The Crazy Life of a New Floridian & Ongoing TRs

[Camster0307]

Ooo, pick me .......

I know! I know!

 

[JaxJags08]

Hi! I just found your PTR and have had fun reading about your experiences in FL! Sorry you haven't enjoyed it much - I happen to love it here! And in almost 30 years I haven't seen 1 scorpion or crazy monkey!

 

[DisneyJen]

I have to chime in here as I can so relate ...

We are transplanted Yankees (Pennsylvania) who now live in North Carolina ... and let me tell you about the snakes that live here

The younger of our two golden retrievers was bitten by snake in out back yard two springs ago ... luckily I got her to the vet in time.

And now there is the HUGE black snake that winds it way through my garden, over the flagstone path, under the hot tub/deck/pergola over a flagstone patio to take residence near the black hose Said golden retriever has evidently not learned her lesson ... so I am on snake/lizzard patrol now.

Last week DD found one of the slithering relatives (a smaller thinner black snake) right outside the garage door.

DH is of course always out of town/out of country when the critters come a'callin'. Don't even ask me about the three baby squirrels that blew out of their nest in the pine trees during a spring storm and a certain golden retriever who brought all three to me ... one at a time Of course DH was in Europe that week.

Our neighbor next door just laughs at me and says "Silly Yankee ... It's a black snake ... they are good ... they keep the mice, moles and other vermin under control."

Mind you we live in a neighborhood/development with 30 houses all on 1/2 to 1 acre lots. No swamp, no open fields just a few trees.

At least in Pennsylvania all we had to worry about were the deer and bunnies who ate our gardens.

Snakes ... why did it have to be snakes?

 

[karajeboo]

Hi! I just found your PTR and have had fun reading about your experiences in FL! Sorry you haven't enjoyed it much - I happen to love it here! And in almost 30 years I haven't seen 1 scorpion or crazy monkey!

Where in Florida??? I'm telling you, I need to call the exterminator to come back - yesterday there was a HUGE grass spider (at least that's what I call them). I killed it with Ally's baby stroller! Needless to say the stroller is still sitting on top of the spider! Then when I got ready to go to bed (Jeff works really late on Tuesday nights) I saw a scorpion in the hall by my bedroom. So I grabbed the first thing I could find - Ally's shoe - and smushed it. And left the shoe on top of it! I swear I think I'm actually BETTER with the snakes (and spunky monkeys!) than the bugs!!!!

And so cute, I got up this morning and Ally had written a note for Jeff -
"Daddy Please get the spider under the stoler By the FRONT DOOR." I guess she wanted to emphasize the spider by the FRONT DOOR as opposed to the deadly scorpion lurking by my BEDROOM DOOR!

I have to chime in here as I can so relate ...

We are transplanted Yankees (Pennsylvania) who now live in North Carolina ... and let me tell you about the snakes that live here

The younger of our two golden retrievers was bitten by snake in out back yard two springs ago ... luckily I got her to the vet in time.

And now there is the HUGE black snake that winds it way through my garden, over the flagstone path, under the hot tub/deck/pergola over a flagstone patio to take residence near the black hose Said golden retriever has evidently not learned her lesson ... so I am on snake/lizzard patrol now.

Last week DD found one of the slithering relatives (a smaller thinner black snake) right outside the garage door.

DH is of course always out of town/out of country when the critters come a'callin'. Don't even ask me about the three baby squirrels that blew out of their nest in the pine trees during a spring storm and a certain golden retriever who brought all three to me ... one at a time Of course DH was in Europe that week.

Our neighbor next door just laughs at me and says "Silly Yankee ... It's a black snake ... they are good ... they keep the mice, moles and other vermin under control."

Mind you we live in a neighborhood/development with 30 houses all on 1/2 to 1 acre lots. No swamp, no open fields just a few trees.

At least in Pennsylvania all we had to worry about were the deer and bunnies who ate our gardens.

Snakes ... why did it have to be snakes?

Ya know, when we moved from Ohio (go Buckeyes! ) to SC, I dreaded the snakes. And in 14 years in SC I never saw a single snake!!!! Little green anoles (some call them geckos - think Geico - but the ones we had didn't talk!) that Ally named Leon - they were all over our last house. I finally got used to them, and then we move.

Holy cow! What kind of snake bit your dog??? And what does it mean to be "on snake/lizard patrol?" Will you kill them yourself???? On your way to WDW next time will you stop by and use your skills on my back yard friends?

I'm a "silly Yankee" too, I guess. Although I was strangely calm when I saw the black snake a couple of weeks ago. It was long and skinny. It was the skinny that calmed me, I think. The big fat ones (like the fat, long, brown snake of some kind that was dead on the road - I think either water mocassin or rattler! ) are the ones that freak me out.

I wish it were only the deer! Although they did eat every single variety of annual I planted this year!!! And I haven't even touched on the wild turkeys who run through the neighborhood - we saw 12 the other day, followed by another group of 7! They are ugly, too. And because our development borders a state forest, we get the occassional wild boar running down the street - I kid you not! They tore up the front yards of several homes, causing several thousand dollars damage to each one! And then we had armadillos digging up our yard last winter. I'm telling y'all (see? I've still got my SC lingo!) it ain't pretty!

And watching Jeff try to trap the armadillos was like watching Bill Murray and the gopher in Caddyshack! Although a little more entertaining cause I could ridicule him every morning that the armadillo did NOT get in the trap!

 

[karajeboo]

Ooo, pick me .......

I know! I know!

Show off!

OK, You, in the red shell, with your flipper up..... Oh, how I love Crush!

 

[DisneyJen]

And watching Jeff try to trap the armadillos was like watching Bill Murray and the gopher in Caddyshack! Although a little more entertaining cause I could ridicule him every morning that the armadillo did NOT get in the trap!

I can so relate as my DH definitely channels Bill Murray from "Caddyshack" when it comes to working in the yard or with the wild animals. My favorite is when he says "Come here little gopher ... I mean snake."

Ginger, our golden retriever who has a thing for retrieving wildlife, was bitten by either a diamond head or a copper head or some other poisonous type ... I didn't see her get bit.

She ate her dinner fine then threw up (high unusal) during the night and then by early morning couldn't move. She was licking her side and when I checked it I found the fang marks Our wonderful vet, Doc Karen, got her on an IV right away and some other meds. Ginger was back home late that night.

Snake/lizzard patrol means going out with the dogs, especially Ginger, when they potty. They are northern dogs ... meaning they mind the heat and don't venture outside other than to retrieve wildlife and go potty I have to make sure that the snake and lizzards aren't in her path before letting her out the dog door ... otherwise I am sure she would retrieve them for me.

The older golden could step over the snake with nary a care ... sometimes it pays to be the old lady as you can't see or hear or care

 

[JaxJags08]

Where in Florida??? I'm telling you, I need to call the exterminator to come back - yesterday there was a HUGE grass spider (at least that's what I call them). I killed it with Ally's baby stroller! Needless to say the stroller is still sitting on top of the spider! Then when I got ready to go to bed (Jeff works really late on Tuesday nights) I saw a scorpion in the hall by my bedroom. So I grabbed the first thing I could find - Ally's shoe - and smushed it. And left the shoe on top of it! I swear I think I'm actually BETTER with the snakes (and spunky monkeys!) than the bugs!!!!

And so cute, I got up this morning and Ally had written a note for Jeff -
"Daddy Please get the spider under the stoler By the FRONT DOOR." I guess she wanted to emphasize the spider by the FRONT DOOR as opposed to the deadly scorpion lurking by my BEDROOM DOOR!

Gainesville - I didn't want to mention that since I saw you're a Buckeyes fan. But I lived in or around Jacksonville for years. I've seen a couple of snakes and lots of lizards and other bugs, but no monkeys or scorpions. Maybe it's the area your living in? What side of town do you live on? Your house looks beautiful and there doesn't appear to be much development around it - maybe that's why your getting all those creepy crawlies?

When our house was first built, the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen outside of a zoo or pet store showed up in our hallway. Seriously, it was the size of a tarantula! DH was out, so it was up to me to kill it! I grabbed a pair of his shoes and threw them at the spider because it was so big that I didn't want to get near it and guess what it did?! It started jumping from side to side dodging the shoes! How scary is that? After a few tries, I finally hit it and then had to kill it - GROSS! I covered it up with a garbage can and kept it there until DH got home so he could see I wasn't exaggerating about it's size.

If you ever have any questions about Jacksonville, feel free to ask. I promise I won't send you to Vilano Beach again!

 

[karajeboo]

I can so relate as my DH definitely channels Bill Murray from "Caddyshack" when it comes to working in the yard or with the wild animals. My favorite is when he says "Come here little gopher ... I mean snake."

Too funny!

Ginger, our golden retriever who has a thing for retrieving wildlife, was bitten by either a diamond head or a copper head or some other poisonous type ... I didn't see her get bit.

She ate her dinner fine then threw up (high unusal) during the night and then by early morning couldn't move. She was licking her side and when I checked it I found the fang marks Our wonderful vet, Doc Karen, got her on an IV right away and some other meds. Ginger was back home late that night.

Wow! I'm surprised they were able to determine the right antidote without knowing what kind of snake it was! Poor Ginger!!!

Snake/lizzard patrol means going out with the dogs, especially Ginger, when they potty. They are northern dogs ... meaning they mind the heat and don't venture outside other than to retrieve wildlife and go potty I have to make sure that the snake and lizzards aren't in her path before letting her out the dog door ... otherwise I am sure she would retrieve them for me.

The older golden could step over the snake with nary a care ... sometimes it pays to be the old lady as you can't see or hear or care

Yeah, Bucky has become quite the "outdoor" dog. He loves to chase butterflies and anything else that moves! I just know the day is coming when he brings me a present. Yuck! He would stay out all day if I let him, but we haven't fenced the yard yet. He stays in the yard now, but the woods are so tempting....

Down here the vet calls him a "Florida Brown Dog" because he's just that. Some sort of brown mutt - but he's definitely got retriever and chow in him. Great dog though! Jeff misunderstood the vet and calls him a "Florida Round Dog." I told him that didn't even make sense and he said, "sure it does - after all, his mama got around!!!"

 

[karajeboo]

Gainesville - I didn't want to mention that since I saw you're a Buckeyes fan.

How kind of you.....

But I lived in or around Jacksonville for years. I've seen a couple of snakes and lots of lizards and other bugs, but no monkeys or scorpions. Maybe it's the area your living in? What side of town do you live on? Your house looks beautiful and there doesn't appear to be much development around it - maybe that's why your getting all those creepy crawlies?

We live waaaaay out in Orange Park. It's a brand new area and folks who are from around here are like "there's nothing out there - that's just a swamp!" when we tell them where we live. So I'm not surprised that this stuff is all over. And part of our development borders on Jennings State Forest.

When our house was first built, the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen outside of a zoo or pet store showed up in our hallway. Seriously, it was the size of a tarantula! DH was out, so it was up to me to kill it! I grabbed a pair of his shoes and threw them at the spider because it was so big that I didn't want to get near it and guess what it did?! It started jumping from side to side dodging the shoes! How scary is that? After a few tries, I finally hit it and then had to kill it - GROSS! I covered it up with a garbage can and kept it there until DH got home so he could see I wasn't exaggerating about it's size.

That is EXACTLY what I do!!! If a spider started jumping I think I'd faint right on the spot!

I saw a HUGE one in the garage, and I swear it WAS a tarantula - at least in my mind it was!

If you ever have any questions about Jacksonville, feel free to ask. I promise I won't send you to Vilano Beach again!

I'll only go there for entertainment! Or to take my awful houseguests....

 

[DisneyJen]

Yeah, Bucky has become quite the "outdoor" dog. He loves to chase butterflies and anything else that moves! I just know the day is coming when he brings me a present. Yuck! He would stay out all day if I let him, but we haven't fenced the yard yet. He stays in the yard now, but the woods are so tempting....

Down here the vet calls him a "Florida Brown Dog" because he's just that. Some sort of brown mutt - but he's definitely got retriever and chow in him. Great dog though! Jeff misunderstood the vet and calls him a "Florida Round Dog." I told him that didn't even make sense and he said, "sure it does - after all, his mama got around!!!"

I had to laugh about the "Florida Round Brown Dog."

Our chocolate lab, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge in January 2006, was a round brown dog too ... but that was because he was overweight

Actually DH called him a retrieve-him ... as we would have to go outside and get him to come inside. That dog loved to be outside.

We are having one of those Florida like storms right now ... thunder, lightning and winds ... time to light the candles and think about moving into the pantry

 

[karajeboo]

Sorry I’ve been absent lately – I’ve had a nasty summer cold. It started a couple of days before 4th of July and just about knocked me flat the next week. Or was it the other events of 4th of July week that knocked me flat? Hmmm, I think I’ll let you decide.

This latest adventure started back in March or April when our very best friends from SC said they’d like to come visit us in our new digs. Great! We suggested Memorial Day weekend but they thought 4th of July would work better for them. No problem. Or so we thought…..

Now for a little background, we rented a house on the beach with these friends last year and had a blast! Despite different styles, different habits, different personalities, it really was a fun week, even though our trip home (in separate cars thank goodness!) was filled with snide remarks about said friends. And hey, I’m not stupid, I’m sure they were doing the same.

So I emailed my girlfriend in early June to find out when they thought they might drive in – the 4th falls on a Friday so I’m expecting them either Wednesday evening or sometime Thursday. Sounds reasonable.

Uh, apparently, reason went out the window when my girlfriend told me they’d like to drive down the Saturday before and stay for a WEEK!!!!
We knew we were in trouble.

Let me now introduce you to these friends, however, I’ve changed the names to protect the guilty!

Donald, named because this is as close to a hen as I could get, if you get my drift.

Maleficent, for obvious reasons.

Huey and Dewey, ages 6 and 3, the troublemaker boys.

It began on Saturday, June 28th when Jeff decided to go deep sea fishing with promises that he would be home no later than 4pm. Mmm hmmmm. You know where this is going.

Donald, Maleficent and the boys arrived around 4pm. Donald rushed to get the car unloaded, suitcases unpacked, and car cleaned up, while Maleficent rushed to get herself a glass of wine.

The first of many glasses, but probably the only one she poured for herself the entire week.

Now our back porch at this time was a mess of dust, as the Brazilians were finishing the pavers. So I took my guests into the next best room for entertaining – the garage!

We had our new patio furniture out there, the beer fridge was out there, and it was raining, so we could sit out there and watch the rain, while helping ourselves to some nearby libations.

Once the Brazilians left, Donald helped me to carry the furniture out to the patio, while Maleficent helped herself to more wine, this time from a bottle that she brought from home.

Huey and Dewey were upstairs playing with Ally and all was well.

Until Maleficent started to get hungry. Jeff still wasn’t home with fresh fish. So I quickly made up some stuffed peppers and got them cooking.

About this time Jeff pulled in, smelling fine after a day at sea playing with fish! Noooo way ladies, he’s mine!

After a shower, Jeff joined us on the porch to relax and catch up on old times. Pretty soon it was time to put the kids to bed, so as Ally got ready, Maleficent told Donald to get the kids ready for bed, and get her another glass of wine.

Once Donald got back out, Maleficent yelled, “Where’s my wine?” Up Donald jumped to rush in to get her wine. Then Maleficent started to complain that the porch light was too bright.

“Don’t you have some candles or something?”

Off I go to find some candles to get just the right lighting.

“I wish your screen was up – I’m getting chewed up out here.”

Sorry, construction is going on, the screen is not up yet, just the patio extension.

“This ceiling fan isn’t giving me any air” she says as she is the one sitting directly beneath it.

“Donald, check and see if it’s turning the right way.”

So Donald, being the tallest, finds out that it is turning the wrong way, so he flips the switch and now Maleficent is getting a breeze and she’s happy. For now.

Skip to Day 2.

We take our friends up to the pool in our subdivision. We have a great pool complex – 3 pools, one with an awesome water slide, one with a high and low diving board, and one for adults only. Plus a cabana bar that opens on the weekends and weeknights, just outside the fence. A snack bar on site. It’s awesome. We spend most of the weekend up at the pool, enjoying all the festivities they offer, including games, bar specials, races, etc. It’s a wonderful family community!

Maleficent doesn’t want to get wet, so Donald has to watch Huey on the diving board in one pool, Dewey wants to go down the slide in the other pool, but he can’t go alone, so Donald has to climb the steps with him each time.

And Maleficent sits on a chaise lounge and watches.

“Donald, why don’t you go get me a drink from the bar?”

“Are you gonna watch the kids?”
“No, they can take a break for awhile.”

Seriously.

This is how they operate. Or at least how HE operates. She doesn’t do much of anything. Except complain. And demand. And expect everyone to cater to HER.

It’s actually painful to watch.

Now since Jeff and I were working Monday – Wednesday, I explained that they would need to find something to do – there’s tons to do in our area! – and I work from home. On the phone a lot, so they couldn’t hang out here. No problem they agreed a month ago!

So Monday they went to the zoo. But they didn’t get out the door until about 10:30am, and since we live in the largest city in the US (land mass) it takes 45 minutes to an hour to get anywhere. And like I explained, we get t-storms nearly every afternoon. So it’s not like any of this should come as a surprise to them.

Like arriving at the zoo at lunch time.
And the skies opening up around 2pm.
I warned them!

So they came home that night feeling ripped off, when it was their own fault.

Tuesday morning, Huey informs me they are going to the pool. I tell him that they can’t go to the pool without a member so we’ll go on Thursday when I’m not working. He insists they are going to the pool.

Next thing you know, Maleficent tells me they want to go to the pool.

I kind of chuckle.

You know, that irritated chuckle you get when you can’t believe the gall of someone? Yeah, that chuckle.

I explain to her that I told her all this a month before. If they wanted to go to the pool without us, they would need to buy week long guest passes at $20 per person, but it allows the guest to use all the facilities (including all the pools, the fitness center, the gym, the putt putt course) without a member accompanying them. Otherwise, it is $3 per person per visit with a member. She told me that they would only go a couple of times when we could go with them.

In other words, they didn’t want to pay for it.

So after I remind her of this conversation, she says to me, “Don’t you think it’s worth a call to see if they’ll make an exception?”

Now right about now I should have said, “No.” Period. Right?
But I didn’t. I made a call to the social director, and he said no problem. And since our community is so new, I knew it wouldn’t be a problem at this time.

It just irritated me to no end that she would ask that of me. It put me in a very uncomfortable position. It’s obvious Maleficent wears the pants in the family, and this just proved to me that she really does have a big set of …… well, you know what I’m thinking!

So off they go for the day. And the whole time they were gone I was worried that I was going to get a call from the clubhouse telling me to come get my guests out of there because they were disturbing others. Or rather that Maleficent was disturbing others.

She doesn’t ask. She tells. She demands. She yells.

And Donald never fights back. He just does. Whatever he is told to do. Pathetic.

The next day we suggest they go to St Augustine. It’s one of our favorite towns, full of history, and shopping, and just a great way to spend a day wandering around.

Maleficent doesn’t want to go because she’s “not into history.” OK.

But they go anyway, and then they were planning to hit the beach in the afternoon.

Well, once again they don’t leave until 10am. So they don’t get there until 11am. The day is ½ over before they even get there!

About 4pm Maleficent calls me in tears. They’re on their way back and they had a miserable time. Huey and Dewey complained the entire time and they didn’t get to do anything.

She even complained about the fabulous seafood restaurant we sent them to. Know why? IT SMELLED LIKE FISH!!!! Hello? It’s a seafood restaurant, right on the water and all the boats bring in their fresh catches there. That’s why it’s such a great seafood restaurant!

Now as for Huey and Dewey complaining all day, I can only imagine. If Huey told his parents “no” one time, it was at least 50 times in the week they were here. I swear.

“Huey, you need to go get your jammies on.”
“No.”
“Okay, then your dad will take you later.”

WTH?????

So of course the next thing you hear is Maleficent telling Donald to get the kids to bed. And bring her another drink.

Donald returns to tell her that she can put the kids to bed the next two nights, since he’s done it 5 nights in a row.

She looks him dead in the eye and says, “No. I have to answer all these work emails.”

Hmmm. One of these days she is going to truly regret all the lost opportunities with her kids. Seriously, she does NOTHING.

Both kids complained non-stop that they were bored. When anyone suggested something for them to do, Huey said, “No.”

I swear, I was so stressed out all week. Jeff and I would have to leave the room just to go off by ourselves like little gossipy pre-teens saying, “Did you see what she just did?” “OMG, the nerve!”

I asked Jeff if being around them made him appreciate me more. He laughed. Told me not to push it…

We agreed that Donald must be a saint. He not only put the kids to bed EVERY night, he got them ready EVERY morning. He loaded and unloaded the dishwasher, did their laundry, and just generally helped me to keep the house clean while they were here. Maleficent???

And did I mention that they brought their 15 year old dog with them??? Yeah. Let's just say that Donald became very well acquainted with our portable steam cleaner, too.

Up next….. Donald is “allowed” to go golfing, and fireworks before the fireworks!!!!

 

[karajeboo]

OK, so the night before the 4th (that would be the 3rd for those of you sleeping!), Jeff came home early from work to go play 9 holes of golf with Donald. He got the "kitchen pass" from Maleficent so off the went around 5:00.

Maleficent and I loaded up the kids on the golf cart (this was our "toy" we bought a few months ago when we moved down here - love it!!! We use it to ride to the bus stop in the mornings, to the pool at the front of the subdivision - 2 miles from our house!!! Love it!).

And off we headed up to the clubhouse for dinner - Taco Night every Thursday!!! We sat out on the patio and enjoyed some adult libations (as in 2 for 1 margaritas!) until Maleficent complained that they were too sweet for her. I swear, it's always something! First the golf cart took too long to get there (even though the kids had a blast in it!), now the drinks.... oy vey!

So back to, can you guess? Wine for Maleficent. That's wine, not whine. Although there was plenty of that too!

Right as we finished dinner (and I'll spare you all the many stories of misbehaved children during dinner!) the boys came back from golf, and decided to order for themselves. So they pulled up some chairs and ordered dinner.

Right about that time, our neighbors popped out of the dining room and we invited them to join us too. So we had a nice little party going here.

Until......

Out of the door comes the 3 year old Dewey, screaming because he wet his pants. So Maleficent storms over to Donald and tells him he needs to take Dewey back to the house to get him changed.

That is when I had to step in, cause the Donald and Jeff's food had just arrived. I mean seriously!!! So I told Maleficent that WE would take Dewey back and get him changed. So that we did. And she chewed the poor little guy out the whole way back.

And complained about how messy Jeff's car is. Seriously.

After the little guy was cleaned up, we headed back to the clubhouse. It was a beautiful night and I wanted to just sit on the patio and relax.

But Maleficent was in a mood. She did not utter one word to our neighbors. Not one. She was apparently PO'd that we invited them to join us.

The whole night she was in this mood. So she and I left the group to run to the grocery store to pick up last minute things for the 4th of July the next day. When we got home, Donald was gone. He had run to get gas in his car, while Jeff brought the kids home.

When Maleficent came in the door, no Donald, and the kids were not ready for bed, she flipped out! Stormed upstairs, griping the whole way. And 10 minutes later when Donald walked in...... let's just say, Jeff and I sat outside and watched the fireworks through the window. Arms flailing, screaming, just absolutely incredible!

Before you know it, Maleficent came down the stairs, poured herself a glass of wine, and came out to the back porch. While Donald put the kids to bed.

I swear, I couldn't make this stuff up!

The next day was the 4th of July and I woke up feeling terrible. I'd been fighting a cold for a couple of days and it finally hit me. But I drugged myself up and off we all went to the pool for the day.

We ran into several neighbors during the day, and Maleficent got an attitude every time we talked to someone. It was a very uncomfortable day.

So when we came back to start getting ready for dinner, I spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen, and our neighbors came over to join us, as did one of Jeff's salesmen and his wife. We'll call him Sparky, cause he brought over $400 worth of fireworks. I invited a lot of neighbors for this event.

Not once did Maleficent offer to help me with anything. And that pretty much was the tone of their whole visit. Donald helped without being asked, but Maleficent was apparently on "vacation." Period.

So after dinner, we all headed out to the driveway and Jeff and Sparky headed across the street and down a couple of lots to an empty lot that backs up to a lake. They shot off fireworks for about 1/2 hour over the lake. More and more neighbors kept showing up until we had a regular fireworks party going on!

One neighbor brought sparklers for the kids, and everyone seemed to bring a cooler and lawn chairs. It was so much fun!

Ally with her sparkler.....

Maleficent managed to not speak a word to anyone that came out. And she went to bed shortly after the fireworks ended.

Honestly, we won't allow this to happen again. It was a really painful week. I cooked dinner most nights, with never an offer to help clean up, nothing. They did go shopping, but almost made me feel guilty that I hadn't purchased what they wanted.

Believe it or not, this was Jeff's best man at our wedding! And they really are our best friends. But we've now come to call them our "one night" friends. Cause they're good to spend one night with. Just not an entire week!

Well, we're heading to the beach this weekend. Jeff has a lot of Hilton points to use from when he "lived" here for 4 months before we moved down. So we'll be spending a nice FREE weekend in Clearwater! I'll try to post pics next week!

We've had all kinds of creatures invading our home, 2 legged, 4 legged, 6 legged, even no legged!!!! So hopefully we're on to less dramatic times. In fact, Jeff and I were just talking on the phone this afternoon about our upcoming Grey Goose Citron Slush once we get to Epcot!!!

Thanks for reading!!!!

 

[cjhinch]

Holy Cow! I can't imagine treating:

#1 - My friends who are hosting me in their house that way!
#2 - Neighbors of my friends that way!
and most importantly...
#3 - My DH that way!

How did you bite your tongue for an entire week? Seriously, I would have had to say something like:

"Wow, how do you get your husband to do EVERYTHING for the kids like that?" Maybe she would get the drift?

You definitely are needing this weekend off after a visit like that! I think a week is a really long time to stay with family, much less someone you are just friends with! They should have kept it to just like 3 days or something!

Have a great weekend!!

 

[karajeboo]

Holy Cow! I can't imagine treating:

#1 - My friends who are hosting me in their house that way!
#2 - Neighbors of my friends that way!
and most importantly...
#3 - My DH that way!

How did you bite your tongue for an entire week? Seriously, I would have had to say something like:

"Wow, how do you get your husband to do EVERYTHING for the kids like that?" Maybe she would get the drift?

You definitely are needing this weekend off after a visit like that! I think a week is a really long time to stay with family, much less someone you are just friends with! They should have kept it to just like 3 days or something!

Have a great weekend!!

I did tell her that her husband is a saint at one point. And I have considered having a heart to heart with her. I mean, one of these days she's gonna wake up and her boys are going to be going to prom, and she will have missed their childhood. Jeff thinks that she'd get mad at me, and I'm almost to the point of not caring. Sometimes I have to wonder if it's worth it. I mean, she is downright nasty to him. And the more I see it, the more I can't help but think about cutting ties. Now that we've moved, it wouldn't be so hard, ya know?

Oh, well, time to move on I guess!

 

[k_reile]

I think this report will be much more, um, “accurate” than my trip report from May, since this one is just DH and I, no kids, no in-laws, no snarky SIL and BIL and their kids. Ahhh…. I’m already relaxing just thinking about it! Actually, if DH wouldn’t have freaked at the oh so very accurate accounts in my May TR, it would have been VERY entertaining. It seems that I was a bit too accurate for his tastes, with regard to HIS family! Even without using names, if anyone had seen it who was even somewhat remotely acquainted with my SIL, they would have known instantly it was her – not too many (thank the good Lord!) like her out there!

So I had to edit it, as in remove pics that had them in there, and take out most of the descriptions of selfish, outrageous, childish behavior unbecoming a grown woman with two kids whose parents just spent a ton of money to take the whole family to Disney World. It was really embarrassing most of the time. But I digress……

With that said, hopefully this trip will be entertaining in a way that will be enjoyable, as opposed to “shake your head in disbelief that someone could behave that way in public” entertaining. Yes, that was the entertainment of our trip last month…

For starters, it will just be me and my DH Jeff spending 4 days in the World for our 10th anniversary, celebrated 11 years after we were married. I know, I know, but Jeff got transferred to Jacksonville, FL, last summer and we were right in the midst of the house hunt, and finally moving, during our actual anniversary in October, so we decided that we’d wait a year to actually celebrate that milestone. And then when free dining came up, we decided to up our anniversary a month! So in all actuality, this will be our 10 year, 11 month anniversary! Yea!

Not only is free dining a great time to go, cause there’s, well, FREE dining! But while we were at Disney in May, we met some great people from Tampa who educated us on all the benefits of having a Florida Resident Seasonal Pass, including the fact that we could upgrade our current tickets into said pass. Hmmm, sounded like a plan so off we went the only morning we were not with the rest of the family (Jeff’s family, I might add!) to visit Epcot’s Guest Relations. The first CM who was helping us came out with a grand total of about $200 for 2 adult and 1 child seasonal passes, after upgrading our current tickets. We were sold! But then another CM came over and corrected his math, and, well, long story short (or is this a short story long?) we walked out of there with all three passes AND a Disney gift card for $257! I’m not sure how this all worked out, but I was really liking Disney math right about this time!

Jeff kept walking around saying, "I feel like I just won the entire Year of a Million Dreams!" See, my Jeff is a saver, he's the frugal one in the family. Money burns holes in my pockets, seriously, it must be why I have to buy new clothes all the time!!! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I told Jeff we needed to keep our great "deal" to ourselves but he insisted on telling BIL, SIL, and FIL (HIS father!) about our great deal. The first thing FIL said was, “That’s MY money!” See, after Jeff and I took our DD to Disney 2 years ago, MIL really wanted to plan a family trip that THEY paid for. Sounds great, or is it?

It was a very difficult vacation for Jeff and I, because we are the planners, and the rest of the family never picked up a book, got online, nothing! So they came to us for advice, we gave it, and then they all decided to do it THEIR way, which as overplanning DISers all know, failed miserably. So it was a very stressful trip for Jeff and me. But, now that we had in our hot little hands, FREE season passes, AND a $257 gift card, we were all set! Our tone completely changed for the rest of the trip, into “no problem, you wanna do that? We can come back anytime we want (except for 2 weeks at spring break, 2 months in the hot, humid, crazy crowded summer, and 1 week at Christmas) and do it the “right” way!” AND we gladly bought the whole group Citron Slushes in Epcot, and anything else they wanted in order to keep the peace. After all, we had $257 of Disney’s money! Well, that disappeared quicker than you could imagine, or maybe not, if you’ve ever traveled with in-laws and had to treat them like children about to explode into tantrum! I’m really stuck on this, huh? Again, meet them. Travel with them. You’ll understand!

So that is why Jeff and I decided to head back to Disney for our 10 year, 11month anniversary! To do it the “right” way – our way!

Now let me also say that I’ve had a really hard time moving to Florida. I left a wonderful life in South Carolina, where we spent the last 14 years. We’re both originally from Ohio

but we fell in love with the easy southern lifestyle and South Carolina is a beautiful place to live! So even though I'm a new Floridian, you'll find me saying "y'all" and "bless her heart" and "kiss my grits" (okay, not really that one!). They really do have smiling faces, and beautiful places!

Once we moved, I quit smoking (yea for me!), began working from home (yea for me!) and began to decorate our home (yea for me!). But the chemicals in the medication to help me stop smoking really made me nuts! More so than usual, if you know what I mean! So much so that I hated working from home, hated my house in disarray, hated everything about Florida! And now that I’m off the medicine, my moods have calmed down tremendously, and I’m loving working from home (how else could I take this time to write my PTR and get paid for it?). But I still don’t like Florida. I hate the heat and humidity in January, I hate the snakes, I hate the lizards

I hate the bugs. In fact, I don’t know how they can even call these things bugs – honestly, I’ve killed 4 scorpions the size of my thumb (this pic taken in my laundry room, AFTER I squished it!)

spiders the size of a small skillet, and don’t even get me started on the lizards that could easily feed our family of three if I put them on the barbeque rotisserie! OK, maybe not THAT big and juicy, but still……

And the weather!!!! The storms!!!! I have a spot cleared out in the laundry room between the washer and dryer, for me to hunker down during these nasty afternoon t-storms! I am so NOT kidding about this! It's scary! My parents called me this winter to ask me if I had seen their blizzard on TV - I told them (from my laundry room bunker!) that they needed to turn on the Weather Channel because there was nothing about a blizzard on there - it was all about the deadly storms ripping across Florida! Yeah, that's a near daily occurrence here in the summer.

So that’s why I began planning this trip for Jeff and me, way back in February, when I was losing my mind (but not smoking – yea for me!). And while I was planning this anniversary trip, I spontaneously planned a weekend getaway to the Happiest Place on Earth for the whole family, just for the Pirate and Princess Party. Remember, we are new Florida residents, we plan to wear out our welcome this first year!

Here we are at P&PP - happy family, glad to get away after all the chaos of the move! New jobs, new school, new house, Mommy going crazy while she quits smoking (yea Mommy!), the usual stresses of a move!

Yes, I made us matching shirts for the party - I told you I found the Creative DISigns thread - they're awesome!!!!

Oh, and did I mention the puppy that Santa brought for Christmas? Yeah, that's great in a new house, with new carpet, and Mommy going crazy on medication (but still not smoking - yea for me!). And the reason for the new puppy (named Buckeye by the way - told you we were from Ohio originally!) was because we knew we'd have to have our dear Bella put down soon - and it happened in April.

Sweet little Buckeye...then

Poor little Bella, about a week before we had to have her put down. I still miss my little girl!

And Buckeye NOW! My how the kiddies grow up so quick!

OK, enough background... Coming up..... What? We're going to PAY for tickets to the park???

Just joining. Love the name buckeye! It was even a name sugguestion from my newphew for our son since that is his bunnies name.... When DH and I got our dog...DH wanted to name him Brutus or Woody but I vetoed both of those and we went with Rusty (after Rusty Wallace but I thought it was cute) Can you tell all of our families are huge BUckeye fans!!
Edited to Add: That I am a Kara also!!

 

[karajeboo]

Just joining. Love the name buckeye! It was even a name sugguestion from my newphew for our son since that is his bunnies name.... When DH and I got our dog...DH wanted to name him Brutus or Woody but I vetoed both of those and we went with Rusty (after Rusty Wallace but I thought it was cute) Can you tell all of our families are huge BUckeye fans!!
Edited to Add: That I am a Kara also!!

No way! Another Kara.... with a "K"???? We are a rare breed ya know!

My parents had a "Brutus" when we moved to Ohio (from Kansas City). Everyone thought we had named him (a sweet little pug) after the OSU mascot, but for some odd reason my mom had picked the name.

We had to persuade Ally to go with Buckeye as her dog's name. We were afraid it would be Aladdin or Prince Charming, if she had the last word! Actually, I kinda wish we would have gone with my 2nd choice, Simba. He totally looks like a baby lion cub! But of course I love my Ohio State pup!

Funny story, when we first moved to FL and took our Bella to the vet, she teased me about our email address, which references the Buckeyes, and said they may not be able to treat our pets! All three vets in the practice are Florida grads! Then when we took our new puppy in with the name Buckeye, I caught a lot of grief from all of them!!!!

 

[k_reile]

...those chairs are still there in the same fabric as of Sept 2007. DH and I stayed there last year for Free Dining. We loved the BWI for its convience to Epcot where we spent most of our time (especially drinking around the countries and we were there for the begining of F&W Fest)

 

[karajeboo]

Totally off topic (yeah, like my report even has a topic!!! ), but did anyone see the Today show this morning with the video of the lion reunion?

My mom called to tell me about it, so I pulled up the youtube video. OMG! I cried like a baby! But it was happy tears. If you want to check it out, click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U&feature=related then select the video that is 2:31 and titled "christian the lion at worlds end." So touching!

 

[karajeboo]

...those chairs are still there in the same fabric as of Sept 2007. DH and I stayed there last year for Free Dining. We loved the BWI for its convience to Epcot where we spent most of our time (especially drinking around the countries and we were there for the begining of F&W Fest)

Oh, you're singin my song!!! We love us some Epcot - which is why we're trying YC this year for free dining, with no child!!!! We'll spend 3 out of our 4 days in the World Showcase, I'm sure!!!

 

[JaxJags08]

Totally off topic (yeah, like my report even has a topic!!! ), but did anyone see the Today show this morning with the video of the lion reunion?

My mom called to tell me about it, so I pulled up the youtube video. OMG! I cried like a baby! But it was happy tears. If you want to check it out, click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U&feature=related then select the video that is 2:31 and titled "christian the lion at worlds end." So touching!

OMG - that is an amazing video! I'll admit that I teared up!