Home Sweet Home

We got to our Sanibel home about 12:30 yesterday afternoon. 95 degrees and HUMID! But, we unloaded the car, unpacked the suitcases and boxes, and set up the computers. Yes, we each have a laptop. Then I headed out to CROW to pick up cages and see my friend, Diana, who answers the phones on Saturday. We talked for awhile and then I saw Nikki and Dr. Stephanie and met Gordon, the new vet intern who lived in our house this summer. They all asked when I was coming back to work!! They usually have several student externs and fellows but right now only have one or two and they are leaving soon. So, I guess I will be working in the clinic on Saturdays again. Plus, we will pick up produce at Publix tomorrow AM and then substitute drive on Tuesday morning. So, we're back and we're busy!

We decided not to buy too many groceries because we still aren't sure if we will be affected by Hurricane Ike or not. If we have to evacuate, we have to clean out the fridge. And then we discovered that our 21 year old fridge was in the process of giving up the ghost. The fridge is cool at best and the freezer is about the right temp for refrigerating things but not for freezing them. We have a plug in cooler so that is our backup.

This morning, I attacked the runaway weeds, trimmed the palms, harnessed the bouganvilla, and swept the deck which was covered with berries or whatever the heck they are from the palms. Did I mention that it is in the 90's and HUMID?? After that, I obviously was in need of a shower. After the shower we headed to Home Depot to purchase a new fridge. We bought one but they only deliver on Sanibel on Thursday so we have to make do until then. We need a new stove too but we have propane and none of the stores hook up the stoves to propane. We need to call the county--haven't figured out which department--to do that. So, we didn't order the stove--but we will. It's a bit hard to bake Christmas cookies or cook a turkey when you set the oven for 300 and it heats to 500 or you set it for 450 and it heats to 200!

Tonight, I decided that I wanted to go to Pinocchios for ice cream. They have the best flavors--such as Sanibel Crunch or Dirty Sand Dollar. So off we went. A sign in the window announced that they were on vacation until Friday. So we headed to Schnappers, a great hot dog, pizza, burger, ice cream carry out place. Even thought it was 6:45, they were already closed! So, we went to Jerry's, the local grocery store, and got a pint of Ben and Jerry's Butter Pecan. Any excuse to get Ben and Jerrys! Remember, we have no freezer so we had to eat it all or throw it away. Needless to say, none of it got thrown away!

So, we're here, we're hot, but we're happy.