Mike Jones
<font color=993300>....nothing clever to say... ju
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2003
- Messages
- 1,372
(Part 1)
What a Carry On! Part 2 Monday 18th August 2008
A combination of unfamiliar surroundings, jet lag, excitement and dehydration after the flight generally conspire to make my first nights sleep in Florida both short and unsettled. I wake at 2.00 and again at 3.00 for the loo, but manage to get off again. However, when I waken again at 4.00, my confused body clock insists that enough is enough, and I remain stubbornly awake. I give up at 4.30 and creep off downstairs to make coffee, leaving Amanda snoozing gently in the enormous bed.
Linda and Rob, our landlords, have hidden some coffee filter papers for me, as Id remarked that Id never found any over the years renting villas, and yet we always left a couple of hundred behind us each time. They had also informed me that they had bought a new coffee machine, but as of yet it had not been used. I therefore flushed it through with water a couple of times before making a first brew.
Whilst waiting for the coffee I followed their instructions for linking to the WiFi network and had a look at the boards and weather forecasts. It looks like we might be ok for most of today, but Fay is making the rest of the week look decidedly iffy.
Amanda joins me around 5.00am, followed by Mum and Dad at 5.30 or so. We make enough communal clatter that Adam appears before 6.00am, but Bethany requires a wake-up visit at 6.15.
We watch the progress of Fay on the various weather and local news channels. Obsessed would be a mild understatement (the networks, not us) (although we are, too!)
After breakfast and a quick reccie of the pool deck in the increasing daylight,
we shower and prepare for the day ahead. The girls discover that their UK straighteners dont work on US voltage, but discover a US set in one of the bathrooms. Conscious of the numerous singe marks on my daughters bedroom carpet, I take a pan lid from the kitchen for her to use as a rest!
Theres no safe as far as we can tell, so we stash less valuable items in dark corners and take our valuables and docs out with us. As it gets fully light, I take the opportunity of recording the villa before our clutter swallows up the clean lines
Everyone except Beth is ready by 7.30, so we chat about the day and organise our bags for the parks. Its 8.00am by the time she appears, approximately 30 seconds before I start giving ultimatums, and we head off into a sunny morning, with the car thermometer showing 80 degrees. Wonderful.
What a Carry On! Part 2 Monday 18th August 2008
A combination of unfamiliar surroundings, jet lag, excitement and dehydration after the flight generally conspire to make my first nights sleep in Florida both short and unsettled. I wake at 2.00 and again at 3.00 for the loo, but manage to get off again. However, when I waken again at 4.00, my confused body clock insists that enough is enough, and I remain stubbornly awake. I give up at 4.30 and creep off downstairs to make coffee, leaving Amanda snoozing gently in the enormous bed.
Linda and Rob, our landlords, have hidden some coffee filter papers for me, as Id remarked that Id never found any over the years renting villas, and yet we always left a couple of hundred behind us each time. They had also informed me that they had bought a new coffee machine, but as of yet it had not been used. I therefore flushed it through with water a couple of times before making a first brew.
Whilst waiting for the coffee I followed their instructions for linking to the WiFi network and had a look at the boards and weather forecasts. It looks like we might be ok for most of today, but Fay is making the rest of the week look decidedly iffy.
Amanda joins me around 5.00am, followed by Mum and Dad at 5.30 or so. We make enough communal clatter that Adam appears before 6.00am, but Bethany requires a wake-up visit at 6.15.
We watch the progress of Fay on the various weather and local news channels. Obsessed would be a mild understatement (the networks, not us) (although we are, too!)
After breakfast and a quick reccie of the pool deck in the increasing daylight,
we shower and prepare for the day ahead. The girls discover that their UK straighteners dont work on US voltage, but discover a US set in one of the bathrooms. Conscious of the numerous singe marks on my daughters bedroom carpet, I take a pan lid from the kitchen for her to use as a rest!
Theres no safe as far as we can tell, so we stash less valuable items in dark corners and take our valuables and docs out with us. As it gets fully light, I take the opportunity of recording the villa before our clutter swallows up the clean lines
Everyone except Beth is ready by 7.30, so we chat about the day and organise our bags for the parks. Its 8.00am by the time she appears, approximately 30 seconds before I start giving ultimatums, and we head off into a sunny morning, with the car thermometer showing 80 degrees. Wonderful.
.I echo what others say-you do look like your Dad,but thats not a bad thing-your Dad is a very handsome gentleman 
. and thank God the villa had straighteners 
I'm sure everyone will shower now before jumping into the pool.
