Fantasy Fest 2011

*sigh*

Since I posted the nekkid painted photos a year ago, my blog has gotten hundreds of hits every month from people looking for (duh) pictures of nekkid women, mostly.  I have been a little irritated by that, since this is supposed to be a blog about knitting and reading and family and the Keys and life, but I've posted very few of those since we moved to Our Place in the Keys.  I guess that I did most of my best "work" while I was *at* work......

So, since there's so much demand for nekkid photos all over the freaking world (I'm lookin' at you, Iraq), later today I'll add the photos from this year's Fantasy Fest, Key West, Florida.  Right now, I want to go outside and look at my garden and see if I can catch Katie and force her to submit to wearing her Halloween costume.

21 days.......

We missed our summer monsoons and had all of the season's rain in 5 days last week.  Today we called Monroe County Mosquito Control and asked them to bring the napalm.  We've got huge ANGRY mosquitoes.  No, wait; they're not ANGRY; they're totally PISSED OFF and we're gonna pay for it.

The MC lady was here within half an hour and found the likely source:  the swampy jungle lot behind ours.  She said that she'd actually forgotten about it; the people who recently rented the house nearby threw their yard cuttings into the jungle and closed off the path she'd made to get in and inspect.  She's going to spend time this winter (!!!  we need to get rid of the m'effers NOW!) cutting new paths into the lot (which is owned by the county; I can't imagine why no one has bought it /sarcasm) so it'll be easier to spray in there.  We're going to throw away our huge pot of bromeliads since water naturally collects in them and they're a prime breeding ground for these m'effers.  And these aren't just your run-of-the-mill m'effers, they're the REALLY ANGRY aggressive ones that carry dengue fever.

So while the weather is just about perfect these days, we can't go outside without coming back inside with huge red welts all over us.  I took two doses of Benadryl today; good thing I'm used to it or I'd have slept all day.  MC lady said that we had 20 inches of rain in those 5 days.

Tomorrow is the body painting contest in Key West at Fantasy Fest, so if it doesn't rain (thank God Rina is turning away from us) we'll go into town to watch the festivities.  And take photos.  I'm still getting hundreds of hits each month from people looking at last year's nekkididity.

Did I mention that these skeeters are tough little m'effers?  Yeah, thought so.

Hello? Is anyone out there?

I've been lazy. That's nothing new, but the longer it gets since my last blog, the harder it is to get started again. And there's so much to blog about.

I'm still unemployed and loving it. I got my last "real" paycheck today; it's going to be painful when that's not available next month. But it's not enough to make me get out and pound the pavements begging for a job. I like this sleeping till noon and staying up till 3 a.m. I'm reading lots and lots of books, knitting baby things hoping to sell them (and thus eliminate the need for a "real" job), playing in the pool a couple of times a day, running the vacuum occasionally (and picking up furballs of cat hair far too frequently; we now have my daughter's two cats, Rex and Little Marie, in addition to Chester and Beghera), thinking about getting a dog (Chihuahua; mix is okay, no puppies, please), meeting the neighbors (tonight I met the lady who walks her two Min Pins on leash while her scarlet macaw rides on her arm; I played with the dogs, stayed away from the macaw's beak).

In other words, life is fun, sort of like vacationing in a ratty cottage with a sort-of kitchen but a super cool pool. Wait--that's exactly what it IS. We're vacationing in a ratty cottage with a sort-of kitchen and a super-cool pool and a really great mattress set.

No tv, but occasionally we watch something online. It would be nice if we had something larger than a 12.1" monitor, but I bought a set of $20 speakers so the sound is good.

Maybe now I'll actually start blogging again. I have tons of photos to show, and I can tell about how we participated in a promo video for Tim Dorsey's new book, Electric Barracuda, and how I knit on camera and had my own line and everything.

If anyone is still out there......

The pool is open!

We don't have a finished room in the house, but man, we've got ourselves one hell of a nice pool.

Did I show you what it looked like last summer? Probably. Here's one from last week:



Mosquito Control actually put fish (gambusia) in there a couple of years ago. So as bad as it looked, mosquitoes didn't do much breeding there.

We found this guy in there the day before the renewal started:



By the time the pool was drained, there was a second one in there too. They finally had to be lifted out of there, because they weren't going on their own. Actually, they tried but they couldn't make it up the sides of the pool on their own.

This guy was far braver (or more stupid) than anyone I've met.



I asked him if he'd had his shots; he just looked at me funny.



It took most of the day to pump all of that nasty water and sludge out; he ended up shoveling I don't know how many buckets of really smelly stuff and hauling it out.





One guy stuck his hand down the *urk* drain to try to dislodge the 3 years' (at least) worth of crap while the smarter guy owner of the pool company power washed the rest of the pool.



By that evening, the pool was clean and dry.



And this guy decided to come back to see if it was safe to sun himself on the ledge again.



He isn't the brightest bulb. He repeatedly ran head-first into the fence attempting to leave the yard. He finally realized that *climbing* the fence was his best option.







I'm glad he didn't challenge me; he is one strong booger.



The next morning another crew came and did some stuff. I can't remember exactly what went on. The mosquitoes were so bad that I wasn't going to hang around taking photos, so I mostly took them out the upstairs window, which some idiot badly covered with tinted vinyl to reduce heat from the sun, a pretty much ill-fated attempt.

They spread this thick icky brown muck on the surfaces of the pool and left it to dry overnight.



The next day was Aggregate Day, but it rained all the night before (too bad we weren't filling the pool then, as there were about 6" of water in the pool the next morning) and until 2 p.m. As soon as the sun came out, the crew was back mixing and spreading and sculpting aggregate. They were professionals; they could have decorated a wedding cake, they are so good.




That guy, and the next one, spent the entire time on the steps. Two other guys did the rest of the pool.



They spent hours just smoothing the aggregate. I'm very impressed by the job they did. And it was 94 degrees that day, and the mosquitoes were biting. They finished after dark and returned Thursday morning to acid wash the pool and start filling it.

And by Thursday afternoon, my birthday, there was enough water that we could test our pool.

It's seven feet deep at the deep end; I don't swim and I don't put my head under water, so I use a float when I head in that direction.

The water straight from the hose is about 85 degrees, so it was very comfortable right away. When we take showers, we barely use any hot water at all.

Then *dum dum dum dummmm* the salt marsh mosquitoes descended the next day as we got into the pool. Within 5 minutes they'd driven us out. That happened again the next two days. Today we were able to stay in for about half an hour before they got too bad. Those are the little f^ckers that carry dengue fever, which is making itself known in the Keys and Miami. Lucky us. Regular mosquitoes aren't enough for us.

Mosquito Control said that they're working their way up the Keys and would try to hit us over the weekend, but it doesn't appear that has happened yet. We'll keep calling, because dammit, we have a POOL and we want to use it!

I just hope the crabs and the iguana don't jump in while I'm in there.

My rounds

Friday started The Week of Doctor Visits for me. I put off making doctor appointments as long as I possible can, because I hate making phone calls. The appointments themselves don't bother me that much. But the phone calls.....

So a couple of weeks ago I made a bunch of calls one right after another and set up a mammogram (I swear I had one a few years ago, but their records go back 10 years....), a physical (so I can get my drugs), an appointment with my retinologist, and one with a head surgeon to remove a cyst on my head. Right on the very top of my head. I bet it'll leave a bald spot.

The new digital mammogram is so much more comfortable than the old film one, even though it squeezes every bit as hard. So that's one down.

Tuesday I saw the head doctor about the cyst. Seems they run in families, and we're one of the lucky ones. That'll be removed on Tuesday morning. Yesterday was Retinologist Day, and, as it turned out, Long Needle Stuck in My Eye Day. That pesky ol' Wet Macular Degeneration is acting up again so I got another Lucentis injection. See, the good thing about that blind spot in the center of my left eye is that I can't see the needle coming at it.....

Joan met me at the office and drove us to lunch at Olive Garden afterward. We had a nice, leisurely lunch, until I could see again, then we went our separate ways home. How about that; a needle in the eye at 1:45, drive home at 4:45. Without an accident, at that.

Already my vision is better than it was yesterday. When I made the appointment my vision felt the same as it has since the last checkup 15 months ago (because I'm so bad at making appointments after I cancel one), but Friday I felt like something wasn't quite right, and it's a good thing the appointment was so soon afterward. I'll have another injection on June 17, then on the 18th Betty, Joan, and I will leave for Florida, where we'll spend a few days at the beach before Betty and Joan fly home and I spend a few days with Jennifer and kids in Orlando, then on to my new life in the Keys.

This afternoon my eye is achy, but the scratchiness that is usually pretty painful after an injection just lasted a couple of hours, not until I went to sleep last night, as it usually does. Maybe my eyeball is getting tougher. I didn't take as much percocet as I usually do, either, and no xanax before the procedure. Most of the time I spend the night with Mom and Dad after the injection so I don't have to drive home that evening, or Tom drives me, but they're all in Florida now so Joan and I just hung around for a while. And it was nice.

In an hour I have to be at the doctor's office to wait for my physical. There must be 50 doctors in that practice and they're all running late all the time. The waiting room is always filled with sick people spewing germs all over everyone else. I've had to wait as long as 3 hours for my doctor (ONLY because I was out of cough syrup and I have to appear in person to beg for another month's supply); the shortest time was maybe half an hour. Once. I hate that place. I'm hoping that this will be my last visit there ever. Maybe this time I can share my allergies/cold/bronchitis/whatever the hell I've had this week with my peers in that waiting room.

I think that's my first illness this year. I had some bug a while back, but since Christmas I've avoided colds. I hate colds. I get very angry when I have one. I don't know why. The flu doesn't make me angry, maybe because it's acceptable to stay home when you have it. But a damn cold can hang on forever and I just don't have that much sick leave.

Because I'm saving it to take off early for the beach. And my new life. In the Keys.



P.S. Cross your fingers, legs, and eyes; we're negotiating with a man who really, really wants to buy our WV property; he just doesn't want to pay enough for it. We might just persuade him to see things our way, then we'll be FREEEEEEEE! of a mortgage. Not much left over to work on our place in the Keys, but enough to save each month to get things done.

Holding my breath--again

(Aside--Hey, I hit 700 posts with that last one! On May 7 even. Seven is my favorite number.)

(I remember when I wore a size 7.)

(That was a longass time ago.)

*ahem*

A new charter elementary school is opening in Key West this summer. The first year it will have about 250 students, K-5, adding a grade each year till it's K-8. It's on 11 acres on the Navy base and will focus on marine and environmental studies including field trips and lots of time spent on the grounds learning things. Sounds just about perfect to me.

It's associated with the Monroe County school system, but it has its own pay scale and board of directors. The pay for assistants is about $6000 a year more than the starting salary for assistants in my present school system, plus health benefits and a 401k.

I wanna be an assistant at Sigsbee Charter School.

The application process included applying the usual way, which to my delight is totally online, but it also required that interested applicants email a SCS application with a cover letter and resume. I hate writing those things. Fortunately Word has a template for easy resumes, and fortunately Betty is a wiz at writing cover letters. Together we (well, mostly she) wrote the letter, I submitted everything last night, and I just received an email that said they'd received it and it has been given to the principal.

Would you mind saying a prayer or two and/or keeping your fingers crossed, whichever you prefer? They hope to have all the positions filled by June 1, and golly gee, if I'm asked to interview, I'd have to go to the hardship of flying to Key West and spending a couple of days in paradise.

I promise that I won't blow this interview. If I get it. And I really want to get it. Summers off, you see, plus decent pay and benefits, Christmas break, spring break, all the good stuff that goes along with working in a school. It wouldn't be nearly as easy as the job I have now, but it would be close. And it would be in Key freakin' West. If I have to work, this is as close as I'm going to get to the perfect job in the Keys.

I'm going to live in the Keys! Now let's see if I can work in the Keys.

My mom and dad are at *my place in the Keys* and I'm not

Sucks to be me right now, huh?

Mom and Dad are spending a week at The Cat House with Tom. Dad's a Renaissance Man and can do anything. At 80 he's more active and productive than I am. And he looks younger than I do.

Dad and Tom are building walls, from what I gather from the daily (sometimes hourly) phone calls. They're building a wall between (I think) the master bedroom and its closet. It already had a wall, but I want a pocket door in it to save space, so they've worked on that. They've made soffits for the air conditioning ductwork. They're going to make a closet in the upstairs bedroom. There are no closets upstairs; lots of space under the eaves of the house, but the ceiling is so low in those that only "short" things can be hung. Where did the people who used to live there put all their stuff?

(Actually, Tom found a big stack of shirts left in one of them. And a lot of junk was just tossed into the backyard and under the house.)

Mom has been cleaning windows and sweeping. Those floors catch and hold onto dirt and dust; they're down to the subflooring and it's not in good shape. The cats shed enough to create entire new cats.

On Monday they'll head up to their favorite vacation spot near Daytona and spend two weeks there with some of their friends. It used to be a little 40s or 50s Mom and Pop-style motel right between A1A and the ocean. Maybe 10 rooms. It's been sold several times in the last few years for increasingly insane amounts of money and will eventually be razed and turned into luxury condos. I hate to see the remaining pieces of Old Florida sold off and gone forever.

We first went to Florida in 1955 or '56, after Dad's parents, sister, and brother-in-law moved to Miami. I vaguely remember that first trip. I was convinced that the ocean was in Muck and Poppa's back yard and I was terribly disappointed when it wasn't. That trip is when my life-long love affair with Florida started.

We visited them every summer for two weeks. At that time we didn't have any friends whose families took vacations anywhere, much less 1000 miles south. We spent most of the time inside--they had air conditioning. We'd play in the yard, go to the beach a couple of times (Dad absolutley hates getting sand in the car), go shopping some (I mean, wow, they had a K-Mart back when there were none up here!), eat at the very old McDonald's nearby, take walks in the evening, play with the colorful snails that crawled up the shady side of the house.

At least once each trip, we'd all pile into the car and take a ride through the Everglades (mosquitos are BAD in the summer; I can't wait to go in the winter) or out to the (then) new Miami airport, or, once, to Key West. I was five that year, I think. I was not at all interested in the gorgeous water, palm trees, and other sights; all I remember is that I was really really thirsty, and I remember bumping across countless bridges. When we got to Key West, it stunk of fish. There'd been a recent fish-kill; we didn't want to stay long. I remember nothing else of the island.

And now I'm going to live 30 miles from it. I still don't quite believe it.

What on earth???

Knitty is one of my favorite knitting websites. They only publish four times a year, and they have some amazing patterns. I have to share one with you.

Am I the only person who thinks that this pattern is hideous? Do you know
anyone who would feel comfortable wearing these things? They're almost obscenely ugly.

Once in a while, Knitty messes up in a big way!

One of two patterns in this issue that I'm inclined to knit is this one.

It looks cool and comfortable and not too complicated. I might try it.

The other one is this cute baby pattern.

There are so many new babies/grandbabies being born here this school year and I get tired of knitting the same old socks.

My favorite from this is issue is this shawl.


When I first saw it, I thought it was hideous. But I kept going back to it; I might make it some day. Maybe.

I haven't been knitting much lately. I didn't bother on the planes. Two of them had DirecTv, which is pretty cool in a plane. AirTran was trying out wireless internet service free for a couple of weeks, but it was so hideously slow that I quickly gave up on that. When they're offering it for $10 a day, I won't be purchasing it.

When I ordered my copy of New Moon from Target, I didn't realize that they planned to have it arrive on March 19, the day before it was released in stores. I left for Florida on the 19th, so I left a pre-stamped Priority Mail box and asked a friend to send it to me in the Keys. It didn't arrive till the 26th, yet a first-class letter that I mailed got there in two days. Go figure.

So that night I watched New Moon on my laptop. Very small screen, very low sound. I couldn't understand a thing. I was wondering why on earth I'd thought that movie was so good when I saw it at the theater. And my laptop used to be much louder. I was a bit worried that maybe my hearing is worse than I'd thought.

I bought a pair of headphones, a cheap pair, that had a set of ear buds as well. Suddenly the movie was much more interesting. I watched it again and enjoyed it. I also watched the two extra discs that came with Twilight, since I hadn't seen them before. We don't have tv yet in our place in the Keys, but we will when I move down in June. Along with internet access.

On the flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando, my very large checked bag was seached by TSA. I could tell by the sticker they put on it, along with the discovery of broken brand-new-used-twice headphones that had been carefully packed. Also, my beads, teeny tiny beads packed in a tightly-closed Tupperware bowl were all over the place, with the bowl in one of the suitcase and the lid buried in the other. I have no problem with TSA checking my bags, but please be more considerate.

We went to Key West once during my stay. It was spring break time all over the place and the island had far too many people and cars on it. I went to my favorite bead store and Knit Wits of Key West right next door and discovered, to my sadness, that the bead shop is closing this month. There's a bead shop in Islamorada, considerably farther from Big Pine Key than Key West, but I've never been in it. I haven't been able to find good quality beads here and have mail-ordered from him before. Now that I'm addicted to beads, I'm going to miss the shop.

hello from the warm, sunny Keys!

Hello from the sunny, warm Keys! I'm shopping for internet access, but it's expensive down here. DSL isn't available, which leaves cable, satellite, or dialup. We shall see.

I've been doing some cleanup yard work; the property looks a little less abandoned now. I can't send photos to my blog with this thing, so you'll have to take my word for it.

We're heading out to a steak dinner at the Moose in a little while. It's an interesting place. I wonder if they have internet access there? They're close to the library....

Next Wed. I fly to Orlando to spend a few days with the kids. A had her third Suppralin implant on Monday and is doing well. She's growing at a normal rate now.

Did I mention that it's sunny and warm here? *ducks and covers*

Jet set

That's me. I'm part of the jet set. Is that phrase even used anymore?

Saturday was.....interesting. It had occurred to me that maybe I shouldn't travel on the 13th, but since it wasn't Friday, I ignored the thought. I shouldn't have. Or maybe I just should have been a little more observant.

I needed a Pepsi or iced tea, so on my way out of town I swung past McDonalds, but there was a long line of cars in the takeout lane, so I went on to Kentucky Fried Chicken. I didn't want to get out of the car. That came back to haunt me (and taunt me) a few minutes later when I discovered that KFC didn't open for another 15 minutes and turned right into the parking lot of the business next door, because driving all the way through the drive-through lane and making an immediate right turn was too much trouble. So I turned. I discovered, to my horror, that there was no opening in the curb to allow me to turn, so one front wheel went over the curb and the car got hung up.

It wouldn't budge.

No one would answer my frantic knocks at KFC, so I walked--in the rain--over to the convenience store I had attempted to drive to. No men there, only two short women. I think that one of them could have single-handedly picked up the car and moved it back a few feet, but she declined. I walked--in the rain--forgetting to buy my Pepsi while I was in the store--to KFC and banged on the window, catching the manager's attention. Two women there. Betty called a tow truck, which arrived really quickly, and within a few minutes I was on my way to the bank. I hadn't planned a bank stop, but I couldn't find my AAA card and the woman on the phone couldn't find our file online because, of course, our membership is in the WestByGodVirginia division and she couldn't access that. I guess the internet doesn't cross state lines or something.

The kind tow-truck man wouldn't take a check, and I only had $20 in cash, so he followed me to the stupid convenience store to the ATM, where I once again forgot to buy a bottle of Pepsi. I forgot to ask him for a receipt. When I called Tom, he sweetly reminded me that our car insurance has tow insurance. Whoops.

So, anyway, I wrote a check from Tom's account to cover what I'd taken out of mine, dropped it at the bank, then stopped at Taco Bell for my damn Pepsi.

I got to Mom and Dad's house in plenty of time for them to get me to the airport. My suitcase was so heavy that I decided, at the last minute, to check it at the gate so I wouldn't have to injure myself trying to get it in the overhead bin. Had to change planes in Atlanta, which airport I hate with a passion, but got there in time to go to the bathroom and board the plane.

The plane got to FLL and we had to wait an hour before the baggage came off the plane. I kept waiting because mine didn't appear. Of course not. A very nice lady from AirTran, Jean, spent an hour with me trying first to find the bag then trying to figure out where it went. She was so sweet that I didn't get all bent out of shape about the fact that the clothes I would wear to the interview were in that damned bag.

We went on home, which isn't as fun a drive as it is in the daytime. At night, without the scenery, it's just a long-ass drive.

At midnight, Jean called to tell me that my bag had come in and she would send it to me right away. At 7:30 the phone rang again and my bag was on our front porch.

All's well that ends well.

We went to the Marathon Seafood Festival on Sunday afternoon. Beautiful day, 73 degrees, light breeze. Sunny. That night we went out to eat with Donna and James and spent the night at the condo. Which, I might add, has a wonderful high-end mattress in the master suite.

Monday morning we went back home and spent some time in the yard. Later I took a shower and we headed back to Marathon for my interview. Which I totally blew.

How many times have I worked with kids on those stupid interview questions? You know, the standard "what is your best quality" kind. I'd even come up with answers for them. I should have written them on my arm. I could not remember one thing and wasn't even able to come up with something that sounded semi-intelligent.

I suspect that I won't get that job.

But no big deal. It was experience, I'll know better next time, and I had three lovely days in the Keys.

PocketEdward™ had some adventures around the yard. Tom wasn't thrilled to see him. I just don't understand why not.

First he checked out the demolition Tom's done in the kitchen. The subfloor is in terrible shape.

He looked at the pool and wished he could swim well enough to catch the frog living in there.




He turned up his nose at some of our leftovers.




He enjoyed some sparkle time




And explored the jungle.

Okay, he can't explore the damn jungle. I can't get that damn photo to upload.

He snacked on a black panther in the jungle.




He didn't have good luck with the tiger, though.



Ahhhhh.

Here he runs through the jungle.

He took time to smell the bouganville. Evidentally thorns don't bother vampires.




He indulged in a quick snack, then



PocketEdward™ finally found his nuts.





With that, I leave you for now. 'Cause I'm heading back to Richmond tonight so I can catch my nonstop flight to FLL tomorrow morning. Back home to the Keys. For 16 days.

Life is good.

Thank God for Mike!

Mike, my son-in-law, is an electrician. He'd volunteered last summer to come to our place in the Keys and check out the electrical system at The Cat House once we bought it, which is very nice of him since we're not paying him anything to do it. He happened to score two days off this week after working 8 days straight, so yesterday Tom picked him up just south of Orlando and they headed back to the Keys. Mike has spent the entire day working on getting the electrical system hooked up correctly.

It's a good thing that the expert was there. Turns out that the (improperly installed) box (whatever that thingy with the breakers in it is called) has been sparking for some time and the whole house could have gone up in flames at just about any time. The box was in the old master closet which backed up to the laundry nook, and the dryer had been vented into the wall between the two. Thank God Tom had taken out that wall weeks ago and gotten years' worth of dryer lint ripped out, because it probably would have caught fire when the electricity was turned on.

Just another example of the quality work put into that house by its previous owners.

The Cat House

*note: I tried to download photos onto the computer at work, but because of my sore neck, I can't wiggle around on the floor trying to find the usb ports. Later.*

With the forecast for heavy snow on December 18, I was able to take the day off and leave for Florida that morning. I'd planned to drive to Mom and Dad's house that evening and leave the next morning, but fate dictated otherwise.

I stopped at Mom and Dad's, then started the first leg of the journey. It's a total of about 21 hours from their house to The Cat House, and the longest I've ever driven in one day (when I'm driving, not just riding) is 12 hours. That was 16 years ago. I just can't do that anymore.

I stopped in NC for some good ol's Smithfield Barbeque. While I was there it started snowing; it had been overcast all day. When I got back on the road (with Zippy finishing some of my hush puppies) I was out of the snow within 10 minutes and into rain. It rained the rest of the day, but it's better than ice any day.

After driving for 7 hours, I stopped for the night at a pet-friendly hotel about 40 miles north of Savannah. I took Zippy in with me to register, and since I hadn't tried to hide him, they didn't charge the $10 pet fee. The $70 bill included breakfast (Denny's Grand Slam), so it was a pretty good deal. Zip had slept the entire day in the car; at times I have to poke him to make sure he's still alive, he sleeps so soundly. By bedtime he was wound up tight, and he barked every time he heard a noise. Motels are noisy.

Next day, we drove to Orlando, a seven-hour drive. Spent that night and Sunday with Jennifer and the kids, then Monday left for the Keys, a seven-hour drive. Three days. If I could leave early in the morning, I could drive farther each day, but I get sleepy in the mornings. I'm okay in the afternoon and early night.

As we drove over the bridge that officially marked the start of the Keys, I kept telling Zippy (who just wanted to sleep) that we were coming home for the first time. We're Keys homeowners now. He wasn't impressed, but I was very excited.

Driving slowly through the Keys doesn't bother me. I like to take my time and drink in the views of the water and islands. I love to see mangroves growing at the side of the road. There are lots of birds to observe, although quickly. It's okay if I have to go slow.

It was dusk as we drove over the Seven Mile Bridge onto Bahia Honda (which has been rated the best beach in the country in the past) and dark as we reached Big Pine Key. Tom told me where to turn off Key Deer Boulevard to reach our little subdivision (read: fishing village), but I'd forgotten by the time I got there, and I ended up driving to the end of the island anyway. That was okay since I got to see several Key deer along the way. Finally, after backtracking, I reached our place in the Keys, the first time as a homeowner.

The amount of work that needs to be done on that place is overwhelming. Everything has to be updated. Whoever did the last (attempted but not finished) remodel did a piss-poor job, and it's possible that previous renos were just as poorly done. The plumbing has to be replaced. The a/c was done improperly, so all of the vents have to be pulled out and replaced, along with the a/c units themselves. That alone will cost about $9,000; to do it really well and have an energy-efficient system was $7,ooo-$10,000 more, and we just can't afford to do that and attempt to do anything else to the house now. The floors are sagging; the windows all need to be replaced (the current windows must have been the absolute cheapest ones available) and hurricane shutters added; much of the wiring has to be pulled out and replaced.

We decided to make three rooms liveable for now, the kitchen, one bedroom and one bathroom. Since we're totally remodeling the master bed/bath/closet, we're using one of the upstairs bedrooms for now; it's huge--12' wide by 20.5' long, the depth of the second story. That room could be used as an apartment; it's plenty big for a couple of beds and a sitting area. It's going to make a great guest room. Eventually. For now, it's our bedroom. My old queen-size bed and one end table are in there now, along with the cat tower.

The upstairs bathroom is usable. It has a harvest gold tub/shower and sink with a fairly new white toilet; all are in working order. That will be the last room to be remodeled. After massive cleaning, the kitchen can be used. We have an old stove and fridge that we took down, and we bought a microwave oven.

The entire house has popcorn ceilings. U G L Y. They catch every bit of dust, and, in the kitchen, grease. Grease and dust. Not a good combination. We don't want popcorn ceilings, so Tom scraped every bit off the kitchen ceiling. Ugh, more dust, but repeated mopping of the ceiling, walls, and floor will eventually get rid of that problem. Unfortunately, there are those stupid ceilings in every room, and the ones upstairs all have cathedral ceilings. Fun fun fun.

I really enjoyed doing some yard work. There are a lot of nuisance trees/plants in the yard, along with plants that I just don't like (pampas grass, anyone? It takes up so much space and provides a hiding place for any kind of nasty insect or reptile, so out it goes.), so much has to be done. Brazilian Pepper trees are considered nuisances; they take over wherever they take root, and they can grow 1' a week. They have clusters of beautiful tiny red berries, so I hate to see them go, but Monroe County has deemed them nuisances and to be eradicated. Since there are so many other things we want to grow, I can live with that.

We have a silver buttonwood hedge outside the two streetside fenced sides of the yard. They're terribly overgrown but will be beautiful when they're trimmed. Deer like to rest under the hedges and they provide privacy screening. There are many cabbage palms in the yard; most will be pruned so they don't take up so much space and some will be removed to make room for other palms. There are two coconut palms in the back yard, one large and bearing fruit, that'll need to be trimmed but not moved.

Three HUGE hibiscus are in front of the bedroom windows; they're almost to the second story, so they need to be drastically pruned. Bouganville covers the left front corner of the yard. Many more assorted palms in various sizes will have to be removed or moved.

The deck has been demolished, and Tom has torn out the walls and insulation in the master bath and closet. The fixtures have been removed. He discovered Dade Pine siding on the house; it's absolutely beautiful, washed a pale bluish-gray, but he says the upkeep is too great to consider removing the vinyl siding.

I'm worn out just thinking about it.

My neck is hurting, so I'm going to take a break. Whatever I've left out I'll try to catch up with later.

On the knitting front, I did very little, just some sock knitting to Ft. Lauderdale and back. I'm starting to feel the creative bug again, but who knows when it'll actually bite.

Quick update

Two weeks in Florida, lovely (if somewhat cooler than usual) weather, work around The Cat House, lots of FaceBook time on the Crack (and utter irritation for several days when the Crackberry network was down and no one had told me about it) (by no one I mean RIM, of course, the people who own the company), walks around our new neighborhood, observing the wildlife, playing with grandkids, floating in a warm pool on Christmas night, three days of driving seven hours a day each way (my butt cheek gets numb, okay?), living in our place in the Keys, having to leave and come home, then the little surprise of finding 6" of ice and snow on our driveway in WV, two weeks after it snowed and over a week since a minor ice storm, not being able to drive up the driveway, cracking the front bumper of our less than 2-months-old Prius, getting stuck and having to walk uphill to the house in the dark in the snow and ice and 10 degree temperature with 40 mph winds while wearing clogs because one doesn't need real shoes in Florida even in the winter with no depth perception in the dark and faulty balance on a smooth surface on a sunny day while trying to balance several large tote bags on my shoulders and falling down and losing a clog while screaming "WHY ME?" (or something like that only a lot more profane) at the cold stars as I sat on the ice without one shoe not being able to balance enough to stand up to look for the damn shoe and Zippy had run ahead up to the house and was patiently barking at the front door for someone to let him into the nice warm house while I was crying and snotting without any tissues halfway up the driveway thinking that I was going to die within sight of my own house and no one would ever find me and a bear might eat my barely-frozen carcass and it's all because I can't move to Florida until we sell our house in WV or I get a good-paying job in Florida which isn't likely this time of year (either one) then the next morning I called the guy with the tow truck who came after daylight to pull the car out of the ditch (where I almost took out the side of the new car by getting this---------->close to a huge bolt on a fence post) then dragged my crap back down to the car after deciding that I was not going back to that house until the spring thaw or June, whichever comes first then still being stuck in the damn driveway about 6' from the actual road and spending half an hour trying to get the car that six feet while getting this------->close to the For Sale sign in the ditch by the road until a nice man took pity on me and pulled me out of the driveway and I will not go back to WV until I'm sure that I can make it up that damned driveway and last night my shoulder muscle spasmed and Betty had to help me to bed because it was agonizing to move and it hurt so bad I didn't sleep well even after taking some percocet or something like that so today I went to the doctor who prescribed a muscle relaxant that shouldn't make me dopey but sort of has so I'm going to go to Betty's house and take another one and see if I can sleep.

*deep breath*

Zippy and I are living with Betty for a while.

Weather report from South Florida

Tom called at 9 last night as he left Orlando and headed to Ft. Lauderdale. (Someday I'm going to google to see if there really is a fort there.) He sounded far too happy when he told me that it was in the 60s there. It was 30 here.

It's supposed to snow here tonight.

*sigh*

In other news........

We knew it was going to happen, so I didn't drive the car if I were by myself, only if Tom was along. There's no cell coverage for half the trip into town, so I didn't attempt it when I was alone.

Tom was called at 6 this morning and asked if he'd sub at the middle school, which is less than a mile from my school. Otherwise I'd have been driving the truck and it would have happened another time.

We were about three miles from school when it started. The knocking got louder and louder and the car labored to make it up the hill. Fortunately we were at the top of the hill when the engine let loose a cloud of smoke and quit. We knew it was gone, so it wouldn't hurt to run it a little farther, would it?

It cut off three more times (once as we turned right on red without stopping) but we were able to coast into the school parking lot and got it into a safe place. It'll stay there until we sell it for parts or have it towed to the junk yard.

At least it happened at the top of a hill near the school. It could have let go on the mountain on one of the blind turns, or as we pulled out of our driveway in the middle of Dead Man's Curve.

$6000 divided by 3 years = $2000 a year. Not too shabby for a Camry that already had about 160,000 miles on it. This is not a good time to buy another car since we refinanced our WV home to pay for our place in the Keys and may be a little overborrowed right now. But we have to have something that'll allow me to go to and from work once Tom moves to Florida (probably after Thanksgiving, although we want to go down there before then for a week).

We've rented a Hyundai overnight so we can get home, get the truck, and drive the rental back in. At least that's only $45. And it's payday. All is well.

It ain't grand, but it's well. We'll survive.

Oh--please think kind thoughts toward my friend Trillian who was unexpectedly laid off this week. Her boss plans to rehire her as soon as possible, but it's a scary time for her.

Long time no post

Wow, I've been lazy. I've had a lot to say but I've been too lazy to actually put it into words and do the typing.

We are nearing the closing of the refinancing of our current place so we can set the closing for our place in the Keys. We're pulling out most of the equity to pay cash for The Cat House and fix the pool (priorities, you know), the a/c, and rip out the carpet and master bath and closet, pay for insurance (which will be exhorbitant, but what can you do), and have the electricity and water turned on in our names. After the place in WV sells (and the sooner the better) we won't have a mortgage! We should have enough to do a lot of the renovations we want.

Meanwhile, our '99 Camry has decided that about 230,000 miles is pretty much enough and is threatening to throw a rod or a bearing, so we can't drive it much. It's been a good car; we've had it for a couple of months over three years and have put a lot of miles on it. We'd replace the engine if we could find one cheap enough, but the only one available, it seems, is $4000 including labor and already has over 200,000 miles on it. The car isn't worth that much. For now I'm driving the truck to work. Nice because it's more comfortable and has a cd player, but it's so big and I'd rather drive something much smaller. Maybe after the houses are taken care of we'll be able to get another used car.

Several people have come over to see the property in the last couple of weeks, but no offers yet.

I've been knitting The Wedding Stole sporadically; it's probably almost half-done. I wish I'd started the heavy beading at the very beginning because it looks so pretty, but I didn't, and I'm sure not going to sew them on. I like the yarn (silk and cashmere) and it was so cheap ($6) on ebay. I'll use much more than that in beads. Since we're be heading to Big Pine Key as soon as we can close, I'll be near Key West and can go back and buy some more beads. I know I could order them, but this way I know what I'm getting. The wedding is Nov. 7, so I have to get cracking. I should be able to do a lot of knitting in the car, although on the way down we're leaving after a Last Train Home show and will drive the first 8-10 hours in the dark. I hope I can sleep; if not, I've got Twilight and the laptop.

B2 is loving kindergarten. The kid just lives life large in all ways. He's Mr. Confidence, Mr. Charisma, Mr. Alpha Male. He's quite a character. He spent two years being civilized in Methodist pre-school (they went into the "sintuary" for singing) so public school has been no big deal for him. He simply doesn't see the need, though, to practice his writing and counting and reading. He just tells the teacher "I don't want to do that." No anger, no yelling, he's just very sure that he doesn't want to do it. J asked his teacher if it's interfering with his learning; she said that he's very bright and is picking up all the concepts. Once he's got it, he's done, thankyouverymuch.

He's had some trouble with another boy in his class who seems to be a bully. B2 just tells him that what he's doing is wrong and to stop. And the kid does. It's a wonder that B2 himself isn't the object of bullying as he has some health-related issues that really make him stand out in a crowd. He's allergic to grass; whatever body part that touches it first breaks out in a rash which quickly turn to welts and then blister. It's pretty. So the child has to wear long sleeves and long pants with socks and running shoes in the Florida heat. (They're required to wear belts, too, with their shirts tucked in. On a five-year-old. Who outgrows his pants every couple of months.) So he's usually red-faced and extremely sweaty.

He also has a tendency to vomit copiously because he shoves food into his mouth at a high rate of speed. He always had. He is repeatedly told not to do this. Even the kids in his class now yell "B2, don't you dare! Stop that! I mean it!" and sometimes it works. He carries a little garbage bag with him all the time in case he needs to puke. And no one makes fun of him. They love him. They pay attention to his thoughts and generally go along. He's not bullying, I don't think, he's calm and apparently fair-minded.

This was not what we expected, but we're happy with it.

A is in the 4th grade and doing well. She's a broadcaster on their school news show and loves it. Last night she read a story to me and only stumbled over a few big words and she answered the questions in complete sentences and correctly. She's typing quickly and mispelling fewer words (spell-check, maybe? but not in her email. She definitely doesn't spell-check that.) Her emails are longer and more involved. What a difference moving to the poorest county in Florida and attending school there has made for her. She went from one of the highest income counties where the schools are new and pretty, where she had all kinds of trouble with bullies and teachers who said she was so far behind the other kids, to the poor county where things are old but where they try to spend their money intelligently, and she's blossomed. Straight A's. She's made lots of friends. (She was even asked by a boy if she'd "go out" with him. Mommy and Daddy said hell no. As you probably know, going out means hanging around together at school.)

We added a 10' x 10' deck to the back of the house and are enjoying it so much. It's one of those things that we wish we'd done earlier so we could have enjoyed it longer. And it would have been much bigger. Tom and his brother have done a lot of work, mostly finishing little things that they didn't finish when they built the place. A lot of junk has been packed or given away so there's a lot more room so it actually looks like someone lives there, not just stores stuff there.

Life goes on. I finally gave myself permission to enjoy the fall colors, almost too late. We aren't having the intense color that we have sometimes; there was an article in the paper about it that I didn't bother to read. But if it's the last time that I have to endure another fall and winter, maybe I can enjoy it.

We still haven't had frost in either WV or here in the Valley (Shenandoah). That's exceedingly unusual. We usually have a cold snap in the 20s of September then Indian summer, always frost by the first weekend of October, but none so far. Therefore there hasn't been Indian summer. I'm not complaining, just commenting. We didn't bring our plants inside until last weekend; usually we have to do that a good month earlier.

That's the news from this part of the country. At least, what I can remember of it.