Geeks go for broke! Updated 2/17: Wrap-up

[tinkerbell34]

Then I got home, and turned on the news, where I discovered there is a storm of the cyclonic variety heading straight toward our home. You think pre-cruise Erica is anal retentive? You should have seen her checking the batteries and turning on all of the flashlights and making a non-perishable grocery list a few hours ago, because her husband sure got a kick out of it. Never mind the fact that the power lines are underground and that this neighborhood only lost power for a few hours back in the horrible season of 2004......we must have enough water to fill the garage.

Also? We needed some Pop Tarts. Pop Tarts are a must-have hurricane staple. They go right next to the spray cheese and the triscuits. There is something oh-so-satisfying about eating a cold, frosted pastry and writing your name in cheese product by flashlight light as you battle the mosquitos in the balmy hours of the Florida evening after a big storm. It just feels right.

Here's hoping we don't end up in the northeast quadrant. I'm not exactly sure what a northeast quadrant is, but the weatherman insists that it is VERY BAD. Apparenty, the southwest quadrant is the way to go if you are going to be in the path of a hurricane. Personally, I am for no quadrants at all, but then we might miss the excitement of lowly weather reporters standing out on the beach in yellow rain slickers holding their hoods down and saying things like "authorities are saying no one should be outside right now!" and "oh my, that tree looks like it is heading right towar- AAAAAAAAAAAA!"

By all accounts, I am now 100% certain the storm will pass us by because we are so prepared. So if one of you winds up with a 12-pack of Pop Tarts in your fish extender, you'll know who your Secret Mickey was.

That was a GREAT overview! We are right in the middle of the "cone" of where it is predicted to come ashore here on the westcoast. I am debating whether or not to put up the hurricane shutters but my boys are a bit concernened and think of the shutters as a "force field" so I might just put them up so they feel safe. On the other hand picture Laurel and Hardy trying to put up shutters and that would be me trying to get them on the windows without cutting myself, cutting someone or something else, and not dropping them on my foot. Today I steam cleaned the carpet so when we lose power and it gets hot it won't smell like stale dog in the house. Don't forget to add the alcohol, sunscreen, and bug repellent to your list of items and I'll pray for you to stay safe!

 

[LuvtheEars]

Here's hoping we don't end up in the northeast quadrant. I'm not exactly sure what a northeast quadrant is, but the weatherman insists that it is VERY BAD. Apparenty, the southwest quadrant is the way to go if you are going to be in the path of a hurricane. Personally, I am for no quadrants at all, but then we might miss the excitement of lowly weather reporters standing out on the beach in yellow rain slickers holding their hoods down and saying things like "authorities are saying no one should be outside right now!" and "oh my, that tree looks like it is heading right towar- AAAAAAAAAAAA!"

They do this on the NC coast too! It's that "Kid's don't try this, I'm a professional" kind of thinking!

By all accounts, I am now 100% certain the storm will pass us by because we are so prepared. So if one of you winds up with a 12-pack of Pop Tarts in your fish extender, you'll know who your Secret Mickey was.

I never thought of Pop Tarts as Hurricane food But they make great camping food! My kids love them too! You might just have to share the 12 pack around the ship!

Stay safe and be sure to bat that storm somewhere other than north towards NC! - Although we can use some rain!

Tiffany

 

[anewmac]

hope your all safe Erica. I told E about our friends over in FL when he was watching the news about it. He gave me a look like who the heck do we know in FL. Then went one of those "DIS" friends huh. (he even did the quote things with his hand when he said DIS). MEN they just dont get it! LOL

 

[zweihund]

Oh,,, pick us, pick us! DH & DS love pop tarts & they only get them on vacation!! Maybe we should move to Florida, you know, so we can get the requisite hurricane food too!

Being serious though--hope you guys are safe & there's nothing to worry about. I'll keep watching & praying for you guys

You could always buy a box, close up all of the blinds and turn on the weather channel - it'll be just like you're there!

That was a GREAT overview! We are right in the middle of the "cone" of where it is predicted to come ashore here on the westcoast. I am debating whether or not to put up the hurricane shutters but my boys are a bit concernened and think of the shutters as a "force field" so I might just put them up so they feel safe. On the other hand picture Laurel and Hardy trying to put up shutters and that would be me trying to get them on the windows without cutting myself, cutting someone or something else, and not dropping them on my foot. Today I steam cleaned the carpet so when we lose power and it gets hot it won't smell like stale dog in the house. Don't forget to add the alcohol, sunscreen, and bug repellent to your list of items and I'll pray for you to stay safe!

Great idea - I better do a little extra cleaning tomorrow on my day off. Though I do have a pretty healthy stash of febreeze

I never thought of Pop Tarts as Hurricane food But they make great camping food! My kids love them too! You might just have to share the 12 pack around the ship!

Stay safe and be sure to bat that storm somewhere other than north towards NC! - Although we can use some rain!

Tiffany

I'm voting it takes a turn to the west and fizzles out somewhere in the gulf. THAT would be nice. Unlikely, but nice.

hope your all safe Erica. I told E about our friends over in FL when he was watching the news about it. He gave me a look like who the heck do we know in FL. Then went one of those "DIS" friends huh. (he even did the quote things with his hand when he said DIS). MEN they just dont get it! LOL

 

[flower91882]

Good luck with the hurricane. We were living in Winter Park when we had those four that one year. 2003? 2004? Somewhere in there. Stay safe!

 

[zweihund]

Good luck with the hurricane. We were living in Winter Park when we had those four that one year. 2003? 2004? Somewhere in there. Stay safe!

Oh, so you KNOW! We were actually on the Casselberry/Winter Park border that year, on Lake Howell. Winter Park was a disaster! All those old trees....it was so sad.

Tonight we are bringing in all the plants and trash cans and whatever else is not tied down outside. I called my boss and he said "business as usual tomorrow!" Why do I work in a hospital again? Lionel most likely has the day off, or is only doing half a day. I sure hope my place doesn't keep me all the way until 3. I don't want to battle feeder bands the whole way home!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Believe me......he was THIS close!



I got my last purchase in before he threatened to take the computer away from me. That was AFTER I ordered some new stuff on Old Navy dot com
More on that later....



Tammy! When is your Mexican getaway?
I am SO putting a magnetic sign on 6080 in your honor. "DIS Party Cabin!"



Well, I did try on a few things before I started shopping online to get an idea of what SHAPE would be ok. Plus, bridesmaid dresses are pretty forgiving, unless they have poofy sleeves and are electric blue, that is. But keep looking! At the very least, it may just need to be altered a little bit, and if you only pay $20 then it's still a huge bargain.

Good luck! Then again, there's always Macy's on Labor Day weekend! I got a black Ralph Lauren dress there a few years ago for something like $30 on super mega clearance. It was originally about $200!

Erica! That will be so funny to have that sign there - take a pic for me!

We leave for Mexico Sep 26th, returning Oct 2 - almost the same dates as your cruise. We will be in Puerta Vallarta, so you won't be coming by, but I'll be thinking of you! We booked all inclulsive with air at Dreams for the same money we already had down on the cruise. With all of the job changes, it was best that we go on a budget this time.

Have you checked out Overstock.com? I got a nice dress for formal night and a suit for Jim there really cheap. You really are going to have to be craftier where shopping wiht Lionel around is concerned! We can't have him cramping your style!

 

[tinkerbell34]

Oh, so you KNOW! We were actually on the Casselberry/Winter Park border that year, on Lake Howell. Winter Park was a disaster! All those old trees....it was so sad.

Tonight we are bringing in all the plants and trash cans and whatever else is not tied down outside. I called my boss and he said "business as usual tomorrow!" Why do I work in a hospital again? Lionel most likely has the day off, or is only doing half a day. I sure hope my place doesn't keep me all the way until 3. I don't want to battle feeder bands the whole way home!

Our hospital is on lockdown but I work for a part of the hospital that isn't needed for emergencies so I get to have a hurricane day. I got my hurricane shutters up despite slicing open one of the screens , getting attacked by a swarm of mosquitos (picture Lilo and Stitch ) , and trying to climb over spiders to get them up. I don't suspect we will have any problems from this storm but at least we are prepared. I was wondering how the folks on the Wonder are doing. The lastest news cast is reporting 8 to 10 foot seas around the Miami/ Carribean area. Stay safe!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Stay safe, Florida girls! I didn't realize how strong this storm was - I thought it had been downgraded.

 

[tinkerbell34]

Stay safe, Florida girls! I didn't realize how strong this storm was - I thought it had been downgraded.

When I went to bed last night they were still expecting it to be a Cat 1 hurricane when it made landfall but that wasn't the case. On my side of the coast (west coast about 60miles north of Naples) we are just getting drippy rain and not even a breeze at the moment. I hope everything is going well on Erica's side of the state!

 

[flower91882]

Oh, so you KNOW! We were actually on the Casselberry/Winter Park border that year, on Lake Howell. Winter Park was a disaster! All those old trees....it was so sad.

We were actually pretty lucky. We were in the middle of moving from Melbourne to Winter Park/Casselberry. We had two apartments for about a month (the same month as all the hurricanes). When the one came up the east coast, we drove to Winter Park and stayed there. When the one came through Orlando, we took our cars to Melbourne. When we came back to our apartment complex (a nice wooded area), about a third of the cars left there had been crushed by trees!!! It was a astounding!

I remember, right before one of the hurricanes hit, we went out to a restaurant to pick up some take out. Right as we were walking up, the big sign flew off the front of the restaurant. We figured it was time to go home!! Best part is, there were tons of people at the bar just drinkin' beer and watching the weather channel, like the storm was just a news story about somewhere else and not right outside the door!

 

[zweihund]

Erica! That will be so funny to have that sign there - take a pic for me!

We leave for Mexico Sep 26th, returning Oct 2 - almost the same dates as your cruise. We will be in Puerta Vallarta, so you won't be coming by, but I'll be thinking of you! We booked all inclulsive with air at Dreams for the same money we already had down on the cruise. With all of the job changes, it was best that we go on a budget this time.

Have you checked out Overstock.com? I got a nice dress for formal night and a suit for Jim there really cheap. You really are going to have to be craftier where shopping wiht Lionel around is concerned! We can't have him cramping your style!

You'll have to let me know how the resort is, Lionel and I were considering looking into a Mexican vacation for next year......we'll be doing a three-day cruise, but I will post more about that later. TEASERS.

And actually Overstock was one of the first places I looked, I just couldn't seem to find something that seemed like "me" - the little red dress I got on evay is TOTALLY me, and the long one (which is eggplant but looks black in the photo) is me stepping out of the box a little bit. I still look on the big O from time to time, but I think we're all set now so I'll keep my check card in my purse

Our hospital is on lockdown but I work for a part of the hospital that isn't needed for emergencies so I get to have a hurricane day. I got my hurricane shutters up despite slicing open one of the screens , getting attacked by a swarm of mosquitos (picture Lilo and Stitch ) , and trying to climb over spiders to get them up. I don't suspect we will have any problems from this storm but at least we are prepared. I was wondering how the folks on the Wonder are doing. The lastest news cast is reporting 8 to 10 foot seas around the Miami/ Carribean area. Stay safe!

We got sent home today at lunchtime, only to wait and wait and wait......it is JUST NOW starting to push into our area, 6 hours after I came home. Ah well, better safe than sorry. I wonder what it will be like at 6 am tomorrow? It seems like it is just standing still currently.

Stay safe, Florida girls! I didn't realize how strong this storm was - I thought it had been downgraded.

When I went to bed last night they were still expecting it to be a Cat 1 hurricane when it made landfall but that wasn't the case. On my side of the coast (west coast about 60miles north of Naples) we are just getting drippy rain and not even a breeze at the moment. I hope everything is going well on Erica's side of the state!

It's up to 65 mph! Apparently it gathered some momentum over Lake Okechobee. Still a tropical storm though. And now I think it's stuck. Great. FEMA finally declared that we were no longer a flood zone, so hopefully this won't change things!

We were actually pretty lucky. We were in the middle of moving from Melbourne to Winter Park/Casselberry. We had two apartments for about a month (the same month as all the hurricanes). When the one came up the east coast, we drove to Winter Park and stayed there. When the one came through Orlando, we took our cars to Melbourne. When we came back to our apartment complex (a nice wooded area), about a third of the cars left there had been crushed by trees!!! It was a astounding!

I remember, right before one of the hurricanes hit, we went out to a restaurant to pick up some take out. Right as we were walking up, the big sign flew off the front of the restaurant. We figured it was time to go home!! Best part is, there were tons of people at the bar just drinkin' beer and watching the weather channel, like the storm was just a news story about somewhere else and not right outside the door!

How funny, we were probably right around the corner from one another. We lived at the Harbor, on 436 on that corner by the HUGE Salvation Army store and the Carwash. The complex was directly across from the McDonald's, if you know where that area is. Nice place. Kind of scary during a hurricane when you are on the 3rd floor though I feel MUCH safer here in the house, with the car tucked away in the garage......

 

[Disneygrl36]

Hope all is well with the storm situation
I really like your ebay dresses....I'm impressed.
So you have like what 38 day's left.............woo hoo for you.

 

[flower91882]

How funny, we were probably right around the corner from one another. We lived at the Harbor, on 436 on that corner by the HUGE Salvation Army store and the Carwash. The complex was directly across from the McDonald's, if you know where that area is. Nice place. Kind of scary during a hurricane when you are on the 3rd floor though I feel MUCH safer here in the house, with the car tucked away in the garage......

Yeah, I think I know where that is. Is it by the Walmart? And across from a shopping complex with a dance studio and a little Japanese take out place? I danced at that studio for a while and that was our Favorite restaurant!!! I miss that place so much! We lived in the Bishop Park apartments. Not incredibly nice, but hey, we were grad students. The place we went during the hurricane was right next to our complex, it was a German place, not sure if it's still there.

Hope everything remains well!

 

[zweihund]

Hope all is well with the storm situation
I really like your ebay dresses....I'm impressed.
So you have like what 38 day's left.............woo hoo for you.

We survived! And we cruise soon, which is even better

Yeah, I think I know where that is. Is it by the Walmart? And across from a shopping complex with a dance studio and a little Japanese take out place? I danced at that studio for a while and that was our Favorite restaurant!!! I miss that place so much! We lived in the Bishop Park apartments. Not incredibly nice, but hey, we were grad students. The place we went during the hurricane was right next to our complex, it was a German place, not sure if it's still there.

Hope everything remains well!

That's the place! I know where BP is - Lionel teaches at Full Sail, right around the corner. The German place is closed! It was such a landmark, kind of sad......ah well.....

Well, we made it through Fay with little more than a few scattered branches. Lionel and I broke into the pop tarts this morning. What? We figured it was a consolation prize for having moved EVERYTHING in from the perimeter of the porch. And we have a big porch. With many LARGE, HEAVY plants. We're looking at it all now, thinking "eh, it can wait until the weekend, right?"

In other news, I finished my main Secret Mickey gift! Even Lionel thinks it came out great. I still have two things to make, and some possible shopping out at WDW this (or next) weekend. But the main part is done!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

I'm glad you guys came through the storm okay! I love the dresses!

I'll be sure to do a TR so you can check out the resort. DS is a little nervous because he picked it, but I told him we have to remember we are in a foreign country and just be happy we're there! It is rated better by TripAdvisor than the #2 Mexican resort on travel channel, so I don't think he needs to worry. He said some friends went on a cruise and Dreams was offered as an excursion.

 

[zweihund]

I'm glad you guys came through the storm okay! I love the dresses!

I'll be sure to do a TR so you can check out the resort. DS is a little nervous because he picked it, but I told him we have to remember we are in a foreign country and just be happy we're there! It is rated better by TripAdvisor than the #2 Mexican resort on travel channel, so I don't think he needs to worry. He said some friends went on a cruise and Dreams was offered as an excursion.

Can't wait to hear about it!

Just over a month until we cruise. I am so ready for this vacation. Every day is a little step closer!

 

[anewmac]

We survived! And we cruise soon, which is even better

In other news, I finished my main Secret Mickey gift! Even Lionel thinks it came out great. I still have two things to make, and some possible shopping out at WDW this (or next) weekend. But the main part is done!

Glad to hear you guys are ok!

I hope you all take pics of your S/M gifts and share post cruise. I would love to see them all.. plus it gives me ideas for our next cruise then LMAO

 

[anc22]

Glad you didn't get too much damage from the storm.

Isn't the Secret Mickey stuff great. I have had so much fun putting all of our F/E and S/M stuff together!

 

[zweihund]

Glad to hear you guys are ok!

I hope you all take pics of your S/M gifts and share post cruise. I would love to see them all.. plus it gives me ideas for our next cruise then LMAO

I did take pictures! great minds thin alike......they will get posted in the final TR

Glad you didn't get too much damage from the storm.

Isn't the Secret Mickey stuff great. I have had so much fun putting all of our F/E and S/M stuff together!

I still have a few little things to get, but for the most part it's done! It was a hoot