Friday, August 11, 2017

Molly, Maggie, Me, Florida


I just spent two weeks in Florida. I flew to Atlanta where Maggie picked me up and we drove straight to Melbourne, Florida to help Molly move. She had a small, one bedroom apartment which was fine for her but they were going to raise her rent substantially. She worked some numbers and found that buying would actually be cheaper than renting. We are excited for her to be so young and buying her own place. Molly received a nice welcome mat from her realtor for her new place.



The first night there, Tuesday, Maggie and I were exhausted from driving most of the day. We met Molly at her apartment and then went off to eat at El Sombrero.


Molly had to work every day so Maggie and I did what we could to make the big move easier. We packed Maggie's little car and then unpacked Maggie's little car at the new place, several times. We were excited to go to the pool at her old apartment after sweating and working so hard but found out it was closed for the day due to green slime. Darn. So, we did laundry instead. Molly didn't have a dryer in her old place and we looked forward to her buying a new dryer for her townhouse.


Thursday we painted. I am not even done painting in Iowa where I have three more doors to paint. As you can see from the following picture, I couldn't believe I was doing this again but it was good paint and it went on easily.



Maggie had a great time painting! This is Molly's new bedroom.


After painting, we were able to go swimming at the old apartment. The green slime was gone.



Friday afternoon my niece, Meredith, came to help us with the big move. That night, Meredith and Molly put in curtain rods and hung curtains.


Maggie and I pulled weeds in Molly's courtyard.



I was attacked by ants. Maggie said I shouldn't put the picture of my blisters on this blog because that would be weird and gross.  Ant killer went on the Lowe's list.

Saturday we rented the Uhaul and I became a little concerned when I learned the 10 foot truck didn't have a ramp. They didn't have any bigger trucks available that would have ramps so we did what we could. I was worried about the wash machine. With two young girls, a cracked ribbed old lady and a pregnant woman, the four of us were able to lift the machine into the truck and then lift it out of the truck. 

The couch was awkward too.


We took a lot of breaks.



And we watched Molly do a lot of unpacking.



Sunday Meredith left for home on the Gulf side and the Lowe's guys came to install the dryer. I couldn't believe three guys fit in that small space. They did have to take the door off. The main person said he couldn't install the new vent hose because he wasn't sure how far up it went into the wall. The dryer is vented to the roof, through two stories!  We took the new vent hose back to Lowe's for a refund. Notice in the below picture how Molly's table has a green top. This used to be my desk at the University of Georgia. There will be more about this table later in this blog.


Sunday night Jo and Gary came to bring Molly a bed for the guest room. Molly ended up putting it in her room because it is so beautiful. Gary came with Jo because there were so many things I was finding in Molly's new place that needed fixing. We couldn't believe the inspector didn't check the fridge for water. Turns out the fridge  in the brand new kitchen was never hooked up to a water line! Gary fixed it.




He also installed a new toilet and rebuilt the other one that needed new insides.





 He also replaced some missing fence pieces.




Gary did many more things that Molly, Maggie and I could have never done. 
THANKS GARY!!

They planned on leaving  for Meredith's house on Monday but Gary had so many things to do that Jo decided she would go on to Meredith's and then Maggie and I would take Gary the next day. Tropical Storm Emily changed everyone's plans. It rained so hard but that didn't stop us from going to Lowe's several times for supplies. We were very wet and we found out the sliding doors leak water into the tracks at Molly's and the water on the sidewalk doesn't drain. We walked through it up to our ankles.

After Jo and Gary left together on Tuesday, Maggie and I moved more little stuff that didn't quite make the truck. Molly came home from work overwhelmed with the move and wished that everything was done so that we could just hang out together, instead of unpacking and fixing things. We thought about how awful moving can be and realized just about everyone in our family has moved this year. Seven out of twelve family members moved!  To help with the stress, we started peeling the green paint off the table. I was planning on striping it anyway.



Wednesday Maggie and I headed to Meredith and A.J.s house on the gulf side. I was excited to see Mom's piano there and what great news to know that Meredith has picked up playing again.


That afternoon we took the dogs our for an adventure. Mia is Jo and Gary's dog, Sugar and Wiley are Meredith and A.J.s dogs.



The dogs were so exhausted we had to help them back into the car. Jo was attacked by ants.
I didn't know Florida ants were so terrible.  Mia slobbered on me the whole way home.


We got the dogs home and then headed to St. Pete for dinner. It was excellent food. Next time, I plan to go to that store behind me!




After dinner, we went swimming in A.J. and Meredith's back yard bird cage. It was cold!



Thursday morning Maggie and I headed back to Molly's new place which is now in Palm Bay but less than a mile from her old apartment in Melbourne. We would always have to wait for the ugly ducks to cross the road in Molly's new complex.



Molly noticed all the neighbors had deadbolts on their gate doors. Her fence looks new and didn't have one. We decided she needed one but it took a little thinking because that door is thicker than the standard door.  It took two days but we got it done!




Friday, Maggie and I went to the old apartment to clean it before the inspection to get her deposit back. I also patched up holes in the wall because we read a review that the management keeps most of the deposit for holes. I was determined to have Molly get the whole amount back!


We were so close to finishing but we had to stop because Maggie had a sneezing attack that did her in.  She wasn't wearing a mask when she swept. We went back to the pool instead of finishing.

Molly was looking forward to the weekend. She had been working this whole time and she wanted to spend quality time with us. On Saturday we hit a couple of thrift stores, went back to her old apartment to  finish cleaning  and then headed to Turkey Creek for a walk.



We were walking on the boardwalk when we heard a loud snorting noise. I was frightened and decided an alligator was coming after us. But then I thought they probably don't snort.


We were along the river and became extremely excited to see it was actually a manatee!! In the picture below you can see his nose where the snort noise was coming from. The orange spots are a fin and his tail.



We then became even more excited when we saw the mom and baby!!!


We watched them for quite a while and then went to celebrate by eating dinner at a Thai Japanese place.

Sunday morning, after two weeks, we were finally able to go here........


During the week we had been doing laundry and found Molly's new dryer wasn't drying very well, if at all. We decided to clean out the vent hose, go back to Lowe's to get a new one, and hook it all up like the Lowe's guys should have done in the first place.



The dryer works a little better but she will need to get a professional  to clean the whole vent, all the way through two stories. Back to using the drying rack.
After a morning at the beach and an afternoon of working on the dryer, and knowing this was our last night together, we went back to our paint peeling therapy.



And now for some random pictures.



Monday, Maggie and I drove back to Athens. It was good to go visit my friend Kim in the evening and then in the morning we got up early to go to campus to see friends. Sorry if I missed you when we were there! I wasn't able to stay long because I had to catch a plane in Atlanta and it was a very rainy day.

Maggie's boyfriend, Chase, bought a condo in Athens the same week Molly did. Chase and their roommate were off touring with their band so Maggie and I had the place to ourselves. I forgot to take pictures but I will get some later to add to a different blog.   

Whenever I get to the airport a little early, I like to walk the concourses instead of riding the train. I was a little disappointed the same exhibit was there. I have seen it many times but I walked through anyway. What a surprise to find in the middle, a rainforest complete with animal and bird sounds. If you ever have the chance to walk the concourses in Atlanta, it is a beautiful site.


When I got home I found the Naked Ladies were in the backyard and some were in the kitchen!





1 comment:

  1. Hi, Elizabeth. I'm so glad Ashley shared your blog with me today. I loved reading about your Florida adventure. You may remember that I'm originally from Sarasota, but my grandmother lived in Melbourne from the 1920's until her death in the 1990's and my dad grew up there. At one time, Grandma Jennie was the postmistress of Palm Bay and my dad and his brothers planted the long row of Australian pines that lined the road through there when they were teenagers. I have often wondered if they're still there.

    Reading your words brought back such sweet memories of Brevard County. I'm sorry I missed seeing you when you were in Athens but hope to see you next time. LLH

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