Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Homeless in Jacksonville

And somehow we survived 1200 miles of driving in 2 days, movers who thought they were on strike, rain and construction at night in South Carolina, 120 degree heat unpacking the 2000 pounds of stuff we had in the U-Haul (not exaggerating - we had to weigh it!!) and me nearly having heat stroke (health advisory: when your face turns beet red, your eyes glaze over, and you feel that you're either going to throw up or pass out, it's time to stop humping boxes in the midafternoon sun.)

My darling husband, Navy Guy, spent yesterday and today requalifying on his survival skills, which involved doing fun tasks while they sucked all the oxygen out of the room and then today being belted into a helicopter simulator upside down, blindfolded, and UNDER WATER.

Seriously.

My lovely and talented friend Eileen Rendahl (her new book is out this week, it's splendid!!) said, "But my job is dangerous too!! I could have gotten a paper cut!! It could have gotten infected!!"

We writers tend to be a bit dramatic . . .

House hunting starts tomorrow at 9 - I want a palm tree!! And a house to go with it, I guess. :)

In other news, the talented Marianne Mancusi's first SHOMI book, MOONGAZER, is out today and it's brilliant!! Intense and edgy - give it a try!! (Can you tell I had time to read in the hotel? I am a chronic insomniac and never ever sleep in hotels without pharmaceutical assistance.)

Pictures tomorrow - maybe of palm trees!! And I'm definitely in the south again - there was an ALL YOU CAN EAT - QUAIL special in the restaurant where we had dinner Sunday. It fascinated me. How do you get ALL YOU CAN EAT QUAIL?? Did an entire FLOCK happen to land over the restaurant? Do they send the busboys out back with a rifle???

Okay, I think they had cheesecake. Hmmm. More later . . .

6 comments:

Sparkel said...

LOL ! My heart goes out to you and your family! by the time I was 27 I had moved 21 times, and not because my dad was in the military! The real shocker was moving from Maine to Arizona - shock!

Awe the memories! All those little snippets of life to provide us with more stories. Yum

Cheryl

Darla said...

Oh the humidity, I feel for you! I hope you get your palm tree, good luck with the house hunting.

Just from what you described for Navy Guy is making me panic! I've always had a phobia about crashing my car into a lake or something like that and trying to get out. More power to NG...and good luck!

LOL on the Quail!

Anonymous said...

LOL Palm trees??? I'm not going to ask. All I know is that in Texas huge water roaches LOVE palm trees so you will not find one in my back yard. I hate roaches with a passion. They are the only bug I make my husband kill. LOL

Happy house hunting and please take care of yourself!!!

P.S. And tell Navy Guy to take care of himself too - his survival training does not sound like a walk in the park...but then I guess that is why they call it survival trainging!

Sheri said...

Oh ugh--water roaches!! *shudder* the damn roaches actually FLY down South--that was a little much for me while in New Orleans!! The heat is bad, but the humidity is nothing to play around with either.

and I feel for you--the most stressful times in my life have usually revolved around moving--my husband once threw a can of soda at me while we were in the midst of a heated argument while in the process of moving. I chucked that sucker right back at him, and let me tell you, MY aim was better! *grin* But we survived and decided that if we ever got the urge to move again we were hiring movers and going on vacation until they were through!!! LOL!

Hope you found an AWESOME house, and make sure you get a swimming pool (I know, Lani hates the @#*!% things but they are a godsend in the summer with the heat and kids...

Alyssa Day said...

Thanks!!! The good wishes definitely help!!

Nancy J. Cohen said...

Are you really a Floridian now? Hey, let me know if you get to Orlando. We go up there once a month from our home in Fort Lauderdale. Welcome to the summer heat and hurricanes, although we've been lucky so far this year. Jacksonville doesn't get many storms anyway. I have cousins who live there.