make a fool of herself for her friends.” Of course, I divulged to her right then, “Well, I told friends that I’d meet them at the webcam.” She laughed as did all the realtors in her realtor bull pen.
After my return from my web cam "adventure," the realtor was off to see the house, and Kevin and I went for some calamari and drinks before we caught the 3:50 flight back to Hyannis. As we drank and ate, I thought I would…
If the house sold quickly.
But, if it didn’t…
I felt a tad lonely yesterday and this morning. Well, I was alone, but for some reason, I felt more so than usual. But, after I did my silly web cam performance, where I felt like I was starring in the movie, “The Truman Show,” I realized something.
First, I realized in addition to my job of loitering, I should really try to make appearing in front of web cams a performance art. Second, I was reminded of something even more important after I received two calls while “The Jean Show*” was going on (thanks, TomB and Tomas), two text messages, and then a flurry of emails.
*See http://goddessofallthingslovely.blogspot.com/2009/04/job-opportunities-for-moi.html
for the REAL Jean Show.
The emails contained screen captures of me appearing on the web cam, and then there was one that only said in the “Subject:” field, “Wacko! You have got to love a person who knows you that well, and I do. Anyway, I had to remind myself once again that I am never alone. And, I wanted to thank you all for not only being in my life, but for being in Nantucket with me, even if only virtually. ♥
And, in case, you missed “The Jean Show”…
When flying out, I began to cry. It was not a sobbing cry; it was just tears rolling down my cheek as the plane did this huge turn; it was the turn where you look out, see the whole island, and then think "How can I love something that is so teeny tiny?"
Anyway, they were not tears of sadness; they were tears of relief (♥Liz♥). It was as if the minute we received paperwork from the realtor and she was given the information from us that I could finally let go. This is probably one of the few times in my life I will lose something I care about, yet there will be no huge horrible feeling of loss after its demise. ♥
End Blog Photo of Nantucket Jean Even If There Was No Begin One But Remember I'm the Boss So It Doesn't Matter:
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