Why?!?!
There is another hurricane an the way. All I want to do is move!
I was so excited today. I turned on our new phone service and cable. I have never done that before. I even got to pick our new phone number for a list! Wow! I must give a shout out to Jeff. He got our power, water and garbage pick up taken care of. I also got our change of address completed.
Depending on the weather Saturday, we are moving. We'll start around 7:00AM and hoping to be done by lunch time. There is really not much left to move. Yippee! We will be living in the new place Saturday evening.
Jeff and I just need to get through this week. Work and house stuff have been stressful. We are booking a much needed and deserved vacation tonight for November. We're hitting NYC to see fall and be tourists.
I hope you all voted today!
Living Like Refugees
We are down to two towels, five DVD's, the clothes and microwaved food. All the stuff is packed and 90% is at the new place.
I have been in management training all week. Along with moving at night, I'm pooped. Jeff is pooped also. All we want to do is move in, but every weekend is either work or a hurricane. We'll get our power, cable and water on this week. We close on the old home September 15th, so we need to get moving.
Larry has been extra nice since we took his tub chairs away. He probably thinks we're moving without him and wants us to change our minds. Cavanaugh could care less about what goes on with the house.
All but two bookcases have arrived from American Signature. We are planning to move the heavy stuff the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. The new place is so nice! I can't wait.
So We Begin
The official move has begun. Every night after work, Jeff and I load the pick-up with boxes and take the to the new place. We've done six loads so far and have not even made a dent in the garage. Where did we get all this stuff?
The new neighbors are always out to see us when we arrive. Last night everyone was outside. I freaked out thinking that these people are way to close and friendly and how I don't want to be outside everynight visiting. It turned out they lost power because of all the power being fixed or whatever. Whew!
We have the inspection Saturday and if all goes well we'll close by mid September. This works out fine. We can't get the utilities on at the new place yet. If we were to call Progress Energy and Orange County and Sprint, they would laugh us off the phone and the make us priority #1,000,000. In the mean time we can move some stuff and have the "dude move" this weekend or next. Some of the American Signature stuff arrived. It looks great.
Things are coming about here. Can you believe people are actually complaining about no power? There are people who have lost everything, some even their lives and we have assholes here putting up signs saying, "We Deserve Power" and "Babies and Seniors Need AC". These people suck. I watched and a troop from Georgia sleep under their trucks after they drove overnight to get to Orlando to help with the tree removal in our bank parking lot. Yes, Jeff and I are very lucky that our power and phone was restored the next day and we had very minor damage, but these people need to deal and understand that the power and tree removal services are working 18 hour days to fix this mess and that everyday we had had nasty thunderstorms that delay the progress.
If there are locations around you taking donations for animal shelters serving lost or hurt animals because of Charley, please help them or try to adopt one or send a donation to either the Seminole, Orange, DeSoto, Polk, Lee, Volusia, or Charlotte County SPCA.
So We Begin
The official move has begun. Every night after work, Jeff and I load the pick-up with boxes and take the to the new place. We've done six loads so far and have not even made a dent in the garage. Where did we get all this stuff?
The new neighbors are always out to see us when we arrive. Last night everyone was outside. I freaked out thinking that these people are way to close and friendly and how I don't want to be outside everynight visiting. It turned out they lost power because of all the power being fixed or whatever. Whew!
We have the inspection Saturday and if all goes well we'll close by mid September. This works out fine. We can't get the utilities on at the new place yet. If we were to call Progress Energy and Orange County and Sprint, they would laugh us off the phone and the make us priority #1,000,000. In the mean time we can move some stuff and have the "dude move" this weekend or next. Some of the American Signature stuff arrived. It looks great.
Things are coming about here. Can you believe people are actually complaining about no power? There are people who have lost everything, some even their lives and we have assholes here putting up signs saying, "We Deserve Power" and "Babies and Seniors Need AC". These people suck. I watched and a troop from Georgia sleep under their trucks after they drove overnight to get to Orlando to help with the tree removal in our bank parking lot. Yes, Jeff and I are very lucky that our power and phone was restored the next day and we had very minor damage, but these people need to deal and understand that the power and tree removal services are working 18 hour days to fix this mess and that everyday we had had nasty thunderstorms that delay the progress.
If there are locations around you taking donations for animal shelters serving lost or hurt animals because of Charley, please help them or try to adopt one or send a donation to either the Seminole, Orange, DeSoto, Polk, Lee, Volusia, or Charlotte County SPCA.
What a Mess
My sister just called me about five minutes ago. She got her power and phone restored.
The first day back to work was a little stressful. We had no phone service and our computers were down. We still tried to help people as much as we could, but it was a little difficult at times. What normally takes me about 10 minutes to get to work, took me about 50 because we still don't have traffic lights and most roads are still under water or blocked.
Meg and I drove to the school she teaches at to check things out on Sunday. To make it simple, she doesn't have to return until Wednesday when clean up is finished. We took a little drive to check things out. It looks pretty sad. Trees cutting houses in half, flooded streets, smashed cars and torn up roads. If you have ever been to Central Park in Winter Park, it is completely gone. All the huge oaks around the park, golf course and cemetery have blown over taking the ground with them. Park Avenue is closed and surrounding roads are flooded halfway up your car.
It could have been much worse. We were very lucky. I've sent an email to a friend of mine in Fort Myers. I know I won't be hearing from her for at least a few weeks. In the mean time we'll be a place for our friends without power, water or phone to come and hang out and do what they need to do. OUC and Progress Energy hopes to have power restored by next Monday and Orange and Seminole County hopes to have trees and building waste cleaned up by the end of the month.
No Time For Love Hurricane Charley!
Thanks for the warning weather dudes.
Just another Friday at work. As of 11:00 AM, Orlando was in no danger of Charley. We were already expecting to close early anyway because of the storm, but then we all got some crappy news. The hurricane decided to head a little south and will slam in to Ft. Myers (my hometown) around 3:00 and the make a B line for Orlando. Needless to say, we were out of the office by 1:00.
I had already been to the store and we were stocked and ready to go. So Jeff and I hung out with the boys and watched Sex and the City, ate fried chicken and had a couple of beers.
About 8:00 PM the shit hit the fan. Weather dude was reporting winds at 95 MPH with gusts up to 120MPH. Orlando had no time to really prepare. We were prepared for maybe an outer band giving us some rain, but up until late Friday morning, Central Florida had nothing to worry about.
We lost cell service around 5:00 and lost power around 10:00PM. We watched the transformer explode across the street. That was actually scary. Larry was freaked out all night and there were reports right and left about tornados and flash floods.
This morning we surveyed the damage. Our house is fine. The new house is fine, but we do need to do a little clean up. My sister has no power, phone or water and has some nasty roof damage. Jeff's sister has no power. My sister's boyfriends house nearly escaped his house being trashed by a tornado. Our power was restored by 10:00AM and our phones were up by the afternoon.
Orlando is trashed. More than half of Central Florida has no power or phones. Lots of streets are closed. Winter Park is blown to pieces. It's a sight to be seen. Jeff and I are the only ones of our friends that has a working house.
I'm not upset or anything, weather can be so hard to really predict. I just wish we had a little more time to really get ready. Lots of peoples homes are destroyed and Orange and Seminole county are lost.
I'm trying to get a hold of some of my friends back home to see whats up or whats left.
Later!
More Moving
More than twenty boxes (big enough to fit a 27" screen TV) in my living room and a big gash across the top of my foot from where I tripped over the ladder (never pack your house in flip flops). The packing has made Larry very affectionate and Cavanaugh extra farty. For the record, Larry wants to be held. We like the new Larry. We should move more often.
The guest room, guest bathroom and living room are 100% done. The kitchen is done except for the dishes and the den is halfway done. I'm like a crazy packing tornado. Nothing is safe in my path. Jeff and I are going to drive some boxes over tonight to make room in the house.
I return to work tomorrow. I rather stay home and pack and watch the Food Network. I won't miss Cavanaugh's stinkys, though.
Packing Blows Big Chunks
I hate packing. We are packing up the house to begin the official move. The people are moving out of the house we bought this week and we are moving in.
I'm taking Monday and Tuesday off of work to pack up the house. We did a lot on Sunday, but the more you pack, the more stuff will sprout up in new places that need to go. All this week we are packing the house when we get home and will begin to take a few boxes at a time to the new house, The new furniture will be delivered on the 17th and the big heavy load will be on the 22nd. In the mean time we'll take over what we can.
We got an offer on the house and Jeff is meeting with out attorney today to discuss and make a counter offer. We still need to show the house until we have a final contract signed. The house is a disaster and I just don't want any calls for the next week of people wanting to see it.
It's also hard to pack around a dying dog who follows you everywhere and a cat who thinks it's fun to pull things out of boxes while you pack them. If I put them away, Cavanaugh and Larry will cry like evil step children and that just breaks my heart.
So, back to work. I've already been to charities to drop off donations for receipts (if you donate anything, please take it to a Salvation Army), dropped off Jeff's suits to the cleaners and stole a ton of boxes from a local grocery store (I did ask the service girl, but I felt like a felon pulling up behind the store and throwing boxes in the back of the truck) and managed to stop at Chick-Fil-A for some breakfast.
Must go. Wahh!
The News
There is nothing more our vet can do for Cavanaugh. His kidneys, liver and pancreas are failing, his cancer is spreading and his blood work was nuts. He is home with us for now until he decides he's ready and that won't be long. It's very painful. Jeff and I love that dog more than anything.
On a better note, there has been an offer made on our house. Thank goodness. I had a nightmare about having to pay two mortgages. We will probably begin the actual moving next week, we hope and have the old home closed on by mid September. There's just so much crap that needs to get done. I hate moving!!! Wahh!
Everything else is pretty much the same. We are planning a vacation for the first week of November and yes, I already called the elections people for our absentee ballots. GO KERRY!
More Cavanaugh
Cavanaugh has had a very bad weekend so he will be going to the vet today (Monday). Jeff and I think it could be his kidneys again. He's showing serious signs of discomfort. Say a special prayer for him.
Everything else is good. The new grown-up furniture has been ordered from American Signature and is on its way. My sister came over Saturday and helped me and Jeff empty the attic. A box fell about ten feet and hit me on the back. That hurt. We have also made 7-11 stock go up by the many slurpees bought. Slowly but surely we'll get this bastard project done. Jeff has had a nasty sinus infection all week and has been a good sport. Sweetie, I take the "You're being a turd", comment back. Yes, I called my wonderful, sweet, beloved husband a turd. I'm sorry, lets make up. Meow!
We have shown the house to three couples and another is coming over Tuesday evening. We have kept the house so clean. You all should be very proud.
When we are moved in the new place, we will let you know the official house warming. If you are ever passing through Orlando, you are always welcome to stay with us. Especially since we'll have more room.
