Exhausted

Well, we arrived. After three days on the road with two cats and a dog, we made it to Venice Island. The location is awesome, three blocks from the beach. The neighborhood is nice. Our first day, the lady across the street brought us a tray of brownies. Today, the woman directly across from us brought us a plate of pumpkin bread. YUM! How weird is that? Would you ever accept food from complete strangers in Chicago? Let alone, allow someone knocking on your door at 7AM into your house? Different world down here. The neighborhood seems nice, the rental - not so much. It is kind of a pit, but we are paying out the *&% for the location. So far we have had a plumber, electrician and an appliance repairman here. Still waiting on the handyman to fix the big stuff! HA! Not exactly my dream home.

It has only been in the high 70's, low 80's, since we arrived which is totally weird. Every other time we have been here it is in the 100's. I am freezing! This was not in the brochure!

Also not mentioned in the brochure, having to roach proof your house. I knew about the gators, the pythons, the sharks, the outdoor bugs galore...no one mentioned that Florida is the roach capitol of the universe. Again, NOT in the brochure. Had to spend a day buying 100's of $$$ worth of plastic air-tight everything to hold, well, everything, so we do not attract the little buggers. Yuck. Then I found a Wolf Spider in my kitchen. Oh, everyone said I was so lucky to have one - they are the best bug killers! Oh, yeah. My dream come true. If you have never seen one, imagine a salad plate with fangs and legs.

It really is a different world down here. A world I want to be part of, but have not yet been able to downshift into. Michael keeps telling me I have to relax, that the people down here do not know how to deal with the likes of me and my anal retentive, Type A ways. He has already adapted far better than I. He is patient and pleasant with everyone. I keep asking people if they f'ing brain damaged. Maybe not the 'Hello' they are used to, but I need to get things done. No one seems to understand this. Anyway, I will eventually settle in. Once the house is in order, all the repairs are done, and I can take a day to breathe, everything should be ok.

The other day we took a break to go fishing gear shopping for Micahel & stop by the pier (5 blocks from my house!). Arrived just as a guy caught a baby shark! Venice is the Shark Tooth capitol of the world, you know. The little buggers and their mommies are everywhere down here. I took pictures and promise I will post them soon. Just too tired to do anything more tonight.

Well that is the jist of it all right now. I will post more with pics later. right now I nee to slip into a coma.