Down sizing and donating

This is our garage.

It is full of things that either won't fit in our condo or we don't need any more.  Like that really big dresser on its side.  Or the really heavy treadmill.  Or the fertilizer spreader, lawn mower, etc.  I could go on and on and on.  But you get the idea.  We had a lot of stuff to put in a small condo.  16,500 pounds of stuff to put into a 3 bedroom condo to be exact.  Um.  Not going to work.

So here is our solution.  A 26 foot Uhaul truck.  We loaded it down with a lot of the things mentioned above.  Things that we don't need or have room for.  It's either going to my parents house (like Grace's playhouse) or being donated to a charitable organization (like my tiny table and wobbly chair set left over from college). Don't worry, we kept everything with sentimental value (like David's footballs from Auburn) and things given to us by family (all of which is inside safe and sound.) 

Several hours later, the truck is full and it's pretty obvious that men did all the loading...
But there's room to get a vehicle in the garage in spite of all the boxes still left to be unpacked (like Christmas decorations).

Disclaimer:  The boxes packed haphazardly are in fact empty.  For whatever reason, Dad wanted them.  No worries, nothing was broken and no one was injured during these events.

Hide and seek

After many long hours of unpacking, Grace decided it was time to play.

I could hear her calling "Momma! Momma!  Waird Dace doe?"  (Toddler translation:  Where did Grace go)

I honestly couldn't find her.

Until I noticed these little piggys peeking out the door of a tv console.

Sure enough she was hiding inside.  I'm surprised she could still squeeze in.

She giggled and giggled and hid inside over and over again.

Then I hear her say "I see ewe, Momma!  I see ewe!"  (Toddler translation:  "I see you".)

She had poked a hole out the back of her "hidey-hole" and was spying on me!

We played hide and seek until Grace was exhausted.  Then she took a nap while I unpacked more boxes.

The movers have arrived

I can't believe they actually got that big truck in the complex!

They quickly unloaded everything.  Luckily, we had an elevator they were able to use for most everything.

Before I knew it, boxes were piled up to the ceiling in every room.

The movers just kept bringing in more and more and more boxes.

Everywhere I look, I see boxes.  I'm going to dream about boxes for the next two years.

There's barely enough room to walk from room to room.

And that's not counting what's in the garage.

It only took the movers 2 days to pack and 1 day to unload a 56 foot truck full of our stuff.  It's going to take me the rest of my life to unpack it all.  Sigh.  I guess I'd better get started.

Ida sneaked in

We were prepared for a hurricane and then barely noticed Ida when she came in as a tropical storm.  In fact, I slept through most of it last night.  The wind never seemed to get too strong and while it rained a lot, it didn't seem worse than any other summer storm.

Until I walked out to the pier.

There Ida proved to be a bit feisty.

The wind was blowing so hard I could barely hold onto the umbrella while taking my pictures.  And I kept getting slapped by the bamboo.  Oh, and I nearly slipped thanks to some pretty big gusts of wind and a wet walkway.

The water level was definitely up - I'd say maybe 3-4 feet, but we didn't have any real flooding.  Thank goodness!  The movers were supposed to deliver our furniture today but decided to wait until tomorrow.  I'm so glad our garage didn't flood because that's where most of our stuff is going until we can sort through it all and decide what to keep and what to give away.

 

Meanwhile, Grace and Chloe enjoyed playing in the rain.

Then we all headed back inside to warm up and watch as Ida passed us by.

Grace, my little kitchen helper

Today was wet and rainy thanks to Ida, so Grace and I decided to play in the kitchen.

She helped me make peanut butter rice krispie treats.

She was very diligent about making sure all the little rice krispies were covered in our marshmallow and peanut butter mixture.  She took her time trying to pick each one up and add it back to the pot.  I, on the other hand, had forgotten how messy making rice krispie treats in a too-small pot could be.  sigh.

But Grace helped me clean up.  She even licked the spoon clean.

Here they are all complete and ready to eat.

Yum.  I guess all that hard work was worth it.  smile.

The thing about elevators

is that sometimes they get stuck.  And if you have my kind of luck, they get stuck with you in it.  With a 2 year old.  And melting milk.  For a really loooong time.  Let me explain.

This is our elevator.  I use this elevator quite frequently.  Especially when unloading emergency hurricane supplies like 6 gallons and 2 cases of bottled water, rope, and a hack saw.  You know, just in case  the hurricane hits and we get trapped in our condo and have to chop our way out of the attic with a hacksaw and hope a boat floats by so we can lasso it in with our rope.  Just kidding about the rope and hacksaw, although it might be a good idea to have on hand in case of an emergency.  Like our first hurricane, Ida.  Right? 

Anyway, bottled water is very heavy so I thought to save some time and my back by just hopping a ride in the elevator with everything - including my 2 year old.  We were riding merrily up until the elevator stopped between floors.  No big deal, I thought. Just press the button 3 again and it will get moving.

Um, not exactly.  I pressed it over and over and over again until my finger started hurting.  And I tried pulling and pushing the little red button at the bottom.  No luck.

Now, I'm starting to get just a little nervous.  After all this is a tiny little elevator and I don't like closed in spaces.  And we're stuck between the second and third floors where I can't reach either doorknob.  And I'm scared of heights.  So the idea of being trapped in an elevator and then plummeting to the ground is just slightly upsetting to me.

But no reason to panic just yet,  I decided to just press the alarm button and see what happens.  BRRRRNNNG!  It was really loud.  Not a good idea with a 2 year old.

Now I'm really starting to get a little anxious.  Then I see this.

Instant relief.  All I had to do is pick up the phone and it should call the homeowner's association or watchman or someone who can get me out!

 

Do you see this!?!?  There's a phone in the elevator presumably for calling help when you get trapped and it's not hooked up to anything!!!  Wow.

Now I'm really starting to get freaked.  The elevator is shrinking by the second, we're still trapped between floors, pushing buttons doesn't work, the phone's attached just for decoration, no phone numbers can be found anywhere inside and there's no way to climb out the top.  Oh, and Grace is starting to freak, too. 

So I break down and call David.  His suggestion?  Dial 9-1-1.  Um, no.  Not when my sister is a dispatcher and would never let me live it down.  So I did the next best thing.  I start banging on the doors and yelling "Help!  Help!  We're stuck in the elevator!"  Grace chimed in and yelled "Help!  We stuck!  We stuck in ella-bay-tor!"  And guess what?  It worked.  A neighbor below us finally shut his door and the elevator started moving again.  Thank goodness. 

It's doubtful that we'll use the elevator again any time soon.

Hurricane Ida

We have a hurricane heading our way.  Wow.  Ida will be our first hurricane.  It's a little nerve-wracking, but kinda exciting too.  Really exciting, actually.  I bet I'll be able to get some really great photos.  I wonder if Ida will bring in any bigger fish from deeper waters?  Fishing might be fun.  Hurricane Ida is scheduled to hit us Tuesday.  The Hurricane Watch issued for our area anticipates the storm surge to be 5-7 feet. Hmmm.

Did I mention that our little condo is on the bay? And Tuesday is the day our movers are scheduled to deliver our furniture from Omaha.  14,000 pounds of furniture to be delivered.  And unloaded.  With lots to be stored in our garage.  All on Tuesday.  During a hurricane.  With 5-7 feet storm surges.  Ummm.  Maybe this is more nerve-wracking than exciting.  But still exciting.  Definitely exciting.  It is, after all, our first hurricane.