I just deleted all of the photos off of my iPhone again. You just have to do that every once in a while. Anyway, there were some from the BC4 cruise on there and this was one of them. I remember taking it... sitting on Lido having my morning coffee. Aaahhh... I so wish I was there! And you, too. On the non-smoking side, of course. :P Speaking of which, I am still doing pretty well with kicking that habit... not completely quit but much better. srsly.
So yesterday was the shake down for Al's new infomercial find - Paint Zoom. Let's see. How shall I put this?.... Paint Gun FAIL. Al packed it back up while I called their 800 number to tell them it was coming back and he dropped it off at the Post Office on his way home.
You get what you pay for (y'all). I have 3 really good paint brushes that I just love. And I have 3 older really good paint brushes that I still keep just in case they stop selling my really good paint brushes by the time I need to replace them. I've said this before but I'll say it again. I'm all for time and effort-saving... Truly, I am.... but I can not tell you how much time and effort we've wasted while Al tried to save time and effort with a new time-saver gadget.
Yesterday
Sandee asked why I left Lakeland and moved to Valdosta. Easy... The year was 2004... The Year of Hurricanes.
Specifically, the straw that broke the camel's back?
Hurricane Jeanne.
I could actually do a kind of fun post just about Hurricane Jeanne, but for now let me tell you that I have weathered my fair share of hurricanes since moving to Florida in 1975, including Hurricane Andrew, a Cat 5 which scared the crap out of me! I was terrified and wanted to FLEE, but stayed put! I did have just one Mandatory Evacuation in 1985 that kept me from even returning to my home in Tampa for 3 days after the storm. My house was just 5 houses away from the water, Tampa Bay. They were talking Storm Surges of potentially 25-30 feet, depending on where it actually came into Tampa Bay. I begged my now ex-husband to evacuate early when they called for Voluntary Evacuation, but he refused until the middle of the night when the cops came through the neighborhood with their lights flashing and their emergency sirens blaring and the Mandatory Evacuation announcement. By then the winds were about 75mph with MUCH higher gusts Not fun to drive in, people! I vowed never to wait for Mandatory again. I'll Volunteer very early and set a good example.
So. We evacuated to Al's brother's house... near Lakeland. Inland. Away from the water and Storm Surge.
Hurricane Elena wasn't really all that bad of a storm except it just happened to come in to Tampa Bay at about a Cat 3, flooding Bayshore Drive and downtown and all along the coast. It was about 5 feet deep on Bayshore. With waves. I remember watching it on TV and thinking how surreal it was to see all those familiar places. On TV. With WAVES in front of my favorite seafood restaurant which wasn't on the beach side of the street! Fortunately, my home had minor wind damage but no flooding. Elena did cause major beach erosion. Actually, it eroded the entire road along Bayshore right by me. There just wasn't any road left!
Anyway, back to 2004 and Hurricane Jeanne. That year, 2004 was when I made up my mind that it was time to leave Florida. We had 5 major hurricanes that year which just so happened to all have intersected my county in central Florida. CENTRAL.Florida. That doesn't normally happen. Usually the hurricanes lose strength once they hit land.
We had to wait about a year and a half to finally get a roofing contractor to replace the roof because ours (mine and Al's) weren't damaged as badly as so many that had blue tarps covering them. Al and his brother patched ours with shingles that Al's brother had left over. A year and a half... and there were tons of out of state roofers that were there.
Just about the time the roofs were replaced, Al was ready to retire. I actually had someone in my industry who heard Al was retiring call me to ask if she and her husband could buy my business. Hello! Yes, please. Thank you very much.
My parents lived over on the left coast of Florida, nearly a 2 hour drive from me. They had moved down from New Hampshire to retire in a little beachy community with a bunch of their nawthern camping buddy friends. Over the years the friends all scattered or passed away. Quite literally, my parents were the last hold-outs in the community. Once I had decided for sure to move to Georgia I asked my parents if they wanted to move with me. Hello! Yes, please. Thank you very much.
So... almost 2 years to get a new roof, a few months to sell the business and a bit longer to sell the house... in 2006, Hello, Jawjah!
Well, there you have it, Sandee. The Why I Moved to Georgia Story. Assuming you're still reading! hahaha!
Have a lovely day! xoxo
