Monticello

As promised, I'm using a computer in the Monticello library.

Today I changed my drivers license, voter registration and got a library card.

The house is coming along slowly...still have a million boxes to unload...and easily that many to dispose of. No garbage pick-up at the house...still haven't found out where to take it.

The animals seem to be adjusting.

Have had one interview (in Tallahassee) and have filled out an application with the Monticello News...keep your fingers crossed.

Must run for now, lots to do.

Off I go...

The next time I post it will be from a library either in Monticello or Tallahassee. This is probably the 2nd saddest day of my life. The first being when I left the children with Bruce. I'm very afraid, very sad, very scared, etc., etc., etc. I'll miss Mike like I would miss my right arm. He's been my heart and my very life for 21 years. I'm not sure how I can do this, but I know I must. Shirley, Goodness and Mercy will pine for him, too.

Okay, I'll post.....

Last week I went to Apalachicola to see Prentice. It's been several years since I've seen him and this visit was the first time in many, many years that I remember just having a visit with the two of us. It was most pleasant and fun! We did a nature hike, walked all over town and met millions of folks (I exaggerate a bit) and did a whole lot of eating. Good visit! I got there on Wednesday and stayed until Friday.

Friday I went to Tallahassee to visit with Mother and to meet her new husband, Bert. Bert sure is a sweety!!!!! We did some shopping (earrings), went to a cocktail party, did a lot of running around and ate out a lot!!!!!! I gained three pounds while on this trip. I stayed in Tallahassee from Friday until Monday.

On Monday I headed back to Orlando with a very heavy heart and a rather sad mission. I had to tell Mike that I had rented a house in Drifton and had the electricity and phone contracted to be turned on next week. He may care, but he doesn't show it. He's still very sweet and I have never doubted his love for me. The alcohol is the problem...he is aware of this, but either can't or won't do anything about it. The alcohol is the reason the house is in foreclosure. He won't ever talk with me about what he plans to do. Wouldn't talk with me about it before and I had to do something. My heart breaks.

I did send some letters out for employment. Will do a lot more once I'm moved. I have movers coming on Monday (Bert's paying for them). God!!!!! I hate this!!!!! I never thought we would end up this way. I don't have plans to divorce...may need to...he ran the credit cards in my name way up while I was in N.C. and didn't pay on them. I'll have to do something.

Pray for us.

I had a dream....

Last night I dreamed there were strangers in the house. They were throwing everything around and knocking pictures off of the wall and really making a royal mess. Then they began demanding to know why I was in their house. I woke in a sweat and was very afraid. It took getting up and going through the house to really believe it was a dream. It was around 4:00AM before I fell back to sleep and that sleep was only fitful.

I had to call the doctor today. He'd said that if I wasn't better after taking the series of antibiotics that I should call. Well, I'm not better...still running a fever...jaw, throat, neck, etc. still hurts...still feel awful...so I called. He gave me two options, either make an appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor, or take another series of antibiotics. Well, I opted for the medication and he called it in. I got back from picking it up a while ago, still in shock. It cost $122.99!!!!! Ouch!!!! Hope it works.

Better

I think the antibiotics are beginning to work...I feel slightly better...ear doesn't hurt as much, nor does my jaw. Science is amazing.

I'll have to go to work tonight...missed 4 days last week. Can ill afford that.

Talked with Mother yesterday. She had some interesting ideas about this dilemma I'm in. Will pursue them when I'm feeling much better.

Answer to Beth

Hi Honey,
Yes, we are going to have to move. I don't know where. Things are a mess here...I'm sick. Finally went to the doctor on Thursday and am on an antibiotic and a decongestant. Should be better soon. Mike doesn't know that I've said anything about the forclosure. I'd like to keep it that way for now. According to what he's telling me, he found out yesterday at the courthouse that we have approximately 45 days to get our ducks in a row and get out of the house. I'm a little frightened. He won't talk to me about it and when I try to get him to he gets mad. Yesterday I asked him if I should try to find a place for me in NC...he said he didn't care and to do whatever I want. Then today he asked me if I wanted to go out for supper. Stranger than strange.

I don't know what happened to my post yesterday...I can't find it anywhere...but it said that it posted 100 percent. Obviously it didn't.

I'm glad that Bruce and David have gone back to work. Isn't it a relief to know it was all a misunderstanding!

Meemaw and Bert (the doctor who delivered Rosie) got married a year ago. She's 79 and he's 86 (I think). They seem very happy. They do a lot of partying and traveling. They are going on a cruise for Christmas.

Mom

The attack of the "Poor Pity Mes"

Stuff

The weather for the past two days has been glorious! We've had beautiful blue skies and light breezes with temperatures in the mid to low 70's during the days and low 50's at night. This morning the weatherman said to enjoy it while we can because the heat will be back tomorrow.

I've made no decisions reguarding my life or marriage as of yet, but it's high on my priority list. Something must be done, and soon. We'll know the status of the foreclosure on the house this next week, I hope.

Interesting day

Today was a little different for me, instead of working this evening, I worked 9:30-4:30...boy am I not used to that sort of stuff! Was I ever tired when I got home!!!!!

What was even worse than being tired was seeing Mike try to rush out to the garage with the beer he was trying to hide from me. What am I going to do? I found out today that I can go to the courthouse and file for divorce (if it's uncontested) without a lawyer...is that the answer? I sure wish I had a crystal ball. This life of trying to pretend that things are okay is not doing either of us any good and I really don't like it. God, I don't like it!

Spinning in place

There is so much that needs to be done...so much that I need to do, yet here I sit on the computer just spinning in place and getting absolutely nothing at all done. I'm smarter than that, I know better, but here I am...spinning, spinning almost out of control.

Ah! A paragraph! don't know how it happened, but hallelujah!!

It's going to be cold this weekend...down into the 50's at night and just into the 70's during the day. If I had a fireplace I'd bring in wood! Maybe I'll make a pot of chili or stew or something else comfortable and hot...is it time for my long johns?

Rain, rein, reign

Funny isn't it how something that sounds the same can be so different. It's raining today from tropical storm Matthew (t.s. Nicole is far out in the Atlantic) and no matter how I reign, I can't rein the rain. This makes absolutely no sense, but somehow pleases me. I've still got that damn paragraph thing going...this may be the final screw in the hinges that are holding me together. I'm coming unglued, unscrewed, etc. Unhappy doesn't begin to describe the feelings I'm having now...faced with the prospect of...can't say it yet. Had a funny thing happen yesterday. I was standing on the back porch trying to get Shirley to jump over Mercy and come out with me. When all of a sudden, a large globby, wetish thing fell onto the top of my head. As I stood holding the door and using my foot to keep Mercy in the house and urging Shirley to jump over and out I was flinging my one free arm around trying to entice the dog, deter the cat and find out what was on my head...I bashed myself in the nose so hard that I saw stars, was sure I was going to have a nose bleed (didn't) and it hurt for hours. As I reached up to the top of my head, a very large frog jumped off of it and just sat on the water jug he landed on and appeared to laugh at my antics. The dog came out, the cat stayed in and the frog got away and we all lived happily ever after...oh, I guess that's the end of someone else's story.

It is Fall today!

Today is glorious! There is little to no humidity and the temp is in the low 80's! It feels like FALL!!! How wonderful! It's to be in the 60's tonight. One tends to live for this type of weather here! I don't know what is the matter with this dumb blog thing, not only can I not make a new paragraph, but it types each new word under the sentence I'm working on and then when I hit the space bar it throws what I typed into its proper place. This is rather maddening! Personally, things aren't so hot right now...don't know what to do or how to do it. Perhaps I'll get it sorted out, perhaps I won't. I wish for a long sleep.

Just to stay in touch....

I was unable to get on line yesterday for some reason, so I didn't post. I finally did get on line today and really have nothing I feel compeled to post about. I'm dreadfully tired. I think everyone down here is also. We all used up every bit of energy we had with preparing, worrying and all of that good stuff. Mike unboarded the front windows this afternoon. That really makes a big difference...it's not so cavelike in here now.

Thank God and Progress Energy!!!

Our power went out around 8'oclock this morning and we had bad wind and rain all day. I called Progress Energy around 10:30 or 11:00 this morning to report that we had no power, but it was blinking off and on (mostly off). Then, about 4:00 this afternoon I called to report that there was NO POWER at all, not even off and on. The reports we were getting on the little battery powered TV and the no longer functioning battery powered radio said we would be very lucky to have power in the next three weeks!! We got our electricity back tonight around 9:45!!!!! Thank God and Progress Energy!!!!!

"The time has come, the waldrus said..."

Here is it 6:30 in the evening on Saturday...boy, those storms sure know how to time their hits for the weekends...is anyone else finding that rather odd? It seems we have a real doozy coming this time ( and we thought the others were bad!). I've cleaned the house, vacuumed, dusted (not the walls, I did that for Frances), made a pot of turkey gumbo and remembered to get coffee filters! I moved my car to parallel the house and scratched the stew of of her on the bumper of the dead truck, I think I've done all I can, except for getting the table and 2 chairs off of the porch. How does one prepare for this sort of thing? I thought I knew what I was doing with Charley, then I was sure with Frances and even Ivan...now I know that there is really no way to actually batten down the hatches. This storm, Jeanne, is stronger that any of the others, and it has finally dawned on me that there is really nothing we can do. This storm has killed a whole lot of people already and destroyed untold property. The TV folks on every chanel are saying she's really, really bad. I'm rather unnerved this time. Say a prayer.

We'll do it until we get it right!!

Well, this is beginning to feel like a broken record (remember those things?)! The folks of Central Florida are very close to being professionals at hurricane preparations. We've filled our cars with gas and bought the last loaf of bread in the stores and most of us have been freezing bottles of water for weeks. Most of our larders of canned goods are untouched and we have batteries. Tomorrow we'll do laundry and fill bathtubs with water. We'll take down whatever we put back out in the gardens and vacuum. We'll run dishwashers and play on computers. We'll do what we can to fill our selves with normalcy for one more day before Jeanne arrives.

What else is new?

Thursday Mike's going in for a colonoscopy(sp?). I think this will be his fourth in about 6 years. Starting today he's on a low fiber, low fat diet...very restrictive, things like no soup sorta throw me. No red meats, no red dyes, no whole grains, no dairy...that sort of thing.

The one thing that he can have (and is looking forward to) is turkey. I really missed the boat on this one, should have gotten the turkey last week, instead of yesterday. The smallest I could find is 13 pounds and frozen solid. Against all rules, I left it out until this morning and I could actually move the skin on the beast. So now it's in my canning kettle in a brine in the refrigerator in the garage. I should be able to cook it tomorrow.

The weather this past weekend was GLORIOUS!! Mid 80's, low humidity, clear skys and breezy! I had to put on a sweater to sit in the front yard late in the afternoon yesterday! It felt like FALL!!!! At least fall as we know it here in Central Florida. Today is cloudy, cool and rather rainy. They say this rain is from Ivan...I guess he came back around to say Hi since he missed us the first go round! There are actually 4 tropical thingys out there right now...I refuse to think about it! I'm done with tropical thingys!

Ramblings

The first hurricane I remember was in 1949, I was 4 years old. I don't think they named them back then, or if they did, I don't know the name. It was in the fall, because my baby sister was crawling and pulling up on things, and she was born in February of 1949.

My daddy was in law school at the University of Florida in Gainesville and we lived in post war housing for married students. Most of the buildings were surplus Quonset huts or clap board throw together things.

I remember how dark it got during the day and how hard it rained. Then Daddy came home and we got in the car and went to this really big building. I think it was the main auditorium on the campus. I don't remember how long we stayed, but I know it was at least one night, maybe more. I really liked it and had a lot of fun, there were games and movies and cartoons and a lot of fun people. I remember that Mother made Daddy go back to where we lived and get a green lamp. She kept that lamp in her lap the whole time.

I think it was the same year that we went to Ocala to my grandparent's house to ride out another storm. My great-grandmother was there and she and I spent hours and hours together under the dining room table. This too, was great fun!!!

Growing up in Florida since the mid 40's, I've seem many tropical storms and hurricanes, but those two have truly been my favorites!

Enough already!!

I was just watching the satellite looping of hurricane Jeanne and I saw two or three other systems that seem to be out there also, and it appears to me (in my intensified state of storm awareness) that two of them look like they'd like to hook up. I think that'd be unprecedented and the scariest thing I can imagine! Most of the weather reports on various stations seem to agree that the east coast of Florida is one of the likeliest landing spots for Jeanne...I think it will be somewhere between St. Augustine, FL and Savanna, GA.

I don't think anyone down here is really paying a whole lot of attention to this one, probably our bad! Of course, we're all still boarded up and sand bagged in and still have great stocks of food, water and batteries! So tis life in Central Florida!

There's been work all week! That's a good thing!

Canned goods and prayers

My friend, Linda from down the street, and I were talking this morning about what we're going to be eating for the next few weeks. I'd be willing to bet that there are countless households in Central Florida thinking about the same thing! For 4+ weeks we have foregone our normal grocery shopping and have been buying Hurricane supplies...we have canned goods of the oddest sort coming out of our ears...Spam, vienna sausages, pate', stew, chicken, soups, etc. Now the disaster folks need to tell us just how to use this stuff. Most of us can't donate our supplies to a food bank, if we did there'd be nothing left to eat. We learned with Charley that fresh meats, dairy and produce are not Hurricane supplies! This will be interesting!

It appears that the giant group plea that has gone out from Central Florida to the gods of wind and water has been heard! Ivan should only brush us with tropical storm winds!!!!! and rain.