Frozen Tundra

As seemed to be our luck lately, our plans to return to Wisconsin for the holidays did not go without one final hiccup.  On Monday we went about our business of last-minute shopping and errands to get ready for the trip.  Rick printed boarding passes, we packed luggage, and we made sure the garbage hit the curb that morning.  When we returned from shopping that afternoon, we noticed that Gladys felt "sticky" like the old doll was having a hot flash.  Oh, oh.  Rick checked the thermostat, and the humidity in the house was close to 70%.  He fiddled with the temperature, waiting for the air handler to send in some cool air.  The key word is "waiting" because the fan never started and the system never delivered air movement of any kind.  Great! If the system which was new only 2 1/2 years ago was going to break, why could this not have happened three days before this?

We called in a service man who, thankfully, promptly came.  He and Rick worked with the system, noting that shutting it down and rebooting it did not have positive results.  Error codes kept coming up, and although the system had power to the motor, the motor itself would not start.  He said that we needed a new motor for the air exchanger.  The good news is that the motor would be under warranty; the bad news was that the service calls and labor to replace it would cost us money.

That night we slept under a ceiling fan as the humidity slowly rose in the house.  Steve had agreed to meet another service man the next day so that we would not have to rebook our flight and incur hundreds of more dollars to fly home at a later date.  We are eternally in his debt and will gladly reciprocate if his property needs our watchful eye and help when they go back to Wisconsin in the spring or any time in the future.

To make a long story short, when the second service man came in, he reset the codes, and Steve reported that the system was working fine.  He checked the house today also, and all systems are still running... for now.  Since we saw the system fail three times in a row, Rick called the service center and talked to the owner.  We agreed that something still may not be right with the system, so before Steve and Chris leave for the holidays, they will shut the system down.  Gladys may get a little hot under the collar, but at least we know that nothing will freeze while we are away.  We cannot ask any more of Steve and Chris.  They have been wonderful.  We will deal with any air handler problems when we return to Florida.

The next day, we have arrived safely in Wisconsin, and sadly the weather is living up to the "frozen tundra" moniker.  Our journey home started early on Tuesday, December 10, when we heard our neighbor leave for work at a little before 5:30.  We knew the airport Shuttle service would be around to pick us up by 7:10, so we arose early to have time to prepare for the trip.  Showers, breakfast, medications, and final packing saw us ready by 6:30 a.m.

Miraculously, the Shuttle arrived a little early, and in the end we were thankful that it did.  One woman was already on board.  We received an automated call that the Shuttle would arrive in five minutes, so we locked Gladys, took our luggage, and waited at the end of our driveway.  Our first indication that this trip would not be worry-free occurred when we saw the Shuttle driver slow down about four houses from us, looking for an address, when two people with luggage by their sides were clearly visible through the driver's windshield.  Sheesh!  Did he need a billboard, even?  He crept up the street, helped us load our luggage, and we were off... at less than the speed limit.  He was more concerned with looking at his company message monitor than he was in looking at the road through the windshield.

Our Shuttle ride took us away from the airport to pick up one more couple.  They lived in a huge apartment complex with multiple look-alike buildings with tiny address plates.  We wasted over 10 minutes just trying to find the right building.  By this time, we were very frustrated because long stop lights, heavy morning traffic, and going less than the speed limit meant that we had been aboard the Shuttle for almost an hour.  Added to those frustrations was the fact that the people had not walked to the entrance of the complex where we easily could have picked them up and been on our way.  In fact, they had not even hauled their luggage outside as the Shuttle service requests.  The drive had to go in, drag their luggage out, and get them boarded.  How inconsiderate of them!  By this time, the other woman and we were starting to get time urgency.

As we started to drive into Tampa, the driver kept getting more and more messages on his company monitor.  Soon he was paying much more attention to those messages that promised extra fares for him than he was in watching the road.  At one point, he had to slam on the breaks to avoid rear-ending the car in front of us.  Thank God we did not get in an accident because we had little time to spare.  The first woman on the Shuttle asked if he could go to Frontier Airlines first because she was now down to an hour before her flight to Denver, and she still had to print a boarding pass.  As we approached Frontier's gate, I saw Southwest's gate two doors down the line.

"We'll get out here, too," I said, "since Southwest is just down the walk a bit."  I figured that we could walk to Southwest far more quickly than the driver could make another stop and reopen the back to get our luggage.  We were never so happy to get out of a Shuttle in all of our lives.

Once at the airport we were amazed to have our boarding passes quickly scanned and highlighted that we had pre-boarding approval.  When we got to the check-in lines, we were directed to one line while others behind us were direct to another.  While they had to remove shoes, unload electronics, and do all of the usual TSA checks, we were told to keep our shoes on, to simply put our luggage through the scanner, and to walk through a small scanner ourselves.  OK.  No beeps sounded, no one did a full body scan of me, no one checked my insulin Pod or questioned that I had 12 Pods with batteries in them in my luggage.  We picked up our luggage and were on our way.  While this was hassle-free for us, I really did not feel comfortable with the "security" measures to insure my safety.  I was innocent, but were others who got the same pre-boarding approval?

After a slight altercation with a man who could not read boarding signs, we were aboard the plane.  Thankfully, the plane was only half full, so I took a middle seat, Rick took the aisle seat, and no one was sitting next to me coughing or sneezing or trying to infect the whole plane. Thank God.  The flight was smooth, I was tired and actually fell asleep for about 20 minutes, and we landed almost on time in Milwaukee.  We left 80 degree weather only to arrive to 5 degrees above zero with a wind chill factor of -12.  Hmmm.  Why did we come to Wisconsin for the holidays?

Snow was on the ground and blowing a bit, so we had some concerns as to which highway we should use to drive north.  We chose I-43 since it is less congested and a shorter drive, but it does have the potential to ice and have drifts since it runs along Lake Michigan.  We encountered strong winds and a few flurries, but a couple of hours later we were once again in Green Bay.

I tolerated the flight well; however, by the time we got home, we were both exhausted.  Rick had the added burden of driving north, but I was refreshed enough from my plane nap that we decided to take the rental back to the airport.  Yesterday was the first time since mid-summer that I actually drove a car. I found that I can now drive without pain, so as long as I am not overtired, I can once again get from point A to point B by driving myself.  I still would not want to drive for hours at a time, but I felt good about getting some of my independence back.

I have no qualms about the flight back to Florida in January.  I know I will not have problems as long as my medications do not give me new side effects.  We now just need some down time, away from all people, to try to relax and decompress after what has been an emotionally and physically painful late summer, fall, and early winter.  While we did run into a couple of problems with the house in Green Bay, Rick was able to get them reconciled today, so we are hoping for a peaceful couple of weeks.  I pray that will happen.

December in Dunedin

A glowing boat in the distance participates
in the Holiday Boat Parade.

After dinner last night, Rick and I drove to the Dunedin Causeway to watch the Dunedin Holiday Boat Parade.  We were not able to be here last year, so we wanted to make sure that we witnessed this unique event.  Alas, our positioning was a little off.  We were too far away to get any really good pictures, but we were still able to sit on a beach, watch a sunset, and then see and hear (think Andy Williams singing "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" on loudspeakers from the deck of a huge boat) the parade go by.  My one meager picture does not do it justice.  Next year we will position ourselves for a better view by arriving a little earlier in the evening.  A nice picnic dinner on the beach before the parade might be in order.

Yesterday we ventured out to Lowe's and bought a little garden wagon to help with the yard work.  We have determined that the patio I unearthed in the back yard a few years ago really is in pretty rough shape.  Now is the time to take it out in the chunks that it has broken into and haul it to the dump.  First, however, we have to get rid of the cement patio set.  In its day, the set contained three benches around the table.  One of the benches was in pieces when we bought Gladys, and the second bench is missing an intact pedestal, so we are down to a single bench.  The table top and benches are not in the greatest

Cracked and uneven blocks make for a not-
so-inviting patio in the back yard.  Anyone
want a concrete table and bench for free?

of shape, so I would just as soon try to haul it to the magic curb and hope that someone with a strong back and a large truck hauls it away.  If not, the city will come and get it for a fee.  Either way, we will not really miss it in the back yard since we have only used it once or twice in two years.

This morning we took time out to remeasure the yard for the fence, taking into account where the posts would have to be positioned to accommodate the eight-foot panel sections.  Rick calculated how many posts, panels, and gate kits we would need.  Then we tried to estimate how much gravel, cement, cement tubes, and other building supplies would be necessary to complete the job.  His original estimates were pretty accurate. We would like to come back in January, spend that month prepping the site and painting the south side of the house, and then putting up the south side fence.  That will give both us and our neighbors some privacy back after two years of adjoining back yards.

Part of the site preparation involves removing the shrubs that were planted way too close to the house probably back in the 1960s.  Yesterday we cut down an unruly schefflera arboricola that thought it was a tree.  As you can see by the

A monstrous stump will need cutting and
perhaps yanking out with the truck to
make room for the new fence and gate.

stump that is left, it really HAD grown into a tree, and the roots are way too close to the foundation of the house.  The foliage will go out on Monday, and hopefully the stump will be on the same pile if I can coax Rick into stump removal tomorrow.

Our calculations show that the hibiscus next to the house under the guest room window also will have to be either removed or relocated so that our gate mechanism will work.  I will try to transplant that, but if it is too much of a pain, I will just purchase new. The one under the window is not the healthiest that I have seen, and Chris told me that the one she tried to transplant did not survive. I will not deal with that until January.

While we were watching the parade last evening, an elderly couple was chatting with us.  The woman mentioned that Dunedin was holding a local Art Guild art show today in the downtown area.  After lunch Rick and I ventured downtown for a look.  Keep in mind that the temperatures are once again above average in the low 80s and that a delightful breeze is blowing through cloudless skies.  The art ranged from "you really have the guts to call yourself an artist?" to some watercolors that were very good.  However, while they were reasonably priced, most of the pieces were quite small and nothing that we wanted to purchase.  We know that some spectacular art shows are scheduled for the spring, so our quest for reasonable but original art will have to wait until later.

Tomorrow will be dedicated for the most part to getting the house in order for when we are gone and packing a few things for the flight back to Wisconsin.  I really am not looking forward to ice, snow, and cold temperatures (wind chill in Green Bay was -1 this afternoon and snow was falling!), but at least the familiarity of the weather pattern will put me more into a Christmas spirit.  I'll be happy to be back with family and to meet with a select few friends, yet somehow I think returning to sunshine and warmer weather after the holidays will not be too hard to bear in January.

Blinds, Beaches, and Boats

The weather forecaster tonight said that Tampa reached a new high temperature of 84 degrees today -- a full 10 degrees above the average 74 normal temp.  We watched the weather in Green Bay climb from 3 degrees this morning up to a balmy 10 above by noon.  I literally shiver to think of what the wind chill factor was today!  For all that this area does NOT put me in a Christmas spirit (palm trees strung with lights and poinsettias blooming in front yard gardens is still strange...), I assure you that the weather in the 80's is not hard to take.  I ache much less and we actually can walk around outside.

We ventured out this morning with the intension of dropping paperwork off at my new rheumatologist's office, only to get there to find the door tightly locked.  Duh!  That's right.  At that point I remembered that the office is only open Monday through Thursday.  At least I had a chance to learn how to get there; from the outside, at least, it seems to be a nice place.  I will finally meet the doctor in January when we return to Florida.

Clean, simple blinds add to our "beach" motif. 

From there, we ventured to Lowe's, and after two trips, we ordered blinds for the rest of the house.  We took advantage of both a sale and a Lowe's coupon to get 30% off of Bali 2" faux wood blinds for the kitchen, guest bedroom, main bathroom, and Florida room.  As the picture of our bedroom windows shows, they are nothing fancy, but they do have the beach theme that we want throughout the house.  With the sales and coupon, we actually can complete every window in the house for less than Budget Blinds wanted to sell us two shades for the front doors!  We'll have lots of blinds to hang once we return in January.

When we were watching the news at lunch time today, I had to smile.  The TV is full of Christmas events including entertainment in the Tampa arena.  How that entertainment reflects that this area is full of octogenarians!  The big draws: an evening with Yanni (be still my beating heart...) and a one-night-only performance by Barry Manilow (oh, puh-leeze!)  Maybe that's why I love Florida; I feel SO young in comparison.

Shorts and shades to go along with the
sand on Sand Key Beach. 

We went to Sand Key Beach this afternoon since the weather was so nice.  We had to get in a short beach walk before we returned to ice and snow, and we certainly wanted to avoid the beach crowds this weekend.  Although it was windy, the people swimming and sunbathing in bikinis were not uncomfortable.  Remember, though, that the temps are unusually warm.  Had they been at the normal mid-70's, I think that swimmers would have to be very brave, and sunbathers may have been wearing a bit more.  Since I am ultra-sensitive to the sun, we did not stay too long, and I made sure I wore a hat (even though I HATE hats!)  Being on the beach in December was fun, though.

Dinner this evening was provided by Eli's, the best BBQ smokehouse in Dunedin.  Our beef brisket sandwiches were melt-in-our-mouths good. We bought them mid-afternoon because Eli's many times runs out of meat before closing time, but they were delicious reheated in the microwave.  And no, Bonnie, I did not buy a little sweet potato pie although they were available.  I did, however, think of you when I saw them.

After dinner we drove down to the Marina.  They are setting up for a Marina tradition that takes place tomorrow.  Each holiday season, boaters at the Marina decorate their boats and have a holiday lighted-boat parade out into St. Joseph sound, under the Dunedin Causeway, and back to the Marina.  Then the crowds that are gathered watch as the official Dunedin Christmas tree is illuminated in the city park.  We will avoid the park and crowds tomorrow, but we do intend to see the whole aquatic parade.  Our hairdresser, Vicki, told us to park on the Causeway to watch the boats from there.  She said we can even stay in the car if we want to avoid all people.  We'll go early for a good parking space and see how crowded it gets.

Simple but elegant wreath and lights.

This guy turned his boat into a floating,
fairy-tale castle.  He has been working on
this one for days.

Another view of the floating castle.

Even an open float-boat is decked out for the holidays.

Tonight we took a preview walk around the Marina since very few people were out.  The attached pictures show just some of the efforts that boat owners were taking to be a part of the parade.  OK, so they are trying.  People do not seem to decorate their homes here with as many lights as we do in the North, but they do have their own unique way of celebrating the holidays.

Productive Day

Today was a productive day, both from a personal, healthcare viewpoint and from a moving forward with our remodeling perspective.

The day started at Morton Plant Hospital where we took 10 minutes to arrange to have records sent to my doctor at Mayo.  She actually called me last evening and helped me adjust my medication schedule.  We were surprised when she said that all of my symptoms -- chills, shaking, headache, and fever -- could have been a reaction to one of the medications I am on rather than having any bacterial or viral cause.  Sadly, I will slowly go back on the same medication and be back at the same dose that gave me problems just as we get to Christmas week.  I spent Thanksgiving in the hospital, and I really do not want to have a repeat performance at Christmas time!  We'll see...

After that, we made a trip to the millwork shop and ordered all of our interior doors.  They will come in just as we get back in January, so we will have plenty to do inside the house if the weather prevents us from painting the exterior of the house in January.  Painting outside in January.  Hmmm.  Do you know how strange that sounds to someone who grew up in Wisconsin?  I understand that our northern home was covered in three inches of snow just this morning while we were riding around in air conditioning because the temperature topped 80 degrees today. The United States really does cover all climates and temperature ranges.

From the millwork shop we went to my regular doctor here in town who referred me to an area rheumatologist.  I also talked to the rheumatologist's office in Wisconsin to coordinate appointments with her for late spring.  Having two homes is wonderful, but coordinating healthcare in two states takes a great deal of time and energy.

Soon the front doors will have solar shades for privacy in the

evening and shade during the summer.

After lunch and a little rest, we drove to Lowe's to see about blinds on the front doors.  As mentioned earlier, there was no way that we could afford $1000 for blinds.  Funny thing.  We talked to a designer that we have worked with in the past, found the exact same solar shade material that the other guy tried to sell us for $800, and ended up ordering those shades with the same roller and chain drive for less than $240.  Will Gladys have the best on the market?   No, but she will have something equally as beautiful and functional for far less the cost.  She may not have the fanciest dress on the block, but the old girl will look pretty darn good with what we hang on her front doors.Those blinds, too, will be delivered in January.

By the time we got back home, I was pretty tired.  As always, I tried to avoid close contact with people while still functioning to get my life and our remodeling business completed. 

We took many positive steps today to get our lives back on track, and those accomplishments have given us both a sense of power and productiveness.  We'll be glad to continue that progress in January as we start to work on putting all of the pieces into place.

Roadblock, Recovery, and Remodeling

November was a terrible month.  As mentioned before, while we originally should have been in Florida for Halloween with the intension of using the gorgeous weather in November to paint Gladys, we instead spent the first 15 days of November at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.  After the successful trip down here, we were ready to relax and do a few, small remodeling jobs before we returned to Wisconsin for the holidays.

As you read in the last blog, Thanksgiving Day started well with an invigorating walk and a relaxing day.  However, by early afternoon, my body started to betray me once again.  I got a terrible chill and started to shake like a person with essential tremors.  By the time I was writing the previous blog, my hands were shaking so badly that I had to retype many words since my fingers double-tapped letters.  Thanksgiving dinner was in the oven, the rolls were cooked, and the cranberries were ready to go.

By dinnertime, I was freezing and I could not control the shaking.  I ate a quick meal (Rick only ate half of his), and then he insisted on taking me to the hospital.  While we have a small hospital in Dunedin, we chose to go to Morton Plant Hospital just up the street a bit in Clearwater.  That was an excellent decision. By the time we got to the hospital, the chills were worse, the shaking was slightly settled, but I had a fever of 100.2 degrees.  While that may not sound high, for me it is.  My normal body temperature is 96.4 degrees, so I was heating up quite nicely. Isn't it strange that a person can feel cold with a fever?

Upon hearing my recent medical history, the ER doctors went into full "this could be sepsis" mode.  Blood tests, vitals, and two IVs (one in each arm!) later, I was admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of an "unknown infection."  Since my immune system is now compromised, I was given a private room on the post-surgical floor.

I stayed in the hospital from Thanksgiving until December 1.  Thus, you can see that the last part of November was not any better than the first!  During that time, I had 19 tubes of blood drawn, two nasal swabs to rule out various types of flu, and so many bags of IV antibiotics that I lost count after 10.

The doctors let me continue to take the Prednisone I am on, so my muscle aches did not come back. However, they took me off the Imuran that suppresses my immune system to give me something internally to fight the still-unknown infection.  They sent me home with a strong oral antibiotic once my blood counts returned to normal, but now I have to coordinate with Mayo to see at what dose I should resume my Imuran on Thursday.  The fun never ends...

Rick and I were both surprised that after only a couple of weeks on the Imuran, my immune system is so compromised.  We know that Imuran takes about three months to be fully effective, so I thought I had a little more "grace time" before hiding away from everyone and everything.  Boy, did I get that wrong!

I now know that I have to avoid all crowds which is a good excuse for me NOT to go to the mall to do any Christmas shopping.  That's OK.  Either I can order online along with billions of other Americans or I can send Rick out to shop.  Giving money at Christmas also works.  Sadly, church is out for a while and I only go out when necessary, so I will have to be content to stay close to home with just a few outside visits.

This roadblock to my recovery is behind us, and I have learned a few valuable lessons.  The doctor told me to avoid crowds and anyone who is even THINKING of being sick.  However, I should "live life" by doing what I can and by choosing who to be around.  I will be with family and friends this holiday season... as long as no one is actively ill.  Stephanie is coming home for Christmas, and I cannot wait to see her.  I will go to the Court House on December 23 to witness the official, legal adoption of my grandson, and I will celebrate with family afterwards.  I will accept my friend's invitation to her house, and I will meet with other friends as planned.  I just have to protect myself to the best of my ability and pray that everyone stays healthy... including me!  DM is something I have to learn to live with, so the learning curve begins.

After we got home, we resumed our somewhat normal routine.  Basically, I do what I can and then watch Rick work.  He has been a saint.  Not only does he take care of me, he also takes care of the groceries, errands to the store, driving to doctor's offices, and almost everything else.  I know how hard that can be, yet he never complains.  We are both tired by the end of the day, so we are willing to accept that what we accomplished that day has to be good enough.

One of the great jobs completed happened on Sunday after we returned from the hospital.  As mentioned earlier, we can put construction and yard debris out to the curb for pick-up each Monday.  With that in mind, Rick tackled taking down the rest of the north side fence. I watched. The yard certainly looks different without the half-falling-down rotten wooden fence.  We cannot wait to get the new fence up, but that will have to wait until we return in January.

The rest of the north side fence is gone.  A
chain-link fence still surrounds the neighbor's
property, but it offers neither household much privacy.

The good news is that on Monday Rick was able to clean up the fence line and get most of the bags of leaves, sticks, vines, and small trees out to the curb before the city came around.  Almost everything is gone!

We are sure that the city will now be watching our house.  In Dunedin, you cannot legally put up a fence unless you take out a permit.  The city will do drive-bys to make sure that we have the correct permits before we start construction.  Let them waste their gasoline because we are not about to take out the permit until after the new year.  For one fee, we then will have a year to put up a new fence.  The fence will probably take us a month or two to complete (one to two posts and panels a day), but that is OK, too.  Actually, we cannot put up a fence until we get the south and north sides of the house painted since the posts will go right next to the house.  That's the problem with remodeling: everything has to be done in the right sequence, and everything is dependent upon something else.

The holes around the tree are "Rick holes," not
rat or gofer holes.  This tree will be a challenge.

Another question is what to do with the fence.  We have to go around the tree on our yard, so Rick has been making "test" post holes to see how far we have to go out and where the roots of the tree (like everywhere!) will interfere with the posts.  Right now, our yard looks like a 200 pound gofer has been trying to take up residence.

Of course, since I am trying to avoid people, I was in contact with too many yesterday.  Rick ran to the store, and not more was he gone than the doorbell rang.  Standing on my doorstep were two Jehovah's Witnesses asking me about my belief in prayer.  I told them the truth, avoided getting within 10 feet of them, and told them to pray for me.  Hey.  It can't hurt, right?

We had two men from Budget Blinds come in to give us a bid on putting blinds on the front doors.  While we love the light we get through the doors, privacy is still a bit of an issue at night, and in the summer when we are not here, we would like something to block the intense sun. Our cooling bill last summer was up about $10.00 a month since we put the doors in.  The men measured, showed us samples, and came up with an estimate that shocked us both.  We were figuring about $500 for the two doors, and their final bid came in at $1000.  A grand for two blinds?  Are they kidding?  Not in this lifetime.  Rick and I will look further.  Lowe's and Home Depot, here we come!

After little contact with the neighbors so far, we ran into our neighbor man from the north.  Since we just took down the fence, we ended up having a long conversation with him, too.  I tried to stand back to not get exposed to anything.  So much for limited contact with others!

Today, after coordinating records and doctors' appointments in two states, we both went for badly-needed haircuts.  I was a little concerned because my hairdresser, Vicki, sniffled all the while she was cutting my hair.  However, I also know she smokes heavily, so I am hoping the runny nose was smoke-induced rather than viral. Thank God I am still on an antibiotic.  Vicki removed enough hair from the two of us to stuff a small pillow; I must admit that we both look and feel better.

After the haircuts, Rick finalized plans for ordering our doors.  He is hesitant to order them in case something would prevent us from coming down in January, but I am determined that we will come.  Keep praying, folks!  He will order the interior doors either later today or tomorrow. Then this winter/ spring we can paint them and install them before we go home in the late spring.

Our plans are still ambitious despite the roadblocks we faced with my recovery.  We'll get as much done as possible and go forward from there.  I had a good, productive day yesterday doing small jobs around the house, so I know that I am going to get better.  I just need to try to have the patience to let myself get there.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

We told ourselves that today would be a relaxing, down day, and so far we have been able to just stay around the neighborhood and chill out.  It feels great.  I awoke with a headache, so about mid-morning we went out into the 40+ degree weather and tried, for the first time this year, a walk around the block. It felt so good to get out!  I made it around the block with no problem, although I must admit that I took a nap this afternoon.  A loving family, a new grandson, understanding friends, supportive prayers, and the ability to nap when I want to do so.  I have much to be thankful for!

Tuesday evening turned out to be a rather wild day in Florida.  Storms were predicted, and they came in during the early evening with very strong winds. Unknown to us, we actually had tornado warnings for Pinellas County.  Hmmm.  A tornado.  In Wisconsin, that is a part of living in the state. When the warnings come in, one just watches the TV and the clouds outside, and then heads for the basement if threatening weather appears.  But a tornado in Florida?  That is something we had not considered since we have no basement into which to retreat should threatening clouds swoop down.  After some thought, I guess we would have to retreat to the more enclosed areas within the house -- either the tiny coat closet in the hallway or the bedroom closet in the guest room. We have the security of the wind-resistent windows and doors, so I think we would be safe; however, a tornado is something I had not really thought about before.  We have already determined that if a hurricane heads this way, we will just get out early.  A tornado, however, does not give that much advanced notice.

The only consequence we had from the storm was to wake up early to the sounds of our charging phones beeping loudly as we lost power in the house.  After we both took quick showers before the 50 gallons of hot water in the water heater cooled, Rick drove to McDonald's to get us a fast, hot breakfast. By the time he arrived home, the power was back on.

I struggle each day with the desire to do many things around the house, and then find that I do not have the energy to do much at all. I threw in a load of laundry, and then watched Rick vacuum the whole house.  Terrazzo floors are fantastic, but we could vacuum each day to keep them clean.  Maybe that is a good thing. With carpet, the dirt just sits there, undetected.  At least with the terrazzo, we can see when we track in dirt and sweep it up, making the house cleaner.  After he vacuumed the main debris, I dry-mopped the whole house to pick up the dust.  At the time, it felt good to exercise.  Last night, I ached all over.  Maybe I over did the cleaning a bit.

Rick and I had found an area rug for the living room at the furniture store, but it was both too large and way too expensive for us.  Steve suggested that we look at rugstudio.com.  He has had good luck with their products.  We actually found the rug that we saw in the store; however, we are still not sure we can get it in the size we want.  We are going to wait until we have the sofas in place (probably sometime in February) and then determine the size of rug we need.  The good thing about the rug online is that it was about half price from the rug displayed in the furniture store.

A square jars holds change while the round
one works for my lancets.

Later in the afternoon, we went to Home Goods to look for some decorative jars for the bedroom.  Rick needed something to hold his spare change, and I wanted an enclosed container for the lancets I use when I test my blood.  We found two jars that we liked, so we bought them.  While we were there, we also found another rug -- for one-seventh of the price of the furniture store rug -- that may be a contender for the living room in the future.

Another stop yesterday was to a millwork shop that we have used in the past.  We got the laundry room doors there last year with the intension of replacing the other room and closet doors in the house with the same style of door.

The current doors in this house are terrible.  They have probably all been in the house since it was built in 1960, and as hollow-core, cheap doors, they are all starting to delaminate.  For now, we have glued them back together and slapped on a fresh coat of paint to clean them a bit, but they still look pretty tacky.

We had to wait for our saleswoman for a while, so she suggested that we go to their new showroom and look around.  In the showroom we found Paul working.  He is one of the partners for the shop.  We started to tell him about our problems concerning bedroom closet doors.  The current doors are 1960 original doors, and not only are they short on the bottom part to make room for much-needed storage on the top part, but also they are falling apart and do not really fit our modern lifestyle.  Rick talked about closing off the upper part, but we badly need the storage space it provides since we do not have a basement in this house.

The bedroom closet doors are held together
with glue and paint.  They need to go.

The guest bedroom has the same configuration,
so they also need to be replaced to match
the other doors that we want in the house.

Paul said, "I had the same configuration in my house.  Why don't you take out the whole frame, keep the storage shelves above, and just put in two eight-foot slide-by doors?  They are a tall and majestic, and they look great in my house."

We had not considered larger doors, but we think that with a little rebuilding of the structure and frame, we can have the closets that we want internally with the matching, clean look of new closet doors on the outside.

Our door budget took a bit of a hit because we also decided to order pre-hung doors instead of trying to strip the original frames.  I am afraid that they may contain lead paint, and I do not want to deal with that hassle or health-hazard right now.  The bid came in, naturally, at twice the price of our original budget, but that bid includes the four slide-by closet panels for the bedroom closets.  Rick has to figure out a bit more on the engineering side of rebuilding the interiors of the closets, but we are excited about the potential results.

We are thankful for the progress and decisions that we have made so far, so we are looking toward putting the plans into action when we return after the holidays.

Furniture, Water Softener, and the Old Oak Tree

Monday dawned with a list of chores to complete around the house.  Since we had to wait for the tree service man to arrive, I started the laundry.  Did I mention how much I appreciate all of the hard work Rick did last year to enclose the laundry room?  In this house, instead of having to go down a dozen stairs to a laundry room in the basement, I just take the laundry down one step into the clean, beautifully-tiled laundry room.  What luxury!

I planned to dry-mop the bedroom and to sweep down the cobwebs outside, but remember what I mentioned earlier about plans?  Well, before I could do either of those tasks, the tree service man arrived.  We have used Jeff's service in the past, and he is authorized to evaluate trees for the City of Dunedin to see if the tree warrants removal.

So the huge, old tree gets a pardon from the city.

Jeff took one look at our leaning live oak in the backyard and said, "I can almost guarantee that there is a 99.9% chance that the city will NOT give you a permit to remove that tree."  He declared the huge tree very old but healthy with well-grounded roots holding it in place.  He also reassured us that in the unlikely event that the tree DID fall on the neighbor's house, we would not be liable for the damages.  What hangs over on his property is apparently his problem.  Since the house is currently in an estate trust, and thus vacant, we have no one to worry about at the moment.

Jeff's news has presented us with another turn in the road.  Removal of the tree would have allowed us to build our fence behind it with a straight fence across the back of our lot.  Now we will have to reconsider the configuration of the fence.  I hate the idea of building the fence with a "bump out" to accommodate the tree, leaving it in a no-man's-land between the neighbor's chain-link fence and our vinyl fence, but we may have no choice.  Our other alternative is to build the fence straight across to as near as we can to the tree on either side, and to try to fill in the "gap" with bushes like oleander or hibiscus. Rick wants the bump-out; I need to study the area more. The fence question is something we will have to face this spring.

After Jeff left, we went to the furniture store to try to figure out the sofas.  We had taken some fabric home to see how two Temple sofas would work, and we found a fabric that we liked.  We also selected a fabric that would work for pillows, although neither of us was greatly thrilled with our choices.  Rick, in particular, was very hesitant. He was not sure about the fabric, the cushion construction, or the pillow choice.  I want to stay with a neutral sofa, terra-cotta accents, with yellow and aqua tones for sub-accents.  We found a fabric that would work for the Temple sofas and a terra-cotta --although plain-- fabric for the pillows.  Rather boring, but functional.

I just feared that Rick would not be happy unless we looked at some higher-end sofas.  He found two stores in Tampa that carry Sherrill which is the brand that we have at home in Green Bay.  He reasoned that if we added a couple of hundred dollars more to each sofa, we could have better construction, better fabric, and a better frame than the Temple.  I knew at that point that he was not going to be happy with the Temple unless the Sherrill came in at thousands of dollars more than the Temple.

While we were in the furniture store on Monday we received a call from the plumber that we had asked to the house to give us a bid on a water softener.  The water in Florida is very hard.  Supposedly, Dunedin has the softest water in the area, and that is not saying much!  A water softener will help save our appliances and my skin, so we somewhat feel that it may be a necessity.  When Rick first contacted the plumbing firm, the man he talked to estimated that we could get a softener for between $1400 -$1600 installed.  OK.  We had that in the budget.  They talked about the unit that we wanted, and the man said that he had an identical unit in his house that served him well.

When an estimator came to the house, he declared that we would need a larger unit for the house, and he detailed how we could bring the water from the front of the house where it enters the structure (weird, huh?) to the softener that we want at the back of the garage.  When I asked why two people who were here only part of the year would need a larger unit, I did not hear a logical reply.  When we received the call at the furniture store, the estimator said that he had been able to "just squeak your bid under $2500 at $2495!" Such a deal!  Say what?  He has got to be kidding!  How did a reasonable estimate suddenly increase by $1000, especially when Rick found the original unit that we wanted online for about $500.  Needless to say, we are not going to accept an outrageous bid for a water softener.  We want to go to the plumbing place and asked to see an itemized estimate.  I will not put in a larger unit, and if the majority of the bill is for labor, then we will plumb the whole thing ourselves and have the firm come in to just make the final connection to the whole-house main line.  Another alternative is to call a different plumber for a new estimate.  Did I mention that we hate working with contractors in Florida?

Meanwhile, back to the saga of the sofas.  Today (Tuesday) we decided to wait until Tampa traffic settled down and then visit the furniture stores in the area that handled Sherrill furniture.  Traffic in this area is bad, and it increases even more once the Snowbirds return.  I swear that half of Ontario winters in Dunedin; even the Toronto Blue-Jays have their training camp down here. And traffic going into and out of Tampa each day is horrendous, so we had to wait until at least 9:30 to venture into the city.

The first store was located only 17 miles from our house, so the drive there was not too bad.  We knew the minute that we walked in that the furniture was more upscale than the Temple dealer.  We sat on various sofas, finally finding a couple that "fit" us.  One of the problems with the Temple furniture had been that the sofa we would have purchased was not on the floor, so we could not get a "feel" for it.  For those of you who are less than 5' 5", you know what I am talking about.  I am only 5' 2", so finding a sofa small enough to fit my frame is a real problem.

However, we did find a sofa that we liked.  It is a Henredon which is a step up even from the Sherrill line.  Yes, each sofa will cost us about $350 more than the Temple would have, but we found an excellent fabric, cushion construction that we like, an exceptionally well-built frame, and even pillow fabric that will bring in my terra-cotta, aqua, and yellow.  Rick is happy, and I am happy. We found some other accent pieces, but I did not buy anything more once the tax, fabric protector, and delivery fees were added to the bill.  Was the final total more than we had anticipated?  Yes; however, we reasoned (rationalized?) that we had been willing to spend $2000 to get the tree removed, and since that did not happen, we had some budget money that we could put toward comfortable furniture.  The sofas will take approximately 12 weeks to get here.  I tried to talk the salesman into a "buy one, get one free" scheme, but he did not agree with my desires.  Rick said that if the house someday starts to slide into a sinkhole, I can grab whatever I want, but he is going to drag the sofas out of the front door!

We spent most of the day working on this furniture choice, and I am glad that we are finished with that decision. We did not get home until after 4:00 p.m., but I feel that we spent the day well.

I hear rain outside right now which is far better than the snow I know our family members are experiencing in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Thursday is Thanksgiving.  The weatherman predicts "the coldest Thanksgiving in a decade" with temperatures "only in the low 50's" the whole day.  I think I can hack that.  We will miss being with family for the holiday, but we will make our own celebration here and take advantage of the day (and day after since I am not crazy enough to ever shop on Black Friday) to just stay at home and relax. After all that we have done in the last four days, I think we deserve a little break.

Little Turkeys and Rotting Fences

This morning dawned with a predicted "cold front" coming through the state.  Ha!  To those of us raised in the North, a cold front means that when you step outside, the -30 degree weather sucks the air right out of your body, making moving, breathing, and even thinking slightly painful.  To Floridians, a cold front means that the temperatures today dropped down to the low 70s!  What wimps.

We went to church this morning, and we were again greeted very warmly.  The congregation is small (only one child went to the front for the "children's lesson"), and because many in the congregation are elderly, never once did the Pastor ask anyone to stand.  That was all right with me this morning as I was rather tired.  The service lasted a bit long, but it gave me enough time to rest so that I had energy to shop and to do a little around the house after lunch.

We stocked up for our Thanksgiving feast by buying a small -- although still expensive -- Butterball turkey breast.  I might try it in the crock pot this year if I can find a good recipe.  If not, I have an almost new oven that will work just as well.  Rick and I also went to Kohl's and bought a new Cuisineart Griddle/ Grill/ Panini machine.  That will replace the old George Foreman griddle that definitely has served us well in the past but is now ready for retirement.  I like the new machine because all of the grill pans just pop off and can go into the dishwasher. Not only is that easier but also much more sanitary in the end.

Owen's first Thanksgiving outfit and pose.  What's not to love?

We were delightfully surprised yesterday when Lindsay sent us "first Thanksgiving" pictures of five-month-old Owen. He is the new love of our lives, and his shirt says, "Everyone is Thankful for Me."  We truly are. He makes us smile, renews our faith in discovering the world all over again, and keeps us happy that he has joined our family.  His adoption becomes final in December, and that is the greatest Christmas gift that this family ever will experience.

This afternoon Rick concentrated on starting to remove the rotting north fence.  Steve and Chris had

Rick removes a section of fence from a
rotting fence post.

The Saws-All easily cuts through the wood
to separate the fence into sections.

The sections come down, one by one. Since
two could not cut at the same time, I sat in
a chair.  Every good job needs a supervisor!

Once Rick detaches a section, he cuts
it in half to carry to the curb.

each put back one section after it blew down twice, and when we looked out this morning, that same corner section was down, leaning against a small bush, and taking out a branch on the bush in the process.  The Saws-All and a little muscle power made short work of the first sections of the fence. Having the cooler temperatures also made the job much more enjoyable.

In this city, we can only put out construction debris and yard waste on Mondays.  They do collect garbage on Thursday also, but that is just for regular garbage cans.  By taking out four sections of fence today, we had about as much debris as they would pick up on Monday.  We'll take out the rest of the fence over the next week, stacking the sections so that the second and then last third go to the curb in the next two weeks.

Rick said that he felt good getting back to work on the house.  I know that my medical limitations has totally changed our viewpoint on remodeling the house, but today renewed my faith that we can still make progress.

I did a little and feel pretty good this evening.  A little light exercise is good for me, so I have to keep that up each day as I slowly regain my strength.  Tomorrow, unless it is raining, I would like to take a broom and sweep down the soffits and sills of the house.  We have cobwebs everywhere, so a good sweeping will begin the process of clearing the house for paint.  I would imagine that while I am doing that, Rick will take another crack at taking down more of the fence.

We are making progress.  While we may not move as quickly as we have in the past, we are still moving forward, and that is the greatest feeling in the world.

Choices and Questions

After a fairly sleepless night in the guest room after Rick snored me out of bed, I awoke rather late (7:13 a.m. EST) to sunlight streaming through the window.  Today turned out to be a beautiful Florida November day: sunshine, a slight breeze, with highs in the low 80's.  Strangely for us, being in this beautiful weather and seeing both turkeys and Christmas trees on display is somehow surreal. A call from my mother in Wisconsin reminded us that they are having temperatures in the low teens right now.  I think I like the Florida temperatures much better.

We took advantage of the day by going down to Largo (about 8 miles south of here).  We wanted to find the clinic where I had chosen my rheumatologist.  When we were at Mayo, Rick and I spent over three hours researching sites and doctors in the area.  I thought I had chosen a well-qualified doctor with good reviews from patients.  The facility itself is very nice, but Rick has started second-guessing my decision just because they are across the street from a hospital that has less than a grand reputation.  I will have to check to see if the doctor is affiliated with other hospitals; he is freaked about the fact that the doctors all own the clinic, making it a for-profit operation.  I just want a facility where I can get blood work done, consult with the doctor to have my treatment coordinated with Mayo, and try to get on with my life.  I hope this is the right place.

After finding the clinic, we started furniture shopping.  Thus far, Gladys has cast-off furniture-- our old sofa from our camper and a couple of Ikea chairs in the living room.  The sofa was custom-made and expensive, but it is not a full-size sofa, and it is starting to show its age by having cushions that sag at the top.  Plumping them up restores them, but only temporarily.  The Ikea chairs are comfortable for a while, but they, too, are not made for full-time living room comfort. Currently, only the wonderful cherry tables that Rick made will be a permanent part of the living room decor.

We debated on whether to purchase a new sofa and two recliners, or to buy two matching sofas.  We like the chair idea, but since we would need two different recliners to match our individual sizes, then the question comes in as to which chair would be positioned to use when watching TV.  Additionally, the chairs would have their backs to the front door, so seeing the back side of a high recliner is not the most ideal view for incoming guests.

Our other option is buying two identical sofas, one on each side of an area rug with our coffee table in the middle.  While this option is more expensive, it will give us more seating, a cleaner back-side look from the door, and a lower profile over which to see the rest of the room.  We went to a store in Largo that specializes in sofas made by Temple, Inc.  Temple is a made-in-the-USA furniture manufacturer in North Carolina.  They make sofas with shorter depth and height for shorter people like we are.  If a person cannot find a sofa to fit her in their stock line, Temple also offers tailor-made construction.  One can choose arms, backs, cushions, and finish designs -- for a price, of course.  We like the fact that the company does not skimp on the design elements; the frames are all hardwood instead of particleboard, the frames are more heavy-duty than normal, and the company is energy and recycling conscious.  I would rather buy and support a family-owned company here in America than a facility overseas that uses both cheap labor and cheap materials.

After much discussion, we narrowed the selection down to one stock Temple sofa that seemed to fit our needs.  We brought four material samples home, eliminated one almost immediately, and then worked with the remaining three.  From those, we both like the color scheme on one and the slightly better quality of material on the other.  The jury is still out on the final selection.

As usual, Rick then began to doubt what we had decided upon.  The height of the sofa seat we chose is a couple of inches higher than the Sheirl sofa we currently own.  Now he worries that the new sofa would be too high.  Actually, we sat in a similar (although not exactly the same model) Temple sofa in the store, and it was very comfortable.  He is worried that we did not sit on the sofa we would be buying, but we both know that fabric choice and simple manufacturing components all factor into how the sofa will fit and feel.

He now wants to look at a store that carries Sheirl sofas like the ones we have in Green Bay.  While I am not opposed to looking further, I can honestly state that I am happy with what we have chosen from Temple.  They are good quality, will last us well for the time we spend in Florida, will fit our decorating style, and will be less expensive than a Sheirl sofa.  I am not convinced that Sheirl is the way to go, but I will try to keep an open mind and look.

After lunch we made a quick trip to Target to get some badly-needed supplies, and then we came home.  I was exhausted by that time, both from being out and from my lack of sleep yesterday.  Rick was antsy, so while I took a nap, he went out with a transit to measure our back yard.

Putting up a privacy fence is going to be a priority very soon, so he was anxious to survey the land.  We are on hold with those plans until Monday when the tree service comes in to let us know if we can remove that giant tree.  For right now, all we can do is remove the old fence and draw plans for the future.

I know that Rick was irritated that I could not go out and help him.  He does not blame me, but he is having a really hard time not having me there to help or at least to work along side him.  He always has done the majority of the work, yet having me out of the picture is difficult for him to stay motivated.

We will not do much while we are down here this trip.  Both girls called, and we had a delightful call on Facetime interacting with our new grandson, Owen.  We miss him and the rest of the family.  This will be a strange Thanksgiving with no one around; however, I am sure that we will manage.

Tomorrow we need to go to the store and stock up on food for the week.  Actually, yesterday we took a ride around the neighborhood and saw a Schwan's food delivery truck.  Since we get Schwan's Foods in Green Bay, we asked him to stop by our house.  He obliged, so we now have food in the freezer that are all-time favorites.  We plan to leave the refrigerator running while we are north for the holidays, so if we do not eat out the freezer before we leave, that is OK too.

Tensions are high tonight.  We are not in agreement about the furniture, the reality of my limitations is starting to make itself known, and we are concerned both about finances and family members at home.  Maybe a good night's sleep tonight will make Sunday dawn brighter.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig

We are home.  After three years of hard work, we have finally gotten Gladys to the point that when we walk through the front door, she feels just as much like "home" as does our long-time home in Green Bay.  And being able to fit into the contours of our own bed last night was pure bliss.  We both slept very well, although the Eastern Time clock still only said 6:15 when we awoke this morning.

Thursday was a long, long day for both of us.  The third day on any trip is a killer, and since Rick had already driven 1000 miles, he told me that he just dreaded getting back behind the wheel of the truck.  Neither of us had a particularly restful night, so that added to the problem.  Once again, we arose early and headed down the road before stopping for breakfast.

Coming out of Montgomery, we faced several miles of stoplights and limited access road before we crossed the border into Florida to get back on the interstate.  The drive to Florida seemed to take forever.  There are no major cities along the route and traffic was manageable, but anticipation of getting home and just plain fatigue made the trip seem endless.  We took breaks to stretch when we needed to, but we did not loiter either to eat a long lunch or to purchase local delicacies such as freshly boiled peanuts. (Ugh!)

On Thursday we started a count of how many Snowbird campers we passed.  Thursday's total actually surprised us because we thought that most Birds would be down here by now.  Not so.  We passed eight 5th wheel trailers, seven motorhomes, and no travel trailers.  I guess trailers are starting to be out of vogue as people find 5th wheel trailers easier to tow.  Today, we counted four 5th wheels, four motorhomes, and one die-hard travel-trailer.  We both agreed that we are glad we no longer have the care and storage issues of a trailer, and with my achey muscles, I am glad that I do not have to climb up into a trailer at the end of the day.  Eh! Gad!  I really am starting to sound old!!

Once we crossed the Florida border, we were able to see our first palm trees.  That is always my brain's signal that we are again in Florida.  For the first time, however, we experienced a new sight.  As we got into southern Alabama yesterday morning, we saw cotton fields in bloom.  We have never travelled through the Southern United States at this time of year, so this was a new sight for both of us.  The plants themselves had reddish-brown bark. Do they start to die off as the cotton ripens, or is that their natural color? I will have to look that up.  The cotton bolls themselves were plump and white.  We smiled because along the shoulder, we could see clumps of cotton bolls lining the road.  We do not know if they blew from the fields or if they blew off a truck of picked cotton.  The fields were quite a sight, so we have fun learning something new about a product that we end up wearing each day.

This morning we awoke well-rested, but I soon learned that my desire to do something and my energy to accomplish those tasks are still miles apart.  After showers this morning, we started some laundry, and then I decided to scrub down the two bathrooms.  Ha!  I cleaned the toilet, sink, and mirror in the master bath, and I was exhausted. Remember what I said earlier about "plans"?  Rick reminded me that we had only left Mayo Clinic a week ago, and that I have to take things easy.  The physical therapist told me that I should do my stretches, "live life" -- that is, do what I can with the energy that I have -- and then rest.  I wanted to do more, but God was laughing.

A trip over to Steve and Chris' house was a great respite.  The fruits of their labors in their yard really paid off.  It looks great, and we hope to be in their position some day.  We enjoyed seeing them and hearing about their plans for this year. They took time from their busy schedules to help us get the car ready to drive when we arrived, so we are eternally grateful for their help.

We took a walk around the house when we got back home.  Our yard service has done a great job with the trimming and grass, so much so that the temporary patio blocks that make up our front sidewalk now have trimmed greenery (read: weeds) that will prevent the path from turning into a mud patch in the rain.  A paver sidewalk, therefore, is on hold until next year.

The leaning live oak presents a fencing issue.

Our biggest (literally!) issue is the live oak tree in the back yard.  It is on the back edge of our property, and the canopy is split into two major branches since power lines go through it.  The tree is leaning over the neighbor's house behind us, and the whole thing will make putting in a fence a royal nightmare.  The tree is humongous, so we expect that we will have to pay a king's ransom to take it down... if we are even able to do so.  Dunedin protects live oaks, so we may need special permission to even remove it.  We would love to do so because then we could put in a fence and plant new shade trees in the back yard in more appropriate locations.  That may mean spending more time than we originally wanted to down here to make sure the trees last through the summer, but those plans are all in the future right now.  We are having our tree service come in on Monday to learn if we are able to remove the tree and, if so, what the cost estimate will be.  I may have to lie down after I hear of that expense!

The rickety old wooden fence on the north side of our property is falling down, so that will be one of the tasks that we would like to tackle while we are here.  Saws-All to the rescue!  Once the fence pieces are at the curb, we can figure out how to add a new fence to the yard to get us our privacy back.  We have wanted a new fence for two years now; the time is now right to install one.

Our north side fence has partially fallen
once, and it needs to come down.

The walk-around also revealed our need to paint the exterior of the house. Rick has high hopes of getting the house washed, primed, and covered with two coats of paint yet this year.  I feel weary just hearing about it all.  I will do what I can to help, even if that is only being a cheerleader-in-a-chair holding his water bottle as he works.  He needs to listen to himself as he talks to me by remembering that if he does just a little each day without working himself to exhaustion, the task will be completed in the end.

Painting, new furniture, a new water softener, and a fence will be our goals for this year.  That list is ambitious considering I do not know how much I will be able to help.  The other plans for remodeled bathrooms, lanai patios, re-landscaped yards, and a remodeled garage all will have to wait until later.

After all, we have lots of plans, but we don't want God to laugh at us too loudly.

Four States and Three Major Cities Later

After a blissfully restful night, we were both awake at 4:30 a.m., so we decided to get ready and to leave Illinois early.  We made good time and watched the day dawn clearly as we traversed Kentucky.  Our breakfast consisted of left-over muffins and orange juice at one of several stops at Rest Stops along the way.

Once again, traffic was fine until we got to Nashville, TN.  I do not know what it is about Nashville, but each time we go through the city, our GPS gets all mixed up.  Lindsay named it "Victoria" because she said the the voice on the GPS "sounds like someone named Victoria." OK. Whatever.  At any rate, Victoria apparently was listening to good old country music instead of paying attention to the roads because, had we followed her directions, we would probably be in Memphis tonight!  Traffic was terrible through the city, but with our old-fashioned paper maps, we were able to soon be south of the city.

Although we started in 30-something degree temperatures, we again were blessed with a clear, sunny day.  (Side note: an e-mail from Stephanie in Minnesota told us that Rochester was receiving the forecasted snow that we were trying to avoid as we left Wisconsin.) We actually made good progress today, traveling through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and two-thirds of Alabama.  Unlike their northern problem city, the cities of Birmingham and Montgomery posed no real problems.

Our hotel tonight, just south of Montgomery, is not in the location Rick had envisioned. He is disgruntled about it, but we are both too tired to go further.  After a little problem with the first room, we are now settled into a new room for the night. Rick is probably as exhausted as I am right now, so we will try to settle in early tonight.

We have approximately 500 miles and a seven hour drive ahead of us tomorrow, but if we have the stamina to do one more day of this travel, we will be able to sleep in our own house in our own bed tomorrow night in Florida.  That luxury will be worth whatever it takes to get there.

"Man Plans..."

My very good friend Bonnie told me that her mother used to say, "Man plans; God laughs."  In the past month, Rick and I have found that saying to be so very true. We can have all the plans in the world, but if that is not what God has in mind, those plans are all for naught. We know who is really in charge.

Our original plans for returning to Florida and for continuing our remodeling of Gladys meant leaving on October 25.  We had lofty ambitions: purchase new living room furniture; power-wash, prime, and paint the outside of the house; install shutters; add stone around the foundation of the house; select, paint, and hang seven interior doors; remove the leaning oak in the back yard; remove the north fence; install a new white vinyl fence; replace the front patio blocks with a new paver sidewalk, and perhaps (phew!) have a cement lanai patio slab poured in the back yard.  We had arranged for financing of all of the above -- we hope -- and were eager to begin.

Such plans!  However, since approximately last February, we both had noticed subtle changes in me.  I started having slight problems swallowing some types of food.  Then I noticed achey muscles and fatigue.  This was followed all summer with progressive weakness, more pain, and even greater fatigue.  By the end of the summer I had seen three doctors in Wisconsin.  The third, my regular doctor, said that I might have a condition called "polymyositis."  He advised me to see a local rheumatologist for treatment.  Stephanie, our daughter, urged us to get an appointment at Mayo Clinic to have the diagnosis confirmed.

Instead of leaving for Florida, we took a detour to Rochester, Minnesota.  Fourteen days and over 22 tests/ consultations later, I had a confirmed diagnosis.  I have a rare (read 10 people in 1 million!) condition called "dermatomyositis" and "mixed connective tissue disease." Basically, my autoimmune system is attacking my muscles, leaving me with muscle and nerve damage, weakness, and extreme fatigue. There is no cure, but I can be treated with medication.  I am now on that medication which has some nasty side-effects, but it is worth them to slowly regain my quality of life.  I can now move, for the most part, without pain.  I have regained some of my energy although not my stamina yet.  Rebuilding muscles, restoring nerves, gaining strength, and increasing my energy level will not happen overnight.  Some people take over two years to get back to "near normal."

Throughout this all, the love, concern, and prayers of my family, beloved friends, neighbors, and pastor all have helped us both endure this detour in our life plans.  I told Rick, "We were headed down the road with a clear goal in sight, and then suddenly we were forced to turn a corner.  Now we have to chart a new course and find a new path to get back to those same goals."

Our trip today is the first part of that new course. Although our youngest daughter did not want us to go, I will not let this condition totally destroy our plans.  We watched an inch of snow fall while we were still in Minnesota, so we knew that if we were going to drive our truck back down to Florida, we had a very limited window of opportunity before weather would make such a venture either dangerous or impossible.  The weather forecast for Wisconsin showed that we had one clear day this week -- today -- to get out of the state before another rain/ snow mix was headed for the state.

After an almost sleepless night (insomnia is one of the side effects of the medication I am taking), I got up with Rick at 5:00 a.m.  I am too weak and tired to drive safely, so we knew that Rick would have to do all of the driving.  We normally take two days to get to Gladys; this trip is planned to span three to four days since we did not know how I would travel or how tired Rick would be doing all of the driving.

The day dawned clear, and we had beautiful sunny weather all day.  The weather was cold.  We noted frost on the roofs of the houses both in Wisconsin and in northern Illinois.  Traffic, even at 5:30 in the morning, was incredibly heavy, so the drive through Milwaukee and Chicago was pretty tense.

As we drove through the east-central part of Illinois, we noted an area that gave testament to the monster tornadoes that ravaged the state earlier this week.  These rare November tornadoes destroyed whole sections of towns and resulted in eight deaths.  At one point, we passed a farm where the barn was intact but the house was leveled.  The fields around the area were littered with huge pieces of twisted metal, roofing, boards, and other storm-tossed debris. Suddenly our little shattered plans were rather insignificant in thinking about what thousands of newly-homeless people now face.

We pushed a little further than we originally anticipated, arriving at Mount Vernon, IL, a little after 2:30 p.m.  We had stopped earlier for a hot lunch, so that gave us enough energy to do the last hour of driving.  When we arrived, Rick went to fill the truck with gas while I crawled onto the bed.  I was exhausted.  I planned (there is that word again!) on taking a short nap; incredibly, I woke up almost two hours later.

We are in for the night.  We'll have a light dinner in our room, relax, review the maps for tomorrow, and see what happens in the morning.  While we will set an alarm, if we awake earlier, we may leave earlier.  If not, we will take the day as it comes. The weather reports tonight show that rain/ snow are forecast for the upper Midwest, so the further south we go, the better we will feel about avoiding dangerous winter weather.  We hope to stay tomorrow night in a hotel in mid-Alabama, arriving in Florida on Thursday and at Gladys on Thursday or Friday.

That's the plan at least.

Safely at our Northern Home

We are safely home in Wisconsin, and even though we are happy to be back with family and friends, we have to admit that Wisconsin did not welcome us home in a manner that we had hoped for.  We were met with grey skies, a smattering of rain, and temperatures in the 20s and 30s!  Yikes!  What happened to spring?

We actually are back in long pants, long sleeved shirts, sweatshirts, and leather jackets.  Last night the weather service issued a freeze warning for the entire area, and this morning we awoke to 30 degree temperatures... which was warm compared to the 29 degrees that greeted us on Sunday morning!  We heard that the temperature this morning tied a record for the coldest May 13; thankfully, temperatures back into the 70s are predicted for later on this week.  Only in Wisconsin...

Before I go further, my friend Bonnie scolded me for not completing my saga of the stain across the Florida Room floor.  So to finish that story, I can report that Rob did eventually come back to Gladys to bleach out the new stain he created on the floor and to polish out the dull section of the floor that was under the poultice.  The results, sadly, were not a good as we had hoped for.  The new stain that he promised would come out did, for the most part, but the joint between the two floors in that area is slightly darker and more noticeable.  The overall large stain is lighter than it was before, but it has not totally disappeared.  Rob filled in the patches that came out with the poultice, and we are happy with the job he did blending those spots into the rest of the floor.

The floor after the poultice is gone but before the floor was
polished.  After buffing, the stain is lighter but is not
totally gone. 

I am not sorry that we tried to get the stain out because by coming back, Rob also buffed out some scratches on the floor, repaired a problem area in the master bath, and lightened the stain that was in the center of the kitchen floor.  We both had hoped that the large stain would be erased, but I guess that stain will just be a reminder of the doors that used to grace the house.  Like a birthmark, the stain is part of who Gladys was and is, so we will just put up with it.  Ironically, the stain lightened the most on the area of the floor that is completely hidden by the couch.  Figures, right?

The trip home was long, tedious, and exhaustive.  For some reason, neither Rick nor I seem to be able to get our energy back.  We did the trip in two days, and that probably was a big mistake.  We started by getting up at 3:00 a.m. on Friday morning.  I had not slept well at all on Thursday evening, finally moving to the guest room at midnight so my tossing and turning did not keep Rick awake all night.  I finally dozed off a bit, but I do not think that either of us got the rest we truly needed.

At that time of the morning, our trip through Tampa was fast and uneventful.  We ate muffins and drank orange juice from cartons at about 6:00 a.m while continuing to drive . Rick drove until northern Florida, and then I took over on Highway 10 across the panhandle.  Lunch was compliments of Publix Grocery store: they make mean submarine sandwiches that we really enjoy, so we bought two on Thursday and packed them into our electric cooler.  A wayside lunch of sandwiches, pretzels, grapes, and water did not delay us too much, and we were soon traveling the sunny highways of Alabama.

We reached a certain point in Alabama where Rick said, "Isn't this the place that we saw the genuine Alabama horse's ass?"  (Note: Rick drives by landmarks, and apparently that episode in our ride down was stored in the mapping region of his brain.)

"I think so, " I said as I looked over the highway and surrounding fields. "All I see, though, are cows." At that point, as if on cue, a very broad cow turned her backside to the road, unceremoniously lifted her tail, and presented us with the gift of a large, steaming, freshly-produced genuine Alabama cow pie! Icky! You will be happy to know that I do not have a picture to include with this part of the narrative.

Traffic was good through Alabama, and we traveled through the two largest cities, Montgomery and Birmingham, with ease.  After living for the last four months in the most populated county in Florida, I guess that even large city traffic seems not so bad.  Actually, we have had very little trouble with those two cities in the past.  The city that always gets us is Nashville, and that metropolis was not on our agenda the first day.

Rick drove through most of Alabama, with us switching off driving again in Tennessee.  We noted on this trip that once a person gets north of Ocala, Florida, the palm trees disappear, being replaced by trees and evergreens that one could see in Wisconsin.  Alabama is called the "Beautiful State," but if one looks through the beautiful trees, one is greeted by miles and miles of beat up shacks and unkept, grubby homesteads.  Poverty and boiled peanuts seem to go hand-in-hand in the state. Tennessee and Kentucky both greeted us with lush greenery, blooming shrubs and trees, and definitely a higher standard of living.  We drove as far as Columbia, Tennessee, the first night.  Columbia is just south of Nashville, and we did not want to tackle that city at the end of an 11 hour drive.

We both beat the alarm awake on Saturday morning, so we were back on the road by 4:15 a.m.  We had about a half-hour drive to get to Nashville, and I will admit that driving through the city before 5:00 a.m. on a weekend is the way to go.  We encountered rain, as we generally do in Nashville, but traffic was light so we were able to get through the city without much tension.  The last time we went through Nashville we were involved in a rainstorm so strong that we could not even hear directions on the Garmin, and traffic was high while visibility was low.  This time we could hear the GPS directions, the rain was sprinkles, and the traffic was light.  Compared to last time, this time was a breeze.  We followed the rain all the way through Illinois without really catching up to any major storms.

Illinois is a never-ending state when all one wants to do is reach a destination.  We switched drivers about every three hours because Illinois is flat and boring, and after abut three hours, highway hypnosis starts to take away that defensive driving edge.  Once again, Rick ended up driving more than I did since I refused to drive around Chicago and Milwaukee.  I told him once we got north of Milwaukee, I would take over, but he was stubborn, so he actually drove from one hour south of Chicago all the way to Green Bay.

The one thing that we noticed was that the minute we crossed into Illinois, the temperatures started to drop, and by the time we reached Chicago, we had crossed from summer to spring, then back into late winter.  I honestly admit that if we did not have family and friends in Wisconsin, we would sell this "summer home" and live permanently in Florida -- and this is coming from a woman who spent the last two summers and hurricane seasons in the stormy, steamy south!  We both hate cold weather that much.  Yes, Wisconsin has many things like good education, good customer service, superior elderly care, and good healthcare services going for it, but it just cannot seem to get the weather right!

For now, though, we are home.  Lindsay gave us both a big hug, so maybe she did miss us more than our truck.  She and Christopher were sweethearts, thoughtfully turning on our refrigerator and stocking it with breakfast essentials so we did not have to eat out on Sunday morning.  The house looks good, thanks to their watchful care this winter, and we now look forward to getting our spring and summer life into full swing.  We have a badly neglected yard to attend to, a rummage sale to rid this house (which seems terribly dark and cluttered after Gladys) of the excess possessions we have accumulated over the years, and a few local trips to take to remind us why we will have a delightful time spending the summer and fall in Wisconsin.

Driving from Florida to Wisconsin in two days is an exhaustive task, but we now know that whether we are in Florida or Wisconsin, we can truly say, "It's good to be home."