Moving Right Along......and Whatnot

Let's continue shall we? Okay.......so with car and creature packed and ready off we go. I'm driving because I cannot drive at night. Katrina is chillin and puppy Lana is thinking that we are gong to a dog park.....BOY will she be surprised. No problems driving, a little rain, a little traffic.... it starts to get dark. Now, as previously stated I cannot drive in the dark so, Katrina and I switch places just outside of Orlando. She doesn't have a problem with this. I, however begin to panic. Yes, PANIC.....I tell her to turn around I want to go home. I'm freaking out. She does her best to calm me; but I have to work through it. Apparently I am too far from my comfort zone. I'm desperately trying to calm down....deep breathing....smacking of the head. I know it's ludacris to try and trun around now....we've come so far. Next rest area we stop. I walk the dog, (distracting), I go potty, (also distracting).....I get a hug from Katrina....all is well with the world. God bless her she knows what to do in these situations and doesn't leave my ass on the side of the road.

Finally, we get out of Florida, (longest state in the WORLD! UGH!) 3a.m. and Mobile Alabama is giving us fits....for some reason we always get turned around in Mobile. we pull off the road and ask directions to the road we need. Now, let me just give you a little history....Katrina is terrible with "directions" ie... N, S, E, W.....buit is a phenomal driver. I am the navigator extraordinaire....yes, me and my Atlas.... I have marked our path and we are sticking to it. After getting directions from the kind people at the gas station, we head back on our way. Now, just to be clear the road I chose to take us into Mississippi I thought was a highway.

Route 45, is NOT a hwy. Rte 45 is the DEVIL! A Dark, DARK devil.... Katrina somehow manages to navigate the winding, hilly, pitch black roads at evil o'clock in the morning..... we are desperate for any sign of life....another car, a porch light....ANYTHING......as I am looking at my Atlas I figure out that we can cut over to 84 and take us into Mount Olive and Magee, MS.. our savior from our last trip....however, we have to figure out how to get there from where we are. Finally a light out of the dark takes us to a gas station.....we get out, 2 women travelling with their dog ALONE....we're nervous. But I'm BRAVE and I get out of the car with my Atlas about to go into the station, when this big, dark man stops me.... "Whatch ya'll lookin fer?"
I show him my atlas and explain that we're trying to get to 84 to Laurel. He explains the directions and points the way. I thank him VERY much and get back in the car. Katrina is done pumping gas, and I tell her where we're going.

As we are pulling out of the station, the man whips is car beside us honking his horn and pulls in front of us. We assume he wants us to follow him. Mind you we are apprehensive....(SHAME on US) we follow him. I tell Katrina that if I think he's taking us somewhere we shouldn't be, we will pull off the road and head in another directions. We're both a little worried that he might be driving us somewhere to get us lost with his buddies. HOW WRONG WE WERE!!!!! Let me tell you something....whenever anyone in our family travels, my mom always says, "ANgels, Angels, Angels." Now this is if we are going to work or anywhere outside of the house. Well, ANGELS IN ACTION. This kind, kind man drove us all the way to the hwy we wanted, made sure we got on in the right direction and then made a u-turn and went back the way he came. God sent us an angel that night.

Now, at this point Katrina and I are both exhausted, we decide to find a hotel and get some sleep. No, of course we didn't make a reservation. Well, of course there are no hotel rooms to be found. We pull into a Comfort Inn Parking lot, in LAUREL, MS; find the most well lit spot and try to get some sleep. God Bless our puppy she is sooo very good. Poor Katrina is soo tired but cannot sleep. I, however, do not have this problem. No sooner do I close my eyes at 4a.m., than I am asleep. For about 1 1/2 hrs. I sleep. 5:30 rolls around and we decide to just bite the bullet and get going. I take over driving because during the day is the only time that I can. I want Katrina to sleep, poor thing.

We get to RT 49 which takes us to I-20 in Jackson...YEAH!!! We will be on I-20 for a while. All the way to Shreveport where we'll catch U.S. 71.....YIppee which will takes us right into Mena, Arkansas. I'm loving the changing leaves, the wonderful Fall colors....I'm so happy. Katrina is able to get a little sleep....and I drive for the next 5 hours. We switch 3/4 of the way there, because I'm starting to tense up. I just want to get there. Trink gets behind the wheel and off we go.Finally, at about 2p.m. Saturday afternoon we arrive at mom's house.....OH THANK GOD!!!


At this point all we can think of is sleep. It's funny, no one locks their door in Mena, it's so safe....we let Lana out, who is so excited she doesn't know what to do with herself....I can hear her little doggy mind....(This is the BEST DOG PARK EVER!!!) My mom lives on 5 acres on a mountain top. We go inside to let my grandma know we're here.....she's soo excited. We unpack the car and just as we're about to lay down...... up pulls my sisters, Heather and Chelsea. We didn't stop to see my little brother Todd on the way in because we're so tired....but the girls show up because they need to use the phone. I'm so tired....we chat with them and then I tell em they got to go because we need to sleep.

We didn't sleep, we couldn't we were full of adrenaline. We tried....boy did we try. Nothing doing. My family comes home from the wedding they were at....and hugs and kisses ensue. YEAH we made it safely!!! WHAT A Trip!! But wait......it can't be that easy.....can it?

Not if you're me and Trink.......(to be con't)

The Best Laid Plans.......

Hello All.....we're home from a beautiful Fall vacation. Where shall I start? Ay yes....the beginning....



Scheduled to leave on November 18th we were so excited to get going. Thursday night had different plans for us. Thursday night, we had planned on seeing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at a midnight showing. Yeah we're so excited because we are geeks and just couldn't wait to see it at any other time. Okay....so Katrina orders tickets online and we're ready to go. 5pm comes around and I get a phone call..... "D, the car won't start." "WHAT?!!" "The car....won't...start. Listen." Various clicking and wheezing noises come through the line.... "HOLY SHIT ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!" I begin FREAKING out....yes, I'm pissed. Not because I'm worried about my vacation, but because we want to see Harry Potter..... (My priorities are screwed up!) "Hold on I'm gonna call Roadside assistance....I'll call you right back.


"Roadside is on their way, you'll get a phone call confirming time etc..."
"Okay.... are you sure?"
"Yeah they'll be there and then will tow you to the dealership. Call me when they get there I'll see if I can find you a ride home."

I proceed to call my friend June who is on her way home from work. She agrees to bring Katrina home, and to just give her a call if anything changes. I love our FRIENDS. Katrina calls me and lets me know that her friend Paulette is going to bring her home and that the tow guy is here. Great..... come home and we'll figure everything else out.....


Trink is home....and we're stressing....naturally the dealership is closed for the night....(6pm) but they'll take a look at the car first thing in the morning. Sounds like the battery, but we'll check it out and make sure....

Damn we wasted $16 on Harry Potter tickets.....

Fine, we figure we'll get Katrina to work somehow and take care of the car in the morning and still be able to leave at noon when we had planned. Sure, the car isn't loaded up or anything, but small setbacks.

FRIDAY MORNING::
We wake up knowing that things are gonna be insane today. Katrina calls work to let them know that she is not gonna be able to make it in, because she has no car. Thank God she has the best boss in the world. No problem. Now onto the next dilemma. How to get to the dealership? We call them to make sure that our car got there. "Yup it's here, we're getting the paperwork together and them we'll get a look at it. We'll call you when it's done."

"We have to leave for vacation today." I tell him this as if he gives a rats' ass.
"No problem, it's probably just the battery."

Okay, Okay....long story short, we get the runaround all morning and about 12:30 we decide to take a cab over to get on someone's ass about it. Now, I don't know how many of you have taken cabs before??? Well, never AGAIN!!! F*CKING RIPOFF!! Moving along...... we get to the dealership, and wouldn't you know it? Tim tells us.... "I was just about to call you guys....it's all done we're just gonna wash her for ya and you can be on your way."

"FUCK YOU TIM! FUCK YOU!! I don't want a wash, just gomme my car now. I've got to go!"

Car under our butts we head home and get the car all packed up and the animals all fed, and the dog all dressed. 1:30 finally we're on the road......

TO Be Continued...

It's a MIRACLE!!!

The Deathtrap LIVES!!!!!!!!!! It's amazing!!

I've got to say, I really dispise living here, and since the storm...the place looks worse than ever. I really miss the trees and the bushes. However, I think it's amazing how people become less self involved when there's been a common disaster. I walked Lana yesterday morning and one of my neighbors was outside having a cigarette. As I was passing him he asked me how my apartment was and we ended up talking about all the events of the past couple of weeks. He's had it WAY worse than me. It's nice to know that people are concerned and that they're nice. Where I live you tend to look at everyone suspiciously. Sad but true.

So finally our door is fixed and the elevator is functioning. I got in with trepidation and was so excited when it opened on the first floor.

So, this weekend we will be up in Arkansas having a great time with the whole fam damily!!! YIPPEEE!! I'm looking forward to it...we'll see if the drama lessens any.

Will update when we get back!

PEACE ya'll!

^-^ ME and CHOCOLATE ^-^

Well, that says it all doesn't it?? Me and chocolate. I have a SERIOUS sweet tooth....and when I'm craving....there is NO stopping me. I gotta tell you....I have THE best girlfriend in the WORLD.....somehow she manages to love me....even when I eat chocolate that's not mine. I'm a nighttime, alone, emotional eater. I know I shouldn't be eating....(there are signs up everywhere) But I just can't stop myself....if there's nothing I like in the house....I don't eat....so...that's the solution right??? RIIIIGGGHHHHTTTT....and then I have to deny my girlfriend which I am really really bad at..... I'm amazed at how much she loves me really.... I would've kicked my own ass if I could still reach it....

Moving along to hellhole that is our apartment.....my KNEES are killing me....going down the stairs is way worse than coming up them. I asked our apartment manager when the "deathtrap" would be fixed, mind you that it was supposed to be fixed the week of WILMA, but...NOOOOO......so I figure that since its already on the schedule that would take place soon right? Her reply? "Next week sometime...maybe it's going to take a couple of weeks." THANK GOD we'll be in Arkansas visiting our ARKY family.....I'm looking forward to Turkey.....yum yum.....

Peace ya'll!

OH THAT Hurricane Part Deux....

DANGLING ROOF......^

Okay, picking up where we left off....our apartment was TRASHED. No warning, no notice NOTHING from the leasing office. I lost it. I mean, LOST IT! There was stuff all over our bed from the bathroom, from our walls. I didn't know what was broken, what was ruined. NOTHING. I started crying terribly. Where would we stay? We had no ceiling, no walls....our apartment was fine when we left in the morning. So, of course I call my family....my brother THE COP being the first person I call. He tells me to call Plantation Police and make a general report with them. He also tells me that he's on his way up from Kendall and he's taking off work because I'm soo upset.... (My HERO).

Plantation PD tells me there's nothing they can do. We should find somewhere to stay....(easy for you to say...where the hell do we go?) We start documenting all the damage with our video camera. I don't even know where my digital camera is. I start calling some friends to see if there's anywhere we can stay. My head hurts, my cats are FREAKED OUT and I've got to pack them all up and find somewhere to sleep. Hotells are booked for WEEKS....and well we're on the kindness of our friends. My brother shows up and all hell breaks loose.....he's PISSED. Helps us get the car loaded up and tells us to raise holy hell with the leasing office.

Trink calls our friend Shannon to see if we can stay at his place even though he doesn't have power....he says "SURE! We're all over here at Jen's though why don't you come here get a shower and some sleep though." So, we head up to Jen's....she's got a tiny 2/1....and there are six people already staying there....OY VEY! Me, Trink and Lana get an air matress in the livingroom. We are SOO VERY grateful. The cats are downstairs in the complex "common room". It's midnight and Jen is up with us, making sure we're okay....God Love her she's got such a big heart. I can't calm down....I'm having a panic attack and Trink is desperate to calm me. Jen goes to sleep, and Trink and I try to get some. Rough night....terrible.....but oh were we happy to be somewhere safe with people we love.

The next morning.... we decide we just can't stay here and Shannon tells us to setup at his place. The cats can have the guest bedroom and we can have his room. This way we don't have to pack the creatures up whenever we leave to get stuff down. Again, we are GRATEFUL and happy. He has no power but we don't care. We drop off the cats and head out to our leasing office to find out... WTF?!?! When we speak with our manager her words are..... "They did your apartment? But you didn't have any damage!"

Our reaction was priceless.... "NO SHIT!!! So now what?"

"Well, I don't understand what is going on, can you find a hotel?"

"Are you kidding me? What about all of our stuff? That was strewn about? What is things are broken? Those PEOPLE came into my home tossed all of our stuff around....took our ice, our water and our food. WHAT THE FUCK are you going to do about that? I'm pressing charges on someone! SOMEONE is paying for this disaster!"

Her: "I understand why your upset...they must have found damage when they were doing your neighbors apartment."

Us: "Why didn't you give us any warning? Give us the chance to move our things? Make sure that nothing was stolen??"

Her: "Weeeellll......we kept telling corporate that we needed to warn the residents...but they said, things had to be done right away.."

Us: "Annndd.d....this means WHAT to us? Our apartment was fine ALL frickin week and now all of a sudden there's an emergency?"

Clearly we are getting nowhere.....I tell her she better make it right. She tells us she'll give us a credit on our rent....and will take care of any items that may be damaged. DAMN RIGHT YOU WILL!!

No what do we do??? Find another place to stay......so we stay at Shannon's and get rained out of his place on Tuesday morning..... leaks springing up all over the place. We pack up all the animals, and head up to Jupiter where our friend Tammi is going to put us up. THANK GOD!!! But Let me tell you...they are going to take the gas off of our rent as well..... DAMMIT!!!!

Cut to Wednesday and our anticipated arrival home...... They have the drywall up...and the ceiling.....HALLELUJAH!!!! We unpack everyone and make them safe....SCRAPE off our bed...and sleep......

Thursday morning...they came in and sprayed and painted and plasticed....and.....CRAPOLA are you ever going to be done? I giggle as I watch them try to use the DEATHTRAP HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH It laughs at them unmoving...... I am happy to be home....but it's not the same....it will NEVER be the same again......

DAMN THAT Elevator....my knees are killing me!!!!

PEACE Ya'll!!!

OH! THAT Hurricane

HOLY CRAP!!!!! I don't even know where to start. Hurricane Wilma came through here and blew everything around us to SHIT! We lost power on Monday night (Oct 24th) at 7a.m. We took this instride no big deal. Our thoughts subsisted of "Will that branch come through the kitchen window?", "Will our windows hold?", "How many games of monopoly can two people play?".

We listend to Bryan Norcross tell us that Broward County would be sustaining the worst weather....and wouldn't you know, that smack dab, right in the middle of Wilma's path is me. We remained calm, unshaken. I told myself, 'I lived through Andrew, I can handle this.' Hours passed, seeming like days. The wind howled and shook and tried to tear our roof off....(it did in some places). Our apartment remained unscathed. In the end the only damage we had was to our front door. Water leaked in and made it soggy. No problem. We were alive..that's what matter..... I looked out my kitchen window...at the DEATHTRAP, there, it remained a staunch sentinel refusing to budge. No surprise here. I had hoped that it would have been destroyed in the winds...taken away to a place where elevators that refuse to do they're jobs are tortured endlessly by working consistently. But I digress....

With the power out we played board games and listened to the radio. Watched dvd's on our portable player. Our management came by to assess the damage... we had none, they took notes. Friday came and we still had no power. We were not concerned, we were able to get food and water....we needed gas and waited in line for 2 and 1/2 hrs to fill up. We were happy to do it! My big brother called to let me know that he had power in Miami-Dade and we should come down and do laundry and have a hot shower! So Saturday morning, first thing we packed up and drove on down...happy as could be. We did our laundry, had hot showers, and ate our first hot meal in days....We left his house about 8p.m....to beat the curfew of 11p.m.... dooo dooo dooo!! We were happy happy.... as we trudged up stairs we passed some neighbors... "Hey guys, are you okay? Able to stay in your apartment?"
"No, they put us up in the Holiday Inn...we're going there until they're done."
"Okay, take care..." Doo dooo dooo!! Home again...lalalalalal....

I open the door to our undamaged, electric-free apartment.....and what do I find???.... That's right people.......they came in and tore down walls, and ceiling, and our bathroom was torn to pieces....WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!!!!!?!?!?!?!?

I'm astonished and can hardly catch my breath. The apartment that had sheltered us so well through the storm and ALL week was now a SHELL of it's former self........

The saga and what followed will continue tomorrow.....TUNE IN!! I'm back......

PEACE Ya'll!