March 24, 2007
-
Last Night in Florida for me
Well, it’s Friday night, or should I say Saturday morning since it’s after midnight. I woke up at 11:30 and, try as I might, cannot get back to sleep. I went to bed at 8 pm so it’s not like I haven’t had ANY sleep. It’s just not good since we leave in the morning for our trip to the new house.
As I packed the last six boxes of things from the kitchen cabinets, I looked around and thought how empty the house feels. It isn’t really since we are leaving some things to make the house seem less cold. It’s a type of *presentation*. I left decorator towels in both bathrooms, decorator candles and an artificial palm plant in the master bath. There are also small rugs in both bathrooms. Light touches but they DO make a difference. The plant shelf in the living room area still has a large Key West scene made from driftwood and coral and I have another small Key West style *house/picture* thingy hanging on the dining room wall.
The Beast is coming back in two weeks to pick up the boxes we couldn’t get on our trailer, as well as the big screen TV. We are also leaving behind the leather living room set since his brother wants it and will return with him to get it. He plans on renting a trailer one-way to transport it. The set is in excellent condition but too big for our new home. I used a rattan set I had here. It was fated to be since it was one of the things I refused to get rid of when we moved from our 4-bedroom home in the Fort Lauderdale area. I’ll have a tiny bit of Florida that I will have with me in Alabama.
Anyway, here I am, sleepless in Port Charlotte, watching the moon set and grateful that the hubby hasn’t packed his Mac up into the car. Gives me time to bring anyone interested up to speed.
I am still in pain from whatever it is that I did to myself the other day. I’m wearing heat patches in two spots and taking my heating pad with me for the motel tomorrow night. I just hope they have a convenient outlet for it…..LOL I’m looking forward to being able to take one of the two pain pills I have left so I will be relatively painfree for the drive tomorrow. I just HATE that drive and being in pain won’t help any.
My ex-sister-in-law, whom I have adopted as a sister over the objections of my brother, called me tonight. She didn’t realize that THIS was the weekend we were moving, she said I was just on her mind and she called me to see how I was and let me know she loved me. She asked me if I was going to miss Florida. How can I answer that?
Of course I will. I’ve lived here most of the 42 years I have been married (43 in August). All four of my children were born here and so were all five of my grandkids. There are lots of both good and bad memories I will carry with me and reminisce about during the long winters in Alabama. What I won’t miss is the traffic and the rude New Yorkers that come to visit or moved here. You would think they INVENTED Florida for their benefit and all you hear are complaints about the lack of culture, museums, etc. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! We DO have wonderful museums of a type you can’t even find in New York. The Edison and Ford Museums are in Fort Myers, we have Art Museums in all the major cities and Tampa, which is less than 100 miles away seems to get every traveling major art show I have ever heard of in the USA.
We have wonderful zoos and Animal Parks, Sea Worlds all over the place and don’t forget Disney World, Epcot Center, Universal Studio and other attractions. All here in culturally backward Florida. Where else can you swim with dolphins? Or, scarier, swim with sharks, which many scuba divers find *interesting* (shudder)
Of course I will miss Florida but I have found that Alabama has some wonderful natural waterfalls and attractions of its own. The hubby and I plan on visiting them with our travel trailer and really feeling like we are finally retired.
I’m also going to be physically close to three of my five grandchildren. I used to see a lot of them before they moved to Tennessee six years ago. My son plans on coming to visit us again with a couple of them for the weekend shortly after we move up permanently. Anther son and daughter will be only five hours away from us (they live in Louisville) and I will be able to see them, too.
Add the fact that, on my annual trek to Chicago for our family reunion, I can hit all of them on the way if I drive PLUS another sister of mine in Indiana (grin). It’s not that long a trip from our area of Alabama but I can drag it out a couple days and enjoy it.
Well, I think I will try to get back to sleep now that I have brought this blog current. Tomorrow starts the long journey to the new house and then all the dreaded UNpacking. I hope to get the new house a bit more organized as I go along. I don’t feel the need to rush at the moment and don’t want to have to do it all over.
Goodnight all and wish us luck!
