The Florida Chronicles...Part 1...December 2011

I don't exactly have a lot of time to savor that victory over OSU and Sugar Bowl bid. I've been packing for several weeks, and now I've got less than a week to finish up packing and load up for the trip down to Florida for the winter. Early on the morning of Thursday, December 1, I'm packed up and ready to go...all I have to do is get Cleo, Jonesie and Mr. Lucky into their cat carriers, and I can hit the road. This proves to be a difficult task...Cleo's no problem, but Jonesie and Mr. Lucky are a different story. My thought was to put both Jones and Mr. Lucky in the same large cat carrier...big mistake. Over the course of two hours, I get Jonesie in/Mr. Lucky out...then Mr. Lucky in/Jonesie out...then both out...and so it went until I decided to split them up in two different carriers...success! The weather is favorable, roads clear and traffic light on the way to Dalton, Georgia...about halfway between West Bloomfield and Stuart. The cats are happy to be "freed" once we get to the hotel. I set up a travel litter box, set out food and water...and head off to the Chili's restaurant down the street from the motel. A few cold draft beers later, I'm relaxed after a long day's drive. A few appetizers and a few more beers before heading back to the motel for sleep. Even though I'm on the road early, the trip from Dalton to Palm City is long...it's after 6:00 by the time that I pull in the driveway. I get the litter boxes set up...cat food and water out...unload the cats...relax for awhile before dinner. There's no food in the house, but I'm prepared for that having brought a few meal's worth with me on the trip down. So...around 8:00PM or so, I'm sitting down to a big bowl of pasta, a salad and a bottle of Chianti. Mom took her big TV with her to assisted living, but there's a tiny one in the kitchen...so I can watch a little news before bed. I'm tired from two days of heavy driving, so it's an early night. The next morning, in the light of day, I see the huge task before me. The house is, to put it mildly, in shambles. And unpacking is problematic because I can't put anything away...every drawer/cabinet/closet/etc. is already full. So...for the next several weeks, I spend every day (and a lot of nights) sorting, reorganizing and cleaning things...one room at a time. My cousin, Bill, comes to help in week two, and we make some real progress on the floors and the patio. My first priority is my bedroom and bathroom...then the kitchen...living room...patio. I think that I put out forty garbage cans worth of trash in the first few weeks. I'm posting a few "before and after" photos to give you an idea of the magnitude of the task. I do take a few days off to relax. There's one of the nicest State Parks in Florida, Jonathan Dickinson State Park, just a few miles down the road, and I manage to get over there twice for a few days of camping. My friend, Mark, drives up from the Keys for Christmas, and it's nice to have some company for a few days. We have what is now my traditional Christmas dinner in Florida...stone crab claws, crab cakes, Publix potato salad, and a lot of white wine. It was great fun. Meanwhile, the cats...Cleo, Jones and Mr. Lucky...have settled in just fine. I opened up the porch so that they can lay in the sun all day and chase (and eat...yech) lizards. This is going to be a good winter for them (and me). A few days after Christmas, I pack up the cats and head over to my friends, Ed and Molly, for New Years. Gretchen, Roger and I ordered tickets to the Sugar Bowl to see UM play Virginia Tech, but Gretchen and Roger have run into some last-minute problems that force them to cancel their trip. So...it's Terri, Carl and I that will be heading to New Orleans in the big motor home on New Years day for the game on January 3rd. New year's Eve dinner at Ed and Molly's is spectacular as always...stone crabs, empanadas,. grilled tenderloin of beef, Caesar salad...we were stuffed by 8:00PM. Terri and Carl are there for a wonderful celebration with close friends.