When it Rains it Pours!

So we'll get to the rain in a minute. So much has been going on this past week. I got home Monday night from Italy. I went straight to the doctor Tuesday morning about my cough. Even my sisters were nagging me about it. Anyway, just as I suspected---all is good. A chest x-ray showed clear lungs. I just have a nagging cough from the bronchitis that will linger at least another month. I know me! When I get a cough, it lasts forever.

Connie picked me up for our stitching class where Nancy meets us too. After lunch at Cinco de Mayo (Mexican food was really good after all that Italian!), I spent the rest of the day unpacking, going through the mail and taking care of business.

Wednesday, I was ready to get down to Mindy's and start the "big move!" At first we were a little distressed at the mess!! Mindy and Justin had started moving things down. They bought a larger condo in the same building downtown. They love that urban lifestyle!

Anyway, Mindy had put up post it notes next to each pile: "storage"---"Christmas decorations"---"things to get rid of"---"Justin's keepsakes!" Needless to say, most of what they moved wasn't going to be staying in the new place!! We were actually pretty overwhelmed. Finally, I said to myself, "Okay, Barb, just treat this like one of your jobs---except you are not getting paid!" Then I was able to just dig in and get started. We hauled off all the junk and boxed up the things that need to go to storage. We arranged for painting this week. By the next day, we really were ready to get started. I had warned Mindy not to move anything to the new place that wasn't staying in the new place. Why move things twice? Makes sense, right!!

I was thinking that we would have them totally moved by Friday. After all, when we moved Mindy from her apartment to her condo, it only took us two days! The difference this time is 4 years and an accumulation of more stuff, plus a new husband and ALL his stuff. In all fairness, Justin doesn't really have that much.

Of course, by Friday, we've barely put a dent in it! We had to hold off because the place needs painting, which is happening this week. Justin's parents were in town this weekend and were able to do a few things that require two men---like move the console stereo and wine refrigerator from storage.

They also went shopping so Laurie could plant Mindy a pot for her balcony.

Laurie planted mandevilla and supertunias---something new to me. Mindy loves it!

I left of the beach with my girlfriends on Saturday morning. It's a good thing we couldn't do much at the condo because if so, I would have rather stayed home. You know---work before play!

Once we got here, we had an issue right off with one of the rental cars. Luckily for me, it was the one Karolyn was driving---no air conditioning. After breakfast, she took it back to get another car. After some "fighting" with the attendant, she got another car, two days free and a tank of gas. Still that whole fiasco took about 4 hours out of her and Susan's vacation. The rest of us did the grocery shopping and then waited for them to arrive. We thought it would be adding insult to injury if they found us lounging at the pool with fruity drinks!

Later that evening, we found that we had a major leak in the pantry behind the hot water heater. Water was just pouring out from a pipe above that seemed to be the air conditioning unit. We were able to prop a medium size pot under it, but it filled up every 10 minutes. I called the repair company we use, but getting someone to answer at 9 p.m. on a Saturday night was impossible. It continued to pour water all night. We turned off the air since that seemed to be where it was coming from. On Sunday morning, Butch got involved. After several frantic phone calls to everyone he could think of, the maintenance men came and took care of it. Turns out, the drainage pipe to the outside was clogged. Condensation from ALL of the condos above us---4 floors worth---drain through this pipe. That's why so much water was coming out. I have no idea if there's been any damage---that will be for Butch to figure out. It's hard to see back there. The floors are stone tile, so hopefully the water just drained down to the crawl space and out!

By Sunday at 10 a.m., we were really ready to get our vacation started. The weather has been incredible up until today.

 We counted 5 shades of turquoise in the water.

There are more people here than I expected at this time of year. We go to the beach in the morning for 2 or 3 hours. After lunch, we go to the pool.

The pool area is really nice. No, I don't know that woman in the hot tub. I pulled this picture from our condo website.

We've had 2 days of playing on the beach and in the water. Now it's going to rain for the rest of the week! We will not be deterred in our fun! We have a plan: a little shopping, a movie or two, games here plus I have a pretty good library of movies too! Wouldn't you know it---the one time I do not bring any stitching!

We have four more days---as they say, when it rains, it pours! We won't let it dampen our spirits!!