11 Days and Counting

Time is fairly flying by now. In 11 days at 10 am, we will be heading for new lives in Florida. Cincinnati seems to be making it a lot easier for me to leave and not look back. My doctors could not give me the time of day. I have several "friends" who just refuse to talk to me for moving. I had some "friends" make plans to get together before I go, only to be no call/no shows. A couple of my closest friends make me feel so guilty if i even mention moving. Some of it is understandable. A lot of it is heartbreaking. I could see if it was halfway around the world, or in ancient days and a 2 day trip by stagecoach. It is a 2 hour flight from St Petersburg to Cincinnati and the cost is no longer prohibitive. And planes fly both ways!
Despite all that, I cannot help but feel excited by this adventure. I just have so much left to do in 10 days! Some things will be left undone because it involved some of the "friends" mentioned above. The most important thing left to do is getting comfortable carriers for the "kids". I must say that driving 1000 miles with 3 cats is causing me a bit of worry. I spoke to the vet and he gave me the name of an effective herbal calming spray. Each one has a favorite blanky, in Toodles' case it is Tom's hoody. Those will go in the carriers and we plan to rotate letting each one out for a duration after we see how the spray works. I hope to test it before we go and I have my test subject picked out...Tigoofy. He was raised badly and thankfully was still an adolescent when we got him. He still has issues which cause him to go running thru the house yowling. If the food bowls are empty, he just knows we are not going to feed him anymore. If the food bowls are full he eats all of them because he may not eat for a while. If we go to sleep he is afraid we don't love him. He is a bit of a bully during play with the girls because he has always had to be. We will see how this stuff works on him.
I would write more but I have to go sort clothes. Yay!

Gonna Be Busy Packing So...

We're In It Now!

We are now to a point where it would cost us more money to stay that to move to Florida, which is a good place to be. The temporary lodgings have been acquired. The one way plane tickt for Tom has been bought. The rental car reservation has been made. In three weeks from Thursday we will start the glorious trek to Florida.


Personally, it's not soon enough! I am freezing!

The Florida Suite by Frederick Delius

Lull

No new info to report so why not look at some lovely shots of St Petersburg taken by local residents. So pretty!

Rainbow over the Gulf of Mexico


Our new neighbors



Night Skyline

Downtown with boats

46 days to go!

The Digs

I am not one to buy something sight unseen. so I have been researching apartments in St Pete. Tom already has a job lined up but will not start getting paid for probably 3 weeks once he starts. We agreed that a residential hotel would be the best bet. So many of them do not take pets so it really limited the options. Then I came across a lady who is from KY and we really hit it off over the phone. she has apartments that she rents by the week (all utilities included inc wi-fi). She said to call her when we start done and she will find us someplace nice. If it is not exactly what we want, we can move when one comes available.
Google maps is amazing. I love being able to get a street view. Sometimes when I am down I pick a point in Saint Petersburg and "go for a drive." Anyway. I have searched out some of the buildings and their locations downtown. I must say that I am not horrified by any of them.

this one is my favorite.

very close to Mirror Lake

pretty and very cheap but sadly next door to a Halfway House. Ummm..only as a last resort.

Like this one a lot too!

These are all in the main downtown area and within walking distance to many wonderful things such as The Pier, The Salvador Dali Museum, the Aquarium and several interesting looking eateries. I am getting very excited!

Drop Off Fee? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Drop Off Fee!

I am discovering that car rental companies have quite the scam going. Let's say you are moving to...Oh let's say...Florida. You only need a rental car for the one way trip. You research the companies and find the one with the best rates and go to make the tentative reservations. As you select the car, a seriously great rate of 148.00 for 4 days, when a screen pops up saying that a drop off fee may be charged. Oh well what could it be really? Enough to cover the drive back to the orignal pick up point right? 389 dollars! WTF?!? After checking other companies, they all seem to charge about the same thing for one way rentals. Out-freaking-rageous! So we look at other possibilities and none seem feasible. Finally it dawns on me. How much would it be for a round trip rental? and how much for a one way plane ticket back to Tampa/St Pete? Let's revue

one way car rental with drop off fee - 620.00

round trip car rental- 227.00
one way flight- 181.00
total 408.00

Frugalla was ecstatic!

So the plan is pack up the cats and various necessities. Store the rest in a friends basement(good reason to come visiting when it's warm!) Drive down, unload the car at our new digs. Tom will drive back and take the flight home while I guard the chilluns. So now we just have to find the new digs!
Oh yeah, I forgot to add in the price of the Valiums we are going to have to purchase for Tom's flight back. He really hates flying!

A Germ Of An Idea

Back in August, we were discussing how much we hate this area. Cincinnati may be good for some but if you have lung problems, it is hell. Tom has terrible allergies and is allergic to 37 of the 39 indigenous trees in the Ohio Valley. I am suffering from liver falure on my 2nd liver and have no immune system so I am also constantly getting lung infections in the winter. Jokingly, I said that the last time I remeber Tom being able to breathe was when we had gone to St Petersburg for my birthday one year. The ocean breezes seem to keep his allergies at bay.
"So let's think about moving down there." He said.
And that's how the idea began. Things started falling into place. The transplnt center lost several more doctors and was no longer on the Top 10 list. They told me that it was highly unlike;y that I would be placed on the transplant list this year since I was fairly stable. I started researching the are and found the cost of living in the St pete area fairly comparable to here if not a little cheaper. And one of Tom's sons lives there. And then there's the beach. Tom is a sun baby. He is completely happy baking in the hot sun. Me, not so much. I always pictured myself as one of those chi-chi old ladies that wear gauzy caftans, big sun hats, and oversized sun glasses. I love the ocean, I love people watching, and I love seafood!
So it was decided, Florida bound we shall be. Now to make all this feasible. That takes some know-how and money. So far we have the know how and the little old Jewish woman the lives inside of me has found deals and ways around added charges and fees! Sometime Frugalla can cause me some angst but when she's on the trail of a deal, she's relentless!
This blog is about how I get to Florida and the adventures along the way! I hope you have as much fun as I have had looking things up!