Hello fellow Cliqueless Disers!!!!!
I'm back!!! As you all know, I've been consumed with preparing my home for sale and at times did not have access to a computer and at other times I just didn't have the time to even check the computer.
I've got so many pictures and stories to share with you guys but I'm so new to this whole digital camera thing, I'm still trying to figure out how to get the pictures off!! I guess I'll need to go to Ritz and have them make a CD for me.
Well, the good news is the house sold. . . . in the first day!!!!
We got the call while in Animal Kingdom and got a confirmation call that we were getting our asking price over dinner at Prime Time 50's cafe. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party was a blast but unfortunately, the trip didn't feel like a vacation at all!
Here's a little background. . . the contractors were here longer than they were supposed to be which made us have to run around like chickens with their heads cut off on the day that we were to leave for Florida. Not only did we have to clean the place up after the contractors left which is a whole other story that made me more than a little upset because they got paint everywhere and left glue in places where it shouldn't have been but we also had to stage the house and make it shine. That was no small feat on top of having to pack for our trip and be at the airport on time. No matter what, we were having the house on the market by the time we left!! The house went on the market at 3:30pm on the Wednesday we left. I was exhausted by the time I got on the plane and slept the whole 2 hour flight to Orlando.
On Thursday, we did not sleep in but headed over to Animal Kingdom for park opening and a chance to ride Expedition Everest. Believe it or not, I was chosen to open the park and I got a cool little certificate thanking me for my very important contribution and I got a free fast pass to any ride in the park for my whole party which consisted of me, DH and my two DSiss. I have pictures but I can't get them off the camera.
I was however able to find this picture of me
on
Yeti-Man.com I also have a picture with the Yeti Man himself. If you don't know who the Yeti Man is (because I didn't) check out this
interview that was done on him by the St. Petersburg Times (a Tampa/St. Pete newspaper). I have pictures of that too but, again, I can't get them off the #$&^% camera!!!
The Yeti-Man has ridden E:E like 700 times now. He's trying to get in 1000 before Christmas. All in all Thursday morning and Animal Kingdom were pretty cool.
I must admit that when we got the call about the house selling I did get a little emotional. Heck, I got teary eyed when they put the For Sale sign in the yard. I know that having your house sell in one day is a dream but I just thought I'd have more time to get used to the idea of it even being on the market. Alas, it wasn't so. Friday was
MNSSHP and alls I can say is, IT WAS AWESOME!!! If you ever get the chance to go to one of the parties you definately must!!! The characters are so cute "dressed up" in costume and the headless horseman was awesome. We have tons of pictures that I can't wait to share with you all!! My DSis dressed up as Snow White and she fooled a couple of people (not on purpose). We would be in a shop and adults would catch her out of the corner of their eye and take in a big gasp of delighted surprise because they really thought she was Snow White. Even a few kids asked if they could have their pictures taken with her which she obliged. What is even cooler is at these MNSSHPs they have quite a bit of focus on the villains. She was able to get her picture with the Evil Queen from Snow White. The Evil Queen made her kneel. Wait until you see the pictures!! The look on my sisters face is priceless!! Oh, and in the parade they had the JD, Captain Jack Sparrow look alike. My other sister was dressed as a pirate and he was making eyes at her. Wait till you see the pictures!! I know I keep saying that but I really want to share them with you guys!! Disney, as always, was awesome!! And Pop was terrific! When we had to fax papers back and forth to the realtor Pops concierge staff was more than accommodating and for being on vacation the transactions went off without a hitch. I love Pop!!
I know I didnt get a chance to tell you guys before we left but DH and I had decided that we were going to rent a car and drive back home and stop in several cities and towns along the way just to see if any of them struck our fancy. We were talking and realized that we can live anywhere we want to if we choose to. So, we decided that we would drive up through DeLand, FL and into St. Augustine, FL, St. Marys Georgia, Aiken, SC and onto the Greenville area of South Carolina.
We were NOT impressed with DeLand and St. Augustine was too touristy. On Sunday night we did spent the night in St. Augustine and on Monday we did all of the tourist attractions. Then we made it up to St. Marys, Georgia. I loved St. Marys. Its right over the Florida line so it was like being in Florida but being in Georgia gave it Southern Charm. I could honestly see myself living in St. Marys but sadly, they had much industry closed down all around them and that made the area look (and kind of feel) depressed. But, St. Marys itself was a great little town.
Originally, we had reservations to stay in Savannah, GA on Monday night but Hilton Head is so close and Ive always wanted to stay in the DVC resort there plus we could use our points (because I had some that were going to expire this year if I didnt use them) instead of paying for a hotel room. When I first tried calling DVCs Member Services to get into Hilton Head there was no availability but they said I could call everyday to see if they had any cancellations. So, thats what I did. I called everyday and they had nothing. Well, Friday came and Member Services are closed on the weekend so this was my last shot. While my family was eating at the Electric Umbrella in Epcot I went outside for one last call to Member Services. Funny thing is I got the same guy I had originally talked to on Monday, Ted. And as luck would have it they had a one bedroom open for that night. Awesome!! Now I could wash some clothes as the one bedrooms have a washer and dryer!! Cool!!
Hilton Head was absolutely beautiful!! I did not want to leave. I would have to say that HHI was the most relaxing leg of the trip. On Tuesday we headed up to Aiken, SC. We werent impressed with Aiken either. Aiken was beautiful but it was too crowded and too busy and it didnt feel like home to us. So, onward to Easely, SC where our attentions were mainly focused on as our new home. A little more background. . . DH and I actually used to live in Easley, SC. We met and married there. Me, the Jersey girl, was down visiting friends who happened to be friends with my DHs brother. DH, the Delaware boy, was down visiting his brother and as they say the rest is history. We loved it there when we lived there but alas I thought I needed to be close to family even though I absolutely adored S.C. and the Greenville area. So, here we are 10 years later getting ready to move back.
On Wednesday I stopped back in at my old job and they were all glad to see me and then we headed over to the realtors office to get some leads on houses. The short of it is for 3 days we drove around looking for houses and in three days we found nothing we liked. Then we started talking about renting for awhile and looking for a house. But, we have a dog and a cat and most places dont want you to have pets. It was rough those three days!! By Friday my head was pounding with a headache to beat the band. I had not slept well the night before and was indeed up every hour on the hour (except for the 1 oclock hour oddly.) I kept dreaming I was driving around on a map and the names of the towns kept flashing in front of my eyes. It was horrible and we were leaving on Saturday and we still didnt have a place to live and we go to closing on our house on October 19th and I NEEDED a place to come home too!! I was starting to think we had made a mistake and my DH was Mister Chipper saying things like, Its all going to work out babe. Things are going to be just fine, babe. And I was to the point where if he babed me one more time I was going to pop him right in the kisser!! My security gland was so tight that it had my face drawn up like a pickle and I wasnt feeling very confident about our impending move, or very loving towards my DH!! We were supposed to have dinner with old friends that night and I was feeling in no mood for it and we just kept driving and driving!! I started praying. I started praying because there was nothing else I could do. My head hurt so bad, and I was feeling full of doubt and I just started praying. I prayed, God, Im really starting to doubt if were doing the right thing. We need a place to live because Im scared Im going to have to live in a truck with my DH, dog and cat. Please, God, please let us find a place to rent. Please just let a For Rent sign appear in a yard. Please just let there be a for rent sign that we come across on a cute house. No lie, Im really praying this. Now up to this point I had not seen any For Rent signs just posted but I was a desperate woman!!! We were on our way back to the hotel room so I could lay down. We ended up on a road we would not normally take but because were not completely familiar with the lay of the land we ended up on it. This was about 20-30 minutes after I had prayed my desperate prayer and what should appear??? The cutest little cottage/bungalow youd ever want to see with not only one but two For Rent signs!!!!!!!!!! I grabbed DHs arm and in disbelief said, Did you see that?? Of course he hadnt but I told him and he turned around and got the numbers. Its so cute. Its yellow with burgundy trim and it has a little porch on the front and the yard was so cute as well as the other homes around it. I have pictures but again, Ill have to wait to show you. About 10 minutes later a real southern sounding gentleman called DH back. DH inquired about the house and the gentleman said, Well did you go in and take a look? I left the place unlocked. And DH said, Well, no sir. And the gentleman said, Tell you what. How about you go take a look and then if youre still interested in the place you can give me a call back. So, thats what we did and it is so cute. Everything on the inside has been redone. New flooring, new paint and some new windows. Its 2 BRs/1 Bath but that s all we need on about a ½ acre. Oh, and there was nothing in the house to be taken so I guess thats why he left the door unlocked. That and he said the neighbors all around are really nice folks. And, we can have our dog and cat there. In talking with the gentleman, it turns out that he retired from the place DH had worked before we moved. They knew many of the same people and it really is a small world. Let me tell you just how much better I felt once I knew I had a place to come home too. I was able to go and have dinner with my friends and enjoy the evening. We are about 12 miles outside of Clemson (and Clemson University), 10 miles out of Easley and 22 miles away from Greenville. We are in a perfect location.
We got home this past Saturday night and we were able to stay in our home for the first time in just about 4½ weeks. Two weeks because the stupid contractor took over our house and then an additional few days for the carpet guy then us cleaning the place and staging it then a week and a half we were in Florida and South Carolina. It felt weird staying here and I almost feel like Im in someone elses house. Not only does the place look totally different with new paint, carpet, and doors but also because I know its sold and I have a house waiting for me in S.C.
Im sad and excited at the same time. So, theres my tale. Hopefully Ill be able to stay in touch with you all on a regular basis now. Thank you to the ones who took the time to PM me. It meant so much (more than you know) to know that you were thinking about me.
Im not even going to attempt to get caught up so if you all dont mind Im just going to jump in from here.
Missed you guys. Glad to be back.
sorry Lyzziesmom!! Well, I know you're not supposed to get unemployment if you quit but my ex is. He quit in May and he's getting it 
!! I was talking to my boss about it this morning. He's ticked too since he did quit! Maybe if it comes to that she can lay you off to be sure you can get the unemployment? I don't know just throwing out ideas, I've never been unemployed...knocking on wood now
...personally I'd be getting my resume out and see if you can find something just in case 
thumbs up of coarse! good luck.
Hi and its so good to see you April 
Glad you got your house sold and a nice new place to call home 
I'm so excited!!! I hope you can come!!
don't tell him 
I'm so excited we should be able to ride it!!! I love that coaster!!!! 
I hope you and your dh can come!!!
That's it, I'm going to have to make a trip down to Ritz tonight. I really want you guys to see the photos. Probably more than you really want to see them. 
But, at least I got to ride it. 
I shouldn't say that. He's NOT snobby in any way shape or form but after we bought DVC and stayed at the DVC resorts he's grown accustomed (sp?? Oh spelling Nazi 
) to the one bedroom at OKW. 
Of course, I haven't even run this by DH yet. I'm just running with it! 
my OKW?
Mike hasn't been to enough resorts to be a resort snob yet 
for him 
... or toward another trip!!!!
