Where have I been???
Wow, I can't believe it's been over 2 months since I last posted. So, let's see, what have I been up to? Maybe I'll just update you on the whole family.
General family stuff:
- We finally got our roof done, just in time for this year's hurricane season. (It was damaged last year by Hurricane Wilma and it's taken this long to get it fixed). The roofers were horrible but we didn't exactly have alot of choices. We called every roofer in town and only 4 came out for estimates. SO we signed the contract with these in January and were told it would be done in April or possibly late March. To make a long story short, it finally got finished in late-June. And the roofers stole all the mangoes off of our tree and left a few eaten pits behind on the grass under the tree. Nice, huh?
- We've decided to move out of Florida because we just can't take the heat and humidity anymore, or the hurricanes, or the tourists, or the mosquitoes, or the over-development in our city and especially the crapload of money we waste on taxes and insurance every year. (Between property taxes and the 3 insurances we have to carry- homeowners, windstorm and flood - we spend close to $13,000 a year). So we're considering Albuquerque, NM since I have family there. We are going out in a couple of weeks to check it out for a week. I'll let you know how that goes.
- We have been doing some spruicing up around the house since we plan to have it on the market sometime next Spring. We've replaced some lighting in the kitchen, we're replacing the ceiling fan there also. We're putting some new lighting in the living room. We need to get someone in to clear out the backyard, flatten it out and re-sod it. We had a huge ficus tree in the backyard that went down in the hurricane and was removed but we were left with a huge gapping hole and huge ruts from the tires of the frontloader that removed the stump. It's a mess back there that we need to make presentable before we can even consider selling.
The kids stuff:
A- just turned 17 and is spending most of the summer at a camp in North Carolina. He left June 3rd and won't return until July 28th. He's taking part in a kind of "counselor in training" program at the camp that he's gone to as a camper for the past few years. It's a volunteer thing (which is good because Florida high schools require a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer work to graduate) so he isn't getting paid for it, but then again, we're not paying for him to be there either, just his flights back and forth. He's doing work projects around the camp - helping with one meal a day, cleaning 2 bathrooms a day, they've built some things, they help with general clean up and they "adopt" a cabin every 2 weeks to work with - and I think it's been very good for him. He's working hard but having fun too. But I miss him :-( For so many years, it was just me and him. It's hard to let go, but I know this is good for both of us, since he'll be going off to college in a year.
N- is still going to preschool 2 mornings a week to give me a break. She's a typical 3 year old with a typical 3 year old little attitude. She wants what she wants and can give you 20 reasons why you should give it to her. If you don't, she'll ask "why?" until you're ready to scream and then call you a "baby". Ouch, that hurts. NOT!!! Anyway, she's a good kid, just somewhat opinionated and stubborn, wonder where she gets THAT???!!
J- stays home with me all day. We're not doing mommy and me classes for the summer because the schedule didn't work out. He's getting very talkative and of course, wants to do everything his big sister does. We jokingly call him "me too" because that's what he says everytime he hears his sister ask to do something. LOL. It's very cute to watch them together and even though it hasn't been easy, I'm glad we had them this close together. (They are 19 months apart). He just had tubes put in his ears 2 weeks ago after battling ear infections and fluid for the past year. He did great and we're hoping he won't have any more infections. The 11 he had since last June are enough to last him a lifetime.
So that's my update. I'll be posting more frequently now so I hope you all haven't given up on me.
General family stuff:
- We finally got our roof done, just in time for this year's hurricane season. (It was damaged last year by Hurricane Wilma and it's taken this long to get it fixed). The roofers were horrible but we didn't exactly have alot of choices. We called every roofer in town and only 4 came out for estimates. SO we signed the contract with these in January and were told it would be done in April or possibly late March. To make a long story short, it finally got finished in late-June. And the roofers stole all the mangoes off of our tree and left a few eaten pits behind on the grass under the tree. Nice, huh?
- We've decided to move out of Florida because we just can't take the heat and humidity anymore, or the hurricanes, or the tourists, or the mosquitoes, or the over-development in our city and especially the crapload of money we waste on taxes and insurance every year. (Between property taxes and the 3 insurances we have to carry- homeowners, windstorm and flood - we spend close to $13,000 a year). So we're considering Albuquerque, NM since I have family there. We are going out in a couple of weeks to check it out for a week. I'll let you know how that goes.
- We have been doing some spruicing up around the house since we plan to have it on the market sometime next Spring. We've replaced some lighting in the kitchen, we're replacing the ceiling fan there also. We're putting some new lighting in the living room. We need to get someone in to clear out the backyard, flatten it out and re-sod it. We had a huge ficus tree in the backyard that went down in the hurricane and was removed but we were left with a huge gapping hole and huge ruts from the tires of the frontloader that removed the stump. It's a mess back there that we need to make presentable before we can even consider selling.
The kids stuff:
A- just turned 17 and is spending most of the summer at a camp in North Carolina. He left June 3rd and won't return until July 28th. He's taking part in a kind of "counselor in training" program at the camp that he's gone to as a camper for the past few years. It's a volunteer thing (which is good because Florida high schools require a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer work to graduate) so he isn't getting paid for it, but then again, we're not paying for him to be there either, just his flights back and forth. He's doing work projects around the camp - helping with one meal a day, cleaning 2 bathrooms a day, they've built some things, they help with general clean up and they "adopt" a cabin every 2 weeks to work with - and I think it's been very good for him. He's working hard but having fun too. But I miss him :-( For so many years, it was just me and him. It's hard to let go, but I know this is good for both of us, since he'll be going off to college in a year.
N- is still going to preschool 2 mornings a week to give me a break. She's a typical 3 year old with a typical 3 year old little attitude. She wants what she wants and can give you 20 reasons why you should give it to her. If you don't, she'll ask "why?" until you're ready to scream and then call you a "baby". Ouch, that hurts. NOT!!! Anyway, she's a good kid, just somewhat opinionated and stubborn, wonder where she gets THAT???!!
J- stays home with me all day. We're not doing mommy and me classes for the summer because the schedule didn't work out. He's getting very talkative and of course, wants to do everything his big sister does. We jokingly call him "me too" because that's what he says everytime he hears his sister ask to do something. LOL. It's very cute to watch them together and even though it hasn't been easy, I'm glad we had them this close together. (They are 19 months apart). He just had tubes put in his ears 2 weeks ago after battling ear infections and fluid for the past year. He did great and we're hoping he won't have any more infections. The 11 he had since last June are enough to last him a lifetime.
So that's my update. I'll be posting more frequently now so I hope you all haven't given up on me.
posted by Ann @ 10:21 AM
1 Comments:
At 2:51 AM,
Granny said…
Welcome back. I liked the short amount of time I spent in Albuquerque many years ago and I don't blame you a bit for leaving. The hurricanes seem to come more frequently and enough is enough.
Good luck with all of it.
Ann (the other one)
Post a Comment
<< Home